By Anna Glass with Randy Hay Randy Hay and Anna Glass grew up together. Well, not exactly. Randy was born in Walnut Creek, California and when he was two years old Anna Glass was living just a few miles away in San Ramon, where she was in fourth grade. Anna’s family then moved to the […]
Christian, You Should Get Counseling
By Eric Hyde It felt strange typing this title. If I didn’t have personal experience with Christians who believe that because they’re Christians, they have no need for counseling I would have never thought to write such an article. Many believers seem to view counseling as ‘church’ for unbelievers. Now, the possibility for Christians to have mental […]
Review of Papa-Dimitri, The Man of God
Review of Papa-Dimitri, The Man of God (1902-1975) By Randy Hay The subtitle of this Orthodox Kypseli publication is “Life, Miracles and Spiritual Counsels of a Simple Priest of Our Days.” While this village priest may have been “simple” in terms of formal education, his spiritual knowledge was truly astonishing. Fr. Dimitri was born of […]
Sermon on the Transfiguration
Saint Gregory Palamas, former Archbishop of Thessalonica For an explanation of the present Feast and understanding of its truth, it is necessary for us to turn to the very start of today’s reading from the Gospel: “Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James and John his brother, and led them up onto a high […]
The Museum of Hurts
Have you ever experienced the devastation of someone lashing out at you in anger for a perceived wrong? Maybe you were wrong, but sometimes the accusation is inaccurate and based on a problem in the accuser’s life. It hurts! And often in long-term or close relationships, the accuser starts with a recent “offence” and then […]
Stewardship – an opportunity to glorify God
A message given by Sub-deacon Randy Hay and Board Member Ryan LaFerney Stewardship is an important part of living a Christian life. It includes participating fully in the sacramental life of our parish, caring for the Church and our fellow parishioners, and it means supporting the life of the Church in every way we can […]
Dawn’s Gentle Light
Dawn’s Gentle Light, a book review by Randy Hay One evening a little while back I decided to listen to an Ancient Faith podcast while I did my workout at the gym. On a whim I put on an audio version of a recently published book, Dawn’s Gentle Light. The other audiobooks I’d tried […]
The Riches of Proverbs
Have you ever found yourself asking God for wisdom to handle a difficult situation, hoping to receive instruction of what to do? Help is already available in the Book of Proverbs. Why read Proverbs? Proverbs 1:1-7 opens the chapter with an explanation [paraphrased]: The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel: (are […]
The Orthodox Church in America and Its Future
Comments by Matthew Namee: The following homily was delivered by St. Nikolai Velimirovich in America, sometime between his (second) arrival in America in 1946 and his death in 1956. It was published in the journal Orthodox America, volume 19, number 5. … The whole homily is excellent, but the last part is especially relevant to Orthodox […]
Considerations during Passion Week
We have come to the last week of Great Lent. During this time, let us consider some major themes of our Orthodox lives in Christ. The chief end of our life The chief end of our life is to live in communion with God. To this end the Son of God became incarnate, in order […]