Sacramental Living

Many of us have read the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus which is packed with holy wisdom. However, our thoughts gives rise to our actions, and our actions in turn reflect our thoughts. We are held to account by God for both what we think and what we do. Join Michael as he discusses the relationship to thoughts and actions, how we often entertain and get seduced by the wrong thoughts, and can make philosophy, psychology, and even theology and excuse to not have the right thoughts or take the right actions.

Join Michael as he offers a reflection on how and why the liturgical life of the church should be lived continuously both inside and outside of the church walls, how Christ teaches and demonstrates this in the Gospel, and how we can sometimes make our liturgical worship a requirement instead of a means to draw closer to Christ and love others.

Join Michael as he discusses what it really means “not to lose heart” according to Christ and St. Paul, examines the scriptures where these words are used, looks at their meaning in the original Greek, and why we actually have a responsibility to others not to lose heart.

Join Michael as he discusses the danger of giving into the wrong desires, some of which seem benign but aren’t; the struggles we encounter on the journey from self-desire to self-denial; what authors such as Lewis, Tolkien, and others can teach us; and ways we can frame our thought to help us with this important struggle.

Join Michael as he discusses what we should do when we feel like God is absent from our lives, and how we can overcome the tyranny of our negative thoughts and feelings that create this false sense of separation.

Join Michael for an in-depth discussion of healing, what Christ demonstrates in the Gospels, and some surprising reasons why we are and are not as open to healing as we’d like to think.

Join Michael in an in-depth discussion about the self-defeating voice in our head that makes us feel like imposters who we will be discovered a frauds, the internal and external influences that feed this negative self-talk, and how we can overcome it in Christ.

Join Michael as he tells the story of a family who all contracted the virus, what they suffered, what medical experts and articles are saying about COVID-19 and PTSD, and how we can understand this spiritually.

In celebration of Mother’s Day, join Michael as he explores the language of the Genesis creation stories and what they teach us about the value of women and the feminine and motherly nature of God. He then reflects on the Theotokos and how her life and Christ’s demonstrate the value of women established in Genesis, and how they restore women to the place God intended for them. This podcast is based on a Zoom class Michael gave to a Church community and also includes responses from the question and answer period of the class.

The circumstances of the coronavirus and the global pandemic give us an opportunity, amidst the suffering, to reexamine aspects of our faith, and refresh and renew our thinking and practice. Join Michael as he takes a deep dive of what it means to pray in the name of the Lord, especially during this time of great need.

Retaining the hope of a child is not easy, especially in today’s coronavirus pandemic environment. Yet this is what Christ want us to do according to the Gospel. Using thoughts from Orthodox teacher and professor Vigen Guroian’s chapter on childhood from his book The Orthodox Reality: Culture, Theology, and Ethics in the Modern World, Michael explores this topic in depth, and explains how by remembering that Christ is the eternal child of God can rekindle our sense of hope during this difficult time.

Inspired by the conditions of the coronavirus, but not about the virus itself, Michael reflects on why either our transcendent or immanent mindset makes a huge difference on how we cope with such trying circumstances.

The St. Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral has been holding nightly classes/discussions, seven days a week at 7 PM EST. Led by Father George Kokhno and Father Valery Shemchuk, each night either one of them, or guest speakers such as Michael Haldas, Archimandrite Sergius of St. Tikhon's Monastery, Father Maximus Urbanowicz, and others have led discussions. Michael recently led a class in which the topic was Fear and Control. All are welcome to join future classes. Download the Zoom App to your smartphone or tablet, or join through the web at (https://zoom.us/j/2100687480). If you use the app simply open it, use code 2100687480 to join.

Join Michael as he talks about how to capture and protect our mind from the world of false images we live in, and how doing so also supports our mental, physical and spiritual health.

We have all heard the phrase “culture of death.” Many use it to describe the culture we live in, especially when it comes to current social issues. Join Michael as he talks about life and death, what we as Orthodox Christians need to do to continually bring life to a world riddled with death, and why our understanding of life and death needs to be understood in a much broader and deeper sense.

Bondage to sin and wrong behavior and struggling with things we can’t seem to overcome plague us all to lesser or greater degrees. Join Michael as he talks about three typical forms of bondage that grip us and what we need to do to overcome them.

It’s terrible feeling to lose hope and feel like our circumstances are hopeless. It’s not how we are meant to live, but we can lose sight of this because of what we are going through. Join Michael as he shares his thoughts and experiences on this very difficult topic and how we can maintain or recapture hope no matter what we are experiencing. Michael also shares some exciting developments occurring with Ancient Faith Ministries and the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, an author whose fiction deals a lot with hope amidst hopelessness.

How do we continue to love unconditionally amidst our suffering, especially when this suffering is caused by the people we love best? How do we attain and maintain the maturity of faith we need to be Christ-like, let God be in control, and recognize the grace in our lives despite the pain. Join Michael as he shares his thoughts and experiences on this very difficult topic.

We live in a pace driven and action oriented culture where we are always on the go. We achieve much yet feel mentally, physically, and spiritually exhausted. We have forgotten how to just be. Join Michael Haldas as he explores this topic in depth and offers some thoughts on the hierarchy of action and contemplation in our lives.

Join Michael as he explores the webs and patterns of our life, and uses poem, story, myth, metaphor, and examples from his own life to show how we can recognize God and continuity within our myriad choices, and know His peace.