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

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

My father? I dont know…

Visitation Icon, Fresco at Timios Stavron Church in Palendri, CyprusI’ve recently stumbled upon two blog posts addressing the donor artificial insemination from a perspective that goes against the grain of the society trends, acknowledging a  problem that is often dismissed. Here are the links:

Orphaned at conception:

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/deadbeat_donor_dads/

Who did I come from? The children of donor dads grow up:

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/who_did_i_come_from_the_children_of_donor_dads_grow_up/

I also wanted to give the readers a personal Orthodox perspective, both as a priest and as a medical doctor; so here we go.

There is a great number of problems with the issue of sperm bank donors that rank from practical theology to human psychology.  I will try to put my thoughts in… Continue reading

To a modest man who is repenting for some of his words – by St. Nikolai (Velimirovic)

repentanceYou have done well for repenting right away. God has left repentance for salvation. If that was not the case, not even the Apostles would have been saved, far less other people. You have sinned with the tongue, re­pented with the heart. You said an evil word against your neighbor. As if you threw a spark into dry straw. The whole village heard it and made a mockery of it. The neighbor was bitter and sued you. You paid a lot, and became more miserable. You are bitter with yourself. It is not so hard for you that the court has punished you, but it is hard that your offended neighbor keeps punishing you. He does not wish to… Continue reading

Education and true knowledge – What our children are missing in school today

Children in churchAnother school year started this week. Future scientists, engineers, doctors begin their journey today, a journey through rationality and logic in the hope of pushing further away today’s science barriers. During the following school years these children will be taught mathematics, physics, chemistry and other subjects that will reveal to them, step by step… “how Continue reading

Whos affraid of the Theotokos?

MD thesalonika(1200)I recently posted a status on Facebook referring to the fast of the Dormition of the Mother of God.  A few minutes later I got a reply from a non-denominational protestant friend: “I did not know that God had a mother”. This is a very typical response from this audience since they do not have any particular place for the Virgin Mary in their theology or worship. Continue reading

Orthodox Books on Kindle

kindleI was very skeptic when Amazon has issued their “paper like” e-reader device.  Beside the technology shortcomings I was sure this would be used to promote airport bestsellers and other reading material ready for the intellectual garbage bin. However, I have to admit that the success of the device, which is nice by the way, has attracted some serious publishers… Continue reading

The virtual re-creation of the world

The virtual youReflections on technology and communion

My name is Vasile, I am addicted to technology and I am not the only one. So it can start a group therapy session at Technology Addiction Anonymous. And this is no fiction because technology penetrates our daily lives with an unstoppable force pushing us in a place where only the Continue reading