Articles by Fr. George Morelli

Good Marriage, Smart Parenting, Chaplain's Corner, Essays and Light of the East

Continuing Education units for mental health practitioners can be earned for reading these articles from Savvy Continuing Education (SavvyCE). Go to: Savvy Continuing Education.

Good Marriage Series

Practical advice on building a strong marriage
- Good Marriage XXIV. Trust: A Cornerstone of a Godly Marriage
- Commitment and loyalty are the foundation of trust in marriage.
- Good Marriage XXII. A Marriage Breaker: Obnoxiously Insisting on Your Point of View
- Forcing "truth" makes it unlikely it will be heard.
- Good Marriage XXI. Forfending Disclosure Demand and Disclosure Phobia
- Even Jesus did not demand anyone disclose their thoughts and feelings to Him.
- Good Marriage XX. Avoiding the Ultimatum Manipulation
- We upset ourselves by our irrational interpretations of such events or situations.
- Good Marriage XIX. Overcoming The Coercion Perception Stumbling Block
- Don't cut off your nose to spite your face.
- Good Marriage XVIII. Marriage and Parenting in the Domestic Church
- St. Chrysostom: Marriage is an esteemed path to salvation.
- Good Marriage XVII. Wrecking a Marriage: Demanding Human Justice
- The judgment of man is one thing; the judgment of God is another.
- Good Marriage XVI. Pre-Marriage: Avoiding Infatuation Intoxication
- Love is blind but the neighbors ain't.
- Good Marriage XV. Ensnared By Mindless Helping
- For Christians, help is a problematic concept.
- Good Marriage XIV. The Anti-Negotiation Stumbling Block
- One spouse cannot spontaneously know what the other wants or needs.
- Good Marriage XIII. The Theology of Marriage and Sexuality
- Looking deeper into the meaning and structure of marriage.
- Good Marriage XII. Overdependency
- Does overdependence on a spouse reveal a lack of trust in God?
- Good Marriage XI. The Game Of Relationship Self-Esteem
- Healthy self-identity in marriage.
- Good Marriage X. Perfectionism
- How ideas about the "perfect spouse" can undermine marital stability.
- Good Marriage IX. Trapped in a False Definition of Marital Love
- Wrong ideas about love can weaken a marriage.
- Good Marriage VIII. Rejection Phobia
- When the fear of rejection can become self-fulfilling.
- Good Marriage VII. ‘Desperate Togetherness’ and the Fear of Being Alone
- Fear of being alone can add the element of desperation to a marriage.
- Good Marriage VI. Romantic Love - The Double Edged Sword of Marriage
- Romantic love not enough to sustain a marriage.
- Good Marriage V. Staying Focused
- A guideline for communication, negotiation and collaboration.
- Good Marriage IV. The “Preference Scale”
- A tool for communication, negotiation, and collaboration.
- Good Marriage III. Nagging: The Ultimate Marital Over-Control
- Nagging breeds anger and resentment.
- Good Marriage II. Reciprocity—The One-Way Contract that can Wreck a Marriage
- The impossibility of meeting unreasonable expectations.
- Good Marriage I - How an Attitude of Entitlement Undermines Marriage
- Unreasonable expectations can lead to anger and strife.
Smart Parenting Series

