Today we continue to celebrate the most fundamental and joyful proclamation of our faith: Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life!

As we continue to celebrate our Lord’s glorious resurrection on the third day and victory over Hades and the tomb, we have to admit that all too often we live as though death still reigned. We do so especially when we obsess about how weak, broken, and vulnerable we are, especially in light of the grave.

Forty days after His resurrection, our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ ascended in glory into heaven and sat at the right hand of God the Father. He did so as One Who is fully divine and fully human, One Person with two natures. He ascended with His glorified, resurrected body, which still bore the wounds of His crucifixion. Our Lord’s Ascension reveals that we may participate by grace in the eternal life of the Holy Trinity and share in His fulfillment of the human person in God’s image and likeness. We may experience such blessedness even now by uniting ourselves to Christ even as we live and breathe in this world with our feet on the ground.

On today’s great Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the fulfillment of the deepest desires of those who bear the divine image and likeness to participate personally in the eternal life of God.

We live in a time when many people water down and distort the Christian faith however it pleases them. Some do so in support of their favorite political or cultural agendas, while others simply want a little spirituality to help them find greater peace of mind or success in their daily lives, which do not differ at all from those of people who do not identify themselves as Christians

Our Lord’s ministry violated many of the religious and cultural sensibilities of first-century Palestine in shocking ways. Contrary to all expectations for the Jewish Messiah, He asked for a drink of water from a Samaritan woman with a broken personal history, engaged in an extended spiritual conversation with her, and then spent two days in a Samaritan village. He invited Himself to the home of Zacchaeus, a corrupt tax-collector for the Roman army of occupation. And as we read today, He not only healed the servant of a Roman centurion, but said of this man, “Truly, I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” This encounter is truly astounding because the Jews expected a Messiah to defeat the Romans by military force, not to praise the faith of their officers.

We are certainly in a spiritually rich time of year in the life of the Church. Having begun the fast in preparation for the Dormition of the Theotokos, we are now also anticipating the Transfiguration of the Lord, when Peter, James, and John beheld His divine glory on Mount Tabor. As with all the feasts of the Church, the point is not simply to remember what happened long ago, but instead to participate personally in the eternal truth made manifest in these celebrations. And that means nothing less than being transfigured ourselves by our Lord’s gracious divine energies as we come to share more fully in His restoration and fulfillment of the human person as a living icon of God.

Today we continue to celebrate the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mt. Tabor, when the spiritual eyes of Peter, James, and John were opened to behold His divine glory. They saw Him shining brilliantly and heard the voice of the Father proclaiming “This is my beloved Son with Whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.” We also continue to prepare to celebrate the Dormition (or “falling asleep”) of the Theotokos, when she became the first to follow her Son as a whole embodied person into the eternal life of the heavenly kingdom.

It is easy to fall into despair before our own personal problems, the challenges faced by loved ones, and the brokenness of our society and world. It is tempting to refuse to accept that we remain responsible for offering ourselves to Christ as best we can for healing and transformation in holiness, regardless of what is going on in our lives, families, or world

Think for a moment about how we mark the passage of time in our lives. We all know how old we are. Students know what grade they are in. Workers know how long they have been employed. Married people count their anniversaries. Some of us remember America’s bicentennial. Perhaps we pay attention to such markers to try to make sense of the meaning of our lives as those caught up in the inevitable cycle of birth and death, of one generation passing away as another arises. As we read in Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.” (Eccles. 1:9)

As we continue to celebrate the Elevation of the Holy Cross, we must remain on guard against the temptation of viewing our Lord’s Cross as merely a religious symbol that requires nothing of us. Through His Self-Offering on the Cross, Christ has conquered death and brought salvation to the world. But in order for us to share personally in His eternal life, we must take up our own crosses, deny ourselves, and follow Him. If we refuse to do that, then we will show that we are ashamed of our Lord and want no part in Him or His Kingdom. We will show that we prefer to continue in the old way of death rather than to enter by His grace into the heavenly reign.

Many are strongly tempted today to allow the problems facing our culture and world to distract us from growing to maturity in the Christian life and bearing good fruit for the Kingdom of God. That is perfectly understandable in light of our constant access to global media and the gravity of current events.

