The proverbial New Year resolution comes to all of in many different ways. From my general observations, I think people pretty much fall into one of three groups. Group 1, have a sense of renewed hope. These folks commitment themselves to growing something totally new in their life or seek to restore something that has withered and died from the previous year. Group 2, have a sense of dread and despair as they look back over many failed attempts at New Years resolutions. Possibly they tried to do to much only to fall flat on their face and end up in the same place as last year. Group 3, ignore resolutions thinking it is just some gimmick to sell 'self help books'. They may think that if change is needed, they will just do it.

As I've been reflecting about the coming year, I stumbled upon a wonderful write up by Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick about New Years resolutions that I would like to share. Regardless of which group you fall into (hope, despair, or indifference) I think you can find encouragement to simply do what you can to grow closer to Christ in the coming year (see full article HERE). 

First: In this year, I will begin with a firm resolve to believe that my wife, my children, my family, my colleagues, my superiors and my fellow-parishioners are not “in the way” of my life. They are all given to me by God as “the way” for my life. I am being saved through them.

Second: In this year, I will begin with a firm resolve to pray. Prayer is not just a duty. It is not a formal “requirement.” It is not just something I do at church or before a meal or even in a crisis moment. It is my ongoing life of being real before God. I will do it with my family, with you, with the Church, and I will do it alone. I will do it in speech, in song and in silence.

Third: In this year, I will begin with a firm resolve to order my life by what is good, not by what feels good. I am often tempted to order my time by whatever coddles my exhaustion, whatever numbs my struggles or whatever gains me possessions or advantage. But my life has to be ordered with prayer, with fasting, and with reading that is good. From that interior structure flows my exterior interactions.

In this time of beginnings, will you join me in these three resolutions? If we do not begin now to nurture our souls with God’s grace, when will we? If we do not resolve now to make this beginning, when will we? Faith in Jesus Christ, our identity as Christians, is not something that fits conveniently into a life which is otherwise defined by other pursuits—praying or going to church or reading spiritual things when I don’t have something else going on. No. True Christianity means living in this way, that the life in Christ is who we are. Everything else happens in between that and in service to that.
If we have to ask ourselves whether our Christianity is “good enough,” or especially if we actually say to ourselves that our Christianity is “good enough,” then we have missed the whole point. Good enough… for what? For getting into heaven rather than hell when we die? I’m sorry, but it doesn’t work that way.
God isn’t in the business of selling tickets to heaven. Christ is the Knower of hearts. He is looking into your very heart, and He sees whether your heart is with Him or if it is somewhere else.
So let us resolve to make this beginning. He began all this Himself some two thousand years ago, making many beginnings all in the service of one, the beginning of our salvation, our healing from sin, corruption and death. So let us make this beginning.

I still remember my first time coming to Holy Resurrection with my family just before leaving for seminary back in the summer of 2015. At that time, a quickly growing Hispanic catholic community was using the chapel on Sundays and preventing Holy Resurrection from using the chapel on Sundays. This was unknown to my family as we had never been to Holy Resurrection. I remember looking in the chapel and hearing all sorts of contemporary worship music and instruments and thinking to myself "I don't think that is the Orthodox Mission Church..." At that point I remember looking up the stairway right outside the chapel and seeing a sign that said Orthodox Church on an open door. As Pres. Katie and I went up the steps with our confused children, we entered into Blanchet's small library only to see bookshelves and chairs rearranged to make enough room for a small Altar and chant stand. As we entered the cramped space, we saw about 25 people standing down the walkways of the library bookshelves engaged in worship. We joined the Divine Liturgy with our kids, who were wondering why things were so different than what they were used to.

To compare that to where we are now, with an average of 85 people a Sunday is quiet different. For those who have been around Holy Resurrection for a while, even for just a year, you have noticed the ever growing amount of one time visitors, new inquirers and those following the path to the catechumenate and entry into the Church. This of course is a huge blessing and it fills me with joy to see more and more people discovering the fullness of the Christian faith in the Orthodox Church. This is a phenomenon that is not only happening at Holy Resurrection but all across Orthodoxy in North America.

