Homily - Acquiring Peace and the Spiritual Gut Check
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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Homily - Pentecost and the Gift of Communification
OrthoAnalytika
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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Homily - The Sunday after Ascension
OrthoAnalytika
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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Talk - Spiritual Fatherhood and the Temptation of Tyranny
OrthoAnalytika
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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Homily - What Really Sustains Us?
OrthoAnalytika
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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Homily - The Orthodox Way to Wellness
OrthoAnalytika
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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Homily - The Man Born Blind
OrthoAnalytika
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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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!
info_outlineRevelation Class 15; Heading to the Final Showdown
26 February 2025
Revelation, Chapter Twenty – Twenty-two
Andrew of Caesarea, Commentary on the Apocalypse, ed. David G. Hunter, trans. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, vol. 123, The Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: The Catholic University of America Press, 2011).
Fr. John Peck; Fr. Barnabas Powell. Rejecting RAPTUREMANIA: An Orthodox Look at a Dubious Doctrine (Function). Kindle Edition.
Patrick Henry Reardon, Revelation: A Liturgical Prophecy (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2018).
Chapter Twenty
One thousand years.
Andrew of Caesarea: … The one thousand years, therefore, is the time from <the year of> the Incarnation of the Lord until the coming of the Antichrist.
Gog and Magog.
Fr. Patrick Reardon. The name is not especially important for the identification of the invader; like the other names in these chapters of Ezekiel, it symbolizes evil realities much larger and more menacing than their historical references. Thus understood, Gog and his forces appear here in Revelation 20.
On Eternal Punishment
Andrew of Carsarea. For also as there are “many mansions in my Father’s” <house> among those saved, thus, here too, there are different places and manners of punishments, those sharper and those milder, by which those not deemed worthy of the Book of Life will be tried.
Chapter Twenty-One
The End of Evil.
Fr. Patrick Reardon. In this final vision, which lasts two chapters, John is aware that seven things are gone forever: the sea, death, grief, crying, pain, the curse, and the night (21:1, 4; 22:3, 5). Here we are dealing with the definitive abolition of conflict, the end of chaos. The first symbol of this chaos is the sea...
The New Eden.
Fr. Patrick Reardon. John’s vision here, especially verses 19–21, is also related to Ezekiel 28:12–15, where we find joined the themes of the mountain and the precious stones, for this city is also the Garden of Eden, where those stones first grew (cf. Gen 2:10–12).
An Example of Symbolic Interpretation (the stones)
Andrew of Caesarea. By the amethyst, being somehow fiery in appearance, I surmise Matthias is signified, having been deemed worthy of the divine fire in the distribution of tongues and filling again the place of the one who had fallen, with fiery yearning to be well pleasing to the One who had chosen <him>.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The Living Waters.
Fr. Patrick Reardon. The theme of the living waters is very much central to the Johannine corpus (cf. Jn 4:7–15; 7:38; 19:34; 1 Jn 5:6–8).
The Seal/Name.
Fr. Patrick Reardon. Heaven, portrayed here as vision and worship with the angels (verses 8–9), is for all those whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the living God. This sealing, of course, stands in contrast to the mark of beast…
Blessed is the Kingdom…
Fr. Patrick Reardon. In this book a great deal has been said about the worship in the heavenly sanctuary. Now we learn that Christians already share in the worship that the angels give to God (verses 8–9).
The End of Old Time
Fr. Patrick Reardon. Verse 11 indicates a definite cut-off point in history, which is the final coming of Christ. Verse 12, which quotes Isaiah 40:10, promises the reward, which is access to the Holy City, eternal beatitude—the fullness of communion with God. In preparation for that reward, verses 14–16 are something of an altar call, an appeal for repentance, based on all that this book has said.
The Final Partition
Fr. Patrick Reardon. In referring to those “outside” the City, John is relying on an ancient eucharistic discipline of the Church, called “excommunication,” which literally excluded the person from receiving holy communion. …
Some Terms
Chiliasm was (may have been?) renounced at the Second Ecumenical Council.
The millennium is now. The first resurrection confused people: it is the one to hades or the bosom of Abraham.
Pre-millennialism is very similar to chiliasm. A literal reign. It misunderstands the language.
About the Rapture
From Fr. John Peck and Fr. Barnabas Powell. “There is no Rapture. It isn’t in the Bible. It was invented in the 19th century, and spread because of new religious groups, and the use of a specifically tailored study Bible. Believers will be present for the Great Tribulation to give their witness and glorify God, as the Bible says. There is no Third Coming of Christ. When Christ returns, that is the end of this world, and it will be unmistakable. There will be no doubt whatsoever. Stop worrying about what you will do if Jesus comes back before you die. Instead, worry about what will happen if you die before Jesus comes back.”
From the OSB: Christ’s second coming will entail a sudden revelation of judgment. One will be taken to heaven and the other left for eternal condemnation. The separation of the saints from the wicked will occur on “the day when the Son of man is revealed” (v. 30) and not, as some speculate today, at an event that occurs before His return.
As for Preterism and Partial Preterism; the Orthodox Church does not look to the book of Revelation for specific data on the end times. If you want to shoehorn it into this debate, it is partial-preterist.