Glory To God

The true self is "hid with Christ in God," St. Paul tells us. What then is the "self" that we live with every day? Fr. Stephen looks at how we create our own identity and how we should seek our true self in Christ.

Our modern world is increasingly finding ways to avoid the uncomfortable reality of death. Orthodoxy faces death directly and sees within it the triumph of Christ and His affirmation of His good creation.

One of the temptations of our secular age is the public drive to make religious faith a "private" matter. Fr. Stephen looks at this tension within our culture and the importance of the Christian public response.

Our feelings and desires are trained by our culture to seek satisfaction. In our spiritual life, we often need to learn how to be disappointed. Fr. Stephen looks at the "disappointment of religion."

The goal of the Christian life is true knowledge of God (Jn. 17:3). Fr. Stephen speaks about the mysterious character of this knowledge.

What is the soul? Fr. Stephen speaks about the "secret life" and the mystery of our selves.

Fr. Stephen speaks about the crisis of a "Churchless" Christianity

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, Orthodox Christians celebrate the return of icons to the Churches. Fr. Stephen looks at the spirit of icon smashing that occasionally infects Christians and various political movements and contrasts it with the spirit of authentic Christianity.

God engages our world in concrete, practical ways. These "sacraments" are a means of sharing in the Divine Life. Fr. Stephen speaks about the "sacrament" of mercy.

St. Gregory of Nyssa speaks of man both as singer and song. Fr. Stephen explores how we are the "song of God."

Drawing on a passage from the writings of the Elder Sophrony, Fr. Stephen looks at the spiritual importance of "waking up." St. Paul reminds us, "Arise, O Sleeper, awake from the dead..."

Fr. Stephen looks at the very heart of fasting—not the foods, not the 'how to's'—but why we fast.

Fr. Stephen looks at the meaning of the "Great Cloud of Witnesses" whom St. Paul describes as surrounding us as we go about the struggle of the Christian life.

Fr. Stephen, having experienced a time of grief in the loss of his father, writes about the faith of Pascha and what it is to which we should look as we await our reunion with those we love.

Fr. Stephen looks at what it means to live in a relationship of love and freedom, and the problems it creates for our ideas of what is and is not necessary.

Fr. Stephen focuses on what we mean when we say, "I know God," and what we do not mean. We must know God - it is our salvation - but what does it mean?

Fr. Stephen considers what it means to be a "convert" to the Orthodox faith within the context of modern American culture.

Fr. Stephen suggests that the heart of our faith and our relationship with God can be found more quickly in such things as music and beauty. We often seek to substitute language about religious doctrine in the place of these more primary expressions of our Christian life.

Fr. Stephen speaks about the concept of anadoche - the spiritual communion and responsibility we have in one another's lives.

Fr. Stephen looks at the teaching of Christ on love for enemies and sets it in its proper spiritual context.