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Reaching Our Young Adults

Dr. Rossi talks with Fr. Joseph Purpura, Chairman of the Department of Youth and Parish Ministry for the Antiochian Archdiocese. Learn about how to best communicate with and serve our teens and young people.




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Healing

Dr. Rossi interviews Dr. Paul Meyendorff about the topic of healing and the Sacrament of Unction.




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Clergy Peer Learning Groups: An Interview with Fr. Nicholas Solak

Dr. Rossi interviews Fr. Nicholas Solak, parish priest of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in Stroudsburg, PA, on the topic of Clergy Peer Learning Groups in the life of a priest.




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Heart of the Desert

Dr. Albert Rossi shares his reflections on the book titled In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers by Fr. John Chryssavgis.




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Interview with Dr. Grant S. White: Liturgy and the Search for Meaning

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Grant S. White, Assistant Professor of Liturgical Theology at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, on the topic of the Liturgy and a person's search for meaning in turbulent times.




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The Homily and the Hearer: Interview with Fr. Sergius Halvorsen

Dr. Albert Rossi has a follow up interview with Fr. Sergius Halvorsen on the topic of "The Homily and the Hearer." Rev. Dr. J. Sergius Halvorsen is the Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Yonkers, NY.




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Purity of Heart and Sexual Chastity

Dr. Rossi address issues of the purity of the heart and mind in relation to sexual chastity.




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Becoming a Healing Presence in Dark Times

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on how we can be a healing presence during these dark times in our world.




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Making Christianity Really Real

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on a conversation he had following the Nativity divine services on how we can make Christianity really real in our lives.




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Fear is the Opposite of Love

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the quote, "Fear is the opposite of love."




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Learning from Mona Lisa

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the spiritual lessons that can be learned from the famous Mona Lisa.




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The Garden of the Heart

Dr. Albert Rossi discusses the Biblical imagery of our heart as a Garden in which God dwells.




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Great Quotes

Dr. Albert Rossi shares a number of great quotes that inspire and encourage us.




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Each Task is a Gift

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the many ordinary tasks that we do each day.




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Making the Jesus Prayer Real

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on praying the Jesus Prayer with a living faith.




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More than Meaning

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the pursuit of the meaning of life.




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Field of Dreams

Dr. Albert Rossi reflects on the way in which what we do in the present moment can change events in the past.




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Dealing with Monasticism

Dr. Albert Rossi interviews Dr. Michael Legaspi about the experience of his daughter becoming a monastic.




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Bread and Circus

Dr. Rossi discusses the need for hobbies and leisure, as balanced with the need for uplifting pursuits.




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One Word Retreat

Dr. Rossi shares a spiritual practice from his time as a Catholic monk, that still holds great meaning to him today.




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Are Feelings Real?

Dr. Rossi reflects on the reality and impermanence of feelings.




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Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth

Fr. Lawrence Farley reviews Reza Aslan’s book Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, calling it "a tired rewriting of the same nonsense that pseudo-scholars have been churning out for some time now."




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Bread and Peanut Butter and the Forgiveness of Sins

Fr. Lawrence Farley reminds us that the man who trusts God and does what is pleasing to him, such as giving alms to the poor, will experience His favor when his own time of need comes.




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Is the LGBT a New Reality?

On a new "Ancient Faith Commentaries," Fr. Lawrence Farley explains that the LGBT reality is not really new; it is the same old darkness that St. Paul encountered in his time. And Paul's word to the Church then still stands for us today.




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Death of Dialogue

Given the importance of true dialogue to our civilization's health, argues Fr. Lawrence Farley, it is only more distressing to find that the willingness to dialogue is dying—especially when it comes to the topic of homosexuality.




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The Real St. Nicholas

Fr. Lawrence Farley contends that a comparison between Santa Claus and St. Nicholas illustrates well the difference between worldly and Christian cultures, and we are called to live in the latter for all twelve months of the year.




