Episodes

  • Homily - When Death met the Author of Life

    Homily - When Death met the Author of Life
    Oct 19 2025

    Luke 7:11-16 (The Widow of Nain)

    At the gates of Nain, the procession of death meets the Lord of Life—and death loses. Christ turns the widow’s grief into joy, revealing that every tear will one day be transformed into the eternal song of alleluia. A "by-the-numbers" homily - enjoy the show!

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    This was an encounter between two forces: death and the very source of life. We know how this encounter always turns out. Life seems so fragile (war, disease, accidents, violence) and we seem doomed to die.

    What happened (Jesus brought the dead back to life)

    Focus briefly on three parts of this Gospel reading: the procession, the grief of the mother, and how it ended.

    The funeral procession. How we do funerals. Preparation for it. Psalms. Preparation of the body. Funeral service(s). Burial. The movement of the person from one list in our daily prayers to the other. Nine-day prayers. Forty-day prayers. Annual prayers. Often with koliva or a special bread.

    The grieving mother. Do not weep. “Blessed are those who mourn.” Jesus Himself, always in the Spirit, wept at the death of Lazarus. Do not weep “like those who have no hope…” (I Thessalonians). Repent of the sin that leads to unhealthy tears; and that repentance requires that we live knowing that we may never have another chance on this side of a funeral to mend a relationship. Tears of honest grief are cathartic, as are tears of outrage at the absurdity of living in a world where death is so prevalent. But let those tears flow in the knowledge that as outrageous, ignoble, and offensive as death is; that our tears of sorrow are being turned, as we sing in the funeral service, into the song “alleluia!” And that is how I want to conclude...

    How it ended. This was an encounter between two forces: death and the very source of life. Who won? And who won when death took a man captive and found that it, instead, it was forced to encounter God? Who won? It was no real contest! As we hear from St. John Chrysostom on Pascha: Christ-God annihilated death! In a world that was made and is governed by the source of Life, death place is temporary, a consequence and concession to our sin – sin which itself is, again through Christ, only temporary. It is holiness and life that endures forever.

    Conclusion. That is the side we have chosen: we reject sin and we reject death. We have intentionally chosen the side of holiness and of life. It seems as though our relationship with life is so vulnerable – to sickness, to violence, to sudden catastrophes; but in the only reality that matters in the end, it is quite the opposite. It and all its associated grief, anxieties, traumas, and pain are products of this world, doomed to end when it is remade in glory.

    Again, we have intentionally chosen the side of life. Let’s live it as it was meant to be lived, not in fear of death but in the joy of the One who has through death defeated death and who desires us to live well both now and into eternity.

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    21 mins
  • Surviving the Coming Storm

    Surviving the Coming Storm
    Oct 12 2025

    Luke 8:5-15.

    Faith is a living seed sown by God, but it cannot survive in the air of ideology or emotion—it must take root in the heart. Fr. Anthony calls us to cultivate this inner soil through the ancient disciplines of the Church so that our faith might stand firm and bear fruit a hundredfold. Enjoy the show!

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    15 mins
  • Class on Journey to Reality Chapter 5 - Personal Truth

