Fr. Stephen looks at the very heart of fasting—not the foods, not the 'how to's'—but why we fast.

Drawing on a passage from the writings of the Elder Sophrony, Fr. Stephen looks at the spiritual importance of "waking up." St. Paul reminds us, "Arise, O Sleeper, awake from the dead..."

St. Gregory of Nyssa speaks of man both as singer and song. Fr. Stephen explores how we are the "song of God."

God engages our world in concrete, practical ways. These "sacraments" are a means of sharing in the Divine Life. Fr. Stephen speaks about the "sacrament" of mercy.

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, Orthodox Christians celebrate the return of icons to the Churches. Fr. Stephen looks at the spirit of icon smashing that occasionally infects Christians and various political movements and contrasts it with the spirit of authentic Christianity.

Fr. Stephen speaks about the crisis of a "Churchless" Christianity

What is the soul? Fr. Stephen speaks about the "secret life" and the mystery of our selves.

The goal of the Christian life is true knowledge of God (Jn. 17:3). Fr. Stephen speaks about the mysterious character of this knowledge.

Our feelings and desires are trained by our culture to seek satisfaction. In our spiritual life, we often need to learn how to be disappointed. Fr. Stephen looks at the "disappointment of religion."

One of the temptations of our secular age is the public drive to make religious faith a "private" matter. Fr. Stephen looks at this tension within our culture and the importance of the Christian public response.

Our modern world is increasingly finding ways to avoid the uncomfortable reality of death. Orthodoxy faces death directly and sees within it the triumph of Christ and His affirmation of His good creation.

The true self is "hid with Christ in God," St. Paul tells us. What then is the "self" that we live with every day? Fr. Stephen looks at how we create our own identity and how we should seek our true self in Christ.

Fr. Stephen continues with the topic of the battle between the true self and the false self, looking this week at what it means to be "moral."

Fr. Stephen continues to look at issues between the false self and our true life in Christ.

In his recent series on the true and false self, Fr. Stephen looks at evangelism of the heart.

Fr. Stephen completes his series on the true and false self, with thoughts on how we can go about "speaking to the heart."

When the Church's hymns describe us as "rational sheep," what does it mean? Fr. Stephen offers this meditation on language and humanity. Language is part of our deepest nature - and it is a reflection of God.

"The whole world is a sacrament," according to Patriarch Bartholomew. Fr. Stephen explores what this means as he examines the Eucharist in the Scriptures.

Fr. Stephen looks at our role as "priests of creation" in a world understood as sacrament.

The desire for justice is infinite - because such a desire is one of the passions. Fr. Stephen looks at the problems created by wrong thinking on the topic of justice.

Fr. Stephen offers a meditation on the Father's understanding that everything is in motion. What does this mean for the direction of our lives?

Fr. Stephen looks at several of Christ's difficult sayings and what they mean. Why is it permissible to call a priest "Father"?

Fr. Stephen speaks at length about the place of Orthodoxy within the modern world. Orthodox history is unknown to most Americans but has something to say to them and to help them in the healing of their own culture.

People, regardless of their background, sometimes fall into arguments about the Scripture. Fr. Stephen looks at why the Orthodox need to avoid such arguments and explains how the Orthodox should rightly read the Word of God.

Fr. Stephen notes that in an Orthodox wedding, there are no wedding vows. This stands in stark contrast to the central place vows hold in Western tradition. He suggests that the West has come to think of marriage as a "contract" between two people while the Orthodox Church thinks of it as a "union." The difference is important.

Are "mental" and "spiritual" the same thing? Fr. Stephen looks at how modern misunderstandings of the spiritual life can distort our Orthodox practices.

How do we lose God in the midst of our plans? How can we keep Him?

Fr. Stephen looks at the connectedness of our lives: of our sin and of our salvation.

Christ is the fire of God that comes among us. May He burn brightly in our hearts!

Fr. Stephen uses the language of Baptism to describe the "mystical reality" of the Christian life.

With this podcast, Fr. Stephen begins a small series of reflections on the character of the modern world and the particular difficulties it presents to the Orthodox faith.

Continuing his series on the "Modern Project," Fr. Stephen looks at the role "choice" plays in the modern world and contrasts that with older disciplines in the Christian life.

The frightful pressure felt by the young as they struggle to find their vocation is deeply enmeshed in the Modern Project. Fr. Stephen looks at those expectations as well as the true vocation of Christians.

Fr. Stephen looks at the nature of envy and its deep connections with ideas of justice.

Fr. Stephen reflects on the hidden nature of God's work.

St. Paul describes the mystery of the faith as: Christ within us, the hope of glory. Fr. Stephen looks at the meaning of God in us and the life of grace.

Does God have feelings? Can we influence how he feels? Fr. Stephen looks carefully at the theology of grace and the idea of the psychology of God.

This podcast is part one of three where Fr. Stephen explores the topic of Orthodoxy and our sexual/gendered existence.

Is the me in my head, the voice that rattles on, the same thing as my soul? What is my identity in Christ?

In part two of this three part talk on male and female, Fr. Stephen looks at the "hidden" character of this aspect of our lives.

Fr. Stephen looks at the human soul and what it means that it is a mystery—known to God—but not fully known to us.

Fr. Stephen completes his short series on the true meaning of male and female in Orthodox teaching.

In this podcast, Fr. Stephen contrasts the “literal” reading of Scripture with the practice of the Orthodox Church, in which we seek to discern the “mystery hidden from all the ages.”

Fr. Stephen explains how God is the Ultimate Particular, not "God in General," and what this means for our lives.

Fr. Stephen offers thoughts on the providence of God—His will working good for us all despite what we may see or think.

Fr. Stephen examines the use of legal imagery and the problems it causes when we try to apply it to our relationship with God. Instead, he looks at the language of "being" used in the Fathers.

Fr. Stephen looks at one of the most treasured notions of the modern world.

Fr. Stephen reflects on the complexity of the human heart through the work of Dostoevsky.

The spiritual life values being old and gives lessons to the young.

Fr. Stephen continues his thoughts on the topic of shame—looking at its place in Christ's death on the Cross.