The Lessons: The Sunday of the Prodigal

From the Prophet St. Isaiah: Comfort, O comfort my people; says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that she has served her term, that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of [...]

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So much depends on this.

This broke my heart today: “You who sit there in utter misery, look up and show your friend your face. There is no darkness bears a cloak so black as could conceal your suffering. Why wave your hand to warn me of the taint of blood? For fear your words pollute me? I am [...]

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Gluttony of Delicacy

This is an entry in the comments of another article. It seems like it might also make a good article.
Each Winter stray cats starve and freeze to death in agonizing pain, whether in the country or in ordinary residential neighborhoods, right outside of abundant shelter and food. I always wanted to help, but I couldn’t [...]

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The Treasure of the Church

St. Lawrence was summoned to the Emperor, who demanded he turn over to him the treasure of the Church. St. Lawrence ’s response was to beg for time, which he received.
He then went and redistributed the material wealth of the Church to those who needed it (legend says that it was Lawrence who sent the [...]

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With Fear, Faith, and Love, Draw Near.

I have spent most of my younger Orthodox life being most concerned about offending God. Myself offending God. Others offending God. My people (us) offending God.
I’ve begun to think that God is most offended by how men act toward one another. Most offended by failure to love one another. By my failure. In other words, [...]

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The Union of All Creation

How imperfect the union of all men, that we pray for in the litanies.
Death, the fragmentation that sunders body and soul, that divides the soul (setting mind, will, and emotion at odds) also divides us from all men.
The first criminal psychologists were called Alienists, because they believed that behavior which alienates men from each other [...]

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Take heart. Take courage.

To you who read this:

May the Lord answer in time of trial;
may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.
May he send you help from his shrine
and give you support from Zion.
May he remember all your offerings
and receive your sacrifice with favor.
May he give you your heart’s desire
and fulfill every one of your plans.
May we ring [...]

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The Eye of a Needle

I once had a spiritual advisor, Edie, and among the things that she helped me with was this: I was starting to lose heart, because I was poor. The people around me had been saying that it’s a sign of God’s judgment on me, and that I should be ashamed because I couldn’t pay my [...]

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Judgment Hastens

A few years ago, in a nearby college town, I saw police hassling a homeless person who was also probably a little emotionally sick. He’d been sitting on a bench with his gear outside some businesses in the campus area. Apparently someone had decided he was talking to himself too loudly and called 911.”I didn’t [...]

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Who sit in darkness and shadow

“Although by katchi abadi standards, Grax is better than many others, the village has many social, physical and civic deprivations. During one of our visits, the community health worker expressed concern about a girl who appeared ‘mentally disturbed’. She lived about a mile from the centre. We went to visit her at her house.
A small [...]

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The World is Turning

The Fast is coming. Can you feel it? The world is bending into leanness. The creation is a mystery. How we shun the first buds of Spring for the fullness of Spring, and prepare ourselves. The Fast is coming. At last, at last. Time that we can turn ourselves more fully into repentance, time we [...]

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