Blog — Page 41 of 65 — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

14 New Year’s Resolutions for Orthodox Christians

December 14, 2014December 31, 2022 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Editorial comment: This has gotten republished more times than I can count now, mostly without asking (which, while I won’t be hounding people, should still be noted as illegal in most countries). I don’t mind too much, but I do mind that in some places (like church newsletters), it’s gotten republished either without my name on it or having altered the text and still…

Win FREE Signed Books by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick!

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Do you have a copy of Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy but wish you had a signed one? Have you gotten a chance to read An Introduction to God yet? Are you looking for hard-to-find Christmas gifts and fancy giving an author-signed book or two? Just looking to expand your library? Well, I’d like to help you do that for FREE. Enter the contest below to…

What Are We Waiting For?: Andrew, Advent and Emmanuel

November 30, 2014November 28, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Feast of the Apostle Andrew, November 30, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. On this day, the thirtieth of November, we celebrate the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-called. As you may imagine, he is a saint who is special to me and always has been. And…

Why celebrate Christian holidays that aren’t in the Bible?

November 19, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

A quick perusal of the major feast days on Orthodox Church’s liturgical calendar will show that many of those great feasts are not mentioned in the Scriptures. The Nativity of the Theotokos (Sept. 8), the Entrance of the Theotokos (Nov. 21) and the Dormition of the Theotokos (Aug. 15) are all not based on events found in Scripture. Neither is the Elevation of the…

Redeeming the Time by Nurturing Community

November 13, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

St. Nektarios the Wonder-worker / Seventh Sunday of Luke, November 9, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. An experienced senior priest once said to me, “Make the place you are into Paradise.” This saying occurred to me again this week when I read the phrase from…

Jennifer Aniston Goes Makeup-Free. Liberation Ensues.

November 6, 2014November 6, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I read this morning that actress Jennifer Aniston (whose family name is Anastasakis and whose godfather is Telly Savalas) had declared that going makeup-free in her new film Cake was “dreamy and empowering and liberating.” I don’t normally bother with celebrity news, but of course when using social media, it’s hard to escape it. This caught my eye, though, because it struck me as…

Justification and the Works of the Law

November 5, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost / Fifth Sunday of Luke, November 2, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Many people who are introduced to the Orthodox Church for the first time, especially if they come from a Protestant background, often have a few matters that strike them…

The Soldier, the Athlete and the Farmer

October 28, 2014 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

St. Demetrios the Myrrh-streaming / Sixth Sunday of Luke, October 26, 2014 Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. In today’s epistle reading from Second Timothy, which is designated for the feast today of St. Demetrios, St. Paul gives us three images of what it means to live…