Chancellor’s Diary

• 1 Corinthians 10:5-12
• Matthew 16:6-12

Auditors and a Russian Civil War General

Last Thursday and Friday the OCA’s internal auditors, Michael Strelka, Vera Bozko Summer, and Karen Simons Durkish were at the chancery reviewing accounts with Treasurer Melanie Ringa.

As an…

• 1 Corinthians 9:13-18
• Matthew 16:1-6

Saying Hello, Saying Goodbye

Most of us are familiar with the traumas of moving day. Boxes everywhere, mess, chaos. This past weekend was the fourteenth time my wife and I have moved house in thirty-four years of marriage. Stuff from Canada, from the house we were renting in Long Island, from departed parents,…

• 1 Corinthians 7:24-35
• Matthew 15:12-21

Back at the Chancery

It has been a week since Metropolitan Tikhon and the OCA delegation returned from Belarus after ten days of travels, visits, church services and celebrations surrounding the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’. As always happens, normal life quickly takes over as everyone starts…

• 1 Corinthians 2:9-3:8
• Matthew 13:31-36

Minsk: Day 10 (July 30), final day of the pilgrimage for the 1025th anniversary of the baptism of Rus’

The official program was over but we still had a day of excursion and visits in Minsk. In the morning we went to the Saint Elizabeth Convent on the outskirts of Minsk to see something of the awe-inspiring…

• 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
• Matthew 13:24-30

Minsk: Day 9 (July 29)

The full day of celebrations in Minsk (Belarus) of the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’ began with an outdoor Divine Liturgy celebrated in the Old Town square with some 50,000 people. The square was once the site of the oldest church in Belarus, the church of the Nativity of…

• Romans 16:17-24
• Matthew 13:10-23

Kyiv to Minsk: Day 8 (July 28)

The Sunday Liturgy, commemorating Saint Vladimir (old calendar) was the height of the 1025th anniversary celebration in Kyiv. It was held outdoors at the Kyiv Caves Lavra in the square adjoining the Dormition Cathedral. With nothing to do but stand in the line of vested priests from…

• Romans 10:1-10
• Matthew 8:28-9:1

Kyiv: Day 7 (July 27)

Yesterday began with a service of prayer (moleben) for the 1025th anniversary at St Vladimir’s Hill overlooking the Dnieper River where the people of Rus’ were baptized in 988. Among those present were the presidents of Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Serbia. Most moving amid the impressive…

• Romans 8:14-21
• Matthew 9:9-13

Moscow to Kyiv: Day 6 (July 26)

At 10:00 am yesterday morning patriarchs, metropolitans, archbishops, bishops and delegates from the autocephalous churches boarded a special private train to Kyiv, sponsored by Vladimir Yakunin, the president of the state-run Russian Railways company. His Beatitude was with the heads…

• Romans 16:1-16
• Matthew 13:4-9

Moscow: Day 5 (July 25)

Yesterday was a day of immense contrasts. A quiet hospital visit with a 90-year woman. His Beatitude and the heads of church delegations meeting President Vladimir Putin for dinner and conversation at the Kremlin. A television interview with Metropolitan Tikhon. Then a spectacular sound and…

• Romans 15:17-29
• Matthew 12:46-13:3

Moscow: Day 4 (July 24)

Yesterday was the centerpiece of our stay in Moscow: the Divine Liturgy at Christ the Savior Cathedral commemorating the 1025th anniversary of the Baptism of Rus’. But one of the themes of the celebration is also the second baptism that has been taking place these past twenty-five years.…

• Romans 15:7-16
• Matthew 12:38-45

Moscow: Day 3 (July 23)

Metropolitan Tikhon, Bishop Alexander and the OCA delegation drove yesterday to Sergiev Posad—about two hours from Moscow—to visit the Holy Trinity-Saint Sergius Lavra (founded by Saint Sergius of Radonezh), the Moscow Theological Academy and the ecclesiastical goods factory nearby at…

• Romans 14:9-18
• Matthew 12:14-16, 22-30

Moscow: Day 2 (July 22)

Yesterday, His Beatitude and our delegation were driven to Butovo on the outskirts of Moscow to see the notorious killing fields used by Stalin during the worst years of religious and political repression. August 1937 to October 1938, at the height of the executions over 20,000 were…

• Romans 12:4-5, 15-21
• Matthew 12:9-13

Moscow: Sunday July 21st

Greetings from Moscow! His Beatitude, Bishop Alexander and I were immediately plunged into the celebrations of the Russian Orthodox Church when we arrived at Domodedovo airport and were swept away by a welcoming delegation of bishops, representatives of the Department of External Church…

• Prophet Elijah
• James 5:10–20, Romans 6:11–17
• Luke 4:22–30, Matthew 8:14–23

From London to Moscow

From now until August 1st I’ll be in the air, on trains and on the road with Metropolitan Tikhon and a small delegation from the Orthodox Church in America in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus at the invitation of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow to…

• Romans 4:13-25
• Matthew 7:21-23

American Independence Day

Something is missing.

If you look around at Orthodox Christianity in North America you will see a lot of inspiring examples of people, parishes, dioceses, projects, ministries, seminaries, monasteries, camps, all in their own way bearing witness to the light of Christ as we in the Orthodox…

• Romans 4:4-12
• Matthew 7:15-21

Recognizing False Prophets

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.

How can one recognize a false prophet?

It’s not apparent immediately.  A prophet is a charismatic figure who draws…

• Postfeast of Pentecost
• Romans 1:28-2:9
• Matthew 5:27-32

Blessed are the Pure in Heart

But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 5:28)

Maintaining the highest standards of sexual morality was one of the distinguishing features of both Judaism and early Christianity.…

• Postfeast of Pentecost; St. David of Thessalonica (c. 540)
• Romans 1:18-27
• Matthew 5:20-26

Mystical Christianity

I once had occasion to speak with a man and his wife, both Protestant missionaries, who had spent a year training Russian Protestants in Moscow. I met the husband first, and then later his wife, and was struck by how differently they…

• Leave-taking of Ascension
• Acts 27:1-44 [6/22: Acts 28:1-31]
• John 17:18-26 [6/22: John 21:15-25]

Writing Ourselves Into the Story

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding…

• Acts 25:13-19
• John 16:23-33

Confronting Your Accuser

‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’ (Acts 25:16)

Felix, the procurator of Judea…