Before we can consider moral issues, we need to look at such things as God, Man and Salvation. Unless we understand these things, we can't really discuss moral issues because we will have no basis for judgment. If you really understand the basic beliefs of the Church, then you can pretty much determine what is and isn't moral.

Although it is very important not to rely on our own efforts in this Unseen Warfare, at the same time, if we merely give up all hope of ourselves and despair of ourselves without having found another support, we are certain to flee immediately from the battlefield or to be overcome and taken prisoner by our enemies. Therefore, together with complete renunciation of ourselves, we should plant in our heart a perfect trust in God and a complete confidence in Him. In other words we should feel with our whole heart that we have no one to rely on except God, and that from Him and Him alone can we expect every kind of good, every manner of help, and victory. Since we are nothing, we can expect nothing from ourselves except stumblings and falls, which make us relinquish all hope of ourselves.

Prayer is essential to Christian life. Jesus Christ Himself prayed and taught men to pray. One who does not pray to God cannot be a follower of Christ.

I am delighted to speak to you at this commencement ceremony today. This honor is especially significant for me since I came to this school a student exactly a half century ago...

The first and most important thing is that we are boundlessly loved by God Who blesses us to love Him boundlessly in return.

Because the sexual dimension of male and female intercommunion has a physical component, the male and female sexual organs are also part of God's creativity and thus subject to a higher understanding of the nature and purpose of man outlined in book of Genesis in the Old Testament. The sexual organs of the male and female function complementarily, although the term "function" here means more than an anatomical symmetry. From the Orthodox Christian perspective, the term has a moral dimension that elevates the anatomical function to the higher purpose of God. Pleasure is certainly an important and blessed part of sexual union.

For Orthodox Christians, no discussion of sex whether it is autoerotic, heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual, or the current polyamorous sex, can be divorced from an Orthodox theology of sexuality. All sexuality and sexual behavior is based on Divine love; a love that is beyond any human feelings, empathy, or ethical standard, and even approaches the essence of God Himself. Saint John tells us "...for love is God ... God is love" (1 John 4:7-8).