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Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. (James 1:27)

When I used to make online content, my team and I produced a podcast called “We Are Orthodoxy.” It was a series of interviews where we invited young adults to share why they remain engaged in the Church, or why they’ve fallen away.

Our interview with Sean sits heavy with me to this day.

Sean is a young adult who grew up in the Bay Area. When he learned that people lived in poverty not too far from his parish (hunger, incarceration, fatherlessness) he wanted to help. He began asking leadership if they could do something to help their neighbors.

Those leaders, unfortunately, weren’t interested.

Let’s fast forward a few years. Sean remains active in his community, serving those who are in need. But he no longer considers himself an Orthodox Christian.

Sean didn’t “lose his faith” in the sense that he became an atheist. Rather, he lost his faith in the Church. He heard so many sermons and lessons about love of neighbor yet and felt personally convicted enough to want to change his life based on those lessons. On the other hand, his parish wasn’t interested in practicing what they preached. 

Consider the quote above from the Epistle of Saint James. Perhaps Sean was looking for “pure and undefiled religion,” but didn’t find it in the Church. 

If that’s true, then shame on us!

January 1 isn’t just the start of the new calendar year; it’s also the feast day of Saint Basil the Great, a saint who is honored not just for his theological works and personal ascetic struggle but for his dedication to serving and loving his neighbors in need.

While Bishop of Caesarea, Saint Basil led the construction of the Basiliad, a philanthropic complex that included a poorhouse, hospice, and hospital; there was also a church and nearby monastery. Many look back on this as not just the world’s first hospital, but a massive leap in the development of organized philanthropy. In his eulogy for Saint Basil, Saint Gregory the Theologian later called the Basiliad one of the wonders of the world. 

Whatever you may call it, the Basiliad was a profoundly Christian institution.

It was a place, to borrow from Saint James, where one could find “pure and undefiled religion.” It was a place where you’d find Christians celebrating both the Liturgy and the “Liturgy after the Liturgy,” the ongoing ministry that makes the Kingdom of Heaven manifest to all.

As we begin the new year, celebrating the Divine Liturgy for the great Saint Basil, I can’t help but draw inspiration from his pastoral career. Just as Saint Basil dreamed of a place where the love of Christ was manifest in tangible ways, we at FOCUS dream of a time when Orthodox Christian ministries across the country will do the same. 

We have a long way to go, but we’re on the right track: we start 2025 with 11 FOCUS Centers across the country, everything from homeless shelters to feeding programs and pregnancy support centers; and we’ll be developing at least 3 new Centers we hope to launch by the end of the year. We also have, in YES, a national ministry inviting people into opportunities for relational growth and servant formation.

So many people, like Sean, are looking for “pure and undefiled religion.” And so many people, like his neighbors, are looking for Christians who will practice what they preach and share the Lord’s love in tangible ways. 

We have a lot of work to do as a Church. May Saint Basil the Great, and all the saints, intercede for us as we continue to make the Kingdom of Heaven manifest.

Best,

Steve Christoforou