Homily - Unity As the Deeper Magic of God’s Kingdom
OrthoAnalytika
Ephesians 2:14-22 and St. Luke 12:16-21 In this homily, Fr. Anthony reflects on St. Paul’s proclamation that the unity of the Church is not an ideal but a profound reality accomplished in the flesh of Christ. Drawing on Scripture, the Fathers, and even C.S. Lewis’ “deeper magic,” he shows how humanity’s divisions are not healed by sameness, compromise, or civility, but by becoming a new creation through the Cross. True Christian unity demands the death of ego, the resurrection of a new humanity, and a mutual commitment to bear one another’s burdens with patience, repentance, and...
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Homily - Mercy, Not Sacrifice: Christ's Pastoral Method in the Calling of Matthew
OrthoAnalytika
In this episode, Fr. Anthony reflects on Christ’s call of St. Matthew as a revelation of the Lord’s pastoral wisdom, patience, and mercy. Drawing on St. John Chrysostom, he shows how Christ approaches each person at the moment they are most able to receive Him, gently leading sinners to repentance while shielding the weak from the self-righteous. The homily invites us to imitate this divine pedagogy—offering mercy before rebuke, healing before judgment, and a way of life that draws others to the knowledge of God. +++ Mercy, Not Sacrifice: Christ’s Pastoral Method in the Calling of...
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Class on Journey to Reality - Chapter Ten on Prayer, Work, and Becoming Human
OrthoAnalytika
In this episode, Fr. Anthony reframes prayer not as a spiritual transaction but as a lifelong conversation with God that restores our capacity to see, experience, and share His beauty, light, and love. Drawing on themes of theosis, maturation, and Zachary Porcu’s vision of becoming human, he explores how prayer transforms our distorted desires, heals our blindness, and trains us to do the work God made us to do. The saints reveal that repentance and prayer are not a response to crises but a way of life — a steady ascent into clarity, freedom, and real communion with God and creation.
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Homily - Live in Grace (The Raising of Jairus' Daughter)
OrthoAnalytika
St. Luke 8: 41-56 Drawing on St. Nikolai Velimirović’s image of divine grace as electricity, this homily on the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:41–56) invites us to become living conduits through whom God’s uncreated energy continually flows. Christ’s tender command, “Talitha koum,” reveals the greater reality that in Him even death is but sleep, for the fire of His love transforms all who see with eyes full of light into partakers of His eternal life. Homily on Jairus’ Daughter St. Luke 8:41–56 Glory to Jesus Christ! It is a blessing to be with you this...
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Class on Journey to Reality - Chapter Nine on Cosmic Revolution
OrthoAnalytika
Today Fr. Anthony covers Chapter Nine, "Cosmic Revolution" of Zachery Porcu's "Journey to Reality" on the problem of suffering and evil. +++ AI Title and Summary: Keeping It Real About the Problem of Pain: Free Will, Moral Law, and the Ministry of Presence Beginning from a memorial service and C.S. Lewis’ Problem of Pain, this talk wrestles honestly with Ivan Karamazov’s challenge, the suffering of children, and what our visceral reaction to evil reveals about the moral law—the “Tao” or Logos—written into our very being, which cannot be reduced to mere biology or sentiment....
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Class on Journey to Reality - Chapters Seven and Eight on Participation and the Bible
OrthoAnalytika
Today Fr. Anthony covers Chapters Seven and Eight from Dr. Zachery Porcu's Journey to Reality, "The Life of the Church" and "The Bible and the Church." Enjoy the show! +++ Journey to Reality Chapters Seven and Eight You are What You Do (Including Eat) 10/29/2025 As creatures, we were made malleable. It was built into our design so that we could grow towards perfection eternally. While this is a characteristic of the entire cosmos – and every member of it – it has a special purpose for us. We are the shepherds, farmers, and priests of the cosmos. The...
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Homily - Gardening in Love (The Rich Man and Lazarus)
OrthoAnalytika
Luke 16:19-31 Fr. Anthony reflects on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, revealing how our blindness—born of sin and a materialist worldview—turns the world and one another into mere commodities. Yet when we learn to see with love and humility, tending creation as God’s garden, we rediscover beauty, grace, and the feast of life already set before us. ---- The Gospel of Lazarus and the Rich Man Homily – gardening in love It is hard for us to live the way we should. From our time in Eden to now, we have failed, and the consequences to our hearts, our families, and our world...