Fr. John explores what could be called the catacomb culture of the Church in relation to the Roman Empire.

Fr. John explores how the Church began to address, confront, and challenge the pagan culture of the Roman Empire, particularly during the third century.

Fr. John explores what exactly monasticim was in the days of St. Macarius.

Fr. John explores marriage within the life of early Christendom.

Fr. John discusses the spiritual decline of the Church in the West and the attempt to reform this degradation.

Fr. John continues his exploration of the pivotal reign of Pope Leo IX and the way in which its reforms led toward a confrontation with the Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1054.

In this conclusion to his account of the Great Schism, Fr. John reviews the leading controversies that aggravated relations between Rome and Constantinople during Pope Leo IX's military confinement, and how they resulted in the latter's posthumous act of excommunicating Patriarch Michael Cerularius in 1054.

In this final episode of his reflection on Muscovite Russia, Fr. John describes the Old Believer Schism as a crisis in the formerly optimistic cosmology of eastern Christendom, leading to its decline on the eve of modern times.

In this anecdotal introduction to the final reflection of Part 2 of the podcast, Father John relates the extraordinary story of a Reformation-era town that declared itself the kingdom of Christ on earth, a "New Jerusalem." Expressing a profound absence of God in the world, however, the story of Reformation Muenster was in fact a sign of the fall of a Christendom centered upon the experience of paradise.

In this episode Fr. John discusses Reformed attitudes toward worship, and the ways in which western Christendom's liturgical and sacramental foundations were eroded when they were put into practice.

In this episode Father John describes some of the most noteworthy effects of the Protestant Reformation on Western Christendom, emphasizing the decline of a sacramental basis for civilization and the rise of a primarily moral one.

Returning after a long absence from the podcast, Fr. John in this episode introduces a new reflection on the crisis of western Christendom prior to the Reformation by discussing the penitential context of Martin Luther's famous Ninety-Five Theses.

Fr. John discusses the spiritual transformation of time by Christianity.

Fr. John discusses the ways in which the Church tries to create a sanctified topography in Christendom.

In this episode Fr. John Strickland discusses various ways in which Christendom's leadership rejected the reformational Christianity that had provoked the wars of Western religion and replaced it with science, philosophy, pietistic Christianity, and a new religion known as deism.

In this second half of his response to a recent review of his books, Fr. John Strickland discusses his use of scholarly sources (The Age of Division required more than three hundred and fifty of them). He also reflects on how criticisms of his sources and his arguments may have been provoked by the unconventional way in which he tells the story of Christendom.

Travel with Fr John as he heads to Beaufort, SC, for an organizational meeting of a new mission, and shares about the whole process.

In this episode, Fr. John interviews Fr. Jason Foster, pastor of Holy Nativity Orthodox Mission in Shreveport, LA. Fr. Jason is doing amazing and catalytic missionary work in Louisiana.

Fr. John recently spoke at St. Basil's Mission in Wilmington, NC, on their parish feast and on the occasion of the blessing of land for the construction of a church. He discusses the definition of "success" for a mission and parish.

Fr. John shares the Homily of St. Ignatius (Brianchaninov) for the Sunday of the Last Judgment.

As the Lenten season begins, Fr. John Parker reads a brief sermon that he had penned, formerly read by Fr. Thomas Hopko, that is written in the style and tradition of St. John Chrysostom's well known and loved Paschal Homily.

In her inaugural episode, Dr. Humphrey lays the groundwork for her new series.

Professor Humphrey here tackles the difficult passage of Romans 10:1-10, showing that it echoes Deuteronomy 30. Here we see the mistake of interpreting the religion of Israel as a cold and legalistic religion of laws, and are called to generosity of spirit in praying for all who do not know Christ, including the Jewish people, whom St. Paul declares to be “beloved for the sake of their forefathers.”

What do the martyrdom of John the Forerunner and the weakness of Herod have to say to twenty-first century North American Christians? Explore the implications of John’s beheading and St. Paul’s description of the Forerunner, with the help of Psalm 2 and Malachi 4.

When Thou O Lord was baptized in the Jordan, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest. Dr. Humphrey explores the significance of Theophany on this first day of the New Year.

