Glory to God For All Things

February 20, 2026

A Modern Lent

Few things are as difficult in the modern world as fasting. It is not simply the action of changing our eating habits that we find problematic – it’s the whole concept of fasting and what it truly entails. It comes from another world. We understand dieting – changing how we eat in order to improve […]
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Fasting, Modernity, Reflections
February 17, 2026

Adam’s Sin and the Sin of All

I saw this quote from St. Sophrony of Essex posted on Facebook yesterday. It speaks to the heart of our life and the mystery of sin and forgiveness. It is a theme that is common in the Fathers: “Many of us cannot, or do not want to, accept and suffer of our own free will […]
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Dostoevsky, Forgiveness
February 12, 2026

To See Him Face to Face

“The self resides in the face.” – Psychological Theorist, Sylvan Tompkins +++ There is a thread running throughout the Scriptures that can be described as a “theology of the face.” In the Old Testament we hear a frequent refrain of “before Thy face,” and similar expressions. There are prayers beseeching God not to “hide […]
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Communion, Icons, Reflections, Salvation
February 9, 2026

Words as Icons

Creation has a sacramental purpose: it reveals God. For from the first making of the world, those things of God which the eye is unable to see, that is, his eternal power and existence, are fully made clear, he having given the knowledge of them through the things which he has made (Rom. 1:20) This […]
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Reflections
February 2, 2026

Taking My Mental Shoes Off

I approach spirituality as a social scientist who believes that whether or not God exists, spirituality is a deep part of human nature, shaped by natural selection and cultural evolution, and central to human flourishing and self-transcendence. – Jon Haidt The above quote is a sentiment that I see more and more often these days. It […]
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Conversion, Knowledge of God, Reflections
January 30, 2026

Rest for Your Soul

If…then… Among the most alluring ideas in our lives are the notions of cause and effect, performance and award. Nothing seems more soothing than the simple promise that doing one thing leads to the reward of the other. It is predictable, subject to control, clearly delineates the rules of reward and punishment and makes obvious […]
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Reflections
January 22, 2026

The Good That Lies Within

There is this famous quote from Alexander Solzhenitsyn: The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart — and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by […]
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Salvation, Solzhenitsyn
January 15, 2026

A Law for All Seasons

From the screenplay of A Man for all Seasons: William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I’d cut down every law in England to do that! Sir […]
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Modernity
January 8, 2026

Screwtape and the Wisdom of a Four-Year-Old Boy

When my son was four, he wrote a prayer to St. Michael. We had placed a small statue of St. Michael on his chest-of-drawers. It was classic: St. Michael in Roman soldier’s outfit with a drawn sword, and the devil beneath his foot. It seemed to have made a strong impression on my son. His […]
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Communion, Modernity, Reflections, Secularism
January 6, 2026

Theophany – Showing the World to be the World

I was standing beside the Jordan River, somewhere along its trek through Israel. I was with a group of pilgrims led by Met. Kallistos Ware gathered for the Great Blessing of the Waters. Somehow, it seemed that I was the only priest who had brought an epitrachelion (stole), so I loaned it to the Metropolitan […]
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Reflections

Hello Fr. Stephen. The NT model seems to suggest that baptizing was reserved for adults as soon as they came…

Just my two cents. I am only volunteering this comment as a first-person anecdote. Take it for what it’s worth.…

Thank you, Father! I had forgotten that passage.

Jenny, I have no idea if I am making any “progress” in the spiritual life. I think such things are…

Father, I have been having a miserable Lent. I have not been able to successfully add anything to my prayer…