What's the difference between Orthodox Christians' participation on the Internet and, say, secular scoundrels? Sometimes, it seems, not much. Fr. Joseph admits his foot's been in his mouth but his tongue's still in his cheek; in other words: "Let's be careful out there!"

Fr. Joseph interviews the Development Director, Presbytera Shyla Hadzellis and her husband, Fr. Nicholas, about OCF and their presence at the recent GOA Clergy-Laity Congress held in Atlanta, Georgia.

Can you imagine for a moment that all this revealed religion stuff is really, really real? Imagine, if you will, the Theotokos pondering things, like: Where is Christ the Savior? Fr. Joseph imagines and ponders his way toward answers in Part One of this special episode, "live" and edited, from Christ the Savior church in the Windy City.

Fr. Joseph revisits "The Tonight Show" and dreams of hosting, guesting and side-kicking (featuring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Conan O'Brien, Carnac the Magnorfodox, David of Wales, Red Skelton, "the world's greatest grape catcher" and more)!

Fr Joseph—in his previous life—rolled yards, bent forks, painted water towers, and was, on more than one occasion, killed by his father. (Some of which is actually true.) In the end, hats off to fear!

What's an Orthodox Christian to do on Halloween?

What caused the Steelers' dynasty in the seventies? (Of course it was Fr. Joseph.) What caused 35,000 folks to pray the "Our Father" in a football stadium? (Of course it was the Supreme Court.) Tim Tebow caused quite a stir in the NFL. (Only the Perfect makes perfect.) And Fr. Joseph takes a bow (but how do you say "hiatus"?).

Fr Joseph rants and runs for cover—raising concerns, but not hands (please).

Do you know how hard it is to squeeze Jack Chick, Batman, and St Cuthbert into the same episode? Not to mention a cow, church school, and bats. BOOM!

You ever had a wreck with the bishop in the car? Yeah, well, lemme tell ya before he does: I have!

Everyone who's Orthodox likes Pascha a lot. But the Germ who lived just beyond our grasp did not!

The Great Commission just doesn't apply to us, right?

Children, parents and grandparents - whatever condition we find ourselves in, God knows and understands.

Be inspired by the phenomenal story of St. Moses the Black: a model for us all no matter the color of our "sin."

Today, Fr. Joseph is reading his fan mail and coming across some interesting questions!

It is only September, but stores are already displaying their Halloween "goods." What are we to make of this holiday as Orthodox Christians?

This week, Fr Joseph gets real: "The thing about Confession is that it is natural. That is, it is Real. Almost everything else we do with our sin is false and unnatural. We punish ourselves, justify our actions, and hide. Yet, in Confession -- in opening ourselves to God the Light -- we expose the hypocrisy of our double life. In truth, we've been living a lie. Without Confession, Absolution, and Reconciliation we live a lie before God and Man as if it were Reality. In reality, no one is fooled -- not our neighbor, not ourselves. And, let's be real, certainly not God."

Fr. Anthony interviews Fr. Gregory Jensen about the need for priests to know themselves.

This episode includes an interview with Benedict Sheehan, the Director of Music at St. Tikhon's Seminary and the author of The Music Stand blog with Ancient Faith. He shares his thoughts on the state of our music and makes suggestions on how to improve it.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Theophan Mackey of St. Job of Pochaiv parish in Los Alamos, NM (stjobla.org). He's only been a priest for three years, but he really hit the ground running (glory to God!). In this "live" episode, he shares his experience serving God as a priest (and jack of all trades) in New Mexico. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Theophan (St. Job of Pochaiv parish in Los Alamos, NM) makes a case for treating others the way we would have them treat us, giving evidence that being patient and kind is a good and healthy way to live and spread the the Gospel. 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!

Listen to find out which of the many conspiracies is occupying space in Fr. Anthony's fool head. Without it, he argues that the other problems (e.g. injustice, riots, elections, presidential narcissism) would have been handled as normal rather than extra-ordinary problems. We should have seen it coming! From his YouTube Livestream of 1/16/2021.

Many clergy report an increase in people visiting our parishes. This wave is unique in Church history because these inquirers have primarily, perhaps even exclusively, learned about Orthodoxy on the internet. The growing number of internet evangelists can be a great blessing if that work leads people to immerse themselves in the life of an Orthodox parish. But we need to be ready and able to serve these inquirers well. Are we? In this episode, Steve Christoforou describes how a healthy parish can build upon the work internet evangelists have done while making up for the deficiencies of the on-line experience. As a veteran internet evangelist (e.g. through Be the Bee, We Are Orthodoxy, Pop Culture Coffee Hour) and the Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministries (Y2AM), Steven brings a wealth of insight to this critical and often misunderstood topic. In the episode, Steve shares the five needs of young people which are further explored in Y2AM’s online ministry training course, Effective Christian Ministry. Listers can use the code GGWB at checkout to register for 50% off. EffectiveChristianMinistry.org 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 explains how to help children who struggle with doubt about the existence of God.

