Talk - Shortcuts to Sanctification
OrthoAnalytika
Today Fr. Anthony started out talking about some of the temptations that come with becoming Orthodox, but most of the conversation ended up being about the draw and danger of cults. Enjoy the show!
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Homily - Myrrhbearers
OrthoAnalytika
Today’s reflection centers on the Myrrhbearers — those who came to anoint Jesus’ body after His death. Their actions teach us a powerful lesson about love as duty rather than transaction or warm fuzzy. They approached the tomb thinking Jesus was still dead and knowing (!) that he was utterly unable to reward them for their sacrifices. But their actions found resonance with something deep and real - the Love that knows no death.
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Adult Education - Talking about Pascha
OrthoAnalytika
Fr. Anthony speaks about different liturgical traditions, their history and significance, especially Pascha. Enjoy the show!
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Homily - On Belief
OrthoAnalytika
This homily from Thomas Sunday emphasizes the point that God does not condemn doubt but invites honest seekers into deeper belief. True belief in Christ isn't just accepting facts, but trusting in His love, intentions, and power—similar to the trust found in all healthy relationships. Doubt, when motivated by a sincere desire for truth, can lead to greater faith, especially when brought into open, loving community. However, skepticism rooted in malice or apathy is spiritually harmful. Christ welcomes honest questions because they build relationship, but He opposes harmful, rigid belief used...
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Men’s Talk - On Financial Freedom
OrthoAnalytika
Entrepreneur, Orthodox Christian, and former radio host Jimmy Harris shares his own experiences with overcoming financial adversity using sound Biblical principles, and through this, leading his family into financial peace and prosperity. Enjoy the show!
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Homily - Palm Sunday
OrthoAnalytika
In this homily, Fr Anthony challenges us to reflect on our own expectations of God. Like the Jews, we often approach God with our own predefined ideas of what He should do for us. When our problems persist or even worsen, we are faced with a choice: either we try to control God and limit His power by confining Him to our expectations, or we allow Him to transform our lives in unexpected ways, leading us to a deeper relationship with Him. Enjoy the show!
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Lenten Lesson - Loving Our Enemies
OrthoAnalytika
Today, Fr. Anthony continues to keep it real while talking about the great challenge of loving our enemies. Love your enemies. Matthew 5:43-48 1 Corinthians 13: 1 John 13:34 Romans 15:1a St. John Chrysostom: [St. Paul] adorns love not only for what it has but also for what it has not. Love both elicits virtue and expels vice, not permitting it to spring up at all. St John Chrysostom: For neither did Christ simply command to love but to pray. Do you see how many steps he has ascended and how he has set us on the very summit of virtue? Mark it, numbering from the...
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Retreat on Beauty - Putting It All Together
OrthoAnalytika
Fr. Anthony concludes his prestantation on beauty at the 2025 UOL Lenten retreat by connecting music with love. Music taps into and draws from something that is primal, foundational, and rational (word – bearing); so does love. Music requires mastery of certain skills and concepts that require repetition to master; so does love. Music improves when there are different voices represented; so does love. Music works with dissonance to move us towards deeper truths; so does love. Music often requires periods of silence for listening, anticipation, and appreciation; so...
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Retreat on Beauty - Fr. Roman Marchyshak on Music in Worship
OrthoAnalytika
Fr. Roman Marchyshak is the priest at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Trenton, NJ and teaches liturgical music at St. Sophia Ukrainian Orthodox Seminary. In this presentation, he talks about the role music plays in the worship of the Orthodox Church, reminding us that it is not an adornment, but an essential element. He had some of the seminarians from St. Sophia's sing selected pieces to illustrate his main points. Enjoy the show!
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Retreat on Beauty - Introduction
OrthoAnalytika
This is the audio for the first part of the 2025 Ukrainian Orthodox League Lenten Retreat held on Saturday April 5th in Philadelphia. Beauty helps us understand Orthodox (INCARNATIONAL!) theology better and thus live more graceful lives. It is also one of the best ways to do Orthodox Evangelism. People come to us for many reasons, but an encounter with God is what they really long for. Beauty is a special charisma of the Church – secular beauty is a pale imitation (or perversion) of that true beauty. Beauty resonates with the built-in beauty receptors of our senses,...
info_outlineOn Fostering and Defending a Culture of Cheerful Giving
St. Paul says today that we should not give grudgingly or out of coercion, but out of his heart – because God loves a cheerful giver.
It is tempting to think of this in purely utilitarian terms: if we do this, more money will be given to charity, whether that is in support of the poor, in support of evangelism, or whatever.
And it is true that this would have an effect. But this is NOT the only – or even the main – purpose of St. Paul's teaching.
St. John Chrysostom (a great friend of the poor and admonisher of the rich); “God appointed almsgiving not only for the nourishment of the needy but also for the benefit of the providers, and much more so for the latter than for the former.”
And it is certainly true that this will improve the disposition of the giver. Attitude may not be everything, but it is a lot; especially when it is tied to actions that benefit others. This turns an excuse for grumbling into the exercise of virtue; of an opportunity to just dig a deeper grave to a chance to climb up just a little higher on the ladder towards perfection and lasting joy.
But even that doesn't exhaust the great benefit of cheerful giving; you see this virtue of cheerful action is generalizable past the giving of money into every action of our lives. MOREOVER, it's benefits go beyond the individuals directly involved to the culture they are a part of.
Robert Putnum: Making Democracy Work: Culture of Trust vs. Culture of Patronage.
What would happen if we could relax and just be good to one another? If we gave without thinking of what we might get in return? If we could sacrifice without having to worry about being cheated or taken advantage of. If we could give knowing that everyone else was doing the same; and that our attitude as much as our efforts were creating an icon of the Kingdom of God here on earth?
Compare that to the opposite: Giving out of coercion, knowing that if I gave selflessly it would just disappear because others were too lazy; that …
Families and parishes are designed to be icons of the Kingdom; not of tyranny, but of cheerful giving in all things. But it can only work if there is a critical mass of people who are willing to live this way.
Axelrod “The Evolution of Cooperation” How many predators and shirkers to transform a trusting culture into the broken one?
The equivalent in parish life? A few trying to sustain everything. The temptation? USE COERSION! Higher dues, shaming, exhaustion, “checking out”.
The real answer: cheerful giving. As individuals – always (it's the winning stragtegy no matter what – martyr or evangelist). As a parish? Coercive parishes die. Joyful parishes live. Which one?