Archive for February 2022

In a world in which around every corner is a different Church, all competing for our attention, how can be sure the Orthodox Church is the correct Church? Among an estimated 43,000 denominations (as of 2015 Gordon Conwell Seminary Study), each offering a slightly different answer to the question, “Who is God, and why should…

Years ago, when I was still a layman, I was speaking with a priest who said he would rather be a Christian in the former Soviet Union than in America today. He said those words just a few years after the fall of the USSR, but I never really appreciated them until recently. He explained,…

It might be difficult to imagine, but I encounter many people who think themselves so guilty of sin, they don’t know where to begin in their repentance. I remember one time, while hearing the confession of a teenager, I was told, “I mean, I’m not going to stop doing it Father.” You can’t imagine my…

While it is true many Orthodox Saints are among the martyrs, like today’s commemoration of the Martyrs of Russia in the 1917 revolution, not all saints were killed violently for their faith. Many lived in peace, worldly speaking, and lived long prayerful lives. You don’t have to be a rebel to be a saint. Sometimes,…

It is a difficult task to comfort someone who has been abused. Whether it was verbal or physical abuse, both leave painful scars, and both affect the way we interact with others. As a priest, I am constantly reminded of this during Holy Confession when I hear of so much pain. I remind those who…

The title martyr is given to those who are killed for a cause, but being a martyr isn’t always about being killed. Sometimes being a martyr (the word simply means witness in Greek) is living according to the teachings of God, and living those teachings openly. As we focus on the lives of the saints…

The more popular our ministry becomes, the more we receive comments from non Orthodox Christians accusing of us not being a real church, even calling us pagan slanders. Orthodox Christians in the west are accustomed to such accusations, but not without before reminding our western brethren of our loyalty to the teachings of the Holy…

How can the Church be relevant to a population which is hyper-focused on the self? This question plagues my mind these days, especially after I watched a dialogue yesterday between a Roman Catholic and Orthodox theologians. They were discussing young people’s attitudes toward religion in general, and to the Church less specifically. According to some,…

Could you ever imagine a day when you were tortured ‘just because’ you preached and taught that Jesus Christ was God? Could you ever imagine dedicating your entire life to God, only to experience extreme humiliation at the end? We are so blessed in 21st Century America, as far as persecution is concerned, but we…