One of the temptations of our secular age is the public drive to make religious faith a "private" matter. Fr. Stephen looks at this tension within our culture and the importance of the Christian public response.

Our feelings and desires are trained by our culture to seek satisfaction. In our spiritual life, we often need to learn how to be disappointed. Fr. Stephen looks at the "disappointment of religion."

The goal of the Christian life is true knowledge of God (Jn. 17:3). Fr. Stephen speaks about the mysterious character of this knowledge.

What is the soul? Fr. Stephen speaks about the "secret life" and the mystery of our selves.

Fr. Stephen speaks about the crisis of a "Churchless" Christianity

On the first Sunday of Great Lent, Orthodox Christians celebrate the return of icons to the Churches. Fr. Stephen looks at the spirit of icon smashing that occasionally infects Christians and various political movements and contrasts it with the spirit of authentic Christianity.

God engages our world in concrete, practical ways. These "sacraments" are a means of sharing in the Divine Life. Fr. Stephen speaks about the "sacrament" of mercy.

St. Gregory of Nyssa speaks of man both as singer and song. Fr. Stephen explores how we are the "song of God."

Drawing on a passage from the writings of the Elder Sophrony, Fr. Stephen looks at the spiritual importance of "waking up." St. Paul reminds us, "Arise, O Sleeper, awake from the dead..."

Fr. Stephen looks at the very heart of fasting—not the foods, not the 'how to's'—but why we fast.