    Class on Journey to Reality Chapter 5 - Personal Truth
    Oct 8 2025
    Filling all things… Journey to Reality Chapter Five: Sacramental Thinking St John 14: 1-7. Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. St. Basil the Great (On the Holy Spirit). We understand the “way” to be the road to perfection, advancing in order step by step through the words of righteousness and the illumination of knowledge, always yearning for that which lies ahead and straining toward the last mile, until we reach that blessed end, the knowledge of God, with which the Lord blesses those who believe in him. For truly our Lord is a good way, a straight road with no confusing forks or turns, leading us directly to the Father. For “no one comes to the Father,” he says, “except through me.” Such is our way up to God through his Son. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT 8.18. “Modern, westernized people tend to think about the world from the starting point of physicality. The physical world, as we would say, is the primary reality… It is the objective, measurable world on which we can all agree.” Page 50 of 142. The assumption of materialists is that if a thing cannot be measured, then it is unprovable, a matter of opinion, AND of lesser importance. The natural world is everyone’s baseline. Religious or spiritual people have an added category, that of the “supernatural,” but as long as we operate in the material paradigm, these are the things that BY DEFINITION cannot be measured and are thus kind of optional. Belief then becomes a way to stand up and assert that there are some things that are important that cannot be measured directly. “I believe…” is our assertion that there is a supernatural reality and that it is well-ordered and that there are supernatural outcomes that should matter to us: · Forgiveness of sins · Sacramental marriage (vs. an agreement or contract) · Eternal life When we talk about religion, it is often in materialist terms. · What good is it (for health, family, society)? · What does it cost in terms of time and money? · Does its system make sense? E.g. Juridical vs. Therapeutic vs. Holistic Healing But this worldview can only take us so far. It “misses the mark” when it comes to understanding the world and how it works. An irony: the materialist world may allow us to see things objectively, but not truly. I am playing with words here, but it points to the difficulty. Objectivity refers to the quality of being unbiased and fair, making decisions based solely on facts rather than personal feelings or beliefs. It is often considered essential in fields like science and journalism to ensure accurate and impartial reporting or analysis. Objects have attributes that can be measured. As a social scientist, I was taught that we have a poor understanding of something if we cannot put a number to it and that if we took enough measurements, we could explain everything. Omniscience – or godhood – then is a matter of having enough data and the computing power to run the numbers. Omnipotence involves the ability to manipulate everything towards a desired outcome. This is no longer just the stuff of science fiction. This is another one of those areas where claims are being made for technology that should not be made. We can rightly question double-predestination, but what will keep us from doing the same thing as we grow in material understanding and power? A step in the right direction is to recognize that there is a moral dimension to the world. But the problem is that it cannot be measured. Outcomes can be measured, but their values can only be asserted. This is why both secular philosophers like Nichze and religious ones like C.S. Lewis and Fr. Seraphim Rose claim that this kind of worldview leads to nihilism and the assertion of will. Religious and spiritual people who believe in the supernatural will then say that God (or spirit, or Arche) is the solution to this problem. Again, this gets us heading in a good direction, but it usually keeps within the materialist worldview. Again, which system makes sense, agrees with what I prefer, has the best agape meal, and so on. But it really is strange to come at God in this manner. All we are doing is taking the “God of the Gaps” concept and applying to morality and value. ...
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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • The Cosmic Implications of the Golden Rule

    The Cosmic Implications of the Golden Rule
    Oct 5 2025

    St. Luke 6:31-36
    The Gospel’s “Golden Rule” reveals more than an ethical ideal—it unveils the way God heals His creation. Fr. Anthony shows how practicing mercy, even toward our enemies, transforms hearts and communities, turning the parish itself into an ark of salvation and mechanism of the world’s perfection.
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    12 mins
  • Homily - Except the Lord Build the House: Christ at the Center of Marriage and Parish Life

    Homily - Except the Lord Build the House: Christ at the Center of Marriage and Parish Life
    Sep 29 2025
    St. Luke 5:1-11. Drawing on St. Luke’s account of Christ calling His disciples to become fishers of men, this homily explores why marriages and parishes often falter when built on human strength alone. Fr. Anthony reminds us that brokenness, poor models, and cultural confusion cannot be overcome by willpower or good intentions, but only through Christ and His Church. Just as the apostles’ empty nets were filled at the Lord’s command, so too our families and parishes flourish when rooted in His blessing and obedience. --- Homily: Why is it so hard to build a good marriage (and parish)? Saint Luke 5:1-11; Fishers of Men So it was, as the multitude pressed about Him to hear the word of God, that He stood by the Lake of Gennesaret, and saw two boats standing by the lake; but the fishermen had gone from them and were washing their nets. Then He got into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, and asked him to put out a little from the land. And He sat down and taught the multitudes from the boat. When He had stopped speaking, He said to Simon, “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” But Simon answered and said to Him, “Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.” So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him (St. Luke 5:1-11). Introduction: How Christ Builds the Church This is a beautiful story from the ministry of Jesus Christ. It comes on the heels of his Baptism, his temptation by the devil in the wilderness, and the beginning of his preaching ministry in the synagogues of Galilee. In this Gospel, Christ has started building something very special; something that would never fall; something that would bring healing to broken humanity; something through which He would change the world. He began building the Church. And He did it with simple fishermen on the side of a lake. Continuation: We are Building, too We are participating in this work as well. We want to build something that will never fail; something that will bring healing to broken people; something that will transform a troubled place. We are building a parish. Today’s Gospel provides a wonderful lesson for us on this very thing. In his homily on today’s Gospel, St. Nikolai Velimirovich writes; “Except the Lord build the house, all who labor labor in vain.” (Psalm 126:1) If the builders build in God’s name, they will build a palace, even their hands are weak and their material poor. If, though, the builders build in their own name, in opposition to God, the work of their hands will be brought down as was the Tower of Babel. There is no power that can bring God’s work to ruin. Pagan palaces and cities fall into ruin, but God’s huts remain standing. That which God’s finger upholds stands more firmly than that which [the mythical titan] Atlas supports on his back… May the almighty Lord preserve us from the thought that we can achieve any good without His help and His blessing… May today’s Gospel serve as a warning that such vain thoughts must never be formulated our souls. It speaks of how all men’s efforts are in vain if God does not help them. While Christ’s apostle’s were fishing as men, they caught nothing; but when Christ commanded them to cast their nets once more into the sea, they caught such a great haul of fish that their nets tore. Why would anyone think they can build something worthwhile without Christ? I don’t know. It is futile. We know better. But we do it all the time. Understanding the Curse of Sin: the example of marriage Let’s look at the example of marriage. It can be so hard to get it right, and there are just so many ways to get it wrong. Why is it so hard? It isn’t because people aren’t trying. In fact, they are trying all kinds of things… but they aren’t working very well. At best, some couples might end up with a marriage that lasts, but marriage was not just meant to endure. It’s not supposed to be like a boxing match that makes it to the final round; with the two so tired they can hardly lift a glove and they just lean on one another gasping and looking forward to the bell (or, as is as likely to happen in marriages, the two just hang out in their separate corners doing their own thing until the final bell sounds). A good marriage does...
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    16 mins
  • Men's Group - The Orthodox Ecclesiology of Manliness (Virtue)