This begs the hard question however, are we ready for this growth? I know personally it has been a stretching experience for me as I've had to make more time to meet with folks interested in Orthodoxy and extend a welcoming hand to them in this very foreign land. As a community we've had to flex our 'extroversion muscle' to get out of our comfort zones to welcome new people and make new connections with those seeking the fullness of the faith. We have (and will continue) to experience the blessed growing pains of having to sit closer to each other during services and make new accommodations in the chapel for more kids. And collectively we have to lovingly integrate new people into our community and be open to seeing how God will grow our community in new ways.

These are not easy things for anyone as they require us to sacrifice for the stranger and the 'other'. Yet our faith is not about being comfortable or having things 'your way' like the Burger King advertisement says. It is about a continual offering of ourselves to our Lord and allowing whatever He puts before us to transform us to love like He loves. It is about our transformation to be Christ-like in ways that we didn't think (or don't want) to be transformed.

Fr. Daniel Triant, a good priest friend of mine in Spokane, recently wrote an article for our metropolis that summarized this new reality we face very well. I would like to conclude with an except from his article that I pray will be helpful for us all as we continue to grow the Church, ourselves and Christ's love.

The Church didn’t start with catechism classes. It started with the experience of Christ. The people gathered together and were fed by Him first, so that they could go forth and share with the world what they’d been given. As the Church grew over the centuries, the Holy Spirit revealed more to the faithful, and a more robust catechism was necessary. But this was never a replacement for the fundamental action of the Church – to worship, receive Him, and give that to those who don’t have it.
I was born into an Orthodox family who received the faith for generations. I grew up knowing what to do because everyone around me, in my family and my parish, knew what to do. I didn’t always know the “why,” but the experience was deeply rooted. We crossed ourselves a certain way, we prayed certain prayers in our home, we fasted, and we went to Church at odd times according to the rest of the world. The many things we sometimes take for granted that inform our faithfulness were inherent.
People new to the faith have none of this, except what they may have read in a book or an article on the internet (perilous as that may be). What class can we offer that teaches them what we often refer to now as “the fullness of the faith?” They have no family to learn from. Who will teach them the experience we learned from our families? All of us! Every one of the faithful.
We may not all be theologians, but we all have an experience of Christ. The Holy Spirit we have inside of us is the same Holy Spirit that rested on the disciples, the same Holy Spirit that brought them together to worship and experience Christ. It is incumbent upon us to grow deeper connection in our own lives, so we might offer it to all of those seeking the knowledge of the Truth, and that our Lord continues to add daily to those who are saved. (read the full article HERE)

In Christ,
Fr. Steve

As we come out of the season of peace on earth and joy to the world; we are quickly reminded of the darkness that is still in our world. This by no means that Christ is absent or not present after Christmas but the sad reality is that 'the inclination of the human heart is evil from youth' (Genesis 8:21).

One of the darkest areas of our world today is the various conflicts around the world; with Ukraine and Russian and Hamas and Israel being the most acute. Despite this terrible darkness we take hope in the only Light that can dispel it; who is Christ Himself. Jesus, the God-Man, shows Himself in the feast of Theophany to be the 'Light of the world' and can break through the darkness of war. So what are we supposed to do as Christians in light of this reality? How do we make the light of Christ a reality when we are so far and disconnected from these conflicts?

