Category: Articles

Christ is risen! This Sunday in the Orthodox Church we hear from the fifth chapter of the Gospel of St. John regarding the miraculous healing of the paralytic at the pool. It can be easy to dismiss this as just another healing in the ministry of Jesus Christ. But if we ever find ourselves in...

Like many of you, I’m sure, these past weeks our family has been struggling with the latest cold or flu that is going around. It’s hard to be sick yourself, but it’s especially hard to see your children hurting. I think it’s common for the devil to try and taunt us while we’re down, whispering...

Every day, we face circumstances that may not seem ideal. For a day to be “a good day” generally means the events of a day go how we want, and “a bad day” means they do not go how we want. We often allow those days to determine our mood; it’s easy to be happy...

I imagine nearly everyone at least once, has had a difficult time locating a certain destination. Maybe while driving, you were sure you had the right address but it didn’t seem like it when you were getting close. Or maybe walking somewhere the number on the mailbox was correct but the house or the part...

Today, I received a call from a dear priest and spiritual father of mine who was recently admitted to the hospital for some serious declining health issues. I had called him and left a voicemail yesterday to let him know we were praying for him. I was surprised to hear how well he sounded and...

This year Easter (Pascha) came almost a full month later for Orthodox Christians than it did for others. We are just finishing our second week of participation in the Resurrection of Christ, and for quite a while still we’ll be singing, “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those...

When I was in seminary, I came across a quote from a modern-day saint who had observed that “Those who cannot control themselves are eager to control others.” At that time, I had been struggling with thoughts of others who were not behaving in a Christian manner, and it was giving me quite a bit...

Why doesn’t God always answer our prayers? What if, instead of answering your prayer, He publicly insulted you instead? Would you continue asking God for help? This weekend in the Orthodox lectionary there is a reading from the Gospel of Matthew 15:21-28. It is one of the more difficult passages in the New Testament to...

Written for and published by Phelps County Focus. “Summer is almost here and it’s made for relaxing! Based on the last several summers, it’ll be too hot to do anything but sit by a pool or lay on a beach. When that gets old, there’s always sleeping in, staying up late to watch Netflix, delivery...