Jesus tells us that He came to shed His blood and "give His life as a ransom for many.” But what exactly does that mean? What does the Orthodox Church teach about atonement?

We often think of faith as meaning either "certainty" (confidence that some idea is true) or "religiosity" (participation in a group's activities). But the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent is dedicated to Saint John Climacus, and the top rung of his "Ladder of Divine Ascent" describes faith.

After weeks of learning about forgiveness and pride and judgment, we begin Great Lent with a Sunday dedicated to icons. Why? On one level, this is the anniversary of the triumph over Iconoclasm in 843 AD. But there's more to this triumph than meets the eye.

“Christ is the one who came in order to do what Adam did not do: to be the priest of creation...not just for the human being, although it was achieved through the human being. Christ came so that the whole world may live, and the human being may become that which he was meant to be when he was created by God, namely the priest of creation.” -Metropolitan John (Zizioulas) of Pergamon

2020 has been a rough year. Why does God allow bad things to happen? Why do bad things happen even to good people? People have struggled with theodicy (the problem of evil and suffering) for centuries.

What does it really mean to be a man or a woman? Society usually gives us two extremes: to accept every gender stereotype (no matter how superficial), or to completely reject the differences between male and female (no matter how obvious).

Thanksgiving is a time to feel grateful. But that attitude of gratitude can go away as soon as we're done with the turkey. How do we keep it going? Saint Paul tells us to "give thanks in all circumstances." Because real gratitude is more than a feeling. As we see in the Parable of the Rich Fool, it starts with remembering one crucial thing.

Why do we fast from good things like tasty food? A the start of the Nativity Fast, we'll share three basic reasons why fasting helps transform our spiritual lives. But then we'll go a little deeper and explore why these same reasons suggest you should fast, not just from food, but from social media as well.

Does having bad thoughts make you a bad person? What should Christians do with the temptations we experience? The Church refers to these thoughts as logismoi: the thoughts that tempt us and can lead us into sin. And Christians have been dealing with these temptations from the beginning.

Orthodox Christianity is perhaps the best-kept secret in America. Why? And how can we help share the Good News?

Adults fear that young people will grow up and stop being Christians. But no one ever fears that a kid will stop rooting for their favorite sports team. Why?

#WorldMentalHealthDay can help raise awareness about the importance of self-care. But does this mean self-indulgence? Is taking care of your health a selfish thing that Christians should avoid? Aren't we called to sacrifice everything for God and neighbor?

Politics are toxic and the world seems full of darkness. Is our job, as Christians, to fight that darkness? We'll review the advice of two greats saints (St Isaac the Syrian and St Poprhyrios of Kavsokalyvia) to see how we can bring the Light of Christ into a world darkened by toxic politics.

Whether it's a mean comment or act of violence, why is it so easy to hurt people? And why should we care? We're all afraid of being weak, and will often hurt others to feel strong. Yet Jesus showed us that true strength often involves being weak: this is the way of love and the cross.

Sticking to our daily prayer rule can be tough! But why? We'll explore the simple reason prayer can feel crammed into our day rather than a natural part of it. And we'll offer a simple way to help you transform wasted moments into opportunities for connection with God.

It's easy to point our finger at someone else's mistakes, rather than focus on our own. Why? We'll explore the Parable of the Unmerciful Servant and the two big things that make it easy to judge others.

If your parish suddenly disappeared, would anyone notice? Are we living out the Gospel in our neighborhoods and communities? Because we believe the same things that the first Christians taught. But do we act like them?

Struggling to say your prayers? We want to help you connect with God!