Practical advice on raising children
- Smart Parenting XXI. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are The Peacemakers
- Bring peace to ourselves in order to bring it to our families.
- Smart Parenting XX. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are the Pure of Heart
- Purity of heart and the Light of God.
- Smart Parenting IXX. Halloween: A Few Spiritual Pointers for Orthodox Parents
- Halloween is a pagan holiday that was never Christianized. Here's some ideas on how to handle it.
- Smart Parenting XVIII. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are the Merciful
- Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy.
- Smart Parenting XXVII. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Righteousness
- Blessed Are They Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness Sake for They Shall be Filled
- Smart Parenting XXVI. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are The Meek
- Meekness as a source of strength.
- Smart Parenting XXV. Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are They Who Mourn
- Blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.
- Smart Parenting XXIV Applying Christ’s Beatitudes to Parenting: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit
- Becoming poor in spirit.
- Smart Parenting XXIII. Coping with Bullying
- A comprehensive but practical look at bullying and how to deal with it.
- Smart Parenting XXII. Witnessing Loyalty, Dedication and Dependability
- Parents need to model dedication, loyalty, and dependability.
- Smart Parenting XXI. Raising Children Disposed to Peace
- Teaching your children peace in a violent world.
- Smart Parenting XX. The Theology and Practice of Love Made Simple
- God's love for us is individualized and concrete.
- Smart Parenting XIX. Preparing for the Extinction Explosion
- A sane and successful way to handle extreme temper tantrums.
- Smart Parenting XVIII. A Spiritual Child as a Happy Child
- What makes for a happy child?
- Smart Parenting XVII. Love and Worship in the Domestic Church – Of God or Idols?
- What we do reflects what we value.
- Smart Parenting XVI. Styles of Parenting
- Authoritative parenting best for raising pro-social children.
- Smart Parenting XV. When your Child Brings up a Conflict Between Church and Science
- The measure of all things is Christ.
- Smart Parenting XIV. Talking To Children About Same-Sex “Marriage”
- Children see the campaign for same-sex marriage all around them. How do parents respond?
- Smart Parenting XIII. Tools for Smart Punishing
- The right and wrong ways of punishing children.
- Smart Parenting XII. The Time Out Tool
- Shaping behavior through constructive consequences.
- Smart Parenting XI. Smart Tools—Shaping and Consistency
- Children conform to the rules their parents obey.
- Smart Parenting X. Combating Secularism’s Most Serious Sin: Indifference
- Parenting and spiritual awareness.
- Smart Parenting IX. Talking to Children When a Popular Role Model Falls Short
- Teach, don't preach. Some sample questions with answers.
- Smart Parenting VIII. Fighting For Christ at Christmas—Combating Secularism
- Preserving the holiness of Christmas in the home.
- Smart Parenting VII. Combating Secularism in the Home
- Using current events (The Golden Compass) to fight secularism in the home.
- Smart Parenting VI. Talking To Children About Sex
- If parents don't teach their children, the culture will.
- Smart Parenting V. A Short Lesson for Father’s Day
- Fathers, mothers, and Paris Hilton.
- Smart Parenting IV. Cuss Control
- Bad language pollutes the culture and harms the child.
- Smart Parenting III. Developing Emotional Control
- How we deal with ourselves affects how we deal with our children.
- Smart Parenting II. Raising Well-Behaved Children
- Practical tips on raising your child.
- Smart Parenting I. Raising Well-Behaved Children
- Practical tips on raising your child.
Chaplain's Corner

