“Thoughts in Christ”

The highlight of the Holy Liturgy is the invitation from the altar to approach and receive the sacred Body and Blood of our Lord, God and Savior, Jesus Christ. You have prepared yourself by fasting and reciting the prayers before Communion. Now three requirements challenge you as you approach the holy chalice.

A. With the fear of God. Fear is a…

We might explore this enlightening anecdote for lessons we can apply to ourselves. First comes family values from a model family, albeit one without children or parents. Three siblings who live together are bonded in a love relationship that has no sexual expression. Here we find a monastic community in the midst of society.

Where is Lazarus, the…

I’m sitting with the family in the hospital atrium. We are waiting for the signal that the lifeless infant, but a month shy of birthing time, had been removed from her mother’s womb. Then we are to go to her side for prayers and comfort, assisting as best we are able the melancholy process of spiritual healing.

“You priests must become accustomed…

Raising towers comes instinctively to men, but not necessarily to women. Boy infants squat on the floor, squeeze blocks in fat fingers and place one atop another, piling them up until they fall. Later they will fulfill that urge by erecting pillars, monuments, spires and towers as evidence of their presence on the earth. And they take pride in…

The Holy Land is where a horrible war rages on. It appears there is no way to attain peace between Arabs and Israelis. No plan is offered, no nation including our own is able to help. Killings are a daily phenomenon. We might ask the famous question worn on many Christian children’s bracelets: WWJD. What Would Jesus Do?

We know already from what He…

Originality is difficult to come by. For instance, take the problem that the Communists had when they sought to replace the Russian Orthodox Church with atheism. They realized that the people were so imbued with the essentials of their faith that if they were to replace Christianity, they could not just do it with nothing at all. So they substituted…

Here begins the Sermon on the Mount. If it will mean anything to you, first you must follow Him up the mountain. Like Him, you must leave the crowds behind. That part of you that belongs to the ordinary, the everyday conventional way of life, is a detriment to spiritual progress. “Holy things are for the holy!” You hear it proclaimed just before…

If you need a reason to attend the Divine Liturgy, it’s enough just to listen to the choir sing the phrase: “now lay aside all earthly cares.” Better than any session with psychiatrist or meeting of a group therapy class, preferable to learning Oriental meditation transcendental or otherwise, is the self-awareness that comes from contemplating that…

I’ll be sorry when our iconographer completes his task of surrounding our temple with beautiful icons. It’s always interesting to hear the comments of those who voice their opinions on the work in progress. One might think that he would add pigments to the white surface until he arrives at skin tone; but it’s not how it’s done. The master begins the…

I’m in a foreign land in a store standing in line behind a rangy young lad plucking his purchases from his basket. As he places them on the checkout counter, I notice that though he’s not an American he may as well be one. His neck chain spills from his tee shirt. I’m curious to see what symbol he would wear on the chain. Some American baseball…

Christ is telling us to go into our rooms to pray, which is what we do before bedtime. Does it mean that we should not pray in Church? Of course not! He had just warned us in a sentence before this that we are not to pray like hypocrites, who enjoy being seen at prayer by others. Jesus never liked spiritual showoffs, and He doesn’t want anyone…

What can it mean, while He may be found? And, while He is near? Surely God is everywhere present and fills all things, as we remind ourselves several times each day in our daily prayers. How then does the prophet tell us that we must look for God in the time given us to discover Him? You will answer: Find God during your lifetime, because when you…

In light of the recent pedophile priest scandals one might wonder why the matter of validity has not been raised. In simple terms, can a sinful priest sanctify the Holy Eucharist? Are baptisms and other sacraments he performs authentic expressions of the works of the Holy Spirit? That was a problem centuries ago, especially in northern Africa. For…

I’ve been a priest for forty-two years. It hasn’t seemed long at all—unless, that is, I compare the development, if it can be called that, through the decades. Contrast would be a better term. One thinks of priests as Roman Catholic; however, I am an Orthodox priest; Russian, if an ethnic label helps to define me. My first few years were served in…

Who of the Orthodox children of God hasn’t heard that slow droning plaint at a funeral or requiem? It contains the glorious contradiction: Even in death there is not the loss of the Lord. The paradox of spirituality must today be explained.

A funeral dirge is intended to convey the sad message of death’s reality. Those who come to pay their…

Why, we are asked frequently, do you use incense in your worship? Those whose faith comes exclusively from the Holy Bible demand to know: Where in sacred scriptures are Christians encouraged to use incense? In answer we might point to the above reference. The Orthodox are wafting aloft the fragrance of salvation and life among the dead and dying.…

God our heavenly Father had a plan for the universe: He would gather up all things in Jesus Christ. It’s an amazing, mysterious idea. Jesus is the summary of history. Every phase of human history is summed up and recapitulated in Christ. By living an exemplary life, Jesus impresses on all humanity the example of what the Father had in mind when He…

Those in touch with God in their souls, both on earth and in heaven, feel the harmony of peace that often is expressed in song. For many millennia thoughtful people sensed and shared in a bond uniting religion, philosophy, mathematics and science with music. They believed that by singing or plucking certain chords or tones together, one could…

My prayer for each newly baptized and chrismated child of God is that the above desire may be fulfilled, and that it will influence that child throughout a lifetime. And where is the beauty of the Lord to be found in His house? In the architecture, the cupolas and domes, the icons and altar? Yes. In the sacred services, especially the Divine…

Recently the media reported what they felt was a strange alliance between religious leaders and environmentalists. They thought it odd that churches would team up with “tree huggers” to form a coalition dedicated to protecting the environment. I wonder that it should be considered unusual. The Bible speaks clearly

“The earth is the Lord’s and the…