Receive One Another

We live in times overwhelmed with images created by man, in a postmodern epoch where each person struggles to produce the most convincing image of himself and his idea, where people try to attract the most people they can through their self image in order to impress and to impose their “icon” (or artificial resemblance) or, better yet, their “idol,” on others (as St Andrew says : “αὐτείδωλον ἐγενόμην”, “I have become an idol to myself”; Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, Ode IV). It is an era which offers falsehood, delusion, and fantasy without transcending the antinomies and limitations of history.

A short essay I wrote in response to some of the political maneuvering in this country to promote same sex marriage. I had read a joint statement that His Grace made along with some of the other West Coast bishops that encouraged Orthodox Christians to make a strong stand against California’s Proposition 8 and similar legislation and I thought I would organize my thoughts on the issue in order to be able to make such a stand. It is not really “about” same sex marriage, but rather offers a critique on the notion that the state should be the de facto authority on marriage and I attempt to go a little deeper into the theological basis for romantic love.

The following talk was given by His Grace Bishop Justin on September 6, 2009 at our annual Diocesan Days gathering in Jackson, CA. Bishop Justin was our guest speaker and concelebrant to both Bishop Maxim of Western America and Bishop Longin of the New Gracanica Diocese.

What follows is a lecture delivered by His Grace Bishop Maxim on March 19, 2009 at Loyola Marymount University on the topic "Who do people say I am? True God and True Man: Chalcedon’s Christology in a Postmodern World." Bishop Maxim was the featured speaker along with His Eminence Archbishop Hovnan of the Armenian Church, [...]

Click here to see a wonderful interview with His Grace Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich), in which he addresses some of the issues in the ongoing debate in Serbia about liturgical changes.
Interview with Bishop Atanasije (Yevtich) on the Liturgy and Liturgical Changes
His comments about being attached to books like Protestants reminded me of when I had the [...]