Short essays written for the La Jolla Veteran's Hospital newsletter in La Jolla, California
- Peace is Precious
- There can be no happiness without peace.
- Chaplains Corner - Self Reflection: Compassion and Civility
- Self-reflection is critical to the spiritual life.
- Chaplain’s Corner: The Arrogance of Power, The Power of Humility
- Hubris and humility.
- Seeing the Good in Others
- When things look bad, look for good.
- Chaplain’s Corner. Discipline: Our Commitment For Next Year and All Our Lives
- Resolutions for the New Year might be useless but self-discipline is not.
- Chaplains Corner. Blessed Christmas: On the Use of the Wealth of Our Bounty
- Wealth requires compassion.
- Chaplain’s Corner: Wisdom, Age and Belief in God
- The older we get, the more likely we will believe in God.
- Chaplain’s Corner. Resilience: The Key to Catastrophe Management
- Are things really as bad as they seem?
- Bullying: Defacing God’s Image
- Kindliness is next to godliness.
- Selective Focusing
- We all filter what we see.
- The Need for Prayer in Our Lives
- Prayer can have physical, psychological and spiritual benefits.
- Everything in Moderation
- Do all things in moderation.
- Chaplain’s Corner. God: The Source of Life’s Ultimate Meaning
- The way of un-knowing can be the way of knowing.
- Chaplain’s Corner: Silence is Golden
- The value of silence cuts across many religious traditions.
- Chaplain’s Corner: Heroism Revisited
- Be well disposed to the people around you.
- Chaplains Corner: Even the Thought is an Affront to God
- Limiting the service of chaplains gives the impression that government administrators think religion is unimportant.
- Commitment for a New Year: Overcoming Rudeness
- Treating people rudely violates their inherent dignity.
- Remembrance of God
- Being "Scrooge-like" is a spiritual illness with a cure.
- Overcoming Bitterness
- Bitterness impedes personal growth.
- Compassion: The Forgotten Virtue
- Compassion is a skill that can be developed by practice.
- Anger - The Boomerang Emotion
- As anger increases, so does its destructiveness.
- Making Our Future
- Blessed Augustine writes: Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.
- Divine Justice vs. Human Justice
- The way things appear to us is not always the way they appear to God.
- Finding Meaning in Suffering
- Much worry comes from the idea that life should be the way we want it to be. Most of the time it isn't.
- The Hidden Devastation of Greed
- The moral dimension of our economic crisis.
- Pride: The Source of All Evil
- Pride is the root of all vice.
- Worthy Work
- What determines what work is worthy?
- Envy: The Concealed Passion
- Envy is listed last in the 10 Commandments but near first in evil consequences.
- What Happened to Christmas? A Lesson For All Godly People
- Secular "neutrality" is hardly neutral.
- Giving at Thanksgiving
- Let's walk the path of giving.
- The Center of Godliness is Forgiveness
- To forgive is divine.
- The Heart: The Revelation of our True Self
- God doesn't hear our shouts, he looks at our heart.
- Godly Greatness in the Midst Of Calamity
- "For he who has wealth hoarded up cannot hope in God"
- Maintaining our Moral Compass
- It starts with "watchfulness."
- Perseverance
- Opportunity is missed because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.
- “You Owe Me One!” — The Reciprocity Factor
- Who do those who do a favor expect one in return?
- Work and Pray
- Finding God as you work.
- Brokenness, Prayer, Forgiveness and Healing
- Pray for those who despitefully use you.
- New Year Resolutions? Bah Humbug!
- Do it right or don't bother.
- And on Earth…Peace
- ...to men of good will.
- Overcoming The Coercion Perception
- Arrogance is an abomination to the Lord.
- Godless Thanksgiving
- "The last time I thought about God, was when I was high-tailing it away from the cops."
- The Blame Game
- Real events cannot be changed but our reaction to them can.
- The Fruit and Responsibility of Labor
- Man goes forth to his work and to his labor until the evening...
- Brokenness: Hope and Optimism
- Hope is fostered in tribulation.
- Honest Friendship?
- A circle of true friends is relatively small.
- Entitlement: Sabotaging Relationships
- Whenever we make a demand based on our title we operate from an entitlement perspective.
- Spiritual Winter — Spiritual Spring
- After darkness, light...after death, resurrection.
- Mindfullness: A Tool to Break Bad Habits and Troubling Emotions
- "Be watchful in all things..."
- Double Your Worry, Double Your Problem
- “Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down ….”
- Having Our Own Way
- People and events are going to be the way they are.
- Labeling Others: The Clear Thinking Trap
- Labels betray a basic thinking error.
- Christmas: A National Holiday
- Different traditions can stand side by side with each other.
- Thanksgiving: The National Holy-day
- "Give thanks in everything..."
- Kindness: The Key to Heaven and People
- Kindness is central to many religious traditions.
- Placing Impossible Standards on Ourselves
- The key to success is to use the talents God gave us.
- Defeating Anxiety: Overcoming the Need for Approval
- The question we ask should be: "What do I want to accomplish in life?"
- Kindness is Pleasing to Both God and Man
- Is there an alternative to angry communication?
- Pastoral Reflections on Suicide in the Military
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the military. Why? What can be done about it?
Essays

