All suffering, however, regardless of its apparent immediate source, can be understood as the wrath of God. But we must never forget that we call it God’s wrath because of how we feel and how we experience it, not because God is at all angry or vengeful. Rather, God both allows and brings about suffering in our lives as a doctor treating a patient. What patient after major surgery has not experienced the wrath of the physical therapist? Healing the body is often painful.

I write a weekly letter for our community and this week I thought I would share this letter with a broader audience. We celebrated the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos this week. Mary the Mother of God was born into a world full of oppression and confusion, yet she was able to become the Holy dwelling place of God. We too, especially at this time of government restrictions and all of the heightened rhetoric of political campaigns—all too radicalized and spun by social media, news outlets, social prophets, and advertising—we too may feel that we are living in an increasingly oppressive and confusing world. While we are not suffering under the occupation of a foreign army, as was Israel during the lifetime of the Mother of God, still many of us are angry and stressed out by the restrictions being imposed on us, whether we agree with them or not.

Today we live in a time of uncertainty; but really, today is no more uncertain than yesterday nor the day or year or century before. Certainty is a kind of delusion. It is a delusion that conveniently forgets that there is much, much more going on in the world than we know and can see. How, then, can we live in peace when our life is enveloped in uncertainty? How do we escape the fear of uncertainty?

Keep nurturing the disciplines and activities that tend to produce the fruit of the Spirit, and work to avoid the activities or relationships or situations that stir up your passions. This is what the Church calls asceticism.

I want to make clear to everyone that we will not be asking anyone about vaccination status. As in almost all matters, so with government health mandates, it is possible (probable) that very godly, intelligent and well-meaning people will disagree. Let’s not let self righteousness—and her children, fear, anger, and judgement—keep us from loving one another and believing the best of one another, even if we don’t see eye to eye on this or any other political or medical matter.

Self-importance is a tricky disease to diagnose, not in others, but in oneself. The problem lies in the fact that often (but not always) those who suffer from the spiritual sickness of self-importance are in positions that are actually important. Those of us who teach and/or lead in the Church or in politics or in education or in medicine or in business are indeed in positions of importance. However, it’s not the fact that we are in positions of importance that causes us to suffer from self-importance, but being in such a position does make it much harder for us to diagnose our disease.

Fr. Michael examines Jesus's exhortation to "take heed that you do not despise the little ones."

Fr. Michael Gillis reflects on the life and writings of 20th century Catholic author, Flannery O’Connor. "Good in this broken world is always something under construction. The grotesque—physical, moral and spiritual—that presents itself to us as the terribly deformed face of a cancer ridden child very often hides from us the Grace of God at work constructing good in that person’s life. How many people have I dismissed because I have connected the visible cancer of a terribly confused and broken moral or spiritual life with the “grotesquerie of sin”? How often have I failed to see, failed to even look for the good under construction, the glimmer of Grace at work in a life disfigured by the brokenness of sin? Truly the thought of this question overpowers me sometimes."

Fr. Michael Gillis answers the question of “how to overcome thoughts of pride in our hearts that inevitably come after labouring on good works for our families and people around us.”

The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives always takes place on two levels, both on the level of what is outside us or what comes to us, and on the level of what is within us or how we receive what comes to us.

Just as surely as there is a time of sowing, there is a time of reaping. God changes us and touches the hearts of others through our prayers, our giving and our service to others. Seeds become trees and trees change the environment. Sowing is hard. Trees grow slowly, almost imperceptibly. It requires faith and often tears.

For those of us who are still working on getting that first few rows of stones around the foundation of faith, focusing on acquiring a little bit of every virtue helps us to keep picking up the stone (of virtue) that is needed at a given moment and putting it down at the correct place in our spiritual house. Baby steps for baby Christians. May God grant that we are all found to be children in His Kingdom.

Just about any discipline that has to do with the body, if you really think that discipline is important, is mostly just a matter of making yourself do it; but forgiveness is not merely a bodily matter. Forgiveness is a matter of the soul, of the heart. Forgiveness is not so easy. On its most basic level, forgiveness means that you will not seek revenge. It means that you are letting go of your right to get even. When you forgive someone, you stop punishing them in your mind. It means that you stop rehearsing in your mind how much they hurt you.

We live in a generation that has been taught to tie their personal identity to their imagined sexual preferences. Consequently, it is difficult to help people who struggle with sexual passions to find hope and repentance. However, the teaching of holy fathers such as St. Isaac the Syrian and St. Barsanuphius of Gaza provide a very helpful alternative to the world’s way of thinking about such passions. For these saints, same-sex attraction is a passion like any other. It is not part of one’s identity, but is a parasitical passion, resisted and struggled against as all other passions are.

There is strength in humility.

What will we finally say when death visits us - and not for coffee?

The movement of thoughts in a man originates from four causes.

It is time for a public confession from the chief hypocrite.

"The grace of God is not in the man who does not love his enemies."

Fr. Stephen De Young kicks off the study of the Acts of the Apostles with background information.

Fr. Stephen De Young finishes his discussion on 1 Corinthians with Chapter 16.

Fr. Stephen De Young finishes the discussion from last week on the third chapter of 2 Corinthians.

Fr. Stephen De Young gives an overview of the General Epistles of the New Testament.

Fr. Stephen De Young gives an overview of the Epistle of St. James.

God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on the altar. Fr. Tom explores this passage and others that refer to Jesus as "the Lamb."

Listen to a fascinating and instructive word study on the word "servant" and how it is applied to Jesus in both the Old and New Testaments.

