~By Fr Stephen Freeman, March 19, 2023 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 how we look or how we feel. But changing how we eat in order to know God
By Father Stephen Freeman, July 31, 2014 Being human is a cultural event. No one is human by themselves and no one becomes human without the help of those around them. This is so obvious it should not need to be stated, but contemporary man often imagines himself to be his own creation. The exercise of individual freedom is exalted as the defining characteristic of our existence: “I am what I choose to be.” To suggest that
Finding God in an unbelieving world By Abbot Tryphon, August 21, 2020 God is quick to forgive, quick to show mercy, and quick to embrace us when we turn to Him. In all of eternity our God chose to create humankind in His image and likeness, offering His creatures the opportunity to commune with Him in the endlessness that is time. He’s given us free will, allowing us to choose, or not to choose, a
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, April 29, 2008 Part of the spiritual landscape of American religion is the sizable role played by choice in a culture shaped in the free market – with freedom as a mythic symbol. It is not unusual to hear American politicians describing solutions to social problems as a matter of “trusting Americans as consumers.” It is as though we could “shop” our way out of life’s difficulties. And thus it is that Calvinism,
By Fr. Stephen Freeman, August 31, 2015 In 1998, my family and I were received into the Orthodox Church. I had served as an Episcopal clergyman for 18 years prior to that. I left a large parish with a wonderful staff and tremendous programs. I took up the work of starting an Orthodox mission. Of course, such a life-change creates awkward moments for your friends, colleagues, and former parishioners. What do you say to someone
Fr. Stephen Freeman, June 23, 2015 “If you come to a fork in the road – take it.” – Yogi Berra Nothing is more common in our day than making choices. Our culture celebrates the freedom we have in our choices and points to this as a hallmark of its greatness. Contemporary Christianity echoes the same theme and urges us to “choose Jesus.” But strangely, choice is not a fundamental part of Christian virtue –
ON AN AIRPLANE, as a flight prepares to depart, the flight attendant tells the passengers that, in case of an emergency, oxygen bags will drop from overhead. Those passengers with infants will receive two masks. The adult is to put his or her own oxygen mask on first, and only then put a mask on the infant. For me, as an Italian grandfather, those instructions are counter-intuitive. I want to give my life for my
LESSONS FROM GROUND ZERO It is a common observation for events that are sudden, shocking, and heavy events that we not only remember the event, we remember where we were when we heard about the event. Senior adults who were alive during the 1940’s not only remember the attack on Pearl Harbor, but they also remember where they were when they heard about the attack. People alive during early 1960’s not only remember the assassination
By Father Stephen Freeman Being human is a cultural event. No one is human by themselves and no one becomes human without the help of those around them. This is so obvious it should not need to be stated, but contemporary man often imagines himself to be his own creation. The exercise of individual freedom is exalted as the defining characteristic of our existence: “I am what I choose to be.” To suggest that most of who
The Creator has come, raising up mankind from the earth, making His royal image new again! (Matins of the Feast, December 20, third hymn of the Praises) AT THE HEART OF THE FEAST of the Nativity is the proclamation that Christ has come to restore Adam to Paradise: Christ comes voluntarily to serve; the Creator now receives the image of impoverished Adam, enriching him with divinity, and granting him a strange restoration and regeneration, for
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