The Christian response to violence in every instance ought to be a prayer that it would end and that no one of God’s precious souls would be harmed. Jesus Himself prophesied there would be wars and rumors of wars. Fallen man has proven Him correct as witnessed by viewing a list of wars on a timeline of history. This should be a source of sadness about the conflict and deep compassion for the victims. Perhaps wars, all of them, should be viewed as the antithesis of goodness, love, and the primal intentions of why God created man. Rather than fighting for the goals and objectives of our sinful pride and greed, we should exert our energy toward living in union and communion with each other and seeking others to join us in that great dance of God’s blessings.
Recognizing the brokenness of mankind does not have to depress. Amazing accomplishments have been realized in spite of our soul’s deep disease. We should always maintain at least a thin ray of hope because God is sovereign and can change peoples’ hearts. This requires that we rid ourselves of a simplistic view of the world, which, in reality, is composed of sinners who can do good as well as those who refuse to do so. We know of many saints who turned their life around from terrible murder and destruction such as St. Moses the Ethiopian.
Christians, while recognizing the reality of war and even the righteous cause of those defending themselves from being attacked, must avoid the simplicity of branding one side as less human than the other or think of one side’s innocents as suffering more than those of the other. We need to always exercise a voice for peace and the end of killing. Offering prayers for peace and reconciliation should be our first thought. 
We must keep in mind that when two sides are killing each other, the root of sin always plays a role. That we are each one a sinner should restrict us from jumping to simple conclusions and perhaps even taking sides. Rather than rooting for a particular victor, perhaps we should beseech God to end the conflict first of all. The tragedy of sin takes expression in all warring, whether with guns and missiles or between neighbors or family members. We should approach war with the understanding that the real war is within each of us with our own struggles with passions and pride, the latter of which is the cause of any conflict. Rooting, then, for a victor is complicated by the evil either side is guilty of and may continue to practice while the conflict ensues. Pigeonholing a nation or race can intensify one’s feelings about one side or the other. We must realize often fanatics gain control of an army and start a war that does not represent the bulk of the people. It can be tempting to see one side as wholly good and the other as wholly bad. As with most divorces, there is fault for each party.
History is not only replete with wars and rumors thereof, but any study of history offers that sometimes a despicable evil has to be defeated, such as the Nazi threat of World War II. It was much clearer then than in most cases perhaps that hoping for victory by one side rather than the other was justified. But we must be careful with that kind of justification; often after the fact, one can see more clearly if there was one side that deserved victory over the other. Of course, the simple act of defending one’s country from an outside threat is quite justified. The observer must be careful not to judge too quickly. As history is distilled with time and research, often new facts emerge indicating one must alter one’s view of a given conflict because accurate information was not available earlier on.
Whereas we should eschew killing, we do find cases in the Old Testament where true evil has to be dealt with; completely and totally. 'In various circumstances, every human is both the committer of sin and its victim. For this reason, even when God gives sinful humanity over to the consequences of their sin, they are measured and aimed at repentance and restoration (Rom. 11:32). This process continues until unrepentant evil reaches a point at which tolerating it further would not be mercy for the perpetrator but a failure of mercy for the ongoing victims.' (God is a Man of War by Fr Stephen De Young pg. 40)
Just as we have hope that our Lord, the God of Love, will show His divine mercy to us in saving our precious souls and allowing us into His eternal kingdom, we also have hope that men will realize the futility of killing for killing’s sake and seek peace. That can start with a ceasefire. Perhaps that is the beginning of our prayers regarding the current conflicts in the world. It is especially wrenching for us Orthodox to see news reports of Orthodox Christians and their churches being destroyed.  
It is one thing to contemplate the events in the current conflicts; it is another to give of our sustenance as we can. After bombs were dropped in Gaza and residents were made homeless and frightened, St Porphyrios Orthodox Church opened its doors to house, feed and comfort the distressed. Groups offering aid on the ground level are few. However one that looks promising is The Order of St. George (learn more about them on AFM HERE).
As we have been praying collectively together each Sunday, we can continue to pray at home the same prayer to end the conflicts around the world:
Almighty God and Creator, You are the Father of all people on the earth. Guide, we pray, all the nations and their leaders in the ways of justice and peace. Protect us from the evils of injustice, prejudice, exploitation, conflict, and war. Help us to put away mistrust, bitterness, and hatred. Teach us to cease the storing and using of implements of war. Lead us to find peace, respect, and freedom. Unite us in the making and sharing of tools of peace against ignorance, poverty, disease, and oppression. Grant that we may grow in harmony and friendship as brothers and sisters created in Your image, to Your honor and praise. Amen. 
Let us pray for peace through peaceful means and positive dialog.  
May God help us to have caring hearts toward all victims regardless of which side they are on. Each one is a precious soul in the eyes of God. 
In Christ,

Fr. Steve

Jesus gave us the Parable of the Talents to teach that we are responsible to use  God’s gifts – to develop them, to grow them, and then to offer them back to Him.  Although we all receive different gifts, we see in this parable that there is no  difference in God’s reward for what we accomplish with them. If you want to be a  faithful servant, then take whatever you have and offer it faithfully to the Lord. It is  not about how much you have, it is what you do with it.

