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

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…

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

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

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)

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

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.…