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Homily on All Saints - Saintly Variation

OrthoAnalytika

Release Date: 06/03/2018

Homily - Myrrhbearers show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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 show art 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...

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More Episodes

Sunday of All Saints
Sunday after Pentecost

Lives of the Saints: every day is an opportunity to learn, and then to remember.

One thing you will notice right away is that the saints were not the same. Some were martyrs, some were soldiers, some were preachers, some were bakers, some were known for their fasting, others for their courage, others for their patience, others for their charity. Some for their piety and others for their dedication.

This is encouraging because we are not all the same. The call to sainthood is not a call to become exactly the same. Growing up, many of us had Mother Theresa as a great example of sainthood; and she is an awesome saint, but could she have been a warrior saint? She certainly had the tenacity and courage, but did she have the physical strength?

Saints are all different because people are all different. Society's need for variation does not go away as it becomes more holy. The Church is the new humanity – the old humanity restored through Christ. But the new humanity still needs to eat, so it has to have virtuous farmers and bakers; it still needs protection so it has to have virtuous soldiers and police; it still needs to learn about the world so it has to have virtuous teachers, peoples' needs still need to be identified and met so we need entrepreneurs and investors. People still get sick so we need medical professionals and administrators.

The thing that makes the lives of the saints different is not what they did or do, but the Spirit in which they do it. The motivation of the saint is not greed or fear or power or attention. The motivation of the saint is to manifest the will of God in every moment. To see what each moment requires and satisfy it with virtue.

The moment requires something different from the baker that from the soldier; something different form the child than from the parent.

So the first charge to you, the saints, priests, and pastors of this parish is to know yourself: and especially your vocation and strengths – and work with God to perfect you and your service.

Perfection is not just some kind of warm fuzzy – I've got God living in my heart – but the ability to bring perfect intent and action into the world.

This leads to the second charge: listen to the moment – and then transform it with perfect action.

You won't always get it right, but if you work at it, you'll get better over time. And it is this kind of grace in action that will save your soul and bring salvation to those around you.