This past year we have collectively accomplished so much (see below for just a  few highlights) for which I am grateful for all that we have offered to God together.  Yet there is so much potential we still have. Not only are there growing  opportunities to help in our ministries but continued opportunities to grow spiritually  and relationally together. To serve one another, our community, the Salem  metropolis area and by extension the whole world. The goal with being a good and  faithful servant isn't about doing more than we can, it is about reflecting honestly  about what we have and reprioritizing how we use the blessings we have in the  best way. Again, it isn't about how much you have but it is what you do with it. 
Giving to His Church is a way to thank God for His grace and generosity. The  question is not, “What do I owe?” but “How can I thank God for my many  blessings?” We see our church, not as it is, but as it could be. We offer our time,  talent and treasure; our entire life sacrificially, so that, as members of the Body of  Christ, we may reach our full potential in Him.

As you receive the opportunity to complete a stewardship card for this year (either online, digitally or in paper in the narthex), please give prayerful  consideration to the commitment you are making. A check mailed to the church is  most meaningful when accompanied by your presence, by your willingness to  serve, by your prayers, and by your commitment. Giving is not a substitute for  commitment but to be part of our wonderful community and share our lives with  one another in service to our Lord. All your offerings to Christ in His Church are an  expression of your commitment and an expression of thanks for the many  blessings in your life. 

In Christ, 

Fr. Steve 

'El Fin' may be a common phrase to some avid movie watches. In general this team means that the movie is over. Now I'm not a big movie goer but I have found that the few movies that I have seen that end a movie with 'El Fin' pronounce not just the simple end to a story but a true conclusion, a purpose completed, a destination reached. Contrasted to movies that don't conclude with El Fin, such as blockbuster action movies that follow simple formulas (e.g. introduce good guy, reveal bad guy, good guy beats bad guy, good guy gets the girl and lives happily ever after), they tend to just end rather than come to a true finish. Although satisfying that everything wraps up with a nice bow on top, such movies rarely leave a lasting mark on us as compared to those that end with 'El Fin'.

There is a Greek word used by ancient philosophers, the Church fathers and throughout the scriptures that takes this concept even further. Telos (τέλος) describes the ultimate conclusion, fulfillment and completion of what the original and primary goal is of something. It is maximum strengthen 'El Fin'. We see the power of this word being used when Christ calls out on the cross that it is finished.

'And this word Telos is taken up in the final cry uttered by Christ on the Cross: "It is finished", telelestai (John 19:30). This is to be understood, not as a cry of resignation or despair, but as a cry of victory: It is completed, it is accomplished, it is fulfilled.' (The Orthodox Way)

If we step back and reflect about where our life is going we may find that we may be living like a simple action film, following a wordily formula of how we should live our lives: have fun childhood, get good education, have successful career, enjoy the fun of life, enjoy the golden years and die happy with as little suffering as possible. Now nothing here is bad in itself, and these are blessings from God for sure, but a life following such a script doesn't lead us towards our vocation as humans, it doesn't lead us to the telos of our life which is the life beyond with Christ for all eternity. Likewise, the lack of any doesn't hinder or limit us from living a fully Christian life oriented towards Christ's eternal kingdom. Listen to St. John Cassian beautifully articulate that anything other the being oriented towards God's love will ultimately pass away.

"All gifts have been given for reasons of temporal use and need and they will surely pass away at the end of the present life. Love, however, will never be cut off. It works in us and for us, and not simply in this life. For when the burden of physical need has been laid aside in the time to come Love will endure, more effectively, more excellently, forever unfailing, clinging to God with more fire and zeal through all the length of incorruption." St. John Cassian

So what does life look like to not following the script of the world but embodies the life of Christ? What does it mean to live daily being oriented towards our telos found in Christ and His Kingdom rather than just entertainment, status and pain avoidance? Below are a few humble reflection points to consider in 'rewriting' our daily 'script' to rebalance and reorient towards our telos in Christ.