What was the nature and purpose of the death of Christ as depicted in the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah? Get your Orthodox Study Bible out and follow along as Fr. Thomas teaches us verse by verse.

One of the great "I Am" statements in Scripture is in John's Gospel where Jesus said, "I am the Light of the world" (John 8:12). Today Fr. Tom explores the word "light" and the significance of Christ's claim.

In our Troparia for Nativity, we sing "Your Nativity, O Christ our God, has shone to the world the Light of wisdom! For by it, those who worshipped the stars, were taught by a star to adore You, the Sun of Righteousness, and to know You, the Orient from on High. O Lord, glory to You!" In today's episode, Fr. Tom reflects on these terms for Christ.

Fr. Thomas has explored Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and now, the Life. What does life mean and how is Christ identified as THE life?

Jesus didn't just say he would give us our daily bread; he said he is the Bread of Life. Fr. Tom Hopko continues his study of the great "I Am" sayings of Jesus.

What is the significance of the firstborn son in ancient culture and how does that relate to Christ?

In a previous episode, Fr. Tom talked about Jesus as the "Firstborn," but there is another similar image in Scripture that describes Jesus as the "Firstfruit."

In his continuing series on the Names of Jesus, Fr. Tom Hopko explores Jesus as the Holy One of God.

We affirm as central to the Great Tradition both the divinity and humanity of Jesus, but today Fr. Tom focuses on the humanity of Christ as our Friend and Brother.

What is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ as described in the Book of Revelation? Fr. Tom Hopko explores this with us in his next episode of The Names of Jesus.

In this next to last episode in the Names of Jesus series, Fr. Tom takes us to Hebrews 12 where the RSV tells us that Jesus is the "Pioneer and Perfector" of our Faith.

Join Steve and Christian as they discuss art and its capacity to form us. They explore what art is, why it is important, and whether iconography and Van Gogh can be considered artistic on similar terms. In addition to discussing old Nintendo games, Contra, and Turtles in Time, the guys share some works of art that have formed them as humans throughout their lives.

Join Steve and Christian as they discuss the eternal implications of zombie stories and how Guy Fieri plays into the culinary tastes of zombies. The guys also discuss why zombies are haunting, basing their conversation in reflection on the Death and Resurrection of Christ, the coming of God’s Kingdom, and how culture bids us to be concerned with the horizon of this life alone.

Join Steve and Christian as they talk about the highly anticipated Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. The guys talk about the Force, both the light side and the dark, the recurrent themes of family and personhood with just a dash of theology. So, join the guys as they celebrate the movie and end with their five favorite Star Wars quotations of all time.

Join Steve and Christian as they discuss the recently released, highly anticipated sequel to My Big Fat Greek Wedding. The guys look at topics such as evangelism, sacramentalism, and personhood, but spoiler alert: they didn’t like the movie. Listen as they discuss how the movie fell flat, how jokes didn’t land, and even how certain tropes were at times downright offensive. As always, the guys end with a Top 5 list, this time: Top 5 Portrayals of Christian Life in Art.

Join Steve and Christian this week as they explore the Netflix original series Daredevil. They discuss what they love about the series, why superheroes appeal to our desire for a savior, and whether they’d be good guys or bad guys. Also, the top 5 superpowers of all time.

The guys watched Pixar’s newest installment, Finding Dory, and they both loved it, but only one of them cried! Listen to discover which one cried, to hear discussions of how Pixar teaches us about personhood, and how the story of a fish is a story about God’s love bringing us home. They also discuss the Top 5 Sequels of all time. Spoiler Alert: Independence Day 2 was not one of them.

This week, the guys talk about the Russian novel, Laurus. They discuss issues of transcendence and transformation, hope and healing, and as usual, a big fat dose of death and resurrection. They conclude with their Top 5 Stories of Redemption.

This week, Christina and Emma watched The Promise. They discuss the film’s depictions of Christianity, the power of unity between people, the reality that Life overcomes death, and cultural responses to suffering. They close with their Top 5 Predictable (But Still Enjoyable) Movie Love Stories.

This week, the girls take on Disney’s animated film, Moana. They discuss the power of Christian vocation, the quest to find ourselves in Christ, and the uniqueness of the Christian salvation narrative—they even occasionally sing while doing so. They close with their Top 5 Disney Animal Sidekicks.

This week, the guys decided to talk about their first overtly Christian piece of art: Josh Garrels’ album, Love & War & the Sea In Between. They discuss the unique power of poetry and music to speak our hearts, the struggle and necessity of facing our own brokenness, and the tension between what we see and what we hope for. They close with their Top 5 Western Christian Church Hymns.

This week the ladies discuss one of Christina’s all-time favorite books, A Swiftly Tilting Planet. They discuss the reality that all things are connected, the healing power of the transcendent, and the habitual sticking power of every virtuous (or vicious) decision we make. They close with their Top 5 Books from Childhood.

In the final episode before the summer break, Steve and Christian discuss DC’s hit summer blockbuster Wonder Woman. They discuss the nature of human beings, the power of compassion, and (as always) how secularism has taken hold of our notions of the transcendent. They close with their Top 5 Heroines.

At the beginning of the new season, Steve and Emma stir things up with the first ever crossover episode of PCCH! They take a look at HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones. They address the controversy surrounding the show’s grittier content, the possibility of personal transformation, and the only true battle that matters: the battle between Life and Death. They close with their Top 5 Tragic Heroes.