The Orthodox Public Affairs Committee (OPAC) is a public advocacy organizations that seeks toto promote, support, defend and champion Orthodox Christian and all Christian communities worldwide in the face of persecution, exclusion, and prejudice. OPAC Statement on the Palm Sunday Attack in Sumy An Outrage Against Faith and Humanity in Read more…
What follows is an inspiring story about a woman named Stavrula who died on Holy Monday, 2004. I post this story every year on Holy Monday. In years past, I wrote that two people think about Stavrula each year, me and a woman named Mary Pappas, who figures prominently in Read more…
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law, justice, mercy and faith; these you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. Matthew 23: 23 The harshest Gospel of Holy Week is no doubt Read more…
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. There they made Him a supper; Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those at table with Him. Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the Read more…
Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let all men know your forbearance. The Lord is at hand. Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, Read more…
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, while Mary sat in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. And even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus Read more…
And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, He took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way He said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Read more…
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” Luke 19:9-10 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father Read more…
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week and invites us to reflect on the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Crowds gathered to welcome Him, shouting praises and waving palm branches, recognizing Him as the King who had come to deliver them. But this celebration was filled with layers Read more…
What does it profit, my brethren, if a man says he has faith but has not works? Can his faith save him? If a brother or sister is ill-clad and in lack of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them Read more…
An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 2 Timothy 2:5-6 In the ancient ideal of athletics, there was honor in competing well. An athlete wasn’t necessarily judged by winning or losing, Read more…
And a ruler asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear Read more…