v

Golden Wedding Anniversary for the Hopkos

June 9 marks the 50th wedding anniversary for Fr. Tom and Matushka Anne Hopko. In this special episode, the 2 of them are interviewed in their home by Frs. John Shimchick and Alexander Garklavs. Together they remember their early years and God's blessing on their lives. May God grant them many years!




v

Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury

Fr. David Bozeman, Fr. James Bozeman, and Fr. Christopher Foley discuss their experience as members of the band Luxury and introduce the new documentary about that experience. The entire band suffered through an accident in the early Nineties that led to their conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. Here is the trailer for the documentary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Y4jIPn96Ig.




v

Transformation: Part 3 - The Greatest of These is Love

Part three of our four-part documentary Transformation: Same-Sex Attraction Through the Lens of Orthodox Christianity How are we doing as a Church at showing love to everyone who walks in our doors? Are we welcoming or judgmental? Does a warm welcome translate into endorsement of someone's lifestyle? If we are to truly love one another and bear one another's burdens, we need to get to know them first. Resource: Christian Faith and Same Sex Attraction by Fr. Thomas Hopko




v

Will All be Saved? Examining Universalism and the Last Judgement

Fr. Tom Soroka and John Maddex will dive into the topic of Universalism and speak with Orthodox panelists who fall into one of three categories: Confident Universalists, Hopeful Universalists, and those who say Universalism was condemned as a heresy. We read in Scripture that God is not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9). But we also read that It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There are those who claim that, since Christ died for all, we can be assured that all will indeed be saved and not face eternal condemnation. This is called “universalism” or “apocatastasis.” Was this teaching condemned by the Church? Who among the Church Fathers embraced universal salvation?




v

https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/1/22559852/microsoft-windows-11-black-blue-screen-of-death-bsod-change

Microsoft is changing its famous Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) to black in Windows 11. The software giant started testing its new design changes in a Windows 11 preview earlier this week, but the Black Screen of Death isn’t fully enabled yet. The Verge understands Microsoft will be switching to a Black Screen of Death for Windows 11, matching the new black logon and shutdown screens.




v

Teacher AND Savior

Fr. Pat explains that the teaching given by Christ is inseparable from the salvation given by Christ.




v

A Vision of Jesus - The Key, The Stone, and The Morning Star

Fr. Pat gave this sermon in Waynesburg, PA, at the funeral of beloved friend Nancy (Katherine) Thompson who fell asleep in the Lord on August 2, 2011.




v

Wolves in the Synagogue

Fr. Pat addresses those who come to Divine Liturgy with bad attitudes and for the wrong reasons.




v

Forgiveness

Fr. Pat distinguishes between "official" forgiveness and "personal" forgiveness.




v

Forgiveness

Fr. Pat explains that the mandate to forgive offenses is not something we're disposed to do except by grace.




v

Love Your Enemies

Fr. Pat offers three suggestions about how to render the observance of the commandment to "love your enemies" a bit more obvious.




v

The Universal Birth Defect

The man born with the blindness that we all share sees differently and looks different.




v

What Love Must Be

Fr. Pat explains that love must be intelligent, practical and generous, and miraculous.




v

Starting Over

Fr. Pat reminds us that in Christ we start all over.




v

Torah, Tov, and Chavod

Fr. Pat discusses three Old Testament saints that are particularly important in preparation for Christ.




v

The Highest Human Activity

Fr. Pat explains that prayer is the highest of all human activities.




v

Discovering the Soul

Ideally, the discovery of the soul should accompany the discovery of God.




v

Family, Forgiveness, and Flame

Fr. Pat discusses the social structure, the moral imperatives, and the discerning moral light of discipleship.




v

The Consecration of the Virgin Mary

Fr. Pat uses Aristotle's four causes to explore the consecrated life of the Mother of God.




v

The Prayer of Those Who Feel Overwhelmed

Fr. Pat examines Psalm 3, a prayer that should be recited anytime a believer feels desperate and inundated.




v

Giving Thanks

Jesus and the Ten Lepers.




v

Three Provocative Questions

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you?




v

Rock Johnson and the Ohio River

Fr. Pat discusses Peter walking on the water.




v

The Divine Fire

Fr. Pat explains the Holy Eucharist as Flaming Coal and Divine Bread.




v

Jericho: Rumor, Vision, Praise

Fr. Pat reflects upon the healing of the blind man of Jericho as recounted in Luke Chapter 18.




v

St. Remy, Clovis, and Us

If Christ really is risen from the dead, we have the basis for the renewal of everything. Fr. Pat considers this in his Paschal homily.




