OrthoAnalytika
The Feast of All Saints Hebrews 11:33-40; 12:1-2; St. Matthew 10:32-33; 37-38; 19:27-30 After clearing up potential confusion about "leaving" families as a sure way to heaven, Fr. Anthony asks how we are doing with the gifts of the Passion, Resurrection, and Pentecost (THE Holy Spirit!) God has given us to assist us in our healing and perfection. He encourages us to do a gut check on how we are doing by looking at the degree to which criticism and praise pull us from our peace. Enjoy the show!
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Pentecost: The Language of Love This episode explores Pentecost as more than a miracle of tongues—it's a call to unity through the divine language of love. The Holy Spirit empowers us to truly listen, love, and live in communion. Through grace, repentance, and the Eucharist, we are formed into the family of God—one in purpose, diverse in gift, united by love. Enjoy the show!
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The Truth Matters This homily explores why truth is essential—in logic, relationships, and faith. It examines the unique role of religion, the danger of distorting truth (like Arius did), and the deep meaning of Christ’s incarnation, resurrection, and ascension. Standing on the Rock of Christ, we’re called to live in love and invite others to the truth God gives as a gift. Enjoy the show!
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In today's class, Fr. Anthony talks about spiritual fatherhood and how the health of the parish flows from the health of the priest and back. The talk included the temptation of tyranny, young-eldership (mladastarstvo), and people-pleasing. Enjoy the show!
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John 4:5-42. In today’s Gospel, Jesus talks about living water and secret food—not physical things, but spiritual truths. So here’s the big question: What truly motivates us? Is it money, health, happiness? Those things matter—but they don’t last. When life gets hard, they can’t sustain us. Jesus shows us something deeper. His true nourishment is doing God’s will—connecting with others, sharing love, offering grace. That’s the “living water” He gave to the Samaritan woman, and it transformed her life. And it can transform ours, too. Let’s find our purpose in loving...
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On Paralytic Sunday, Christ asks a man who had been sick for 38 years, “Do you want to be made well?” It’s a question that reaches beyond the Gospel and speaks directly to us. True healing—spiritual and physical—begins with recognizing our need, seeking real help, and committing to the path of recovery. Christ is the Great Physician, and the Church is His hospital. But healing isn’t automatic; it requires humility, trust, and obedience. As with the paralytic, Christ knows our pain and desires our healing. The question is: do we truly want to be made well?
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In John 9:1–38, Jesus heals a man born blind, showing that suffering isn’t always caused by sin but can reveal God’s glory. St. John Chrysostom teaches that the man's blindness led to humility and spiritual insight, unlike the Pharisees who remained spiritually blind. The reflection calls us to open our eyes to God’s grace in everyday life, allowing ordinary things—like relationships—to become vessels of holiness through love and intention.
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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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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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Fr. Anthony speaks about different liturgical traditions, their history and significance, especially Pascha. Enjoy the show!
info_outlineLuke 12:16-21 (The Rich Man and His Granaries)
Until we figure out who we are, our actions have no purpose. We will end up doing one thing one day, and something contrary the next.
Because we are fallen, our default purpose is selfish and egoistic and sees other people based on what they can do for us. Some days we see benefit in working with and helping other people, but other days we see no benefit from helping them and so we ignore them or even work against them.
So it is with all of our riches, whether they are material or spiritual. Our default setting, in our selfishness, is to dole them out tactically – if at all – based on our feelings will bring the greatest security, influence, pleasure, or the most of whatever will satisfy the emotional impulse that is dominating us at the time. People with friendly emotions will share more, people who are dominated by fear will invest in protection, people who are more epicurean will invest in luxuries, people who crave status will use their resources to show off, and so on.
This has a certain kind of logic, but it is the logic of the world, not the logic of the Logos; nor is it the way to live a joyful life here or in the eternal life that is to come.
We need to know who we are. We are certainly more than our emotions. They are a poor guide to living well and a poor guide for making sound decisions.
So who are we? What were we made for? We are sons and daughters of the Most-High, created to accomplish God's will that humans and humanity are healed and brought into a joyful fellowship with one another and with Him now and in the world to come.
Understanding this allows us to rise above our captivity to our feelings and act in ways that are productive.
The rich man in today's Gospel didn't get this. He made the decision about how to use his extra grain based on his feelings rather than on who he was called to be.
It isn't just that the grain that could have been used to feed the poor will now rot and be stolen; it is that it could have been used to create and sustain connections with the poor to create a bond with them that would have pulled the rich man out of his existential loneliness and completely selfish concerns.
It would have opened a world of fellowship and virtue to him; a world that is denied to all who confine themselves to serving just their feelings; a world that would have transformed him into something greater, something that would have transcended the simple creature his genes and environment alone would have allowed.
Spiritual resources are the same. If we hoard or spend them just according to our feelings, we are no better than the rich man in the parable. They will rot and fester and disappear when they could have become the thing that feeds the hungry, connects us to them, and draws us all up into the glory of God.
We – as individuals, as a parish, and as the Orthodox Church - have an abundance of material and spiritual goods. Far more than we need for our comfort and sustenance. This bounty was not meant to be hoarded, but to be shared; not because we are nice or because we want more friends, but because it is our calling to serve others, to draw us all into unity with God through Christ Jesus. This is the only way to change the wealth of this world – both material and spiritual – into an internal inheritance.