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Loosing weight and saving your soul in the process

There is no secret that I could loose some weight. I’ll admit it. Getting back into my ideal measurements is as much of a challenge for me as for anyone despite the claims of the insatiable industry that has developed behind this apparently simple goal. From the classical low calorie diet to the latest fashion in Hollywood dieting, we are sold out of the box, unfailing solutions that will miraculously make us loose those unsolicited extra pounds. But they all fail in most people with, of course, some notable exceptions.

I always wandered why this is and couldn’t find a satisfying answer until a few days ago when I stumbled over a book written by a “diet survivor”… Continue reading

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Dancing with Leppers

As a follow up on my last post regarding the 10 lepers found this article on another blog and it moved me to tears. How many things like a simple human touch we take for granted…I also understand more how absurd was for the 9 ungrateful lepers not to come and thank Christ for their healing.

Here are some excerpts from an excellent post by Jimmy McCarty about his experience in a leper colony in India:
I shook hands or hugged nearly every leper there. It was so important that they were touched, and that they knew we cared for them enough to break social stigma and touch them. Ever since that moment I do not read… Continue reading

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Running our lives in circles

The miracle of healing of the ten lepers, is generally perceived as an exposition of the importance of gratitude in our lives. There is however another aspect I would like to stress today. The essential piece for its understanding lays in Christ’s words addressed to the cured Samaritan returning to offer his gratitude for the healing: And He said unto him, Arise, go your way: your faith has made you whole” (Luke 17:19)

The other nine, ungrateful, lepers did not hear the same words, save a bitter reproof from Christ. They were not called “whole”, like the Samaritan, because they lacked a crucial virtue the Samaritan exhibited: faith.

Without faith, which is recognizing and trusting the power of… Continue reading

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War and Peace in the teachings of Christ

I’ve often seen people reacting strongly to a certain message delivered from the pulpit. Some identify themselves with the circumstances brought into discussion in the sermon and feel exposed, as if the priest purposely reveals their secret to the entire congregation. Others respond negatively to any message that is delivered in a more compelling and direct way, feeling personally attacked and hurt by the less subtle preacher.

This is not necessarily the fault of the priest nor of the people.  We are the product of a society that lives and breathes political correctness, where all religious are considered equal and the truth is relative. A powerful message is perceived therefore as too strong because is often compared with the… Continue reading

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Reedeming the Time

One year ends another one starts, second after second, since the beginning of the world, the clock is ticking. What is the significance of time? Why are we so obsessed with it and why we celebrate again and again the passing of another year with parties and fireworks?

One explanation may be that the New Year that comes brings with it a wind of hope, a belief that maybe we’ll do better than in the year past. Resolutions are a must at the bridge between years, but most of them are trivial things like loosing weight or stop smoking, nothing substantial. We see clearly however that after a certain age new year celebrations and particularly birthdays become a bitter-sweet… Continue reading

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How Santa stole Christmas or Resisting the de-Christianization of Christianity

“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.” (Mt. 13:33)
Christ came into the world as one of us, to change us from within. He is the leaven of a new world, and although born as a little babe, in a humble and forgotten manger he starts a chain reaction that will reach the entire earth.

The apostles were the first to react to this catalyst and they were changed into something better, from humble fishermen into fishers of men, becoming themselves agents of change for the world.

Through their missionary work entire populations were converted to Christianity, temples were changed into churches… Continue reading

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The way of the pilgrim

I just returned from a pilgrimage to Mount Athos and as much as I would like to share what one feels in such a spiritual journey, it is difficult to put into words. Everything is so impressive and so divine that you can’t choose what to say. One may tell stories about the historical buildings, the vistas, the old icons, the relics, the music, but at the end of the day the one thing that boldly comes out and makes all the other things possible is the monk’s commitment to a life in Christ, their desire to go beyond the image of Christ and achieve also His likeness.

Living for a week in a monastic republic, in a place… Continue reading

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A case of mistaken identity

When I was still living in Romania I was going for confession to a hieromonk in a monastery not very far from my hometown. One day I took Maria, my daughter, with me. We participated in the services, got a blessing from the elder and on our way home she asked me, after being very silent and observant all the way: Dad was that man Jesus?

A similar confusion  happened to St. John the Baptist when the people of Israel confused him with Messiah: “this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the… Continue reading

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Ferdinand and the ragging bull

Reading the news can be a source of inspiration and sometimes even an enlightening experience. For instance a recent news flash from Spain, about a bull that jumped 10 yards into the audience of a Spanish bullring injuring 40 people, curiously made me think that life, in a way, is like a bullfight, a “corrida de toros”.  Many times we know how dangerous or harmful some things may be to us, yet, we keep doing them or we resolve to enjoy them from the audience, with the illusion of safety.

Getting involved in something however, even from a distance, still counts as participation and inherits all the risks associated. Even if we openly avoid doing certain things that… Continue reading

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Pearls to the pigs and communion to dogs

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine” (Mat 7:6)

When I was a kid I had a pet, a cat, and loved it dearly.  It slept with me every night and in my teenage years felt at times as my only true friend. But there was no moment during the time we had together, that I confused my pet pal with a true human friend; it remained a cat the entire time. There seems to be however a lot of confusion nowadays about animals and their role in our lives. People treat their animals as family, take them to beauty salons and spas, leave them fortunes in their wills and expect to be joined by them in heaven… Continue reading