Daily Meditations Archives

The Secular Mind Versus the Whole Heart

10/02/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 6, 2017 Thinking is among the most misleading things in the modern world, or, to be more precise, thinking about thinking is misleading. For a culture that puts such a great emphasis on materiality, our thinking about thought is decidedly spooky. The philosophy underlying our strangely-constructed modernity is called nominalism (of which there are many formal varieties). Its imaginary construct of the world consists of decidedly separate objects, united only by our thinking

Get Your Soul Back

09/29/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, July 24, 2017 When was the last time you heard someone express concern for their soul? When was the last time you listened earnestly as a friend lamented a psychological or emotional struggle? The reason for the difference is simple: we have become a “soul-less” psychologized society. The classical concern for the soul has been replaced by an overwhelming interest in psychological and emotional “health.” We are becoming a “well-adjusted” society. The soul

Venerable Chariton the Confessor, Abbot of Palestine

09/28/2023

Commemorated on September 28 Saint Chariton the Confessor was born at Iconium in the province of Lycaonia, and suffered there during a persecution against Christians in the reign of Emperor Aurelian (270-275). The example of the holy Protomartyr Thekla (September 24), who was also a native of his city, encouraged him to confess Christ, since he had a great devotion to her. Saint Chariton bravely denounced the pagan gods and staunchly confessed faith in the one

More than a Religious Rule

09/27/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, September 30, 2018 The Golden Rule is not too hard for us. It is not unnatural or even extraordinary. For those who are created in the image of God, baptized into Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit, unmitigated compassion and kindness is normal. Every time we act in any way opposite to love we are acting against our own nature. That is what we call sin.

The Falling Asleep of Saint John the Evangelist and Theologian

09/26/2023

Feast Day: September 26 John was the son of Zebedee the fisherman and Salome the daughter of Joseph, the betrothed of the Holy Theotokos. Called by the Lord Jesus, John immediately left his father and his fishermen’s nets and, with his brother James, followed Christ. From then on, he was not separated from his Lord until the end. With Peter and James, he was present at the raising of Jairus’s daughter and the Transfiguration of

Saving My Neighbor – Just How Connected Are We?

09/25/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 9, 2017 If you are in the “helping professions,” confronting problems in people’s lives, it doesn’t take long to realize that no one is purely and simply an individual. The problems we suffer may occasionally appear to be “of our own making,” but that is the exception rather than the rule. Whether we are thinking of economic or genetic inheritance, or the psychological and social environment, almost all the issues

Comfort for a Child – Speaking Peace to Shame

09/22/2023

By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 7, 2017 In my previous article, I described the origins of the “self-talk” (logismoi) that haunt our minds with negative chatter. They lie very deep within us, even having something of a signature within the deeper parts of the brain itself. It is very “old” and yet very “young.” It is old in that its foundations were formed as early as infancy. It is young in that it is much more

The Compassionate Way of Self-Care

09/21/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 18, 2018 at St. Mary Orthodox Church in Cambridge, MA. No matter how hard we try, we suffer. Sometimes it even seems like the more we try the more we suffer. Resistance is futile and resist we still do! Suffering is a part of life and to deny that is to miss a good portion of it. It comes in small ways and big ones. For

The Pain that Leads to Joy

09/20/2023

Published by Pemptousia Partnership on October 17, 2021 Fr. Andreas Agathokleous The ‘forgive me’ which comes from a heart in pain over a mistake breaks down the hard wall of remoteness, of animosity, and unites that which was divided. This is why it’s neither easy nor painless. Because the easy and painless ‘forgive me’, expressed as a formula for restoring relations on a superficial level, isn’t capable of breaking down walls. There’s ‘forgive me’ to God and to

Learn How to Walk

09/19/2023

Sermon preached by Fr. Antony Hughes on Sunday, November 25, 2018 The Reading is from Luke 18:18-27 Every Gospel is full of messages. After 31 years I’m beginning to believe the number is infinite. I thought I might take a bit of a break today when inspiration arrived unexpected from a Danish philosopher. And a story sent to me earlier by a new friend at UMass Amherst sprung to memory. First, Jesus attempts to wake