October 31, 2020

Fear threatens to overwhelm us and endangers to divide us more and more from one another. It jeopardizes our sense of community and love for one another, leading us to bunker down into our own self-made shelters with people who are like minded. We keep away from the other, whom we fear. We separate ourselves from those whom we feel are different, and thus dangerous. Yet, fear is not from God! Read more »

October 25, 2020

If we would meet Christ in all his power, would we welcome Him, or would we turn Him away? Would we obey Him, or would we fear Him and ask Him to leave us alone? Read more »

October 18, 2020

Twenty-six years ago today, on the feast of my patron saint, Luke the Evangelist, I was ordained to the priesthood in Tirana, Albania by His Beatitude Archbishop Anastasios. Read more »

October 11, 2020

How is it that in the same family, with the same upbringing, and with the same pious mother, siblings could end up on very different ends of the faith spectrum? Read more »

October 04, 2020

“Do unto others what you want them to do unto you.” The Golden Rule. Jesus basically said this rule summarizes the law and the prophets. Here is the spirit of our Orthodox Christian faith. Treating others the way we want to be treated.  Read more »

September 27, 2020

The Letter of Love. This is St. John the Evangelist’s beautiful letter which describes the divine love of God. “God is love. Whoever abides in love abides in God and God in him… There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out all fear... We are to love one another as God has loved us.” Read more »

September 20, 2020

I recently read about the life of St Maximillian Kolbe, the Polish Catholic priest who died in the Auschwitz Nazi death camp during WW2. His story is one of truly “denying yourself, taking up one’s cross, and following Jesus Christ." Read more »

September 14, 2020

What is the greatest power in the world? Read more »

September 07, 2020

“The kingdom of God will be taken from you!” What a harsh statement for Jesus to make. How could such a thing happen? Why would our Lord, who “desires every person to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth,” warn people he loves so much in such a stern and severe manner “The kingdom of God will be taken from you.” Read more »

August 31, 2020

What is something we feel attached to? Something that we wouldn’t want to lose or aren’t willing to give up? Well, today’s Gospel story has a challenging lesson about attachments. Read more »

August 24, 2020

Whenever we are confronted in life with a choice to forgive or not forgive someone else, we are given a choice to experience the grace of life or the horror of death. By holding on to resentment, bitterness, anger, and even hatred, we open the door to misery and death in our own lives. Read more »

August 16, 2020

In his letter to the Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul describes the life of an apostle, the ultimate follower of Christ, as being, “last of all, sentenced to death, a spectacle to the world, fools for Christ's sake; we are weak, we are held in disrepute, we hunger and thirst, we are ill-clad, buffeted, homeless, we labor working with our own hands, we are the refuse of the world, the off-scouring of all.” Read more »

August 10, 2020

“Jesus dismissed the crowds and then went up into the hills by himself to pray” It’s a phrase that can easily be lost in the midst of the major events of the Gospel. Read more »

August 03, 2020

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  These words offer a summary of the life of the Virgin Mary. Read more »

July 25, 2020

The first person to enter paradise – who was he? The Virgin Mary? Saint Paul or Saint Peter? One of the other great saints of history? Who was the first person to enter into paradise? Read more »

July 19, 2020

What can we learn from a nonconformist, chain-smoking, twice divorced Russian nun who scandalized many people with her non-traditional behavior? Read more »

July 12, 2020

How many of us prefer to ignore the demons in our lives? Our temper. Our pride. Our anger. Our greed. Our lust. Our laziness. What about certain addictions or daily habits that control us? Read more »

June 28, 2020

Many people are feeling extremely anxious, stressed, worried, and profoundly uncertain about what tomorrow will bring. Well, our Lord Jesus proclaims such a beautiful, comforting and relevant message today! Read more »

June 21, 2020

Happy Father’s Day! On this day that we honor fathers, I want all the men of our Church to reflect upon what legacy we are creating and leaving behind in our lives. Read more »

June 14, 2020

Extremism from the right and from the left are the work of evil, the work of the devil to divide us from one another. There’s only one form of extremism that is ever acceptable as a Christian, and that is the extremism of love! If you want to be an extremist, be an extremist in showing love to one another, especially to those who appear different then you. If you want to be an extremist, be an extremist in offering mercy, especially to those who you think don’t deserve mercy. If you want to be an extremist, be an extremist in forgiving one another and reconciling with one another, especially with those who come from the opposite political spectrum as yourself. Read more »