Open Churches are a Blessing to All

By my estimation there are over one thousand Orthodox Christian Churches in the United States when you combine all jurisdictions within the Canonical Orthodox Church. That means there are over one thousand opportunities for the Church to be a daily blessing to the people of our nation, whether they are Orthodox Christians or not since…

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Worth the Effort

Sometimes we find ourselves asking why should even bother? There are so many who don’t really live as they should or pray as they should. It can be very tempting to throw up our arms and say, “Forget it! It isn’t worth it!” I understand the temptation, trust me, but I also know it is…

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Episode 345 – Be John the Baptist!

Rev. Fr. Athanasios Haros

On the day the Church commemorates the beheading of John the Baptist, the Church asks us to strictly fast to teach us, that life not is about our own pleasure. We live in a society that promotes the lie that we can have what we want, when we want it, and how we want it.…

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The Price of Pride

Today we are honoring the gruesome martyrdom of “the greatest man ever born of a woman,” (Matthew 11.11) as a warning against pride and greed. John the Baptist stood as a bold and public defender of truth and morality when he reminded Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (Mark…

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Lost and Found

Today is the Feast of a Saint I grew up knowing absolutely nothing about. I had no idea there was a saint dedicated to helping us find things that we had lost. Although little is known about this great Saint, which could explain why I never grew up knowing about him, it has become a…

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Endurance

When it comes to contemporary American life as Orthodox Christians, we often find ourselves between a rock and hard place. One the one hand, we know we must love all those around us despite their rejection of the Gospel of Christ. On the other hand, we must avoid falling into the trap of rejecting the…

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Did Paul Really Mean Obey Rulers?

Today the Church commemorates the memory of the Apostle Titus, one of the 70 Holy Apostles, who had come to the faith through the missionary efforts of Saint Paul. He lived to an old age and served the Church in Cyprus as Bishop. We see in Saint Titus, the fruit of Saint Paul’s efforts to…

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Episode 344 – Faith over Fear

Rev. Fr. Athanasios Haros

When it comes to dealing with the difficulties of life, it can be very easy to lose focus on Christ. It happened to Saint Peter, as we hear in the Gospel story of St Peter Walking on Water (Matthew 14.22-34) and it can happen to us. The solution is the same. We need to remain…

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Episode 343 – Time with God

Rev. Fr. Athanasios Haros

We live in a life preoccupied with busyness. Even when we are in Church, our minds wander to the busy things we must accomplish. In the story of Martha and Mary hosting Christ in their home, found in Luke 10.38-42, Christ reminds us of what is important. The important thing is that we find time…

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Episode 342 – Our Body and Soul Need God

Rev. Fr. Athanasios Haros

One day when Jesus was in His own town, a paralytic was brought to Him for healing, but instead of healing the man, Jesus forgave his sins. The people who were watching became angry and accused Jesus of blasphemy, rather than being glad the man’s sins were forgiven. The people were hyper-focused on physical health,…

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