“Thoughts in Christ”

So many now say, “That was then, and this is now.” No, we respond, this is the Holy Bible, the teaching of the apostle St. Paul, and the standards remain the same. He is addressing the Corinthians. He is reminding them of what they had been before committing themselves to the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is a sad, even disgusting commentary on what a…

He or she believes in God from infancy. He was baptized and raised being taught to love, honor and obey the teachings of “One holy, Catholic and apostolic Church.” And he had done so, even as an altar server, learning the doctrines of the Church and observing them throughout school days and college years. He nurtures himself spiritually on the…

Something within our human psyche creates a yearning to live forever. We have been like this for centuries, according to the author of the above book. Early scientists thought that alchemy would do it. Later on it was thought that monkey glands were the key to longevity. The Russian intellectual, Nicolai Federov, predicted a time when humans would…

In so few words so much is revealed between mother and Son. We find her sharing an immediate problem—is it truly a miracle she seeks? It’s not what she asks. Indeed, she doesn’t really ask for anything, but yet He grasps the import of her statement. Just on the human level we marvel at the connection between parent and Child. So many ordinary…

Years ago when I had ended a taping for a television program, I was standing outside the elevator bank with the show’s producer, waiting to descend to the floor exit. I was approached by a waiter from the nearby restaurant. “Pardon me, sir, but there are several women who asked to speak with you.” Curious, yet a bit annoyed, I bid farewell to the…

Life came from God’s Spirit breathed into the man’s nostrils. Can it be also that the fragrance of divinity has remained with us as a subtle reminder that a human being is more than mere dust—that we are destined to be wherever God is?

Consider the salmon in NW Canada and Alaska. They are spawned there in the rivers and streams, then they are…

9/11. Nine eleven. Everybody knows what those numbers signify. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the invasion of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese air force “A date that will live in infamy” (December 7, 1941). It seems that we’ve now added to that date—seven years ago already, or just seven years ago, depending on one’s point of view. Most of us…

The rejection of the rich young man is to me as mysterious as the election of Judas Iscariot to the twelve apostles. Why not recruit him, take him along, start where he was spiritually and intellectually, and then progressively lead him towards “perfection”? He was willing, he had much to offer, and one would think that he had a much higher…

That event threw Saul from his horse onto the ground, the flash of light blinded him for three days, and it turned his whole life around. That conversion experience the holy apostle Paul related three times in the New Testament. Many Evangelical Orthodox Christians have had experiences not as dramatic but nevertheless life-transforming, and they too…

St. Paul is writing to the Colossian Church. It’s comprised mostly of Gentiles. He reveals his insight concerning a mystery that he is imparting to them. Most mysteries are about secret knowledge kept hidden. This mystery found in the Bible concerns truth that God intends to expose to the world. The apostle understands his life’s purpose is to carry…

In my first few years following ordination, I was the youngest and of course lowest of the eight priests at our New York City cathedral. Between Fr. Leonid and me was forty one years. I knew my place literally at all services—far removed from the celebrant, normally the Metropolitan. I enjoyed my rank. The celebrants were consistent in assigning…

In a lovely frequently sung service to Christ Jesus, the Akathist [in Greek not sitting], the Orthodox Church celebrates our love for our Savior in a series of fourteen stanzas, the constant theme being one of praise, honor and glory to the Lord. If we were to analyze the meaning of the service I should suggest that it’s therapeutic. When sung, it…

Finding that kingdom is the whole purpose and meaning of life. Nothing else matters, yet so many unfortunate humans live and die not only never discovering that hidden realm, but not even knowing that it exists. Nathaniel may have been thinking about it when Jesus told him that He knew what was in the mind of Philip’s friend. (John 1:45-49)

“How do…

Knowledge, wisdom and understanding are the three elements of intelligence that make us human beings superior to all forms of existence on the earth. They are not the same at all.

Knowledge is what we know. Measured in I.Q., it sums up the facts we have learned and stored up in our memory banks. You may recall examples of those blessed with vast…

Many think of the Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary as a mild, meek woman patiently suffering with her anguish, if indeed they think of her at all. Those western Christians who have no place for saints feel her presence in the Church to be unwarranted and unnecessary. Yet we find in the first words following the glorious annunciation to her from…

Even as a teenager I would turn to the back part of the Bible to find the epistles of St. Paul, because they are so upbeat and positive. They cheered me up and still do. Yet if we turn to II Corinthians 6:3-13 and read of the many hardships he suffered in his ministry for Christ, we wonder how St. Paul was able to rejoice in the Lord with such…

St. Paul has such an open, innocent and unaffected way to connect himself with God and with those whom he loves, even if he had never met them. What a joy it had to be receiving an epistle from that great apostle, hearing it read in the congregation and realizing that he not only addressed them, but he prayed for them. It’s good to pray for others,…

The Lord Jesus was preparing the apostles for His leaving them and comforting them with the promise of another Comforter, none else than the Holy Spirit. He will ask the heavenly Father to send the Spirit, and He will console them by making it plain that they will always have access to the truth. Christ goes on to say, “The world cannot accept Him,…

Good
intentions alone cannot bring a person out of depression if the miserable one prefers to remain in misery. As the proverb states it, we’d prefer not to acknowledge our anger and frustration but rather to project it onto others—even at the Lord. I recall an instance of this from my earliest years of priesthood in New York City. Being young and…

Our nation’s pop culture is enthralled with the television program American Idol. One singer is selected from among hundreds of contestants voted by the public to be awarded the title. We Christians, like Jews, are reluctant, even averse, to making idols of anything or anybody; nevertheless, throughout my life I’ve honored the singers who have…