Category Archives: Blog

There is a tendency in our culture to separate the mind from the body, as if the mind is who we really are, while our body is merely a machine that we move wherever we want. Even some Christians would go so far as to say that as long as man believes that Jesus is […]

Today’s Scripture readings speak of faith, which is “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). The Epistle tells us, “now that we have been justified through faith, let us have peace with God.” In today’s world, we desperately need peace. All over the world, and especially our own […]

 From Community of Grace, Chapter 5, “Come Take Light” For today as from a bridal chamber, Christ has shone forth from the tomb, and filled the women with joy, saying Proclaim the glad tidings to the apostles! –Paschal Matins In this week’s chapter, a story tells about an Alcoholic named Al. Al is unconvinced about God, […]

Byzantine Saint Stories for Little Ones:  Theodora and Didymus – Feast Day May 27 Theodora was a young woman who wanted more than anything to be a nun.  At that time, it was illegal to be a nun, and even to be a Christian.  Trying to get her to deny her faith, the authorities forced […]

From our text, Community of Grace, Chapter 4, “It Takes a Village” we read that an elderly grandmother who, in response to someone who claimed focusing on church community shelters children too much, retorted “What’s wrong with being sheltered?…It meets my needs.” The author goes on to note, “Thinking later about this lively discussion, I wondered […]

From A Community of Grace: It takes a Village (Chapter 4) The author writes, “Children love and need tradition, order, and predictability. The value of tradition lies in its repetition, its intimacy, its knowledge this is what we do, what we have been through together, what we have shared, laughed at, and been a part of.” I […]

Saint Photina The Church has given the woman in today’s Gospel passage the name “Photina”. Her name is based on the word “light” because she is both enlightened herself, and directs the whole town back to Christ who is the Light of Life. What does it mean that she is enlightened? First, remember we are […]

George had a tumultuous childhood.  His father died when he was young, and his mother moved him far from his hometown.  When he grew up, he became a soldier in the military, achieving a very high rank.  He treasured his faith much more than the treasures of the world, and when the emperor began to abuse and kill […]

April-May Book Club- Community of Grace: An Orthodox Christian Year in Alaska by Mary Alice Cook Throughout the Christian world and beyond, people are beginning to recognize the need for community—the need to belong to a close and caring group of people who provide each other with physical, material, emotional, and spiritual support on a daily basis. But […]

“I say frequent prayer because purity and perfection in prayer is not within our reach, as St. Paul the Apostle indicates. The Spirit comes to help us in our weakness when we do not know how to pray (Rom. 8:26). Consequently, our only contribution toward perfection in prayer, the mother of all spiritual good, is […]