Reflections on the world today
- Following Jesus: The Power of Forgiveness
- Theological, psychological and practical suggestions for growth.
- Orthodox Christian Spirituality and Cognitive Psychotherapy: An Online Course Part 2
- Cognitive therapy and religious practice.
- Sandy Hook: Psychospiritual Reflections and Interventions
- Both reference to the higher things and practical interventions are required to deal with the trauma of Sandy Hook.
- Orthodox Christian Spirituality and Cognitive Psychotherapy: An Online Course Part 1
- For the Christian, psychotherapy is one component of the healing process of healing ‘body, mind and spirit.’
- Food That Perishes: An Orthodox Approach to Food and Eating Disorders
- Problems with food can be a disorder.
- Commentary: Profiles in Moral Courage
- Standing up for what is right.
- Ministry to Those with Alternative Lifestyles
- What did the Church Fathers say about proper spiritual counsel?
- Healing Society: Revisiting Witnessing Christ in a Secular Age
- There can be grievous spiritual danger for Christians in public display of their commitment to Christ.
- Christian Belief and the Medical Establishment, Part II
- Under what circumstances do we ask God for help?
- Christian Belief and the Medical Establishment, Part I
- The practice of medicine needs a firm and coherent moral grounding.
- Surpassing Human Justice: Enthroning Divine Justice
- The cry for justice is heard around the world.
- The Favor of God Was Upon Him—Homily on the Circumcision of Christ, January 1, 2012
- What are the works that we must do that follow from Christ's teachings?
- Understanding Counseling in a Pastoral Setting
- A presentation below was given to the Clergy Retreat of the Romanian Orthodox Episcopate of America, November 08-11, 2011, in Scottsdale, AZ.
- Christ: Our Model for Forgiveness
- "Forgive one another as I have forgiven you."
- Revisiting that Kindness and Forgiveness Are Next to Godliness: Even in Church
- Harsh severity and anger can drive people away from the Church.
- Healing Apostolic Church Disunity: Zeal - Among the first of virtues required by Holy Baptism
- Love is the key to zealous committment in the Church.
- Out of the Fountain that is Christ: Free Will, Tolerance and Forgiveness
- How should Christians respond to the charge that they are intolerant?
- Pastoral Pointer: It’s the Spirit Behind the Letter
- The letter kills but the Spirit gives life.
- Combatting Secularism: A Powerpoint Presentation for Clergy and Catechists
- A talk given to the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco clergy, November, 2010
- The Ethos of Orthodox Catechesis: The Mind of the Orthodox Church
- Using what is sacred to teach about things that are sacred.
- The Imposition of Sharia Law
- A case for the application of christian law in secular society
- Beauty, the Divine Connection: Psychospiritual Reflections
- To find beauty is to find God, to find God is to find beauty.
- The Laws Of Nature Are Also The Laws Of God - Evolution: A Psychospiritual Reflection
- Wrestling with Genesis and evolution.
- Emotional Activation And Psychospiritual Intervention: An Overview
- Spiritual counseling and the physiology of the brain.
- Book Review: Surviving the Folded Flag
- A story of emotional anguish, grief, attempts to understand, and survival strength of those who have lost a loved one in war.
- Living as a Christian in a Post-Christian World: Discernment
- "Do not be conformed to this world..."
- Toward Healing Church Schism: Overview and Psycho-theological Reflection
- What can we do to achieve unity between Catholics and Orthodox?
- Clergy Burnout and Fatigue
- Ways to manage the demands and resulting stress of the pastoral vocation.
- Cultivating Spiritual Perception
- A psychological and theological reflection on icons.
- Recalling Lent: Christ is Our Model For Forgiveness
- "Forgive one another even as I have forgiven you..."
- The Disarming Technique
- What to do when two 'truths' threaten to collide.
- A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
- When Christians do wrong, other Christians need to call them on it.
- The Power of the Name: Implications For Orthodox Psycho-Theology
- Change the language, and you change the faith.
- Overcoming Anxiety: Christ, The Church Fathers and Cognitive Scientific Psychology
- "Anxiety in a man's heart weighs him down" (Proverbs 12:25).
- Secularism and the Mind of Christ and the Church: Some Psycho-Spiritual Reflections
- When the social consensus shatters, where do we look to?
- A Psycho-Spiritual Eulogy for Suicide: Dimly Glimpsing the Incomprehensible
- The paradox of a good God permitting evil.
- Book Review. Faith Under Fire
- Memoir shows even chaplains face spiritual crisis in war zone.
- Healing The Infirmity Of Sin: A Brief Explanation
- Some ABC's of spiritual healing.
- The Scandal: Jesus Hangs on the Cross to Forgive Us of Sin
- A reflection for Lent.
- Suicide: Christ, His Church and Modern Medicine
