The young man in today’s Gospel wants to have it both ways: He classifies Jesus as “a good teacher,” but asks of Him that which only God can know and reveal. No man who is simply a “good teacher” could ever answer the ultimate question: not, “what must a man do to inherit eternal life,” […]

We learn through Christ and in His Church, that forgiveness is the path toward freedom—both for ourselves, our Church family, and the world. Fr. Alexander Schmemann says: “The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world, is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this fortress of sin is […]

We’re reminded this day in our Epistle that the Apostles and their successors, and indeed all faithful Orthodox Christians, will suffer living out our faith in this world. The life of a faithful Christian by necessity, involves our denial of self and our coming outside ourselves to love and to serve. This is part of […]

The disciples faced many fears—fear of rejection by their own for following the Messiah, fear of arrest, persecution, of losing all their temporal attachments, forsaking their families, suffering prison, torture, martyrdom. In response to all these fears, Jesus reminds them (and us) that He and HE ALONE is “the one thing needful.” He is Life […]

We’re admonished in today’s Epistle against the sin of division (schism), which manifests itself not only in false doctrine and false morality but also in our idle talk, our disobedience to Christ and the Church. In our culture today, there are many things competing for our time, energy, and identity. Wherever we listen to those […]

In today’s Gospel, the blind men get themselves to Christ, beseeching Him to have mercy on them and acclaiming Him as the long-awaited Messiah by their words, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” It is both their acknowledgement of their need for healing and their coming to Christ, which so loudly demonstrates their faith. […]

Upon first encounter with the paralytic, instead of healing him of his paralysis, Christ first heals him of the ‘paralysis’ of his soul, forgiving his sins. Nothing is too great for God, but we also remember that His grace is sufficient for you and me. Not everyone receives miraculous healing of body, but all of […]

We’re reminded in today’s Gospel of the reality of spiritual warfare and the devastating effects of a soul given over to the evil one and his demons. St. Paul relays this truth to us, saying, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this […]

Sin is one of those oft misunderstood concepts in Christianity. Even in Orthodoxy, many people don’t understand sin, its consequences, and its remedy. St. Paul assures us in today’s Epistle that “sin leads to death” (Rom. 6:23). Why? The Orthodox Faith teaches us that sin is “missing the mark,” being disobedient and departing from the […]

Christ God warns us in today’s Gospel that we cannot serve two masters… we cannot serve God and mammon. The world tells us to put our trust in our material possessions with which we hope to gain a sense of ‘security,’ to trust in and improve ourselves. In contrast, Christ draws our attention to God’s […]