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Talk: Music as an Icon of Cosmic Salvation
OrthoAnalytika
This talk was given at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church (UOC-USA) in Charlottesville, VA. In it, Fr. Anthony presents Orthodoxy's sacramental view of creation and uses music as an example of how the royal priesthood, in Christ, fulfills its commission to pattern the cosmos according to that of Eden. My notes from the talk: I’m grateful to be back in Charlottesville, a place stitched into my story by Providence. Years ago, the Army Reserves sent me here after 9/11. I arrived with a job in Ohio on pause, a tidy life temporarily dismantled, and a heart that didn’t care for the way soldiers...
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Class on Journey to Reality: Chapter Six on the Electric Eucharist
OrthoAnalytika
Today Fr. Anthony covers Chapter Six from Zachary Porcu's Journey to Reality, "Sacramental Being." (FWIW, he still doesn't buy the idea of something becoming a spiritual battery as batteries work seperate from an active power source and nothing is separate from the presence of God). Enjoy the show!
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Homily - When Death met the Author of Life
OrthoAnalytika
Luke 7:11-16 (The Widow of Nain) At the gates of Nain, the procession of death meets the Lord of Life—and death loses. Christ turns the widow’s grief into joy, revealing that every tear will one day be transformed into the eternal song of alleluia. A "by-the-numbers" homily - enjoy the show! --- This was an encounter between two forces: death and the very source of life. We know how this encounter always turns out. Life seems so fragile (war, disease, accidents, violence) and we seem doomed to die. What happened (Jesus brought the dead back to life) Focus briefly on three parts of...
info_outlineOur Faith: Church Architecture and the Movement of the Faithful
Opening Scripture: Psalm 29:1-2; Exodus 24:9-18; John 12: 3-8
Summary of Scripture: The Glory, Power, and Love of God.
Today’s Lesson: Beauty will Save the World
Questions for consideration:
- What purpose do architecture, icons, vestments, and music serve? What is it about beauty that is salvific? Why did Dostoevsky say that it would “Save the world”? The emissaries from Kyiv’s reaction to worship in Constantinople’s St. Sophia?
Basic Orthodox Architecture
- The Temple is Sacred Space. Think of Moses and the burning bush. The Arc of the Covenant. The Holy of Holies of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is set aside. [We are also temples, but this is meant to elevate us… NOT to degrade the physical temple!]. So nice to have an Orthodox Temple that was designed as such!
- Basic Orthodox Architecture (the Arc of Salvation)
- Narthex: vestibule. Transition space from the world to heaven on earth.
- Nave: the central portion where the faithful worship. Contains pews, tetrapod, place for confession, kliros, candle boxes.
- Altar/Sanctuary: Eastern-most section. Holy of Holies. Altar Table with Tabernacle and Gospel Book are central. Also includes the Table of Oblation.
- Iconostasis: Divides and unifies the altar/sanctuary and nave. Symbolizes unity of the faithful through Christ. Holy Doors in middle represent “Gates of Paradise”. Note that Christ comes out to us (not the other way around). Deacon doors on side are most commonly used doors. Specific icons in various places.
- Domes vs. Steeples.
- Icons, Frescos, and Stained Glass
- Our icons/frescoes include: Iconostas: Christ the Savior, Christ with the Theotokos; St. John the Baptist, St. Raphael of Brooklyn; Archangel Michael, Archangel Gabriel; Icon of the Entrance (changes); Festal icons; icons of patrons
- Our stained glass include: feasts, mysteries.
- Vestments for Servers and Holy Things
- Common day things/people become icons of something better.
- Colors have theological significance.
- The Movement of the Faithful
- How does our behavior change when we walk in (i.e. what do/don’t we do here that we don’t/do there)
- The Music of Orthodoxy
- How is our music different from our music out there? How is the talking different?
Discussion: The role of beauty in our lives. Do we really need all this stuff?
Next time (11/23 and 11/30): Nativity (Incarnation) Prophecies