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,...
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Homily - St. John of the Ladder on the Hard Work of Salvation
OrthoAnalytika
On the Sunday of St. John of the Ladder, Fr. Anthony delivers a homily that encourages us to take our pursuit of joy, peace, and freedom from anxiety seriously. He begins by asking whether we truly want these things or if we expect them to come without effort, likening it to people desiring health or success without being willing to make the necessary sacrifices. He emphasized that true peace and joy require commitment, not idle desire, and must be pursued through effort, prayer, and fasting. Fr. Anthony critiqued the common temptation of chasing material security and success, such as the...
info_outlineHomily for Pentecost (on Confession)
John 20:19-23 (Matins Gospel); Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52; 8:12
Lots of powers associated with the Holy Spirit in scripture and popular culture.
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Handle Snakes
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Drink poison
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Languages
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Glowing with Light
But what use are those things?
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Snakes? Leave them alone or kill them
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Poison? Clean water and poison warnings
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Languages? Not a huge issue any more
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Glowing with Light? Electricity
No practical need for these things (except for a demonstration of God's power).
God desires that all of us have joy; and that we be one in perfection as God is [one in perfection].
What is it that causes the most pain in life? Snakes? Poison? Darkness?
No: the thing that makes life so difficult – and a living hell for many people – is that we are messed up. We are messed up as individuals and when circumstances force us together, we are even more messed up in community. The existential angst of loneliness and societal dysfunction are a result of our brokenness as people and as a people.
God sees that. He knows our pain. He feels it more keenly than we do because he knows everyone's pain that every has been, is, and will ever be.
And so He sent His His Son and the Holy Spirit to comfort and save us.
What is the super-power that the Holy Spirit gives us? Let me two fundamental powers that will make your life better and more joyful.
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Prophecy. Not the end days – again, who cares? Does it solve any problems? No, the knowledge of your own brokenness (not the brokenness of others – that's too easy). Without that, the second power is meaningless.
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The forgiveness of sins. St. John; “Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit: Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.”
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Our prayer about and invocation of the Holy Spirit affirms this as the primary power - “heal our infirmities”
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Why, out of all the powers God could have given his apostles – could have given the Church – would He focus on the power to forgive sins?
Because it is what we is truly necessary to bring an end to your pain and to the pain of the world's pain and confusion.
Yes, Confession is the superpower. And it is always available for you to use here at St. Mary's. Throw away the kryptonite of pride, exercise that power of the Holy Spirit through true repentance, and save the world.