Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Christ is risen! A few years ago, I reconnected with a distant relative that was close to me and my family when I was a boy and a young man. He and I hadn't spoken in decades, and he hadn't kept up with the changes in my life. He thought I was still that impetuous Pentecostal…

Christ is risen! In the church I was raised we just didn't do the Lord's Supper very often. In fact, there are years where I can't remember if we did it at all through a particular year. And that didn't strike me as strange or unusual. After all it was just a "memorial" of a past…

Christ is risen! It's a running joke in the family: "Where do you want to go eat?" "I don't know. Where do you want to go?" What ensues now is a comedy of conversation that sees me offer several places, all of which are rejected. So, I finally say "OK, where do you want to go?…

Christ is risen! "Step right up Ladies and Gentlemen, see the most amazing sights you could ever imagine!" You've heard these words before. Carnival barkers trying to get you to spend the money to see the "amazing snake boy, half boy, half snake!" Or the "amazing Elephant Man." Curiosity, entertainment, something "different," something "tantalizing." And it works.…

Christ is risen! St. Maximus the Confessor says "Food is not evil, but gluttony is. Childbearing is not evil, but fornication is. Money is not evil, but avarice is. Glory is not evil, but vainglory is. Indeed, there is no evil in existing things, but only in their misuse." So, the evil one only wants to…