Pastoral Reflections

Do you realize that the very first thing we do in the Sacrament of Baptism, which is our entrance into the Christian way of life, is to renounce Satan and all his works and all his worship and all his angels and all his pride? In other words, we begin our Christian life by acknowledging the reality of the devil and his demons, and then declaring an all out war upon them by renouncing them. Even by spitting upon them! We totally and absolutely reject Satan’s demonic side of life! Listen »

“The criminal in your community may be less guilty for his crime than you, his Christian neighbor,” the great Russian writer Dostoievski wrote in his book The Brothers Karamazov. “For you could have been a light to the evil doer, yet you were not. For the man remained beside you in darkness. Had you been the kind of example you ought to have been and allowed your light to shine on that lost man’s path, perhaps he might not have stumbled into his crime. If you had loved your neighbor as yourself and lavished upon him some of the care you generously lavish upon yourself, shared some of the warmth God has privileged you to possess, that criminal might have changed in time.” Listen »

“Fr. Arseny helped so many people that we, looking at him, began helping others. How did I become a believer?” noted a former communist atheist, “After watching Fr. Arseny for a long time, how could I NOT become what he was! He was a light in unbearable darkness!” Listen »

Who wants to be considered a fool? Anyone? Foolishness is not a virtue that we admire, or strive to attain, and yet, today as we celebrate the Holy Apostles, the first followers of Jesus Christ, and a day after we honored the Apostles Peter and Paul, the foremost leaders of the Apostles, we hear in St. Paul’s Epistle about the “foolishness” of the first Christians. Listen »

The saints of the Church represent quite a wide range of fascinating people. Some were apostles, prophets and martyrs; bishops, priests and ascetics; men and women; rich and poor; old and young; some who were murderers and thieves early in their lives; others were prostitutes and quite immoral in their behavior; all who were sick and broken to some degree, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or spiritually; many who were quite lost in their lives. Listen »

Someone once asked a famous doctor, “What is the most devastating disease among people today.” He immediately replied, “Loneliness. The longer I practice medicine, the surer I am that no condition is so painful and universal as loneliness.” Listen »

On this glorious feast of Pascha, let us not listen to the voices of society that try to ridicule and reject the resurrection as some myth. Instead, let us rejoice in hope! Christ is Risen and He offers new life to all the world! We no longer fear anything, even death itself! Listen »

It’s easy to join a crowd and go along with the masses. And we often see how easy it is to get hyped up with mass hysteria. Yet to make a commitment is something quite different. To commit to following a path, despite what the majority say or do, is quite a challenge. Listen »

Today’s reading is taken from the final passages from the Book of Genesis... Listen »

Be glad, O Bethany: for Christ shall come to you, performing in you a great and fearful miracle... Listen »

Growing up as an Orthodox Christian, I will admit I never understood the significance of Holy Communion... Listen »

“Jesus Wept” “There is not a shorter verse in the Bible, nor a larger text.” ~John Donne Listen »

Has this Lent made a difference in your everyday life? Listen »

On this day, we remember in a special way a woman that many would probably not think of as being holy or worthy of honor... Listen »

We look to Jesus to discover how God acts in the world Listen »