Personal Life Archives — Page 3 of 7 — Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

“Aslan is on the move”

March 16, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I took this photo today during a brief walk with my family and posted it on Facebook. One commenter captioned it thus: Aslan is on the move. With as much suffering as has come during this Lent for me and for many in my flock, it is good to remember that Aslan is, indeed, “on the move.” Spring is coming after the winter. The…

“We had the one, and we lost him”: Fr. Matthew Baker’s Significance in Orthodoxy

March 11, 2015March 11, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Several times now I have been asked by folks who were not at Fr. Matthew Baker’s funeral this past Saturday to write something about it. I have to admit that I do not really want to. I am a bit exhausted. But I will at least mention that it was beautiful—not merely in an aesthetic sense, though of course it was, with the roughly…

Today, We Bury a Friend

March 7, 2015March 7, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

The Lord said to those Jews which had come to him: “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes him who sent me, has eternal life; he does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice…

The Church is Love: More on the Legacy of Fr. Matthew Baker

March 6, 2015March 8, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

It’s been astounding over the past few days to watch the fundraising campaign for Fr. Matthew Baker’s widow Presbytera Katherine and their six children raise so much in such a short time. (And if you are able to give, please do. That may look like a lot, but the Bakers will be dealing with a loss of income that will affect them for many…

Remembering Matthew: On the Death of a Man, by Fr. Joseph Lucas

March 4, 2015March 1, 2018 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I was sent this remembrance today of Fr. Matthew Baker from Fr. Joseph Lucas, another priest-scholar and friend of Fr. Matthew. These words resonate with me, as well. Manhood was something that Fr. Matthew talked about a good bit in his private conversations with friends, and it was something that he helped other men to build. Fr. Joseph is a priest of the Orthodox…

Fr. Matthew Baker: Priesthood and Sacrifice (Homily for Sunday of the Holy Cross)

March 3, 2015April 3, 2020 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I committed to blogging every day for 40 days this Lent, but I have to admit that I don’t feel like writing about almost anything right now except trying somehow to keep my friend Fr. Matthew in my immediate memory, as if that somehow holds off the reality of his shocking departure from this earthly life. (For more on Fr. Matthew and also for…

“We need more spiritual brothers”: Losing Fr. Matthew Baker

March 2, 2015March 1, 2022 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

I awoke this morning hoping that it wasn’t true, that somehow, the nightmare of losing my friend of ten years so instantly had just been a dream. But it wasn’t. Fr. Matthew Baker is dead. And I realized that I have to write something about him, to capture for just a moment something of what he meant to me. Promising. Brilliant. Down-to-earth. Genius. Important.…

St. Raphael and Me: On the 100th Anniversary of His Repose

February 27, 2015April 20, 2015 · Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Fifteen years ago, in the month of May, I drove with two of my friends from Raleigh, North Carolina, to St. Tikhon’s Monastery in South Canaan, Pennsylvania, for the canonization services of a new saint. I knew almost nothing about him at the time. I had been an Orthodox Christian for only two years, I was still a bit starry-eyed about the faith (and…