Reflection on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord into the Temple
The feast of the Meeting of the Lord marks the end of the Nativity season. Forty days ago, we greeted the newborn King with the…
Reflections in Christ
Reflection on the Day after Zacchaeus Sunday
Yesterday was the final Sunday “after Pentecost,” when we read the last of the Sunday lections from Saint Luke’s Gospel. And ...
Why I Am a Christian (Part 2)
In my previous blog piece, “Why I Am a Christian (Part 1)” I examined the question of why one should believe in the physical Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I looked at the essential historical…
Why I Am a Christian (Part 1)
Many years ago, when I was tucking my eldest daughter into bed, she asked me a question: “Dad, why do we believe in the Resurrection?” I have always taught both…
“Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?”
In 1956 an American game show debuted called “To Tell the Truth”. Each round of the game introduced three people all claiming to be the same person, and a team of panelists would ask them questions. Those pretending to be…
Sermon on the feast of Saint Nicholas
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. I greet all of you with joy on the occasion of the patronal feast of our cathedral, the feast of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker. Saint Nicholas is known the world over; in some ways…
Up It Comes Again—the Whack-a-Mole Heresy
Some heresies never seem to die, but have a disconcerting tendency to pop up in every generation, rather like the emerging heads of the whack-a-mole in the children’s game…
Call No Man “Father”
Like many Orthodox clergy, I have lost track of the number of times my Protestant brethren have objected to the priestly title (in my case, “Father Lawrence”), citing the Bible which commands that they…
Banquet Remarks on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, and the Enthronement of Bishop Daniel
I greet you with joy on this holy occasion. And I thank you all for your gracious hospitality. I do not intend to speak at length, but I hope you will allow me to reflect brief…
Exhortation at the Conclusion of the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, and the Enthronement of Bishop Daniel
Your Grace Bishop Daniel, I greet you today with joy, joy for you and joy for your flock. But it is not just I who have come to visit the cathedral for your enthronement. ...