• Wordly Work or Divine Work - Most of us work a 40 hour a work week, so we are accustom to working hard, working on a schedule, working when we don't feel like it and dedicating much of our life to work. The Divine Liturgy roughly translates to 'Godly work of the people' and we should ask ourselves if we are regularly doing 'God's work' each Sunday morning. Maybe we need to put in a bit of 'overtime' by coming to a Wednesday or Saturday night Vespers once a week. Is our vision for work to have a telos to be rich and avoid any financial concerns or is it to provide for ourselves so that we can live out our Christian life, doing the good work of God through worship and service?
• Entertainment or Prayer - Every day people watch one billion hours of YouTube videos a day and 500 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute! Movies, hobbies, shopping, games, sports, social media, etc. gives us an unending amount of entertainment. We are literally drowning in opportunities for fun every second of our life and we can easily think that the telos of life is to scoop up as many handfuls of fun to consumer. Yet where does it leave us after consuming earthly delights day after day after day? Just as hungry, or hungrier, than we were the day before. What if we were to reorient our telos away from fun and towards prayer? Could we pray at the start and end of our day; maybe praying best we can throughout the day? Maybe we can turn down the dial on entertainment and turn up the daily on prayer so that we can drink of the water 'springing up to eternal life' (John 4:14)?
• Self-Focused or Other-Focused - Our purchasing history shows us where we spend our money and what we buy. Our calendars show us where we need to be and what we need to do. Our social media and browser history show us what we are interested in and were we spend our extra time. Our bookshelves show us what we read and think about. If we were stop and examine all of these periodically from the lens of how much we focus on ourselves vs. focus on others, I think the results would be very startling (at least it was for me when I did it!). Such an insight shows us the inner telos of our heart and where we direct our love. Do we love ourselves through what we buy, where we spend our time, where our focus our attention and how we act towards others OR do we have a focus on the other; on our loved ones, our church family, those in need, and our Lord Jesus? Can we change our telos and vision of life from a self-centered one, to an other-focused one that will shape the movements of our hearts, now and forever?

Where is our life directed, what is the telos of our life? To the end of the 'movie' of our life or with a telos towards the Kingdom of God? Do we want the end of the 'credits' of our life to simply scroll quickly through all the people who played a part in our life and the screen to turn black or do we want to have 'El Fin' displayed showing that we have reached the Kingdom of Heaven, having lived a full Christian life, a life worthy of our calling as human beings?

In Christ,

Fr. Steve

Father are you really going to talk about confession as we conclude the Paschal season and head into summer? Aren't you being a bit of a wet blanket with bringing this up when we should be out having fun?

As a priest, I'm not here to win a popularity contest but to share the truth of our faith and support each of you along the path to salvation. Thankfully the truth of our faith and our path towards salvation doesn't prohibit us from enjoying time with family and friends, having a healthy amount of 'recharge time' and enjoying God's beautiful creation. Yet we have to not 'take our eyes off the prize' of our spiritual and Christian life which is communion and union with our Savior. So rather than avoiding this beautiful summer season, we seek to infuse it with the joy of our Lord and continue our walk with Him.

St. Theophan the Recluse tells us that 'In the Sacrament of Confession the Lord enters into man by His grace, vividly establishes communion with him and gives him to taste of all the sweetness of the Divine'. Simply put, blessed confession gives us an inner sweetness that permeates all our life. It is in this spirit that I bring up confession in this summer season, so that we can all enjoy the summer with 'all the sweetness of the Divine' and that the Sweetest Jesus would guide all our summer activities, rather than our sinful passions which can so easily be evoked during this time.

Some of us have not been to confession for a long time, or have never confessed, or may have had bad experiences with confession. Yet we feel the burdens of our sins; we are haunted and frustrated by them. This beautiful summer season may be a time where we are tortured by them even more than any other season of the year; we feel them sapping away the joy and sweetness that we desire to have with one another and Jesus.

My invitation to you is to find time over the summer to come to confession at least one time. As hard as it may be to find time for it, as hard as it may be to motivate ourselves to do it, I can assure you that your summer will be transfigured by receiving the 'sweetness of the Divine'.

With His Eminence blessing me to hear confessions, you now have even more opportunities to experience blessed confession as you can confess to Fr. Ed or myself. I put together a helpful resource for understanding and approaching confession that should have something for everyone; those who have never confessed and for the seasoned 'confessee' (CONFESSION RESOURCE HERE). Likewise, below is a summary of ways to partake of this blessed sacrament.

