Join Fr. Anthony in Hartwell, GA as he talks with Professor Adam DeVille (University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne, IN) about proper and improper ways of framing self-care, why it is so easy to get it wrong, and why it is important to get it right. Dr. DeVille is the author of Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed: Ridding the Church of Abuses of Sex and Power. He blogs (prolifically and well) at ”Eastern Christian Books.”  There's a bit of ironically timed electronic mischief in the middle, but the worst of it has been edited out (Fr. Anthony's computer froze).  This is the audio from Fr. Anthony's YouTube livestream (12/21/2020).

On the Sunday we remember the slaughter of innocents, Fr. Anthony asks what we are willing to sacrifice to hold on to our own sins.  He forgot his microphone, so this was recorded on his (new) iPhone SE.  Oh, and he really did forget where Christ was born (senior moment?).

One of the challenges of our present spiritual situation is that our society has settled for something less than truth. This affects the quality of our opinions, policies, and judgments and undermines our ability to live and spread the Gospel. An indicator of the seriousness of this is our growing inability to listen to, learn from, and love people who think differently than we do. In this presentation, I frame the situation as a problem of discernment, compare scientific and Orthodox methods of knowing, and describe how we are failing to use either well. I conclude with a discussion of the critical role diversity plays in discerning truth, showing how the very things that currently divide us can bring us closer to a knowledge of the truth.

Join Fr. Anthony Perkins in Hartwell, GA as he talks with Professor George Stavros (Boston University) about the internal and external factors that put clergy at risk and how that risk can be mitigated by fellowship, support, and the life in Christ. See Professor Savros' article on the subject here: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/11/19/clergy-at-risk/.

The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Colossians. (3:4-11)

Brethren, when Christ, Who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

St. Augustine: But what did he go on to say? “When Christ appears, your life, then you also will appear with him in glory.” So now is the time for groaning, then it will be for rejoicing; now for desiring, then for embracing. What we desire now is not present; but let us not falter in desire; let long, continuous desire be our daily exercise, because the one who made the promise doesn’t cheat us.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

St. Athanasius: But the saints, and they who truly practice virtue, “mortify their members” and as the result of this, are pure and without spot, confiding in the promise of our Savior, who said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” These, having become dead to the world, who have renounced the merchandise of the world, gain an honorable death.

St. Jerome: In a general way all that is of the devil is characterized by hatred for God. What is of the devil is idolatry, since all idols are subject to him. Yet Paul elsewhere lays down the law in express terms, saying: “Mortify your members.” Idolatry is not confined to casting incense upon an altar with finger and thumb or to pouring libations of wine out of a cup into a bowl.

On account of these, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them.

But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator.

Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

St. John Chrysostom: Now what Paul wishes to say is that there is no benefit in those things, for all those things fall apart, unless they are done with love. This is the love that binds them all together. Whatever good thing it is that you mention, if love be absent, it is nothing, it melts away. The analogy is like a ship; though its rigging be large, yet if it lacks girding ropes, it is of no service. Or it is similar to a house; if there are no tie beams, of what use is the house? Think of a body. Though its bones be large, if it lacks ligaments, the bones cannot support the body. In the same way, whatever good our deeds possess will vanish completely if they lack love.

Patristic quotes:

Gorday, P. (Ed.). (2000). Colossians, 1–2 Thessalonians, 1–2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (p. 49). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

In the homily on St. Luke 12:16-21 (the rich man investing poorly), Fr. Anthony reminds us of the universal goal for humanity and all humans, why it needs to get done, and why we shouldn't be anxious about it (despite it's cosmic importance).  I'd share his notes, but they have nothing to do with what he actually preached.  As a bonus, this recording includes the service from the reading of the Gospel, through the homily and to the end of the "Our Father".  Enjoy the show!

Audio recording of Fr. Anthony's livestream of 05 December 2020.  He talks for a bit about how political scientists see the world (to include election fraud), but mostly he talks about the joy of playing games - and especially playing dungeons and dragons.  He ends up giving three reasons: it's fun, it's good for you for social reasons, and it's good for you for imager reasons.  Enjoy the show!