You don’t have to read too deeply into history to realize that most societies and cultures have placed a premium on strength and power. From warriors to generals, chiefs to Caesars, the cult of the strong and powerful holds sway almost everywhere in human history. This is evident in the art and the athletic contests of most cultures as well as their attempts at military might. But it is no less evident in their religions, which almost always portray the gods as powerful, unco

O almighty Master, who in wisdom hast fashioned all creation; who, through Thine ineffable providence and great goodness, hast led us to these all-revered days for purification of souls and bodies, for restraint of passions, and for hope of the Resurrection; who, during the forty days, didst put into the hands of Thy servitor Moses the tables in letters divinely inscribed: grant unto us also, O good One…to attain unto and to worship the holy Resurrection…. This prayer, said b

Last Sunday evening the young adults had a good conversation on a tough topic: spiritual mourning. The impetus for this conversation was a book that we are reading called Thirty Steps to Heaven which is an introduction to The Ladder of Divine Ascent. Now there is no getting around the fact that attempting to see mourning as any sort of virtue is difficult in our culture. Ours is a world thoroughly saturated with notions of self-improvement, personal growth, and the constant m

We are undoubtedly familiar with the parable associated with this Sunday of preparation for Great Lent, the Prodigal Son. The prodigal son - the younger son - falls prey to the Great Lie, the oldest lie ever told to man: that real life, true riches, and freedom are to be found away from God, outside of the Father’s house. This is the same lie that the serpent told Adam and Eve in the beginning of the human story: “you will be as gods” apart from God. The insinuation is that G