Daily Spirituality Archives — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

The Lamp of the Body

July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

If we sit depressed and are anxious over all the things that depress us, that anger us, that cause us to despair, then we become more like those thoughts. But if we orient our spiritual sight toward what is holy and good, then the evil thoughts being suggested by the demons will have no place in us to take root and grow.

Are There Wrong Reasons to Become Orthodox? Yes.

June 7, 2021 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Someone who comes to the door of the Church is indeed asked to give everything up in order to become one with Christ. It is not expected of him that he will instantly be able to shed all of his baggage of sin and worldly attachments. But it is expected that he will commit to repentance.

Prepare Now to Return to Church

March 22, 2020 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

What I do affects who I am and what I believe, especially when it is something I do over and over. It is my habits, my repeated actions, that influence how I see the world and who I am.

COVID-19, Wilderness and Man

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Things will settle out in this crisis and competing authorities will finally converge on a consensus. But our problem with the hostile wilderness will remain.

The Struggle for Prayer

April 23, 2019April 23, 2019 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Prayer is a struggle. You know this if you have tried it, especially if you have tried to do it every day or even every week or every month. It is a struggle to pray every morning, to pray every night. It is a struggle to come to church every Sunday, to come to other services.

Henry David Thoreau & Mary of Egypt

April 17, 2019 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

The Christian hope is not about making our earthly lives better nor even about trying to strip things down to the most necessary earthly things.

The Power of Remembering Jesus Christ

February 10, 2019 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Feast of St. Haralampos / Sunday of the Canaanite Woman, February 10, 2019 II Timothy 2:1-10; Matthew 15:21-28 In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David. (II Timothy 2:8a) I was struck this week when I read that first phrase: “Remember Jesus…

20 Years of Being Orthodox: 6 Things I’ve Learned

April 19, 2018April 19, 2018 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Today marks the 20th anniversary of my reception into the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church — the Orthodox Church. I was just 22 years old at the time and still in college (I had something of a “career” in college, accumulating one BA, most of another, and three minors, all while working to support myself). In 1998, April 19 was Pascha, and at…