Honk 40 times if you are Orthodox!

Today Fr. Joseph answers the questions sent in by listeners on the subject of fasting.

In this rambling episode, Fr. Anthony makes a plea for family pilgrimages (his uses Mommy and Me, Daddy and Me at All Saints Camp), talks about how he likes to teach dogmatics, and gives some advice on choosing a seminary. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Anthony reads the third chapter of St. John Chrysostom's On the Priesthood. The translation is by Rev. W. R. W. Stephens, M.A., (Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church Volume IX, edited by Philip Schaff, D.D., LL.D.), lightly edited to take out some of the archaicisms (Fr. Anthony's mispronunciations are a bonus!). Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony as he talks with Fr. Gregory Jensen, PhD, to get some advice on the role of the priest/pastor in crazy times. It's a difficult conversation, but it's important for us to have trusted friends in our lives who will tell us things we don't want to hear. Fr. Gregory is wise, experienced, and courageous enough to say things that will satisfy precisely no one. Enjoy the show!

Today Fr. Anthony waves the "Good Idea Wand" (a cursed artifact to be sure) to come up with solutions to the problem of maladjusted clergy. He then invites Fr. Gregory to evaluate them. The ideas they discuss are; psychological evaluations, mandatory reporting of credit scores and financial debt, annual performance evaluations, and peer reviews. In the end, they both agree that even though solutions like these may offer short-term benefits, the best solution is to facilitate the growth of genuinely Orthodox cultures and institutions. Enjoy the show!

Elissa recounts her week at Camp St. Sava, the official Orthodox summer camp of the Serbian Orthodox Church's Western American Diocese.

Elissa expresses how important it is to be honest and humble when teaching children, freely showing our imperfections.

The Sunday of Orthodoxy offers us an opportunity to discuss with our kids the Orthodox understanding of the materiality of this world and its potential for holiness.

Fr. Michael talks about how we take on responsibility for fixing others. "Peace does not come once we figure out how to heal our problems and the problems of those around us. That's backwards. Our problems and the problems of those around us will be healed as we acquire peace."

Fr. Michael shares about his experience with the first ever Antiochian Orthodox youth camp in western Canada.

If deception is so deceptive, how does one know if one is being deceived?

In homily 69, St. Isaac reminds us that temptations to sin come upon all people, even the “perfect.” Quoting freely from St. Macarius of Alexandria, St. Isaac reminds us that our inner state is rather like the weather. “There is cold, and soon after, burning heat, and then perhaps even hail, and after a little, fair weather.”

Fr. Michael Gillis talks about how part of our problem with overcoming temptation is that we don’t understand what temptations are for, what they are meant to accomplish in our lives. We wrongly think that temptations exist to test us to see if we will be “good.” We still haven’t believed the words of Jesus who said: “There is no one good but God.” Temptations come not to test us to see if we will be good; rather, temptations come to show us that we are not good and that we need to flee in humility to God for refuge. Temptations come because we think we can make it through the day without God’s constant help. Temptations come because we think a comfortable life is normal, rather than a gift from God. This is what the saints call self-esteem.

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.

Several places in Holy Scripture, there are architectural images given to describe our Lord. Fr. Thomas reflects on them in today's episode.

Live from the Saint Iakavos Retreat Center in Kansasville, Wisconsin, Steve and Christian explore some of the deeper themes of one of America’s most beloved and longest-airing television families: the Simpsons! They discuss marriage, despondency, and how The Simpsons models repentance within the context of family life. This time, the guys close with their top 5 Simpsons quotes of all time!

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.

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.

The guys reunite to discuss Rod Dreher’s controversial book The Benedict Option. They discuss religious freedom, their mutual desire for Christian community, and how our best religious arguments often cede ground to secular positions. They close with their Top 5 Books on the Christian Life.

"I'm Santa Claus, Teddy, not Yoda." Steve and Christian watched the delightful holiday movies, "The Christmas Chronicles" and "The Christmas Chronicles: Part Two" The guys discuss Santa Claus, pastoral care, the struggle to determine our identity, and a sacramental view of the world. ​ Philanthropy Spotlight: We're also shining a light on the FOCUS North America, a national movement of Orthodox Christians, united in faith and joined by a desire to provide action-oriented and sustainable solutions to poverty in communities across America. FOCUS has operations and youth volunteer experiences in more than 20 cities in the United States. Learn more on the parish website: https://focusnorthamerica.org/ ​

The girls and their special guest discuss the two classic short stories, touching on themes such as how our thoughts determine our lives, generational sin, and the Harrowing of Hades.

