Made to Be a Kingdom

In this episode, our hosts offer reflections on the Church’s teachings and the centrality of the Sanctity of Life in the salvation plan of God, and in the doctrinal and liturgical life of the Church. They discuss also the recent March for Life and our place as Orthodox Christians in such efforts using the prayer offered at the opening to the March to frame the discussion.

Today Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue to share their personal testimonies on the importance of continual repentance for priests and parishes. The main takeaway is the need for us to stop trying to control things, serve well, and let God live through us.

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony talk about the relationship between repentance and belief and how both are required for us to fulfill our calling. They also begin a very earnest conversation about personal and communal conversion and its relation to parish growth health.

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue celebrating the joy of Christmastide as the discuss Theophany and unpack Revelation 5. The main takeaway is that time is fulfilled in the Divine Liturgy; eternity is experienced in the moment.

Join Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony as they continue their conversation about the joys of the Christmas season, including the Circumcision and Baptism of our Lord. Christ is born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas!

Join Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony as they talk about the celebration of Christmas (forty days!) through the lens of Isaiah 9:2-7. Christ is born! Glorify Him! Merry Christmas!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue their conversation about 1 Peter 2:9, this time focusing on the third and fourth set of attributes, "a holy nation" and "a people for his own possession."

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

They explore what it means to be citizens of heaven, how this relates to earthly citizenship, and what “nation” ultimately means for a Christian. They remind us that while we have sacred responsibilities to our earthly home we remain sojourners on our way to our heavenly home. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony continue talking about 1 Peter 2:9, this time focusing on the second set of attributes, "a royal priesthood."

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

They answer the questions; "What does this mean?" and "Are we royalty?", describing what it means to share in the royalty of the King of kings and what it means to share in the priestly role of offeror with the Great High Priest. Enjoy the show!

In this episode, Fr. Harry and Fr. Anthony dig into 1 Peter 2:9, focusing on the first set of attributes, "a chosen race."

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

They discuss how, in the light of Christ’s coming, we are (and aren't) to understand the term “race.” Scripture sees all humans as being one race, the human race. Political shifts cannot affect this truth. They also talk about how the term “chosen” relates to Christ as the “Chosen one” and the Church as the result of her being engrafted into Him, into His Body. Enjoy the show!

Many people still tend to think of the Orthodox Church as the “true denomination” rather than as the manifestation of the fullness of the Heavenly Church of Christ on earth. We see this even with the terminology we use. “I used to be Catholic but now I am Orthodox.” Or “I used to be Episcopalian but now I am Orthodox.” This seems to indicate that the person still has a view of denominationalism. I was one denomination but now I am another. This should stop. We are the continuation of the ancient Church of Christ. This whole idea of denominations came with the protestant reformation. The Orthodox Church is the House of the Fullness of the Faith.