Lately my time has been taken up by a capital campaign to rebuild the church I pastor, St. Elias Orthodox Church. About a year ago we discovered that three of the four trusses that hold up our building’s roof had
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Exiled Into the Desert
Mercy and Justice
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Read moreCHRIST HEALS OUR BLINDNESS
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Read moreTo Use the Sword? Peace? Or Both?
In the past few months, we’ve witnessed and read about many tragedies both in our country and around the world. A few days ago, the first funerals took place for victims of the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooting. This
Read moreANGELS, DEMONS, and JINN – OH MY!
One of my ministries in Dubuque is serving on the board of Dubuque’s ecumenical conversations, the Children of Abraham. The goal of these conversations is to build an atmosphere of civic life that builds inter-religious solidarity, cooperation, and friendship. I
Read moreCOVERING THE GIFTS!
As I mentioned in my last post (click here to read), the priest prepares the bread, called prosphora, for the Divine Liturgy in a special serviced called Proskomedia. During that service he cuts out a section of the bread that
Read moreHOW DO WE REMEMBER CHRIST’S SACRIFICE?
One of the most popular posts, so far, was the post entitled, “Stamping Bread” (click here to read it). There I talked about the different parts of the bread used for the Orthodox Eucharist. I spoke about the lamb that
Read moreDID WE ARRIVE LATE?
Visitors who come early to Orthodox services may be a bit confused. Often, even when you come early, there’s a service already started! If the sign says church starts at 10:30, and I come at 10:15, why has the priest
Read moreDID JESUS CALL HIMSELF GOD?
Recently I was asked, “What can we do to defend our faith against those who attack us?” Well, first thing is to continue learning about your faith. It’s a case of knowledge is power! Other than that, that’s a hard
Read moreSTAMPING BREAD
One tradition that sets Christians apart from other religions is the celebration of the Eucharist, also known as the Lord’s Supper, or Communion. In an earlier post (click here), I talked about how the Eucharist is an offering to God.
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