We communicate mainly through word, and it does matter how we do it. Our word is a reflection of the Incarnate Word. The Lord said, "Let there be light." And the invisible received its existence through word. Word is the greatest power in the world. "By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth" (Ps. 33:6). So also in us the … [Read more...] about The Importance and Power of Words
Spirituality
The Silence of Zacharias
By Fr. Matthew Fuhrman "Behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place” (St. Luke 1:20). As we all have just heard, because of his doubt, the priest Zacharias was struck dumb. And with this silencing of Zacharias the three traditional leadership roles of Ancient Israel were all silent. The people of God had no priest, prophet, or … [Read more...] about The Silence of Zacharias
Fr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address: Counsels to Seminary Graduates
The Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address June 3, 2018. Holy Trinity Orthodox Seminary and Monastery Almost forty years ago, my seminary class graduated from an Orthodox theological school, many of us in preparation for the Holy Priesthood. With all of the excitement during the graduation ceremonies, I cannot even recall what was said by our main speaker or if we … [Read more...] about Fr. Patrick Viscuso Commencement Address: Counsels to Seminary Graduates
The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
Sexual identities, in contrast to sexual practices or passions, are a relatively new concept. Only recently were passions taken to define people, i.e. seen as constituting an identity or essence, such as homosexual or heterosexual—an understanding that even many secular circles now scorn as untenable. It is, then, discouraging to see a highly respected Orthodox hierarch … [Read more...] about The Unbearable Essentializing of Being: Metropolitan Kallistos Ware’s Sorrowful Joy of Sex
On Suicide
Orthodoxy not uncommonly calls on us to maintain a sort of binocular vision, affirming two seemingly opposing views. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of suicide, where we are asked both to love the perpetrator and refrain from judgment, while at the same time condemning the act as itself profoundly abhorrent. Our therapeutic mindset finds the former easy, and the … [Read more...] about On Suicide