v

How are We to Live

If we are justified by faith, if we live in the Holy Spirit, and if Christ is our Lord, then what should our lives be like? Fr. Pat looks at Paul's exhortations to the believers at Rome.




v

And We Share Her Vocation

On the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, Fr. Pat offers reflections about the Mother of Our Lord: her presence in the early church, earliest references to her in the Scriptures, and about the Marian quality of the people of God.




v

Cultivation, Consecration, Navigation

Fr. Pat looks at three images of the Church found in 1 Corinthians 3 and Matthew 14.




v

Have You Ever Misplaced an Elephant

Fr. Pat looks at three moral impediments to faith: chameleon morality, narcissistic morality, and indolent morality.




v

Don't Ever Throw the Quadrant Overboard

St. Paul says, "It is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ" (2 Corinthians 1:21). In a certain sense, every verse in the Bible is telling us to stand firm. In this homily Fr. Pat encourages us to do just that.




v

The Holy Ghost Over the Bent World Broods

In this homily based on 2 Corinthians 4:6-15, Fr. Pat reflects upon the glory of Christ in creation, in the Bible, and in our daily cross.




v

Live Close to the Cemetery

Using Luke 8:26-27 as a starting point of his reflections, Fr. Pat encourages us to live our lives with an awareness of death as an important part of our mental composition.




v

Captivating our Hearts to Christ

Father Pat looks at what we can learn about prayer from the story of the Syrophoenician woman found in Matthew 15. This is part one of a two-part series.




v

Living in the Bottom Half of the Painting

In Mark 9, just after the Transfiguration, Jesus addresses the faith of the crowds surrounding the disciples as well as that of a man whose son He then heals. As we look toward the last weeks of Lent, Fr. Pat helps us think about our own faith.




v

This is Not the Divine Peace

In this homily given on Great and Holy Thursday, we meditate with Fr. Pat both on the encounters that Moses, Job, and Isaiah had with God, and on Jesus’ agony in the garden, and the significance of these various events as they pertain to our daily practice.




v

The Survival of the Soul

Building on his homily from last week, Fr. Pat discusses an example of the authority of darkness, and encourages us with reminders of both Christ’s prayer for us, and of our fellowship with each other.




v

What is of Most Value?

Fr. Pat compares the three parables from Matthew 13:44-53, finding gems in the field, in the market, in the stars, in the sea, and in us.




v

Receive Each Other

Fr. Pat examines the three steps that St. Paul takes in Romans to illustrate the theme of "receiving one another as Christ receives us."




v

The Living Center

Christ is the Living Center of the Church, and He does not abandon His Church. The big question is whether we will cling to Him, or get distracted by something else.




v

It's a Lovely Day in the Neighborhood

"Neighbor" is not a matter of being, but of doing. Fr. Pat reflects on this in today's homily from Luke 10 about the Good Samaritan.




v

Three Visionary Perspectives

Second Corinthians has been summarized as “strength made perfect through weakness.” Preaching from 2 Corinthians 4:6-15, Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon looks at three examples from the Old Testament of God’s strength being made perfect through the weakness of His servants.




v

To Cut, To Give, To Establish

In Jesus’ circumcision, God’s own flesh is marked by the sign of the covenant; Jesus' circumcision was the ratification and fulfillment of the prophetic dimension of the rite. Fr. Pat discusses three verbs associated with the Hebrew word Berith (covenant).




v

The Invisible God Painted His Own Portrait

Fr. Pat considers with us the Icon of the invisible God from three perspectives that Christ Himself gave to us when He declared "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.”




v

What Does the Cross Mean to the Believer?

In this homily from Palm Sunday Fr. Pat asks what the Cross means for each believer—what it does mean and what it should mean.




v

Revelation and Obedience

In this homily given on the Sunday of the Paralytic, Fr. Pat explores three aspects of our obedience to God in response to God’s self-revelation to us.




v

Vignettes from Luke

Using stories found only in Luke, Fr. Pat looks at features quite prominent to this Gospel. (From October 18, 2015, the Feast of St. Luke)




v

Practical Rules for How to Live the Life in Christ

Fr. Pat expounds upon Paul’s exhortations in Romans 12:6-14.




v

The Vigilant Care of the Soul

A certain mindset of vigilance is an essential part of the transmission of the Gospel. We do not simply hand on the Gospel, but we hand on that sense of vigilance and care that is essential to its reception. Fr. Pat Reardon compares Biblical vigilance with that of other traditions.




v

Loving One's Enemies and Forgiving Offenses

The Christian love of one’s enemies is not ultimately rooted in the quest for inner peace. It is rooted in the life we have in Christ. Fr. Pat preaches from Luke 6:31-36.