Translating the Tradition

On this Feast of All the Saints of North America, we have one more saint to celebrate! Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.… Read on

How do we use our God-given agency to become saints? Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.… Read on

A look at how the Mosaic tradition of appointing elders to judge the people found its fulfillment in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea Note: I mention the Donatists, but, while I may have implied that the Church ultimately ruled that they were in the wrong, I'm not sure I made it explicit enough that their schism was condemned by the council that Constantine convened as a lack of love and in contravention of Christ's teachings about repentance and forgiveness.… Read on

The birthday of the Church is a good time to go back to the beginning… Read on

In which we review the story of the man born blind from the blind man's perspective as a way into the experience of God on which true philosophy is founded References: John 9:1-38 Acts 16:16-34 Matthew 11:2-15 II Corinthians 4:6-15, 12:7-10 … Read on

We have betrayed the Image of God. Our only choice is whether we will be Judas or the sinful woman.… Read on

We need stories, and the story we need right now is that of St. Mary of Egypt.… Read on

St. Gregory demonstrates that we can know God, and that the pursuit of this knowledge is worth defending and dedicating our lives to.… Read on

The central realization, in Proverbs and Genesis and the Gospel, that wisdom and worship are what actually extend life and give it meaning… Read on

The old stories of Gideon and Barak and St. John Chrysostom remind us how we, as men and women of faith, understand history, especially including our own personal history.… Read on

We live on a knife edge. Evil is at the door. It is late – but not too late. There is light in the midst of darkness, a light which illumines, when we cry aloud, when all other lights have gone out.… Read on

The Great Canon equips us for the journey of repentance that is both Lent and life… Read on

Practical instructions from the Gospel and the Epistle readings given to us to consider as we embark on the great endeavour of Great Lent … Read on

A warning and an encouragement: We need to know both the judgement and the mercy and love of God.… Read on

Fr. Peter gave the best exegesis of the parable of the Prodigal Son that I've heard recently, so well worth listening to a little harder than usual (given the slightly poorer quality audio)!… Read on

The best way to get at the Church's understanding of the Feasts is to look at the Old Testament readings for that feast.… Read on

Abba Sisoës and the importance of understanding ourselves as “the chief of sinners”… Read on

Looking at some of the structure of Luke's Gospel to understand the importance of persistence in prayer and the nature of the Kingdom of God… Read on

What is the point of our diversity? How does speaking the truth in love make us one?… Read on

We know what we need to do; Christ in His baptism shows us how to do it.… Read on

The magi and the shepherds who were thereBeheld a wonder that we cannot share;Absent, as usual, will we never seeA revelation or epiphany?When will it be our turn in Bethlehem?… Read on

Who is our Father?… Read on

What shall we do to inherit eternal life?… Read on

…for He cares for you.… Read on

St. Paul's conclusion and its context… Read on

Returning to that which ultimately unites: the Resurrection… Read on

A Christian approach to sexuality and judgement… Read on

Unity in God's foolishness and weakness… Read on

How to love and leave judgement to the One who is ultimately qualified to judge, while still staying committed to the Truth… Read on

As we unite ourselves to our head, the Messiah, by serving to one another in love, we participate in His sacrifice and are grafted into His body, the race of the people of God… Read on

Saint Paul explains how God's provision for us has always made salvation possible for all: the word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, so you can do it; Christ, the promised seed of Abraham, enables us to live in love as God calls us to.… Read on

Saint Paul's teachings about sin and slavery … Read on

Reader James blesses us with stories of Saint Columba and Saint Aiden … Read on

We are called to become the saints of North America… Read on

It is the Spirit of God which enables us to judge rightly, so our job, if we want to be truly rational, is to deny ourselves in order to acquire the Holy Spirit: to live and to love after the pattern of the Logos… Read on

Happy Father's Day and Happy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council Day!… Read on

Learning from our Lord how to communicate in our own era… Read on

Evil is out there. How do we resist and find the courage to face it?… Read on

God works in and through even our greatest evil and failures to bring about His resurrection life… Read on

How God, working with both those who are for us and those who are against us, teaches us not to fear, but to love… Read on

The best we have to offer, and the best that God has to offer… Read on

He who robes the setting sun in clouds of royal purple is robed by us in the purple of mockery; yet He prays from the cross for us, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'”… Read on

Do we think that we are broken or that God is?… Read on

”At the end of all things, we will be with God in glory, but in the meantime, we're waiting…”… Read on

Jerusalem's response to the chaos of the coming of Christ – and our own… Read on

How undertaking the work of the cross heals us… Read on

How we tend to respond to the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, and what that teaches us about ourselves and about repentance… Read on

What we know about the Last Judgement is scary, but, considering what's at stake, very good news!… Read on

How to fast and live… Read on

How to live as we near the world's end… Read on

How do we actually assist one another? A homily reflecting on a conversation prompted by my Doxacon presentation on The Deaths of Arthur: http://podcast.stjohnofshanghai.org/TheDeathsOfArthur.m4a… Read on