REFLECTIONS

Shonda Rhimes is an influential storyteller in modern television. As the creator of Grey's Anatomy, Scandal, Bridgerton, and more, she's known for crafting complex, diverse characters and emotionally rich narratives. Several years ago I read her memoir Year of Yes. In this book she shares how learning to say "yes" transformed her life from fear and burnout to joy and authenticity. Saying yes doesn't guarantee ease or clarity. But it opens the door to transformation. It's brav

Today, heaven and earth are united in a holy mystery! Today we celebrate the Dormition of the Most Holy Theotokos, her falling asleep in peace, her translation into life, and her continued intercession for the whole world! The Church, in her hymns, does not speak of the Theotokos as someone lost to the grave, but as the one who, having given birth to the Source of Life, has now been received into the fullness of that Life.

As we enter August, our Orthodox Church invites us into a special time of preparation for one of the most beloved feasts of our liturgical year, the Dormition of the Theotokos on August 15th. To help us prepare spiritually for this celebration, the Church asks us to follow traditional fasting guidelines and be especially intentional in our prayer and charitable works while focusing our hearts and minds on the example of the Theotokos.

Holy Week is upon us. Every day of this week has important themes to encounter, but I am thinking a lot about Holy Friday. I’d like us to consider our own response to the cross of Christ and to our own particular crosses in life. I would like to share with you a painful story from the life of my grandmother. She was born over a hundred years ago. Life was hard, but it was made harder still due to the selfishness of men. She had two girls and a boy...

I have heard that St. Seraphim of Sarov would greet everyone he met with, “Christ is Risen, My Joy.” He would call each person, “My Joy.”

The devotional book, Behold A Great Light: A Daily Devotional for the Nativity Fast through Theophany (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2023),...