    Men's Group - The Orthodox Ecclesiology of Manliness (Virtue)
    Sep 27 2025
    This episode introduces our series on Orthodox Christian virtue, beginning with the call to authentic masculinity. Fr. Anthony explains that true manhood is humble, courageous, and sacrificial, and can only be formed through living a life in fellowship with others. ------------- Introduction to our Series on Orthodox Christian Virtue Men’s Group, Christ the Saviour in Anderson SC Fr. Anthony Perkins, 28 September 2025 Etymological note: the word “virtue” is from the Latin virtus, which means strength, manliness, and moral excellence. The trick is not to redefine moral virtue around fallen concepts of manliness, but to regain the sort of masculinity that is, by its nature, both strong and godly (ie, holy). Why a Series on Orthodox Christian Masculinity? · Men struggle with the development of a proper goal and worldview that would allow them to thrive, specifically as Christian men. · Men increasingly lack sound role models and guides, but there are many influencers who would fill that role for all the wrong reasons and give bad advice. · This combination of high demand and unreliable supply means that everyone suffers; men who are called to be part of the solution to the problem of the world’s pain instead increase it. · The Orthodox Church is the fullness of the faith, but has addressed this problem inconsistently (Note on the book “Why Men Hate Going to Church”). It is great to have Orthodox influencers addressing the issue, but this happens at the expense of building the kind of community would and should naturally foster community. Men can watch videos, listen to podcasts (do men even read books anymore?!), and increase their tribal commitment to virtue, but unless they are in the trenches with other men committed to the same goal and part of a system that blesses and supports the goal and its pursuit, this is idle posturing. o This is the problem of superficial mentorship: ideas without connection or skin in the game. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology). It is both gnostic (because it is anti-incarnational) and Protestant (in that each person becomes their own guide, moving to the idea/guru that matches their inclinations rather than joining and submitting to something substantial and real). o The temptation of clericalism. Leaving all teaching and mentoring to the parish priest. (incomplete or bad ecclesiology) o As on the internet, the men who might want to step up and fill this void may not be suited for it because they lack the proper temperament, manner of life, experience, or training. (Self-selection is bad ecclesiology.) Remember Matthew 15:14b on the blind leading the blind. · This is NOT a series that is going to present THE ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN UNDERSTANDING OF MASCULINITY ™ so that we can all adjust our minds to its reality. Lord willing, it will teach the right ideas, but that is not how real spiritual formation happens. · It is a series that is part of our effort to create a community of men who not only understand masculine virtue and commit themselves to its achievement, but also one where we train and work towards that standard together. So it includes NOT JUST ideas of manliness but intentionally develops scalable ecclesial institutions that incarnate the living of those ideas through the brotherly support, mentorship, encouragement, and accountability. Your role in the process: commitment to living a life of virtue in community with others. My role in the process and why I am the leader of our local chapter · Long-standing commitment to Christian virtue and all the sacrifices that entails; as well as the many blessings that have followed. · Married thirty-five years. · A respected and decorated leader in the Army, community, and Church. o Retired Military Intelligence Chief Warrant Officer with deployments throughout the world, to include two to Afghanistan. o Three master’s decrees: political science, divinity, and special education. o Ordained as a priest in 2007, have been teaching seminary since 2008; and have served in multiple leadership positions in the national church and at seminary. · Trained and experienced in the concepts of teamwork, spiritual development, community, and theology. · A lifetime of experience teaching these concepts and discipling others to teach them in the military, academia, parishes, seminary, and on the internets. If I were into self-promotion or social media, these might get me a following; but the real reason that I am the leader of the process is ontological, that is to say baked into our reality: I am the legitimately and canonically ordained priest assigned by our bishop to the priest – that is to say the “elder” and pastor – of this parish. This would be true even if I had never served in the military, taught at seminary, or enjoyed ...
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    1 hr
  • Class on Journey to Realty Chapter 3b – God is (Trinitarian) Love