- How do we make sense of suicide?
- The Theophany and Healing
- Our Lord as physician and healer.
- Ministry at the End of Life
- Advice on dealing with sickness and death.
- Patient Endurance
- Persevering through troubling times.
- Pastoral Reflections on Suicide in the Military
- Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in the military. Why? What can be done about it?
- Pascha: Marital Vocation and Putting on Christ
- How marriage relates to the renewal offered us by the resurrection of Christ.
- The Fruit of Pentecost: The Holy Spirit and Healing
- The Holy Spirit as God's agent of healing.
- The Ethos of Lent
- Nuggets of wisdom for the Lenten journey.
- The Orthodox Understanding of Sin
- A Lenten reflection.
- Humility And Purity Of Heart: A Lenten Reflection”
- "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
- The Publican: A Model for our Lenten Journey
- Humility is the foundation of virtue, pride its destruction.
- Forgiveness is Healing
- Anger destroys, forgiveness can heal.
- From The Fathers of the Ecumenical Councils
- Be open to the Word of God. Be open minded to the Word of God.
- The Healing Christ Our Heavenly Physician
- All healing comes from God.
- The Tragedy of the Vatican’s Recent Declaration on the Roman Church
- Vatican self-understanding undermines ecumenical progress.
- The Psycho-Spirituality of Forgiving People and Nations
- Forgiveness in personal and social relationships.
- Making Psychological Referrals in the Parish
- Priests poorly trained about psychological problems they encounter.
- The Spiritual Roots of Altruism: The Good Samaritan
- Altruism and the divine love toward the neighbor.
- A Theophany Within
- If Jesus is who He says He is, why don't I see Him more clearly?
- The Ethos of Orthodox Christian Healing
- An Orthodox Christian view of the healing of soul and body.
- Understanding Clergy Stress
- A psycho-spiritual response.
- Understanding Homosexuality
- An Orthodox Christian perspective.
- Conflict and Disagreement
- An analysis of Pope Benedict's remarks based on the parable of "The Publican and the Pharisee" and Conflict Management.
- A Reality-Delusional Test About Forgiveness
- What can the Amish teach the Orthodox?
- Overcoming Depression
- Cognitive scientific psychology and the Church Fathers.
- Whose Church Do I Belong To: My Church or the Orthodox Church of Christ?
- Secularism and the corruption of Church and society.
- My Experience as a Priest and Psychologist at an Orthodox Maternity Home
- Serving the women of the Martha and Mary House.
- Dealing With Brokenness in the World
- Learned psychological optimism and the virtue of hope.
- Assertiveness and Christian Charity
- Thy spiritual and psychological dynamics of assertive responses.
- Illness, Death, and Life
- An Orthodox perspective.
- The Prophet Joel
- A message for today's secular world.
- Illness, Death, and Life: An Orthodox Perspective
- An Orthodox perspective.
- The Spiritual Roots of Procrastination
- Orthodox tradition deepens and clarifies the psychological findings.
- Orthodoxy and the Science of Psychology
- When psychology conforms to the scientific method, it can complement Orthodox teaching.
- “Sexual Addiction”
- An Orthodox and scientific view.
- Sinners in the Hands of an Angry or a Gentle God?
- Did Jonathan Edwards have it right?
- Asceticism And Psychology In The Modern World
- Ancient practices meet modern scientific psychology.
- Resilience and the Canaanite Woman
- She exhibits strength and perseverance.
- Making The Orthodox Church Smaller?
- Clarifying Orthodox values.
- Self Esteem: From, Through and Toward Christ
- What is self-esteeem from an Orthodox Christian perspective?
- Understanding Brokenness In Marriage
- Hurting marriages can be healed
- O Happy Guilt, O Joyful Sorrow: An Orthodox Understanding
- An Orthodox examination of guilt.
- The Nativity: Real Beginning and Legacy
- Christ born in Bethlehem needs to be born in our hearts.
- Abuse: Some Pastoral And Clinical Considerations
- Healing, responsibility, and reporting.
- Being Perfect vs. Perfectionism
- Spiritual health vs. psycho/emotional malady.
- The "Demon Of Correctness"—Religiously Incorrect Secularism
- Religiously correct secularism.
- What Do You Know: The Score or the Saint?
- Are we Christians or secularists?
- The Beast of Anger
- Understanding and contolling anger.
- Elevating Motives
- Give and expect nothing in return.
- Psychological Barriers to the Way of the Cross
- Carrying the right cross.
- Whose Church Do I Belong To: My Church or the Orthodox Church of Christ?
- Secularism and the corruption of Church and society.
- Compassion and Love
- Practical advice for Christian parents.
- Homosexuality: Some Psycho-Theological Reflections and Pastoral Implications
- Dealing with same-sex attraction.
- Sex Is Holy: Psycho-Spiritual Reflections In A Secular World
- Sexuality and Christian teaching.
Light of the East - Society of St. John Chrysostom

