Husbands, Love! Wives, Respect!
To say that marriage is a hot topic today would be an understatement. But, you have to understand that the motivation for all this controversy about marriage today isn’t new. And it isn’t about equality or fairness or even compassion. It’s about attack. It’s about the real, yet unstated...
Asleep To Gratitude – Sunday’s Homily
We live in an affluent age, to the point that this abundance has blinded us to the need to be grateful for God's goodness to us. How do you react when God is good to you? Are you even attentive to the Goodness of God? In a time when...
A Good Tree Bears Good Fruit
The fact is if I went to a garden store and bought a tree they said would grow pears, and, after I planted it fertilized it, watered it, and did all the work to grow my pear tree to maturity so that I could eat my own pears, I...
Are You the “Chiefest of Sinners?”
He was actually bragging about being the best at being the worst! I’m not kidding! I sat in front of him staring in absolute disbelief at what I was hearing. I was lamenting the shallow commitment of my own heart to the rigorous practice of the Faith when he...
No Self-Conceit
There ought to be a law! Isn't it fascinating that the first thing most people think about when there is some conflict or disagreement or some unwanted actions in our society is that there should be some governmental control issued to make people "behave" the way they "should?" Why...
Blessed Are You
One of the greatest consequences of our modern world is that we moderns have been convinced that egalitarianism and individualism have been elevated to the highest good. We insist on a definition of "freedom" that means "I want to do what I want to do!" But the problem is...
Pitiful Perpetual Adolescence
Tom Stoppard once said, "Maturity is a high price to pay for growing up!" While that really is funny, it is also a painful splash of reality. It really does take time to become mature. Sadly, I've known men who were older but never mature. And one of those older...
Knowing Your Limitations
I don't like to admit my limitations. In fact, one of my besetting sins is seeing a Speed Limit sign and thinking of it as more of a "suggestion." Admitting that I really struggle with this is an absolutely essential part of maturing and growing in self-awareness. This maturing...
What Are We?
There was a stunning article in the January 2013 issue of Boston Magazine. It was entitled "Losing Our Religion" and the article begins by telling the story of a mother and her 9-year-old son watching a procession of the faithful from the Greek Orthodox church across the street from...
A Small, Shallow, Inattentive Life – Sunday’s Homily
The paradox of the Orthodox message concerning the Holy Cross uniquely reveals the deepest weakness of we humans, our self-centered pride. The cure for this deep, human, sickness is the paradox of "if you want to save your life, you have to lose your life." The Cross of Jesus...