    Class on Journey to Realty Chapter 3b – God is (Trinitarian) Love
    Sep 24 2025
    God is a Personal Triune Arche’ Journey to Reality Chapter Three: Who is God? Money quote from this chapter:“The reality is that Christianity is profoundly different from every other religion in history precisely because the Trinity solves this problem of the One and the Many on the basis that God’s nature is love. No other religion is like that.” (pg 37 of 142) Framing Scripture on the Godhead (this is just an introduction to the subject): Genesis 16:7&13. Now the Angel of the Lord found her by a spring of water in the wilderness by the spring on the way to Shur… Then Hagar called the name of Lord who spoke to her, “You-Are-the-God-Who-Sees-Me”; for she said, “I have seen the One who appeared to me face to face.” Genesis 19:24. Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and on Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens. (repeated in Amos 4:11). Genesis 22:15-16. Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven and said, “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you did this thing and for My sake did not spare your beloved son. [God appears many times to Abraham in human form. Jesus confirms that that was Him in John 8:56-58; Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He saw it, and was glad.” Therefore, the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old! Have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most certainly, I tell you, before Abraham came into existence, I AM.] “God had appeared to Jacob visibly in a dream at Bethel (Gen. 28:10–22), where he was identified as the Lord. Later the Angel of God came to Jacob in another dream and told him point-blank that he was the same God who met him at Bethel earlier (Gen. 31:11–12).” (Heiser, Supernatural), Ch 6). Exodus 3:4. When the Lord saw he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush, and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Exodus 23:20-22. Behold I send My Angel before your face, to keep you in the way and to bring you into the land I prepared for you. Listen to Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My Name is in Him. [In 1 Corinthians 10 and Hebrews 11, St. Paul explains that it was Jesus the Logos that brought the Israelites out of Egypt, was with them in their journey, and brought them into the promised land. Jude 1 does the same.] Judges 6:20-24. The Angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the Angel of the Lord stretched out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread. And the Angel of the Lord departed out of his sight. Now Gideon perceived that this was the Angel of the Lord. So Gideon said, “O Lord, my Lord! For I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.” Then the Lord said to him, “Peace be with you; do not fear, you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to the Lord, and called it the Peace of the Lord. To this day, it is still in Ephrata, the father of Esdri. Jeremiah 1:4-9. Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’; for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth; and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth. Proverbs 8:22-30. Wisdom’s role in creation. All this is to say that God has always been Three Persons and has always made Himself known to us through His Son. Of course, the Incarnation is the most obvious of this. We could do the same with the Holy Spirit. Which brings us back to Chapter Three: The moral reality of the Arche’. Not just the unmoved mover – reality itself – but also GOOD itself. This idea is fairly widespread. The Personal God. But the Arche’ is also personal, with a mind and a will. Must avoid allowing this to bring us back to the idea of gods like Zeus or such; or even the Universe as a person. These pagan ideas are often well-intentioned, but they are too small. You can imagine something being a person. A rock with a personality, or a cosmos with a spirit, but we mean a lot more than that. “We’re not taking some object (a rock, a mountain, a planet) and adding the idea of personhood to it. We’re saying that the ultimate governing principle of reality – distinct from the created universe – is personal. This is what we end up with “I AM” as His name. The One or the Many? What is a person ...
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    47 mins
  • Homily - The Cross and the Sun; Following Christ beyond Comfort

