Eastern Christian Insights

Who exactly belongs in the story of Jesus - the perfect as well as the imperfect, the sinner as well as the saint? Perhaps the true meaning of Christmas is more shocking than we first imagined.

Are you prepared to receive the great blessing of the coming of Christ?

What is keeping you "stooped over," hindering you from becoming more like Jesus?

Does your approach to this Advent season reflect an attitude of self-sufficiency, or does it reveal your reliance on the mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus?

Like the Theotokos, we are called to welcome Christ into our own lives and become the Temple of God.

Does worshipping God in beautiful liturgical services distract us from serving those in need in the world around us? Do we need to pick one over the other?

Are we coming to Christ with a humble and sincere faith? If so, then we too will experience the gracious mercy which Jesus gives to all who reach out to Him in faith.

Jesus Christ gives us back our true identities, making us into faithful witnesses of His redeeming work.

In the story of Jesus raising to life the son of the widow of Nain, we see the author of life entering into the painful realities of our world. We too are called to extend the compassion of Christ to the world around us as living icons of His great mercy and salvation.

Jesus called the Apostles to leave everything to follow Him and become fishers of men. And He calls all of us to take up our cross and follow Him right in the midst of our daily lives, making those places of weakness and failure become occasions of beauty and blessing.

Are we participating in the new creation that Christ offers to us through his life, death and resurrection?

How quickly are we to forgive those who have wronged us in some way?

Are you keeping your eyes on Jesus when the stormy seas of life stir up the fear of death?

The dormition of the Theotokos is an icon of our hope for eternal life.

Are you stumbling around in spiritual darkness? Prayer is how we open the darkness of our soul to the brilliant light of Christ, presenting ourselves in faith for His healing.

Fr. Philip calls us to actively engage in the journey towards the Kingdom of God through the Dormition Fast.

Fr. Philip encourages us to be the light of the world by serving Christ in our immediate circumstances.

Fr. Philip calls us to become vessels of the shocking love of God that is the salvation of the world.

Fr. Philip calls us to endure suffering in striving for the salvation of our souls as modeled by St. Joseph of Damascus.

Fr. Philip calls us to engage in the practices of prayer, fasting and generosity - the basic building blocks of Christian faithfulness.