Helping Teens Understand Love
http://radio.myocn.net/podcast/CRTL/On_Air/crtl021316wv.mp3 Listen Now.Love. This gift of God is expressed in joy, patience, service… But our modern society has also distorted it, devalued it to a feeling for objects or to be expressed inappropriately towards people. Listen as Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis, of St. John Greek Orthodox Church in Tampa, FL, speaks...
Love as the Essence of Orthodox Asceticism
Protopresbyter Georgios Schinas You might ask why it is that we today, who are less ascetic as Christians, are overcome with fear and trembling when we hear about asceticism. It makes us feel somewhat uncomfortable. This is because we’ve lost sight of a great truth of our faith. It’s...
The Self-Sacrifice of Love for our Neighbour
Rafael Ch. Misiaoulis, Theologian Today’s Gospel reading is the well-known parable of the Good Samaritan. The immediate message of the reading is obvious- that we should aid those in distress- but the following commentary puts this teaching into context. Christ is approached by a lawyer, asked a question meant...
Knowledge of God is Achieved through Love for Him
Christoforos Papadopoulos, Theologian It’s been said that good is to be identified with God, and that therefore knowledge of it is tantamount to knowledge of God. And because God’s a person, not an idea, knowledge of Him is realized through personal communication with Him. The more we love God...
Do you Judge with Love or Misanthropy?
Saint John Chrysostom From Homily XIII on the Gospel of Saint Matthew If you forgive your neighbours, before you free them of any burden, you release yourself from your sins, without any effort. And if you examine the sins of others with charity and leniency, by this judgement you...
The Selfless Nature of Love
What does Christianity look like? That’s a question I’ve asked myself over the years as I’ve encountered groups/churches/cults all purporting to teach true Christianity. I’ve heard those who want to implement the Old Testament laws as the law of the land, a sort of ‘Christian’ Sharia law. I’ve met those...
Those who truly love God
Saint Symeon the New Theologian Who are those who truly love God, where does their love for Him come from and how is it shown? What are the works of our love for God as regards our neighbours? And that love is the culmination of the old and the...
In Praise of those who have Love in their Hearts – Part II
Saint Symeon the New Theologian Holy Love may we then be pardoned through you and may we enter into the enjoyment of the good things of our Master, since no-one will taste their sweetness except through you. Those who don’t love you as they ought and are not, as...
In Praise of those who have Love in their Hearts – Part I
Saint Symeon the New Theologian Let us therefore follow one and the same path, Christ’s commandments, which elevate us to heaven and to God. Even though the word shows us many paths and many ways for people to reach the kingdom of heaven, these paths are not, in fact,...
