Author page: Fr. Barnabas Powell

Someone once said that God has four answers to our prayers: "Yes", "No", "Wait a while", and "You've got to be kidding me!" When I think of our requests we make of God, I find my own requests break down into a few categories - Personal needs, Family concerns, Parish concerns, and Hopes and Fears. But one…

Is your eye evil? Little did I know when I converted to Orthodoxy that there was a whole body of writing and even prayers against "the evil eye." Turns out this is shorthand for the toxic power of envy and jealousy to poison a community. And it certainly can do that. Over and over again…

I confess to being both addicted and often overwhelmed by daily news headlines. I am an information junkie and have my daily routine of reading different sites and news aggregators that (I hope) keep me informed about my world. From politics to disasters, to cultural and social trends, to even local news events, I find it…

"Every calamity is to be overcome by endurance." so says the ancient Roman poet Virgil. The ability to have "stick-to-it-tiveness" is a learned trait. The fact is endurance is both a gift and a habit that can be developed. That means our ability to learn how to endure is something we hold within our power to…

"I need to speak with your supervisor." The customer service lady on the other end of the line could tell I was frustrated. I had already called several times to find out why what I had ordered had not been delivered. First they told me it had been delivered. Then, when they discovered they were…

I remember thinking "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto." It was one of those moments in our journey to Orthodoxy that caused my soul to say "Aha." A point of enlightenment about just how profound our newfound, and ancient faith was going to be for how I thought about faith. Our catechist had just said…

I've heard this all my life "God will provide." I remember hearing it when me and my brother and my mom were near poverty when I was young, and He did. I remember hearing it when I watched my family go through a shattering crisis, and He did. I remember hearing it again when I…

You see it in every restaurant bathroom you go to: "Employees must wash their hands before returning to work." I've even seen detailed instructions in bathrooms as to how to wash one's hands properly! In 1546 Italian physician and scholar Girolamo Fracastoro first suggested that unseen "germs" were the cause of infectious diseases, and the idea…

"Hey, I know that boy. I've known him my whole life. Who does he think he is?" I confess, it hurt a bit. You see, I was preaching one of my first "sermons" and some "friend" of the family who had, actually, known me and my parents since I was a baby, was a bit…