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Teaching Protestants About Saints and Icons

Fr. Philip LeMasters shares what he has learned over the last 25 years of teaching Protestants about saints and icons.




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Our Global Great Lent

In her March 14, 2020 blog post, Elissa Bjeletich reflects on this year's Great Lent in light of the COVID-19 virus. Did this virus make for a bad Lent or "a tangible opportunity to curtail our own will in service to others and to learn to rely on God rather than on the material comforts we take for granted"?




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The Feast of the Incarnation: The Fathers on the Nativity of Christ

In our broadcast for the Feast of the Nativity, we hear the words of the Fathers and the liturgical hymns of the Church on the mystery that brings the Son humanly into the world for the life and redemption of His creature.




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St. Symeon the New Theologian on the “Impossible Beauty” of the Life in Christ

In this fourth week of the Great Fast, when the Church commemorates the universal adoration of the precious Cross, our broadcast looks at an important passage by St Symeon the New Theologian, on being joined to the suffering Christ and so attaining the "impossible beauty" of His glory. We ask with the saint: how shall we approach such glory?




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St. Clement of Rome on Living a God-Pleasing Life

Are there practical measures at hand to help the Christian turn from the passions and live a God-pleasing life? In this week’s broadcast, Archimandrite Irenei examines a brief passage by St Clement on practical steps toward living in holiness.




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St. Anthony of Egypt on Sobriety of the Heart

Turning once again to the testimony of St Anthony the Great, this week’s broadcast examines an incident in the great Father’s life in which the true heights of sobriety of heart are witnessed. Might this feed us in our own moments of struggle in the spiritual life?




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St. John Chrysostom: Practical Guidance on Dealing with Others

St. John Chrysostom's preaching is filled with practical advice on living a Christian life in the world, and in this broadcast we look at four sayings in which he addresses commonplace issues in the Christian's dealings with others: combating envy, overcoming offence, learning to conquer anger with love, and living in unity to the glory of God.




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St. John Chrysostom: Practical Guidance on Dealing with Others

St. John Chrysostom’s preaching is filled with practical advice on living a Christian life in the world, and in this broadcast we look at four sayings in which he addresses commonplace issues in the Christian’s dealings with others: combating envy, overcoming offence, learning to conquer anger with love, and living in unity to the glory of God.




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“God Is There, Where the Understanding Does Not Reach”

In this episode, Fr. Matthew returns to the Life of Moses by St Gregory of Nyssa, and examines a key passage in which the Saint compares the ascent of spiritual life to Moses's ascent of Mt. Sinai. What does it mean to ascend into "darkness," to converse with God "where the understanding does not reach"? And how does Moses's example reveal the way in which all the Fathers and Saints draw the whole Christian family into deeper communion with God?




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From the Bone of Adam: St. Irenaeus on the Creation of Eve

The Genesis account of Eve being created from the rib of Adam has, throughout history, often been interpreted in negative ways. In this week's broadcast, through a brief text by St Irenaeus of Lyons, Fr. Dcn. Matthew examines a patristic vision of this creation grounding the true intimacy and mutual responsibility of the human community, male and female as "helpers" of one another in the work of salvation.




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From the Bone of Adam: St. Irenaeus on the Creation of Eve

The Genesis account of Eve being created from the rib of Adam has, throughout history, often been interpreted in negative ways. In this week’s broadcast, through a brief text by St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Archimandrite Irenei examines a patristic vision of this creation grounding the true intimacy and mutual responsibility of the human community, male and female as ‘helpers’ of one another in the work of salvation.




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Defeating the Slavery of “Bad Habits”

Among the greatest struggles in the Christian life are the "little things"—the day-to-day "bad habits" by which we continually fall, and which seem to trap us in our sin. Is there a way out? In this week's episode, Fr. Dcn. Matthew examines the Fathers on sin as habits, how these habits enslave us—and most importantly, how we can overcome our shackles and progress toward the Kingdom.




