In his third episode, Michael reflects on a topic in the news a lot lately. How do we as Orthodox Christians view marriage and what is significant about our ceremony?

Michael discusses why understanding the personal nature of God and experiencing God’s presence is so important and what it means to us.

Michael challenges us to avoid the extremes as we attempt to live in an increasingly dark culture as Orthodox Christians. Christ has given us the example.

Michael shares two different experiences from his own life when desiring a word from God.

Michael offers in-depth thoughts on death from an Orthodox perspective.

Michael explores the source of our inspiration when we create for the glory of God.

Michael describes an Orthodox understanding of why we should care for the environment, and what the story of Cain and Abel teaches us about this important issue.

Michael discusses the Orthodox theological understanding of what it means to be a person, and how the passion of politics poses a danger to us in how we regard and treat each other as persons.

“Sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you.” Many of us have been taught this since we were young. But is it actually true? Or does it do more harm than good teaching this to our children and actually believing it ourselves. Join Michael as he uses incidents from his own life and relates them to key Scriptures to show not only is this statement not true, it goes against what Christ Himself teaches us about the sacredness of words, the danger of misusing them, and how this relates to our understanding of Word of God Himself.

Are we living now in the Divided States of America as opposed to the United States of America? Does the political divide we see and hear about it each day in the news speak to who we are now as persons and a society? What can it teach us about ourselves and our own hearts? Join Michael as he discusses wholeness and division from a spiritual point of view, and what we need to do to be Christ-like in today’s current climate.

Join Michael as he uses science and examples in everyday life to discuss order and disorder, why it is important to understand what they mean spiritually, and how we must be deliberate and committed in our choices to be holy and grow in Christ.

Exploring what the Sacrament of Confession teach us about the dangers of popularity and hero-worship in this age of social media.

Exploring the characters of Frodo, Gollum, Harry, and Voldemort from these two great works beloved by millions, and what they remind us about concerning love, sacrifice, choice, and more.

How do we know if we are having a mystical experience versus just an experience of awe and wonder. Does it even matter if it is one or the other? How can we trust our experiences and what are their value? Recounting his own special experience at St. Paul’s church in Rome, join Michael as he tells his story and addresses these important questions. This episode also features Metropolitan Kallistos Ware sharing his earliest recollection of his own religious experience.

Life’s often not fair and we all suffer from illness and affliction at times that are not of our own making. It is then we are often confronted with a choice – to continue to want to be with God even though we don’t understand why certain things are happening to us; or to let the seeming unfairness of our circumstance drive us away from Him. Join Michael as he uses a whimsical episode of the Brady Bunch to illustrate and discuss this profound truth we all experience.

CDC reports that suicides have increased 25% since 1999 in nearly every state and recent celebrity suicides have cause a renewed focus on this issue. The CDC report further lists reasons, warning signs, and who this is affecting most. What can everyday ordinary Orthodox Christians do, who are not clergy or mental health professionals, to help combat this tragedy. Join Michael Haldas as he shares his personal experience and offers some thoughts on this topic.

Drug related deaths due to heroin and opioids are on the rise. It’s becoming an epidemic. Why is this? What are the factors contributing to this crisis of life and death? Why is this crisis reflective of a deep spiritual disorder that demands that parishes and their members get engaged based on their resources and capacity? Join Michael as he attempts to address these questions and shares information from his Metropolis that can be useful to many.

Michael offers thoughts and personal reflections of his recent experience with the miraculous icon of St. Anna at St. Tikhon’s Monastery in Waymart, PA, and the Kardiotisa, “The Tender Heart” myrrh-flowing, miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary at St. George Orthodox Church in Taylor, PA.

Sometimes our lives are in such chaos and darkness it is hard to believe God is in control and is loving us and caring for us. Join Michael as he dramatically recounts the story of the Gadarene Demoniac told in Mark 5:1-20, unlikely though it would seem, to demonstrate God’s providence in our lives.

Watching and supporting a loved one who is suffering often causes us to suffer just as much and even more. Join Michael as he uses scripture and real life experience to illustrate five things we need to do and remember to get through this type of suffering.

Join Michael as he uses Scripture and a well-written article to discuss the slippery slope of letting the words “our thoughts and prayers” become synonymous for non-action.

Have you ever felt like you were wrestling or struggling with God, like your life was out of control, the future was unknown or something to be feared, and you were at a loss about what to do? Your prayers seem unanswered and God seems silent. Join Michael as he recounts the story of Jacob and shows how Jacob’s story and his struggle with God is our story.

We live in a pace driven and action oriented culture where we are always on the go. We achieve much yet feel mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. We have forgotten how to just be. Join Michael Haldas as he explores this topic in depth and offers some thoughts on the hierarchy of action and contemplation in our lives.

How do we continue to love unconditionally amidst our suffering, especially when this suffering is caused by the people we love best? How do we attain and maintain the maturity of faith we need to be Christ-like, let God be in control, and recognize the grace in our lives despite the pain. Join Michael as he shares his thoughts and experiences on this very difficult topic.