Elissa shares how to use the lives of the Saints to combat children's fears.

Sometimes, the God we imagine is not at all who He really is. We need to let our children see faith that is alive and real—which reflects the True God who exists apart from our imaginations.

Some years, Bright Week is filled with joy, but there are other years when we are just worn out. Have we done Pascha wrong? What do we do next?

Elissa talks with Dan Bein from Orthodox Christian Fellowship about this important ministry for college students.

In honor of Parenting Month at Ancient Faith, Raising Saints is flipping it around: instead of talking about how adults can feed the faith of children, we're considering the impact this process has on the parents, and the many ways in which raising saints can transform one into a saint.

We tell them that God is Love, but do we go a step further and teach them what it means to actually love other people? Literally, how do we show love? I think we assume that people know that already, but maybe they don't—or maybe we could do better.

Fr. Michael talks about the transition from fearing God to loving God.

Fr. Michael talks about the changeability of our bodies in our endeavor to live in holiness. "We may be a mess, but we are God's mess, and He loves us."

Fr. Michael shares reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held this past weekend at Antiochian Village. This is Part 1.

Fr. Michael shares reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held earlier this month at Antiochian Village. This is Part 2.

Fr. Michael shares reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held earlier this month at Antiochian Village. This is Part 3.

Fr. Michael shares reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held earlier this month at Antiochian Village. This is Part 4.

Fr. Michael shares reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held last month at Antiochian Village. This is Part 5.

Fr. Michael concludes his reflections from his presentation on Theosis at the Orthodox Institute, held last month at Antiochian Village. This is Part 6. Here is a link to the written text of his presentation: holynativity.blogspot.com/2014/11/st-isaacs-three-degrees-of-knowledge.html.

Fr. Michael shares from St. Isaac the Syrian, "How one speaks of spiritual things is perhaps more important than the very spiritual matters themselves."

Fr. Michael shares his concerns with the familiar "Poop in the Brownies" story and offers some positive alternatives to talking about purity with children.

Fr. Michael continues his discussion from last week. "We should not teach our children that anything outside us can defile us.... The defilement is already in our hearts and what we avoid, we avoid because it stirs up the disordered passions of my heart."

After the introductory address of “Our Father in heaven,” the Lord taught His disciples to make three commands.

In Homily 43, St. Isaac speaks of three areas of ‘discipline,’ or areas in which we must guide or rule our life. Proper discipline in these areas leads to purity. These three areas are bodily discipline, leading to purification of the body; discipline of the mind, leading to purification of the soul; and spiritual discipline, leading to purification of the mind.

Fr. Michael shares from Homily 47 of St. Isaac the Syrian. "Knowledge is not something to be held in contrast to love; but rather, knowledge is the beginning of a process or journey that leads to love. Knowledge is the infancy of love. And just as a July apple is hard and green and bitter, so knowledge when its growth into love has been hindered, only makes us proud (pride being the spiritual equivalent of the upset tummy that comes from eating green apples). But when knowledge has matured, St. Isaac tells us, it ‘surmounts’ even what is natural to attain to love."

Deciding to follow Christ or repenting from a besetting sin is only the first step in a very long journey. St. Isaac the Syrian likens this walk with Christ to a soft drop that hallows out a hard rock. It is not the gush of water caused by a sudden cloudburst of enthusiasm that actually changes us (although it often sets a direction). It is not the dramatic move that forms us into the image of our Master. Rather, it is the “small but always persistent discipline” that carves away the hard stone of our sinful passions and smooths our rough edges and undermines the foundation of our delusions about ourselves, about the world and about God. This is why St. Isaac tells us that patience, actually, is the evidence of God’s consolation received secretly, or in a hidden way, in our souls.

Many holy fathers and mothers of the Church have pointed out that spiritual words are like powerful medicine. If taken inappropriately, what was designed to heal ends up causing harm.

Fr. Michael Gillis reminds us that our salvation lies in living humbly within our measure, pushing a little during lent, perhaps, but always judging ourselves unworthy of a higher or stricter measure. This kind of fasting will be to our spiritual benefit.