Are You the King of the Jews?

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“Free advice is worth every penny you pay for it!” With that, the old man proceeded to share with me some pearls of wisdom that I remember to this day. Isn’t it funny how much we already know? I mean the truth is I pretty much know how I should live and what decisions are best and what decisions are destructive to my life. In fact, it was a bit of a revelation to me…

The Kiss

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
Everybody seems to have the same dream at one time or another. For me, it was a dream where I had a big presentation in front of a large crowd, and in my dream, I forgot my pants! Embarrassed and humiliated, I ran off stage wondering how I could have made such a mistake! All of us fear being humiliated and embarrassed. It’s a natural fear and it uncovers ( forgive the…

Transform Your Desires! Sunday’s Homily

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
The Orthodox Faith is not merely a behavioral modification philosophy but a Way of Life that transforms. The Faith teaches us that it is our desires that will determine our healing. If you allow the Faith to heal and mature your desires, you’ll finally be who you are created to be. And you’ll finally understand WHY the Church calls us to the Arena of the Virtues called Great Lent.

One Of You Will Betray Me

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
One of Rembrandt’s classic paintings is called “The Raising of the Cross” and in this painting of the people raising the Cross where Christ is already nailed, is the picture of a strange man in a blue cap. Looking closer, we see it is actually a picture of Rembrandt himself. You see, Rembrandt was a Christian and he was saying that he also was responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus because the…

The Lord Has Need of It

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
It’s a paradox. A paradox is a concept that we humans, especially we humans shaped and formed by post-Enlightenment secularism, have a hard time grasping. Paradox makes us uncomfortable. It feels like a “problem” to be “solved.” That’s why we humans stumble over paradox. You know what I mean, don’t you? It’s like what Jesus said when He taught that to save your life, you must lose it, and to be a leader, you…

Compete According to the Rules

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
I love a line from the Paraklesis to our parish saints, Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene: “We entreat you, O Martyr of Christ, who with Nicholas and Irene for His sake competed according to the rules: Save us from injuries by our unruly opponent, through your earnest prayers to our tender-loving Lord.” The good Monk Gerasimos Mikragiannanites wrote this Paraklesis to our patron saints and I love how he contrasts the saints,…

Admit it; You’re Not OK!

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
I’m my own worst enemy. The reason for this is that my ability to either delude myself or to overreact is so “normal” to me that it is really hard to be objective about my struggles by myself. I’m either too hard on myself or too easy on myself! Learning this opened my eyes to the wisdom of the Timeless Faith in encouraging me to have a regular confessor and to see…

The Immeasurable Riches of His Grace

· Fr. Barnabas Powell 1 Leave a Comment on %s
“All is gift.” This phrase captures both the simple and profound message that embodies the mystery of living a Eucharistic life. You may ask “What does that mean?” And I understand. We moderns are far removed from a world where mystery and wonder and story dominated our human society. And we are impoverished by this reduction of true mystery in our lives. Although, I will say that our modern world is slowly…

The Wisdom of Humility; The Foolishness of Pride

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
On this Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee, we are once again invited to prepare our lives for the Arena of the Virtues called Great Lent. The whole point of this spiritual spring cleaning season is the tried and true wisdom of learning the power of humility to create virtues and the damnable disease of pride that always destroys. Even a sinner who embraces honesty is justified just as apparent pious…

They Despise Authority

· Fr. Barnabas Powell
“Oh Lord, it’s hard to be humble, when you’re perfect in every way! I can’t wait to look in the mirror, ’cause I get better lookin’ each day.” Hilarious, right? But what makes it funny is that we know people who actually feel that way about themselves. They are always saying things like “Listen, it’s going to be huge. I’m going to make everything right again!” OK, careful there padre! (hee hee)…