A parishioner sent me an article this week from the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Eastern Orthodoxy Gains New Followers in America,’ which traces a small but growing trend of those with no ethnic ties joining Eastern Orthodox church like ours. The reasons for this, I believe, can be captured in one word from our introductory…

After many years in Monastic life, Syncletica teaches this: ‘If you find yourself in a monastery do not switch to another place, for that will harm you a great deal. Just as the bird who abandons the eggs she was sitting on prevents them from hatching, so the monk or the nun grows cold and…

So this is why I think we all benefit from marital preparation in any way, at any time.  Marriage-to work, to others, to God himself-is a sacramental bond specially blessed by God. But they can only form and transform us if we prepare and discipline ourselves to endure the ups and downs of those relationships. …

Today’s reading reminds us that the evil tries first to isolate us in order to defeat us.  St. Peter writes that the evil one prowls around the faithful like a lion, we are safe together, but vulnerable when isolated. As Christians, we need each other; we need to share each other’s triumphs and our trials. …

So perhaps all peoples take themselves too seriously, too often.  This is where our faith comes in and its helpful to recall that God seems to have baked humor and laughter into his creation.  ‘Alone among the animals, man is shaken with that beautiful madness called laughter,’ said Chesterton, ‘as if he had caught sight…

I would like to start today’s Easter sermon with a few questions if I may. ‘How many of you sent out hundreds of Easter Cards this year?” “Has anyone attended a work or family Easter party?” “Is anyone sick of hearing endless Easter carols on the radio and endless Easter-themed television specials?” That’s what I…