• Open Confession Time During Saturday Night Vespers - Starting in June we will be trying out having an open time for people to come to confession. You'll see on the monthly calendar a note indicating 'Confession Available' for some Saturday night Vespers. This means both Fr. Ed and I are planning to be at Vespers and one of us will serve the Vespers and the other will hear confessions. Note:
  • This will NOT be by appointment and will be first come, first serve
  • Anyone wanting confession should be at the service 10 minutes before so the fathers can determine who will serve and who will hear confessions
  • Depending on how this goes we may expand this to Wednesday night Vespers
• Scheduling Confession - You can schedule a confession the following ways:
  • For Fr. Steve, you can use the online schedule system or contact me directly if you can't find a time there
  • For Fr. Ed, contact him directly

As summer always brings an overwhelming number of opportunities for fun, celebration, fellowship and relaxation let us not lose ourselves in these activities and forget our loving God. May we all continue to keep the light of the Resurrection of Christ burning within us, through our life of repentance and confession, so that He will bring joy and radiance to all our summer activities.

In Christ,
Fr. Steve

As we have arrived at the season of Great Lent, we pause and take a deep breath before we plunge into this season of spiritual challenge, grace and beauty. The journey we now start is not one that we travel on alone but one that we share with each other, primarily through our liturgical worship together as a community.

In the wisdom of the Church we have many themes revealing the unique and blessed season of Great Lent for us. These themes are most powerfully seen each Sunday during Great Lent and encourage us on our struggle against our passions and grow ever closer to our Savior. They provide 'milestones' on our journey towards Pascha, Christ's Resurrection, and help us chart the path forward each and every week.

If you are unfamiliar with the unique Sundays of Great Lent, or simply need a refresher, I found a wonderful 10 minute video that summarizes these key themes to focus us during the season of Great Lent and set a course for us as we travel together through it. I pray it is a blessing for you!
Blessed Lent! Kali Sarakosti!

In Christ,

Fr. Steve

YouTube Video Link

As we continue to bask in this season of lights and purity through our Lord's unimaginable incarnation and wondrous theophany we see many profound wonders about how Christ transforms the world we live in. Pondering this powerful contact between the divine and the created, I have been reflecting upon the holy water blessed at Theophany and the blessings brought down upon the baptismal waters. With at least 15 people planning to be received into the Church, it is something top of mind for me.

Anytime the Church, through its divine services and mysteries, blesses water, it always brings about true purification, healing and cleansing. Many of us shower (or bathe) regularly because we feel grimy, stinky or dirty and we feel quite clean and, in a sense, "purified" after having cleaned ourselves with water. This act of cleaning our body should always be a reminder of how we need to continue to purify our souls through a life in Christ. This is done through a life of repentance, virtuously living, regular participation in the services/sacraments and through the blessed use of holy water.

It is through Christ's Church that something so simple and basic, such as water, can go beyond cleaning just the outside of our body, to touching the deepest recesses of our soul. The blessings bestowed on the water in the services are transferred to us when we touch or drink the water; grace comes to us, to bless, heal, and purify our souls. 

Listen to two prayers, one from the baptismal services and one from the great blessing of the water service:

Show this water to be the water of redemption, the water of sanctification, the cleaning of flesh and spirit, the loosing of bonds, the remission of sins, the illumination of the soul, the bath of rebirth, the renewal of the spirit, the gift of adoption, the garment of incorruption, the fountain of life. For you have said, Lord, "wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes"

That all who draw from it or partake of it may find in it purification of souls and bodies, healing of infirmities, sanctification of houses, and every fit benefit. For You are our God, who through water and the Spirit renewed our nature corrupted by sin...Grant to all whether they touch it or are anointed by it or partake of it, sanctification, blessing, cleansing and health.

Listen to the words of Fr. Thomas Hopko commenting on the power of Christ's sanctifying water for the world:

Since the Son of God has taken human flesh and has appeared in the world, manifesting Himself in His baptism in the Jordan, all flesh and all matter is sanctified. Everything is made pure and holy in Him. Everything which is corrupted and polluted by the sinful works of men is cleansed and purified by the gracious works of God. All death-dealing powers of the devil which poison the good world of God's creation are destroyed. All things are again made new. Through the 'prime element' of water on the feast of Theophany the entire creation is shown to be sanctified by God's Word through the same Spirit of God who "in the beginning...was moving over the face of the waters" (Gen. 1:2).