    Homily - The Cross and the Sun; Following Christ beyond Comfort
    Sep 21 2025
    Sunday after the Exultation of the Cross Galatians 2:16-20; St. Mark 8:34-9:1 On the Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross, Fr. Anthony reflects on Christ’s call to “take up your cross and follow Me.” Drawing on the imagery of military service, he shows how the Christian life demands selfless duty, not comfort, as we bear the Cross in love rather than mere suffering. He contrasts the marketer’s dream of the radiant sun with the scandal of the Cross, explaining why the Church, in wisdom, sets the Cross—not the Sun—as its banner. In Christ, the Cross becomes not a sign of death, but the Tree of Life that transforms our pain into victory and joy. ___ Homily: the Cross and the SunThe Sunday after the Exaltation of the Cross “Take up your cross and follow me” There are many ways to understand this command. Many take it as God’s way of saying we need to put up with all the sufferings that our bodies give us. That’s true, but there’s more to it that. I want to use the example of the soldier to explain how. In the army, we would sing as we walked. It made the time go by more quickly, developed camaraderie, and taught us some valuable life lessons. One of the most popular went like this: 82nd patch on my shoulder, pick up your chutes and follow me, Airborne infantry, 10th Mountain patch on my shoulder, pick up your rucks and follow me, Mountain Infantry. That is what comes into mind every time I hear; “take up your cross and follow me”. The new verse might go something like this; Christ the Saviour patch on my shoulder pick up your cross and follow me, Christian infantry. Why is this useful? Think about it: what are these things that the soldiers are picking up? Why do they pick them up? They use these things to battle the nation’s enemies. They use these things to protect their families and keep their nation safe. Most of all, these things are used in selfless service and duty for something other than themselves. Why do we pick up the cross? For the same reason. Selfless service and duty for something other than ourselves. Is there suffering involved? Yes. Soldiers suffer. But it’s not about the suffering, it’s about the love (call it duty, that’s fine). Yes. Christ suffered. But it’s not about the suffering; its about the love. Is there suffering involved for us? Yes. But we don’t count it as suffering. It is just the cost of doing what is right. The Cross: A marketer’s nightmare Have you ever thought about the implications of having the Cross as our standard? It isn’t the kind of thing that a marketing team would come up with. After all, who would market their product by saying, “Try this – it will cause a lot of pain!” Marketers would have chosen the wonderful image of the Sun: it gives warmth, allows things to grow, and makes it so that we can see things as they really are. Plus, in English at least, it is a homophone for “the Son”, so putting the “Sun of Righteousness” on our shields and chests could still be a witness of our reverence for Christ, our King and God. The Sun of Righteousness People love the sun. I probably took it for granted growing up in the south, but after living in New England and other parts of the North for most of my adult life, I love and appreciate it even more now. A sunrise after a long and difficult night gives new hope; a warm sun after a trying winter brings new life to tired bones. Another tie-in that would make this a shoe-in for the marketing team is that we orient our churches to the East so that we can await the coming of the Messiah – again, the “Sun of Righteousness”. The sun is such a huge part of our human subconscious, and it resonates with our Christian theology – surely it would be a better advertisement of the healing and resurrection power of the Church than a cross! Think about it! The cross is the opposite of the sun. The sun builds up life, the cross destroys it. The sun gives comfort and warmth, the cross brings pain. Everyone recognizes the value of the sun; the only ones who value the cross are tyrants and psychopaths – and they certainly don’t want it for themselves. The marketers wring their hands, wondering who could possibly be attracted by such a symbol! The Logic of the Cross of Christ So why the cross? I have told you before that when the Orthodox Church reveals something to me that doesn’t make sense, I rejoice because it means I am about to learn something new and grow as a Christian. [Leave aside the fact that non-human representations of Christ are problematic, e.g. the 82nd Canon of the Council of Trullo…] The Sun might have been the perfect emblem for us if we had not broken our covenant with God in the Garden of Eden. Just as plants in the well-tended garden mature upwards towards the rays of the Sun, we were made to grow naturally towards the goodness emanating from the Christ. Take a look sometime at ...
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    22 mins