Being Hindered in Good
The Book of Acts contains the exciting missionary adventures of the first Apostles of our Lord. We see them sweep through much of the eastern Roman Empire with the Gospel. Often, they meet conflict or...
View ArticleCalled to Be the Voice of the Voiceless
The word of the day is “speechless.” Can those who have no voice get justice? If they cannot speak, they cannot be heard. Therefore, if their cause is to be considered, then someone must speak for...
View ArticleThe Least I Can Do
One of the perennial struggles I have in the spiritual life comes from a form of pride that is lodged fast in me and manifests itself in an “all or nothing” attitude toward spiritual life and other...
View ArticleHow Not to Let One’s Guard Down after the Fast?
If someone asked me to point out the main problem in spiritual life of a modern man, I would not hesitate for a moment and say it is the lack of system. The post How Not to Let One’s Guard Down after...
View ArticleHow Contemplating the Works of Salvation Can Turn Your Life Around
The word of the day is “turn.” We are now in the third week of the Paschal season. How has our life changed? Yes, the joy of Pascha has given us new hope, new inspiration, and new faith. Yet has...
View ArticleWhat Really Brings Us Rest?
Let’s not lose the respite we find in living in virtue’ (Abba Dorotheos) People feel weary with their life. Children at school have to study and follow a tiring schedule which doesn’t leave them much...
View ArticleSay Yes
For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you … was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God …. (2Co 1:19-20)...
View ArticleLook What I Have Done!
Christ is Risen!! “The passion of pride darkens the soul completely and leads to its utter downfall.” (St. John Cassian, 360 –435). That huge mule deer buck in our photo had absolutely nothing to do...
View ArticleCelebrating 100 Years with Paschal Joy
What a special celebration our Saints Constantine and Helen Church Family enjoyed last weekend! After postponing our 100th Anniversary Celebration twice because of COVID, we finally concluded our...
View ArticleFamily Life and Spiritual Warfare
Someone recently wrote me the following: Can you please give us a word regarding the topic of “how to overcome thoughts of pride in our hearts that inevitably come after labouring on good works for our...
View ArticleThe Gift of God
A recent opinion piece was entitled “America Has a Scorn Problem.” The commentator highlighted the internal rivalries among the American people that, as the piece claimed, sap the creative energy and...
View ArticleHow to Respond to Opposition to the Gospel
The word of the day is “brethren.” We might have the impression that Paul did not want anything to do with the Jews. After all, he was the champion of accepting Gentiles into the fellowship of faith....
View ArticleDo We Get a Second Chance After Failing?
The word of the day is “second.” They say that when the going gets tough, the tough get going. But what about those who are not so resilient? Is there a second chance for quitters? In our reading...
View ArticleSincerity: Abhorrence of Pretense
Moralism is a typical example of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy taints even virtuous actions and Saint John of the Ladder uses a playful incident in order to analyze this specious side of the spiritual life, one...
View ArticleA Difficult Beauty
It seems to me that bad things come easily. Whether it is ugliness, anger, or every kind of darkness, we not only see such things, but seem “bound” to see them. Why are we “hard-wired” for such...
View ArticleThe Interactive Work Of The Holy Spirit
When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples on the day of Pentecost, there are two miracles. One miracle is that the disciples spoke in new languages, and the other is that the people heard the...
View ArticleHow Pretexts Hide Motives
The word of the day is “pretext.” Evil comes in many disguises. One of these is to hide one’s motives under the cloak of pretext. This tactic of wickedness misleads others into believing that the...
View Article“Traditional Family Values”
What are “traditional family values” and what is their role in the life of a Christian? First of all, it is important to understand what is not meant by the term “traditional family values”. In...
View ArticleA Calling to Beauty, A Calling to Holiness
“Beauty will save the world,” said the great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky. But what is that beauty? Not simply art no matter how well executed or in what medium. Indeed, we can become tearful...
View ArticleDoing For or Being With
Samuel Wells in an article called “Rethinking Service,” asks a very fundamental question: What if the essential problem of human beings is not death and limitation, but loneliness? Wells is...
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