When we have our houses blessed and receive our holy water this year, may we be reminded that this water has grace in it if we are willing to use it (yes, sometimes we just let our holy water sit on the shelf for a year...) and open ourselves to what God has bestowed upon it. We do not think it is 'magical' but we truly believe that it is an aid and a medicine for our souls and bodies as Christ wills to always grant us His mercy and healing if we will receive it.

In Christ,

Fr. Steve

Saint Phocas was a gardener and Saint Euphrosinos was a cook. They are not known as “Phocas the Great” or “Euphrosinos the Theologian.” Known instead by the work they did, they became saints of the Church. We know that service to God and His Church is sacred, and because of this we strive to serve and support the Church. But is it possible for our work to be sacred? Can we be Christian stewards of our work? According to Saint Porphyrios, “At your work, whatever it may be, you can become a saint through meekness, patience, and love.”
 
In the second chapter of the Old Testament Book of Genesis we read, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”(Genesis 2:15). God put man in the garden to work. It is part of God’s plan for us that we work. In Exodus we read, “Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest….” The world has changed, very few of us are called to work the land, and our work week may not be six days, yet we are created and called by God to work, and we can serve him through our work.
 
Some are blessed to follow a career path to a life’s work bringing satisfaction. Others may work in a position that may not appear to be spiritually or emotionally fulfilling. In whatever type of work we find ourselves, our work can become sacred when we dedicate it to God. In the words of Mother Theresa, “Wherever God has put you, that is your vocation. It is not what we do, but how much love we put into it.”
 
Life on earth is a gift. The work we do is also a gift if we see it as an opportunity to serve God and others. Saint Paul instructs us, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men….” (Colossians 3:23). When we see our work in this way, we are able to become Christian stewards of our work.
 
Stewardship of work teaches us that we don’t own our work, our position, our title. We are only stewards of a position for a period of time. We are responsible to fulfill our duties and also to prepare it for the person that will follow us in that position. We may also have the opportunity to mentor the person that will assume our position when we move on, empowering them to apply their particular gifts and talents to take the position to the next level.
 
Christian stewardship of work also teaches us that we are responsible to those with whom we work and those that may be served by our work. We are called to reflect the light of Christ in their lives, encourage them, support them and even love them. We are also stewards of our co-workers inasmuch as we cooperate and support them in their efforts for the good of all.
 
Saint Phocas the Gardener lived in the late 3rd Century, in the ancient region of Paphlagonia (now northern Turkey). Phocas lived humbly on the sale of fruits and vegetables he would grow in his garden. Through his work, Phocas fed the hungry and gave shelter to those in need. Because of his dedication to his work and his generosity to those in need, he became a Christian example to others. Even the non-believers treated him with respect, and by his Christ-like manner, many were drawn to the Christian Faith. 
 
Saint Euphrosynos worked as cook in a monastery in Palestine, serving the brother monks humbly and faithfully. The others were not aware of the depth of his spiritual growth until it was revealed in a dream to a priest-monk of the monastery and then related to the brother monks. Euphrosynos is known to us by his humble work – Saint Euphrosynos the Cook.  
 
In times of trouble or worry, especially over our career, we call upon God to strengthen us, to provide opportunity and to bring us success. When we achieve some measure of worldly success, it is easy to say to ourselves as we read in the Old Testament Book of Deuteronomy (8:17), “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But the next verse quickly reminds us, “Remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.”
 
As Christian Stewards we are called to give back to God from the “first fruits” of our labor. We support our parish and her ministries in an intentional way and not with only what is left after everything else has been taken care of.
 
In whatever work we do, we are called to give glory to God for the abilities and opportunities He provides. We do this by caring for the work we do, applying our God-given abilities to our work, and by respecting the responsibilities with which we have been entrusted. We do our best and give the glory to God.

In Christ,
Fr. Steve

Brothers and Sisters in Christ! I greet you in the Lord!

It seems like it has been a long time since we have had our newsletter and I'm filled with joy to bring it back! As I've been reflecting upon the fall (where did the summer go!) and the renewal that comes with the new Church year, I was reading some articles about the Church year and wanted to share one from Fr. Chris Foustoukos with you all. I pray it is as edifying for you as it was for me and I look forward to praying, working, and being with you in this new ecclesiastical year.

