OrthoAnalytika

Romans 6:18-23; Matthew 8:5-13.  Words fail us when we try to describe God and our relationship with Him.  Metaphor helps, but it can also set us up for failure, even when it is a good one like Christ is the Great Physician (something that the scriptures prove to be literally true).  Enjoy the show!   

Matthew 6:22-33, Romans 5:1-10.  Homily on the reasons for our hope (as presented by St. Paul and Christ God Himself).  Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony as he talks with Dn. Timothy Kelleher about his roles on Independence Day and Star Trek - the Next Generation (he was also on Voyager and Enterprise), and how good storytelling is always evangelical.  Enjoy the show!  

After a sermonette on St. Pauls' words about the consciences of the Gentiles being the functional equivalent of the Law for the Jews, Fr. Anthony share the UOC-USA Episcopal Letter for US Independence Day.  Enjoy the show! 

Sunday of All Saints.  Hebrews 11:33-12:2 and Matthew 10:32-33,37-38; 19:27-30.  The prohibition against loving family more that God is, among other things, a warning against tribalism.  Fr. Anthony also talks about what the variation among saints means for loving and pastoring one another.  Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony and Deacon Michael Abrahamson talk politics and religion as they drive through the mountains of Western North Carolina.  Topics include keeping perspective and the glorious ontology of doing harmony.  Enjoy the show!

Acts 2:1-11; John 7:37-52, 8:12.  What is missing from on-line theological forums?  Why do they miss the mark when it comes to prophecy?  It has nothing to do with intent or the words that are shared.  The medium is lacking.  Dubious?  Enjoy the show!

In this homily on a selection from Christ's High Priestly Prayer (St. John 17), Fr. Anthony encourages us to keep our theology simple.  Enjoy the show!

Sunday of the Blind Man

Immediate context: God has power and compassion. When He says He invites us to join Him in His plans for remaking us and the world, we can trust both His intent and His ability to deliver.

John 20:30-31. 30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name.

Symbolic context:

Matthew 6:22-24 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is sound, your whole body will be full of light; 23 but if your eye is not sound, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!  24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

Popular song: We were blind, but now we see.

True, but incomplete. Given eyes when we accepted the reality of Christ as the Son of God and united ourselves to Him and dedicated ourselves to His plan, the Gospel.

But our eyes still see things through a mirror dimly. Why?

If we believed, were made new, then put into a perfect community – back in Eden, we could be grown well. God and the community would help us identify and root out the complex web of interconnected dysfunctions…

But is that what happened? No. So we are working out our brokenness in the midst of others who are.

So the answer? Long term - a healing culture.

Short term: the virtue of humility about our own discernment. About everything.

And trust the one that has power has included all of this in His plan