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With many of the autocephalous Churches meeting in Crete this week, some have wondered if this was another "Ecumenical Council" of the Orthodox Church. Fr. Lawrence Farley helps us understand that term.

Fr. Lawrence suggests there are problems involved in declaring that only Orthodox may be commemorated if no further details are provided, for this sets up the liturgist to be a judge over the souls of men. But who then can be included?

So, what’s the deal with clerical dress and monastic habits? Do they really matter?

It is easy to misinterpret Christianity as a religion like any other but Fr. Lawrence maintains it is unique.

Fr. Lawrence continues his series and examines the correlation in the Scriptures between that which is clean and that which is unclean.

We Christians share certain external similarities with the religions, but these external similarities can mask the inner meanings of the things we seem to share. In reality, everything in Christianity is different from the religions.

Fr. Lawrence Farley is convinced that his culture knows absolutely nothing about the true meaning of Christmas.

Fr. Lawrence Farley comments on a discussion that takes place each year during Holy Week.

Some heresies never seem to die, but have a disconcerting tendency to pop up in every generation, rather like the emerging heads of the whack-a-mole in the children’s game one sees in Chuck E. Cheese: whack them down as hard and often as you like, but they will pop up again someplace else.

The feast whose season we now in is called “Theophany” or (in many places) “Epiphany”. This latter is not so much an English word as it is a transliteration of a Greek word, epiphaneia. It is often rendered “appearance” in the English versions, though this rendering can be misleading. One can have a small or insignificant appearance. For example, a person can have a brief cameo appearance in a movie (such as Alfred Hitchcock famously did in his movies), appearances so brief and insignificant as to be missed by inattentive eyes.

I have just finished reading Crisis of Confidence: Reclaiming the Historic Faith in a Culture Consumed with Individualism and Identity, by my friend Carl R. Trueman. Dr. Trueman is professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College, and a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (which, despite the title, has no connection with our own Eastern Orthodox Church).

In reflecting on the Sunday of the Last Judgment, the Very Rev. Dr Bogdan Bucur calls our attention to the difference between the Lord’s invitation to those at his right hand in Matthew 25.34: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world,” and the injunction to those on His left, “‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25.41). In this account of the last judgment, the difference between those on the right and the left is their deeds during their earthly lives. Fr Bogdan urges us to consider the concrete actions the Lord is expecting us to take during our time on this Earth to physically and practically minister to all those in need around us.

Now that Great Lent is upon us, the question sometimes arises about where we should put our spiritual focus. There are two places we should certainly not put our focus—and only one place where we should.

Fr. Apostolos speaks on knowing God and merely knowing about Him as we celebrate the memory of St. Gregory Palamas.

Fr. Apostolos shares about real strength from St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians.

Fr. Apostolos shares about the life of Saint Nektarios of Pentapolis and encourages us to follow his example of humility, gentleness, perseverance, and devotion.

Fr. Apostolos shares three reasons to be grateful and three suggestions to consecrate the Thanksgiving holiday.

Fr. Apostolos shares about the Incarnation. "As the Ark of the Old Covenant was held to be the physical manifestation of the presence of God to the people of Israel, the Ark of the New Covenant, the Ever-virgin Mary, is held to be the divine vessel of Immanuel, which means God With Us."

Fr. Apostolos talks about feeding ourselves spiritually, not only physically."Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled."

Fr. Apostolos talks about the exclusive nature of our citizenship in the Heavenly Kingdom. "No one may hold dual citizenship in the Kingdom of God and any other kingdom."

Fr. Apostolos talks about the history and importance of fasting.

Fr. Apostolos shares about the miracle of the feeding of the multitudes with the five loaves and two fish, and encourages us to offer our best unto the Lord.

Fr. Apostolos shares encouragement for the start of Great Lent.

Fr. Apostolos reviews the services of Holy Week and the opportunity the faithful have to enter deeply into the mystery of God's demonstrated love for us.

Fr. Apostolos addresses the Sacrament of Kingdom invoked at the opening of the Divine Liturgy followed by a treatment of "Peace" as the precondition for prayer.

Fr. Apostolos addresses how to walk in the grace of thanksgiving and gratitude in our day-to-day lives.

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a short homily on what we will all write in the New Year on the pages of the books of our lives.

Fr. Apostolos Hill delivers a homily on the Sunday of St. John of the Ladder, discussing the need for growth and progress in the spiritual life just as we anticipate growth in every other aspect of our lives and of our children's. The opening illustration referenced a song from the Dr. Demento Show.

Fr. Apostolos Hill addresses the joy of the many gifts Jesus gives us and how to combat our forgetfulness in sometimes taking them for granted.

Fr. Apostolos Hill reflects on the verses of the Gospel of Matthew about the eye as the light of the body and how we might dispel the darkness around us with the Light of Christ.

Fr. Apostolos Hill addresses the difference between the view of the Church as a building and the view of the Church as souls.

Fr. Apostolos Hill likens the experience of knowing God to that of meeting his bride. The effort we put into spending time together is a blueprint for entering more deeply into our union with Jesus.

Fr. Apostolos Hill shares a short homily and prayers for the back-to-school students. The first prayer at the end for parents to offer for their children is from Fr. James Meena of blessed memory which was written in 1978 and printed in the Word magazine. The second prayer is one that Fr. Apostolos wrote for the Cathedral students.