138. Why do we honor the Mother of God? Because the Bible says so! – Part One

The Virgin Mary…? Those of you who were raised Orthodox or Roman Catholic cannot imagine how hard it was for most of us former Protestants to accept the Mother of God. I know, because when we try to describe it, you just look at us with puzzled looks on your faces! Most icons with permission […]

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110. The Triumph of Orthodoxy

The Triumph of Orthodoxy? That sounds brash and prideful, as if we think we Orthodox have beat everybody else out in this “religious game”, that we have all the truth and others have none because we’re so smart and everybody else is so stupid (sounds like modern politics), or that we’ve taken over the world or […]

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85. The Seven Deadly Sins – Introduction

Sin I think we Orthodox don’t talk enough about sin. Really – how many of our people actually go to Confession? And when we do speak of morality, we seem to focus mostly on sex. Our hierarchs often (and properly) criticize disordered sexuality and its effects: adultery, gay marriage, abortion and the like. As a priest, I […]

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