The summer months seem to comprise a period of refreshment and reflection for most Orthodox Christians. It is this spirit that I would like to share with you some thoughts taken from the book, Christ in Our Midst, Spiritual Renewal in the Orthodox Church, by Father Theodore Stylianopoulos. I find his words especially timely and vital. Furthermore, I hope that we will carefully meditate on them as we approach the New Ecclesiastical Year on September 1st.

The spiritual nature of the parish defines the style of the parish as a religious institution when the following factors are working together: vital worship, effective Christian education and meaningful ministries. When the life of our parish revolves around these basic expressions of God’s work in the world, our parish becomes by God’s grace a highly effective community of renewal for those who desire a life with God. How can we work practically for Christian renewal and spiritual life in our parish?

We should first start with ourselves. Spiritual renewal in the parish is not essentially a matter of a program which will be successful given a correct methodology, ample promotion and sufficient resources. Rather, it is a matter of spiritual renewal, a matter of being ourselves, spiritual, each of us. The crucial thing, therefore, is that each of us begins his or her renewal in Christ through prayer, confession, the Divine Liturgy, Christian education, stewardship and all the other means of renewal which we have had available to us since the days of the apostles. As each Christian is united with Christ through all these means and is growing spiritually, then to that extent is our parish an effective setting of renewal. A Church school teacher who is growing spiritually will be spiritually effective in his or her teaching. A parishioner for whom Christianity is really a way of life will greet a new parishioner or a visitor to the parish with a special kind of Christian welcome.

How are we to focus on Christ? By doing every-thing that we do in our parish for His honor and glory, the Divine Liturgy, preaching, singing, teaching, caring for the sick, baking and serving, raising funds, building new structures, and even the way we care for and speak to and listen to each other and one another’s children. The crucial question to ask is: How does this or that proposal, goal, program or action whether liturgical, educational, administrative, financial, social or athletic, honor and glorify Christ and his work? When we prayerfully ask this question and follow through in good faith, whether in the case of a parish assembly, a church school committee or a youth meeting, wonderful transformations begin to take place. Christ makes His presence known in our midst and people are uplifted and edified. Ordinary things that we do in our parish become transformed into tools for God’s redeeming work in a concrete way and become vehicles of His grace, when we do those things for Christ, for His love and for His glory. Then our parish consciously becomes what it essentially is: the mystical Body of Christ, full of Grace and Truth.

The importance of leadership for the nurture of the new life in Christ in our parish is obvious. Leadership is provided by the local Metropolitan, clergy, Christian educators, musicians and youth leaders, as well as the other men, women and young people who are called by God to serve in various ministries in our parish. In each parish, there is a rich reservoir of leadership and service which simply needs spiritual focus and spiritual direction. Once again, however, the first priority for leaders as for other helpers is for each one of us to give himself or herself to Christ so that we may abide in Him both while planning and implementing particular programs; the goals of which, in the first place, are to help all those who are open to come to know Christ and live in Him! In this way those who are in leadership positions and those who serve in other capacities do not act by relying on their own enthusiasm or new ideas, but by relying on the grace of Christ. Talking about our plans misses the point. We need to see them as His plans, His strategies, His programs, His resources and His parish. The moment we focus attention on ourselves and what we want, rather than on Christ and His will, the moment we forget that in the words of the Liturgy He is the Offerer and the One who is offered in all the work of our parish, we fall down spiritually and can rise again only through personal and corporate repentance to Him.

Jesus said to Peter: Do you love me?...(then) take care of my sheep.(John 21:16) The work of salvation can be done, to repeat the teaching of St. Silouan, only through love and humility. Working in this way, even a small number of Orthodox Christians can make a difference in parish renewal and spiritual life. We need to place ourselves at Christ’s feet and pray in this spirit: Here we are O Lord. Help us in our efforts. Make something of our plans and strategies. Be in them and see them through. We offer all these things to You and for Your glory. Insofar as those of us who serve in other ways make ourselves available to Christ, insofar as we turn to Him daily with prayer and a contrite spirit, insofar as we proclaim Christ, love Him and do everything for His glory, to that extent Christ Himself guides our parish step by step. We should be perfectly happy in this, because our Lord knows far better than we do, exactly what we need. We should also feel secure because He never lets us down when we abide in Him. A parish which is fully surrendered to Christ, just as a fully surrendered family, or a fully surrendered soul, will always find victory and joy in Him.

In Christ,

Fr. Steve