It is Time for the Lord to Act: The Significance of Assembling
According to the official OCA service book, the Divine Liturgy begins when the deacon “bows his head to the priest and says, ‘It…
Reflections in Christ
Great Lent and Fasting in the Age of “the Screen”
“Enlighten me through prayers and fasting” [Forgiveness Vespers]. Within the context of Great Lent and our…
The Language of Unworthiness
In his first epistle to Timothy, Paul wrote, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus…
“Now is the Acceptable Time”—Lent as “Beginning”
A “good beginning” to Great Lent can go a long way toward a “good ending.” Today, on “Pure Monday,” it certainly may seem premature…
Bright Sadness
The American poet and Orthodox convert, Scott Cairns, writes in a chapter of God For Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Lent and Easter...
A Lenten Reading List
I thought to compile a list of more-or-less Orthodox “lenten classics” upon which you may want to draw as Great Lent…
What’s Wrong with Suicide?
Eventually every pastor will be faced with the question of what to do about the theological issue of suicide, either because…
The Gospels: Encountering Christ
On Sunday, January 29, the Sunday of Zacchaeus, we heard the first “signal” that Great Lent is just around the corner…
A Celebration of the Elderly
The Great Feast of the Meeting of Christ in the Temple, which we recently celebrated, is a feast of the elderly. When…
Inexcusable Excuse-Making
In the Parable of the Great Supper—Luke 14:16-24—we find a revealing glimpse into humankind’s inexhaustible propensity…