Pastoral Reflections

In some parts of Greece, there is a tradition that the day after Pascha is a day devoted to telling jokes. This tradition came about because they said that during Holy Week God pulled the greatest joke on Satan himself, when Christ willingly accepted to die on the Cross. Satan thought he won - that he had defeated Jesus, that darkness had conquered light, evil had conquered good, and death had conquered life – Satan thought he had won only to find out that when Christ entered the devil’s domain, hades, he could not contain the Eternal One. Listen »

“God is my help.” That is what the name Lazarus means. “God is my help.” And truly, God was the help of his friend Lazarus. Imagine, Lazarus died. He was buried in a tomb for four days. Lazarus tasted the terrible mystery of death. He witnessed the horrors of the evil one in His glory in Hades. He did not know for how long he would suffer in this terror of darkness. Yet after only four days, in the midst of all hopelessness, he hears a voice calling him – “Lazarus, come forth!” Listen »

The other day I watched a nurse gently take the socks off of an elderly patient and begin to massage their feet and then carefully rub them with lotion. The tender way in which the nurse spoke with her patient, carefully taking off the socks, lovingly addressing her patient the entire time so that she would not feel embarrassed, and truly making the patient feel that she really wanted to be doing what she was doing, touched me in a special way. I got the sense that the nurse truly cared about what she was doing. This was not simply a job to her, but a tender act of love. Listen »

Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden.  The king was like no other king.  Every statesman trembled before his power.  No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all opponents.  And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden.  How could he declare his love for her?  In an odd sort of way, his very kingliness tied his hands.  Listen »

These times in which we live seem so uncertain. What will tomorrow bring? What will the social, spiritual, financial and global impact look like a month from now? Six months from now? Although this crisis may appear unprecedented, if we study world history, we know that there have been countless forms of “unprecedented” calamity and insecurity from man-made and natural causes in every generation. Listen »

Who am I? When one hears the question, “Who am I?” some may respond with their name or may tell where they are from. Some may talk about their parents or children, and the family from which they came or which they have. Or they may talk about their work because they find their self-identity in their professional life. Or someone may talk about what they like to do, since they connect their life with their hobbies or pleasure. Listen »

“May God forgive the killers. We don't have hatred towards them. This is Christianity. God forgives the sinners. So shall we." These are the words of Fifi Shehata, whose father Maged was one of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by ISIS back in 2015. Listen »

In his book “The Brothers Karamazov”, Dostoevski describes well the tremendous responsibility and influence a Christian has on his neighbor.  Listen »

I was in district court this week for several hours and had an opportunity to watch a variety of cases which exemplified fallen humanity. Listen »

“Better is the person who has sinned, if he knows he has sinned and repents, than the person who has not sinned and thinks himself righteous.” This advice came from the Desert Fathers, who were holy saints of the 4th century and to whom thousands of people flocked for spiritual wisdom during their time. Listen »

How many of us have ever waited a long time for something special? Listen »

“I don’t have time to go to church.” “I can’t find the time to pray, or to read the Bible every day.” “I don’t have time to visit the nursing homes, to help some family in need, or to visit someone in the hospital. I just don’t have time!” Listen »

One day a man who thought he had too many problems in his life went to see his priest. He felt overwhelmed with the challenges he faced, and began complaining about how unfair life was. “Why did this happen,” he lamented, “What did I do to deserve all this? It’s just not fair!” The priest patiently listened as the man went on and on with his list of complaints. Listen »

In today’s Gospel reading, we hear the Evangelist Matthew describe the beginning of Jesus’ ministry by saying, “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light… Light has dawned.” (Matthew 4:16) Listen »

Hatred, anger, and violence. Cheating, corruption and greed. Impurity, lust and uncontrolled sex. Self-centeredness, self-love, and self-interest. These all seem to be a part of our so-called progressive, “enlightened” society. Although we live in an age of unbelievable technological, medical and scientific advances, and live in a world where we have greater freedom than ever before in history, still the same centuries-old vices of humanity continue to plague us - the darkness of greed, hatred, anger, lust, self-righteousness, self-centeredness and self-love. Listen »