Let’s consider the story of the Samaritan leper in terms of God’s love for his one fold, shepherded by Christ our Lord, and foreshadowed in stories and prophecies about Gentiles in the Old Testament. Jesus recognized the thanksgiving of an outcast and heretic in his day; what, then, ought we to think about the descendants of God’s ancient people, Israel?

Consider how the prophet Isaiah and the sage ben Sirach help us to understand more about the gospel’s teaching on forgiveness, and St. Paul’s words on living the attentive life of ascesis. Why should we ask forgiveness of those whom we think we haven’t even hurt—because our sins hurt everyone in the body of Christ!

To err is human and to forgive is divine, but our readings for this coming Sunday, illumined by the prophets, show us that the proclamation of forgiveness is now a human responsibility. The God-Man demonstrates that God has bestowed this divine characteristic, part of His glory, to those who are his sons and daughters. God forgives, and we forgive. (Matthew 9:1-8; Romans 12:6-14; Jeremiah 31:27-34; Jonah 3:1-10)

The “unnecessary” stories of the three youths (in Daniel 3 and The Song of Azariah) and of St. Joseph, husband of the Theotokos (Matthew 1) are illumined by God’s care for the humble in Deuteronomy 10:14-21.

This week we consider Romans 15:1-7 and Matthew 9:27-35, in the light of Psalm 69 (LXX 68), the witness of the Old Testament, and the steadfast, encouraging character of our Triune God.

Our readings for the eleventh Sunday of Matthew (1 Corinthians 9:1-12, Matthew 18:23-25) happily correspond this year with our remembrance of the Holy Prophet and last of the Judges of Israel, Samuel. Parts of his story in 1 Samuel/Kingdoms 12 and 28, plus words about him in Psalm 98 (LXX)/99 and Sirach 46, help us understand more deeply God’s character of justice and forgiveness, exemplified in the prophet. We, too, are called to this pattern as we respond to the problems of our day, including the social unrest and violence of this week.

This week we consider God’s actions, both as they fulfill our expectations of His righteous character, and as they astonish us. We remember the faithfulness of those who saw less of God’s revelation than we have, especially the three youths in the fire, and the holy ancestors of Jesus. Our readings for this Sunday, Luke 24:36-53, Luke 14:16-24 and Colossians 3:4-11, both respond to the desires of the ages, and shock us with the vibrancy and great extent of the new creation made possible through the Incarnation, Death and Resurrection of our LORD.

We reflect back upon the Psalm “By the Waters of Babylon,” heard by many of us in the past three weeks, as a preparation for Great Lent. Its troublesome final verse is read with the help of other portions of Scripture, St. John Chrysostom, Cassiodorus and others, so that we can understand why the psalm retains a valuable place in our worship together.

This week we read the epistle through the lenses of St. John Chrysostom, St. John Climacus, the book of Genesis and Isaiah’s portrait of the Suffering Servant. Here we are given the hope to continue following our great forerunner Jesus. The gospel reading adds to this the importance of faith, prayer and fasting, as we set our faces towards the cross.

This week we consider the reading from Acts 16 for the sixth Sunday of Easter, reading it in the light of Psalm 1. These readings discloses different mindsets, some to caution us, some to be our models, as we follow Christ on the Way.

We read 1 Cor. 8:8-9:2 in the context of St. Paul’s larger discussion of our One LORD God, while looking back to Deuteronomy 6:4, the food regulations of Leviticus, and the words of Amos and Isaiah on formalism and idolatry. We also consider how this passage prepares us for a Holy Lent.

St. Paul emphasizes the divine origin of the gospel without downplaying the importance of his fellow apostles. We understand this difficult passage in Galatians by looking at the entire letter, by remembering the apostolic witness to the Resurrection in 1 Cor 15, and by comparing the ministry of the apostle with that of the prophet Jeremiah. (Gal 1:11-19; 1 Cor 15; various passages from Jeremiah)

We consider the Lord’s words to “the angel of the church of Ephesus” in Rev 2:1-7, thinking about our corporate identity by means of passages in Exodus, and remembering the necessity of adding love and humility to chastity and patience.