The dormition of the Theotokos is an icon of our hope for eternal life.

Like the Theotokos, we are called to welcome Christ into our own lives and become the Temple of God.

During the season of Lent, we are called to crucify our passions and turn from sin so that we can gain the strength to respond like the Theotokos in simple, trusting obedience.

Who do you think you are? Is it leading you more and more into the likeness of Jesus?

When we become distracted by the indulgence of our passions, we will be like the rich fool who was blind to the ultimate purpose of his life before God.

Approaching God's requirements as a simple checklist for eternal life will leave us, like the Rich Young Ruler, outside of the great joy of Christmas.

Fr. Philip LeMasters explains the impact of the resurrection of Christ through the story of the Samaritan Woman.

Fr. Philip LeMasters shares a homily based on this Sunday's Epistle and Gospel readings, reminding us to build our lives on the true foundation of Christ.

The Lord’s genealogy in St. Matthew’s gospel traces the Savior’s human ancestry back through many generations to Abraham. The story of the ancestors of Christ, who helped to prepare the way across the centuries for the incarnation of the God-Man, certainly does not read like a Facebook posting. The Old Testament presents them realistically as unlikely members of His family tree.

Our calling, like that of Peter and the first disciples, is simply to obey Christ’s command to follow Him. When we stumble in doing so, we must cultivate the humble recognition of Peter, who said, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

Joachim, Anna, and the Theotokos were the complete opposites of the rich man in today’s gospel reading. His only concern was to eat, drink, and enjoy himself because he had become so wealthy. He was addicted to earthly pleasure, power, and success, and saw the meaning and purpose of his life only in those terms. In stark contrast, the Theotokos followed the righteous example of her parents. She was prepared by a life of holiness to agree freely to become our Lord’s mother.

We must mindfully take the steps necessary to follow the Theotokos in becoming holy living temples of the Lord. That is the only way to celebrate this feast and to prepare to celebrate Christmas with integrity.

Due to pride, we often crave words and actions from others that distract us from seeing ourselves clearly and instead fuel illusions of self-importance and self- righteousness. When doing so becomes a settled habit, we can easily find ourselves attempting to use religion to serve our egos instead of being focused on offering ourselves to the Lord.

Holy Week is not a time for rational theological speculation and argument. It is, instead, a time for entering into the deep mystery of the love of our Lord, of the great “I AM” Who remains infinitely beyond our full comprehension.

As we continue to celebrate our Lord’s glorious resurrection on the third day and victory over Hades and the tomb, we have to admit that all too often we live as though death still reigned. We do so especially when we obsess about how weak, broken, and vulnerable we are, especially in light of the grave.

Fr. John explores what could be called the catacomb culture of the Church in relation to the Roman Empire.

Fr. John evaluates the impact that the Christianization of Rome had on the state's conception of sacrifice.

Fr. John addresses the uncertainty in Byzantium following the death of Constantine and then the consolidation of Christianity shortly after that.

Fr. John discusses the case of Caesaropapism and the symphony when it was actually achieved.

Fr. John discusses the life and activities of St. Pulcheria, as well as how the Trisagion came into Orthodox worship.

Fr. John explores the triumph of Orthodoxy in the year 843 and the way in which it enables the art of Christendom to express the deepest conviction about man's relationship with God and the possibility of communion with Him.

In this episode, Fr. John describes why Saint Gregory's defense of hesychasm against the westernized Barlaam represented a defense not only of Orthodoxy, but of Christendom itself.

Fr. John delineates the various ways in which Constantine contributed to the Christianization of the Roman state.

Fr. John discusses the ways in which the Church tries to create a sanctified topography in Christendom.

Fr. Josiah Trenham speaks about the connection between church building consecration and people consecration at a clergy retreat for the Carolina Deanery of the Orthodox Church in America.

Fr. John encourages us to reflect on death and preparation for life eternal.

Fr. John shares an update from the Department of Evangelization with the 18th All-American Council of the Orthodox Church in America, July 2015.

In her inaugural episode, Dr. Humphrey lays the groundwork for her new series.