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Abba Poemen the Great: On Softening the Hardest of Hearts

In this week's broadcast, Fr. Dcn. Matthew examines three sayings by Abba Poemen ("The Shepherd") of Egypt on the means by which the hardest heart can be softened by the Lord.




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Abba Poemen the Great: On Softening the Hardest of Hearts

In this week’s broadcast, Archimandrite Irenei examines three sayings by Abba Poemen ("The Shepherd") of Egypt on the means by which the hardest heart can be softened by the Lord.




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The Coming of the Lord - St. Leo the Great

Fr. Matthew examines a sermon by St. Leo of Rome, normally read in the season of Pascha, yet which sheds great light on the coming of the Lord, and the pastoral message to be gleaned from the intense theological disputes about Christ's natures that raged in the early Church.




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The Coming of the Lord - St. Leo the Great

Archimandrite Irenei examines a sermon by St. Leo of Rome, normally read in the season of Pascha, yet which sheds great light on the coming of the Lord, and the pastoral message to be gleaned from the intense theological disputes about Christ’s natures that raged in the early Church.




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The River of Jordan Streaming from my Eyes

This week, Fr. Irenei reflects on one of the "Steps" from St John Klimakos’s Ladder to Paradise, in which the saint considers the life of the Christian and the judgement of others. Have we begun to live the life of repentance? Or does our judgement of our neighbor reveal that we have yet to grasp the true nature of our sin, and make a true beginning of abandoning it in Christ?




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Did You Not Know That You Stood, Speaking to Him?

Drawn from one of the sayings of the Desert Fathers relating to the life of Abba Ammon, this week’s episode focuses on the question of our attentiveness to God, in the Divine Services as well as in our whole life. Where is our mind—where our heart? Do we not know that we stand in His presence, speaking to Him?




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What We Receive is Not our Own: A Testimony of St Macarius the Great

In a remarkable text by St. Macarius, the Christian is told that if he sees an arrogant man perform miracles, "even raise the dead," he should not follow. This week, Fr. Irenei explores what this message means for the Orthodox Christian, and how the good works of God are to be stored up secretly in the loving Christian heart.




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In the Clash of Destructive Errors, the Truth of the Church Stands Revealed

Focusing on a text by St. Hilary of Poitiers, Fr. Irenei explores the Saint’s conviction that the multitude of heresies and errors surrounding us in the world are not to be feared or to become a cause for despair, for through their very error the Truth of Christ is revealed all the more in the Church.




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“God Is There, Where the Understanding Does Not Reach”

In this episode, Archimandrite Irenei returns to the Life of Moses by St Gregory of Nyssa, and examines a key passage in which the Saint compares the ascent of spiritual life to Moses’s ascent of Mt. Sinai. What does it mean to ascend into "darkness," to converse with God "where the understanding does not reach"? And how does Moses’s example reveal the way in which all the Fathers and Saints draw the whole Christian family into deeper communion with God?




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Defeating the Slavery of “Bad Habits”

Among the greatest struggles in the Christian life are the "little things"—the day-to-day "bad habits" by which we continually fall, and which seem to trap us in our sin. Is there a way out? In this week’s episode, Archimandrite Irenei examines the Fathers on sin as habits, how these habits enslave us—and most importantly, how we can overcome our shackles and progress toward the Kingdom.




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Creation and Sacrifice in St. Symeon the New Theologian

Fr Dcn Matthew explores the homilies of St Symeon on man and creation, and in particular the way in which the Christian response to ecological concerns resides in the theology of sacrifice and the participation in divine Communion - including brief remarks from a recent talk by Metropolitan Kallistos of Diokleia.




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Daily Scripture Reading: Part One

In this episode, former CrossRoad assistant director Daniel Belonick discusses reading and understanding scripture with CrossRoad professor Fr. Theodore Stylianopoulos.