Messages for Light of the East, the quarterly newsletter of the St. John Chrysostom Society - Western Region. Visit their website: www.lightoftheeast.org.
- Apostolic Church Unity: Hope, Prayer and Work
- Orthodox and Catholic cooperation is increasing.
- Moral Courage
- Moral issues matter in elections.
- Moral Courage
- Moral issues matter in elections.
- The New Martyrs In Syria
- Christians will suffer in the Syrian conflict.
- + His Holiness Pope Shenouda III - May His Memory Be Eternal!
- Remembering a great Christian leader.
- Our Prayerful Thanks to God for All Who Uphold Christian Moral Principles
- Traditionalist Christians may differ in details, but they unified on the essentials.
- Working Together in Charity
- Any interaction we have with others, especially those who may differ with us should be based on the utmost charity that Christ showed Himself
- Zeal: Among the First of Virtues of our Missionary Apostolate
- We have to cultivate the virtue of zeal.
- Moral Courage: Something the Apostolic Churches Can Do Now
- Defending the moral tradition in the face of secularism, moral relativism and political and religious correctness.
- God’s Mercy: The Focus of Eastern & Western Church Understanding
- God does nothing out of retribution.
- Stormy Weather Committment
- Pope Benedict is an example of Christ-like endurance towards hostility.
- Healing Orthodox Division: A Message for all Apostolic Churches
- Ground-breaking step taken to unify the Orthodox Churches in America.
- The Byzantine Liturgy as Missionary
- The Byzantine Liturgy as a missionary tool.
- The Wounds in the Body of Christ
- Coming to our senses.
- On the Blood of the Martyrs
- Human barriers do not reach up to heaven.
- The Society of St. John Chysostom as Witness
- The Church Has to Break Down Mechanisms That Alienate People
- Relativism: The Enemy of All Apostolic Churches
- Don't despair at the relativism of many nominal Christians.

Articles by Fr. George Morelli

Good Marriage Series

Smart Parenting Series

Chaplain's Corner

Essays