Bondage to sin and wrong behavior and struggling with things we can’t seem to overcome plague us all to lesser or greater degrees. Join Michael as he talks about three typical forms of bondage that grip us and what we need to do to overcome them.

The St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral has been holding nightly classes/discussions, seven days a week at 7 PM EST. Led by Father George Kokhno and Father Valery Shemchuk, each night either one of them, or guest speakers such as Michael Haldas, Archimandrite Sergius of St. Tikhon's Monastery, Father Maximus Urbanowicz, and others have led discussions. Michael recently led a class in which the topic was Fear and Control. All are welcome to join future classes. Download the Zoom App to your smartphone or tablet, or join through the web at (https://zoom.us/j/2100687480). If you use the app simply open it, use code 2100687480 to join.

Retaining the hope of a child is not easy, especially in today’s coronavirus pandemic environment. Yet this is what Christ want us to do according to the Gospel. Using thoughts from Orthodox teacher and professor Vigen Guroian’s chapter on childhood from his book The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World, Michael explores this topic in depth, and explains how by remembering that Christ is the eternal child of God can rekindle our sense of hope during this difficult time.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, join Michael as he explores the language of the Genesis creation stories and what they teach us about the value of women and the feminine and motherly nature of God. He then reflects on the Theotokos and how her life and Christ’s demonstrate the value of women established in Genesis, and how they restore women to the place God intended for them. This podcast is based on a Zoom class Michael gave to a Church community and also includes responses from the question and answer period of the class.

Join Michael as he discusses what we should do when we feel like God is absent from our lives, and how we can overcome the tyranny of our negative thoughts and feelings that create this false sense of separation.

Many of us have read the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus which is packed with holy wisdom. However, our thoughts gives rise to our actions, and our actions in turn reflect our thoughts. We are held to account by God for both what we think and what we do. Join Michael as he discusses the relationship to thoughts and actions, how we often entertain and get seduced by the wrong thoughts, and can make philosophy, psychology, and even theology and excuse to not have the right thoughts or take the right actions.

So many people love a good conspiracy theory. But these theories do damage and harm to individuals, communities, and our society. Join Michael as he discusses the primary reasons people believe them and why doing so is antithetical to our faith.

Join Michael as he discusses what a darnel is and what it means to us, how easy it is to be deceived by the spirit of the age, and what we need to do to ensure we gain and apply Christ-like discernment in all matters.

Join Michael as explores the question is our Orthodox Christian religion the only true religion or the completely true religion, and the how our answer to this question affects our internal self and outward behavior to detriment or betterment of ourselves and others.

Join Michael as he addresses our choices and what we consent to that results in us either growing in holiness and union with Christ, or an unholy union with the devil that leads to our gradual and eventual complete destruction.

Join Michael as he discusses why we need separation that is holy before we can have true unity with each other; and how many are choosing an unholy type of separation based on fear, ideologies, and other things are the entry to the wide gate leading to destruction.

Join Michael as he examines the role expression of opinion plays in society today, how to guard ourselves against our own and other’s opinions that fuel our pride and cause anger and division, and what to do to maintain humility, thoughtfulness, and love of others.

Join Michael for a discussion on how to avoid being paralyzed with guilt and shame over our worst failures, and experience God at work within them.

Join Michael as he discusses the deep theological truths of simple hospitality and how it directly relates to our salvation.

We live in a consumer culture. Businesses gather and sell data and information about us to target us as consumers. We are increasingly treated more like consumers than persons. The Christmas season for many has become nothing more than frenzied consumerism. John Michael as he discusses the human person in the context of consumer culture, comparing and contrasting the language of consuming used in our Liturgy and throughout the Bible with modern notions of consuming and how this relates to our love and growth as human persons.

Join Michael in a discussion about living intentionally to embed hopefulness in our body, mind and soul, and accept death with the hope of eternal life.

Join Michael in a discussion about what well-being and non-being really mean, and how we often do things we think are beneficial but really are not in our best interest and lead us father from God rather than towards Him.

Join Michael as he discusses questions about why good people suffer, bad people thrive, and reconciling this with the goodness of God.

Join Michael is a discussion on our need to navigate the difficult liminal spaces in our lives with patience and discernment, as illustrated beautifully in the story of St. Mary of Egypt, and how it is possible to overcome sin and depravity to fulfill our calling to become saints and living icons of Christ.

Join Michael in a discussion about how many people are haunted by a spiritual reality they consciously or unconsciously acknowledge, especially during times of tragedy and loss, and how to minister to them through relationship and storytelling.

Join Michael in a discussion of our desires, how they get in the away of the elusive peace we seek, and what we need to do to find true contentment.

Join Michael in a discussion of God’s goodness versus our own goodness, and why the prevalent cultural belief of many that all you have to be is a good person is results in so many unintended consequences.

Fr. Seraphim introduces his new podcast and explains why he decided to become a monk.

To be a monk is to be alone and to define oneself according to Christ alone.

Fr. Seraphim describes monasticism as a battle against the world—an act of violence and true rebellion.

Is one better than the other? Fr. Seraphim begins tackling some listener questions.