January - 2021

Meekness

“We tend to think of meekness as a personality trait. When we hear the word meek, we usually think of someone softly spoken, easily pushed around, someone who never raises his voice, maybe even someone who is weak. But meekness is not the same as weakness, nor is it a particular kind of personality; it is a virtue...” (Archimandrite Vassilios Papavassiliou) “It [meekness] is an inner grace of the soul that accepts the will of God without complaint or resistance. Yet, those wh

Pleasing God

“The fundamental problem is the notion of “works.” It’s the belief that pleasing God is a matter of human effort. The harder one toils, the more one exerts oneself, the greater the chance that God will look with favor on him or her. But what God our Creator wants from us is far greater than works. It is our faith and love. These are matters of a relationship, and a relationship is a state of being…To live “to God” mean that we dedicate our whole being to the Lord, not just ce

Unwittingly

“ From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men” (Matthew 16:21

Friendship

“Christ has come according to the power given Him from the Almighty Father, and has summoned people to friendship, blessing, repentance, and dwelling together…we should regard our fellow Christians—as friends, since each of us has become a friend of Christ. It is perhaps significant that the same Saint John who reported that Christ called the disciples His friends in John 15:15 also used the term to describe Christians [3 John 14]—it is because Christ has made us His friends

Wisdom (and Information)

“…living in one of the most technologically advanced and complex societies on Earth, we would be wise to consider the manner in which technology has saturated virtually every aspect of our culture--our businesses, our homes, our schools, and even our churches. Information is being made available to us at extraordinarily fast rates….as we consider the vast quantities of stimuli that are being made available to the public through the Internet and electronic media in general, it

Combatting Cancel Culture and the Culture of Hate - January 25, 12 noon ET

Combatting Cancel Culture and the Culture of Hate - January 25, 12 noon ET

Next Orthodox Christian Network Live Adult Religious Education Class - Monday, January 25th at 12 noon through OCN's Facebook page. Combatting Cancel Culture and the Culture of Hate, a brief reflection on what the current culture is doing to us; why we are knowingly or unknowingly participating in it; and what we should do to combat it.

Perception

“As Aaron Beck once said, “all emotion is preceded by perception”. This is quote is quite consistent with the ascetical teachings of the church. We would do well to study that simple quote and begin to apply it to our lives. How exactly have we been perceiving all of these events, what meanings have we been assigning to them? What have we felt as a result of these meanings assigned or perceptions?” (Fr. Joshua Makoul) “Early in my career as a high school guidance counselor,

Righteousness

“No one can save us except the One Who created us. The Lord could have chosen to save us in a different manner, for He is Almighty and All-powerful. Instead, He took upon Himself our human nature and showed us by His own example the way of righteousness. Had He chosen to save us in any other way, we could say to Him, “You are the Almighty God. You were never a man as I am; You were never hungry or thirsty, sad or sorrowful.” This is why God took upon Himself all of human natu

Desert/Wilderness

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights He was hungry. The tempter came to Him…” (Matthew 4:1). The same Spirit will lead you into a desert that you must fashion by separating yourself from whatever prevents you from self-discovery. You need not go anywhere, but you have to put a distance from your routine way of life.” (Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky) “The Russian word, “Poustinia”, means “desert”, and t

Goodness

“…even good deeds, if they are done apart from Christ, are futile. “God’s all-saving will, consists in doing good solely to acquire the Holy Spirit, an eternal, inexhaustible treasure which cannot be rightly valued . . . Every soul is quickened by the Holy Spirit . . . and mystically illumined by the Triune Unity.” (St. Seraphim of Sarov) “The Kingdoms of this world” [Matthew 4:8] is not a temptation to fantastic wealth...I believe it is similar to the idylls we whisper to ou

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