PARISH VOICES

The Encounter of Faith I've been intrigued with the parable of the blind man found in Luke 18:35-43 during my Advent journey. The blind man, who was minding his own business begging by the roadside in Jericho, meets the crowd following Jesus and asks what the commotion is about. He is told that Jesus is passing by. Jesus is passing by? Immediately the blind man cries out to Christ, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" The crowd tries to silence and distract him, tries to

The devotional book, Behold A Great Light: A Daily Devotional for the Nativity Fast through Theophany (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2023), has been a pleasure to read this Nativity season. Small, concise devotionals to read each day of the fast, written by a group of people. I encourage you to add it to your library. Here is a little takeaway from the book. Laura S. Jansson wrote the chapter, “‘Fiat: Let It Be” (November 27th reading) Fiat is the Latin from the fourth-century

Reflecting on my journey before joining Holy Apostles, I spent two years battling depression. Around January, Fr. Tom shared a story about a woman who grew violets in her back room. She was struggling with depression, and a therapist suggested she take her flowers to the hospital each day. This act of sharing brought light to her darkness and became a gift to others, illustrating that light is meant to be shared, reminding us that Christ calls us to be His light. In my own jo

There’s an Evangelical Christian worship song that came to my mind recently. I was thinking about the importance of standing in silence in front of God — whether at church during liturgy, in front of one’s prayer corner, or even standing in the silence amongst God’s creation. The words and the melody of the song entered my mind and made me think of the awesomeness of God. He is Love like no other. He is “too wonderful for comprehension” and He is “beautiful beyond description

We are about a quarter of the way into the Nativity Fast leading up to the celebration of Christ’s birth. We have this time of year to prepare for and reflect upon the good news of Christmas. We hear the word ‘Gospel,’ or ‘Good News’ in English, so often that it might lose its meaning, so for today, let’s look at how the good news of Christmas means that light, life, and love are coming. ​ Light is Coming Due to a recent weather event, many of us lost power to our homes.

More Than Just a Holiday Like many things in life, holidays often come and go and for some, holidays have lost their meaning and have become just another day. In recent years many have called Thanksgiving, "Turkey Day" or it has become a day to watch football and eat a big feast without a second thought. ​ As we prepare to come together as family and friends, let’s intentionally strive to make Thanksgiving a day to remember our abundant blessings. As Orthodox Christians we a

Growing up in the Midwest, I became quite accustomed to severe weather events. Thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, and ​ice storms were a regular part of life. Yet, in my 40 years, I can't recall ever being without power for more than 24 hours. Now, I am facing up to four days without power. Even during missionary work in a remote village in the Dominican Republic, we had electricity, albeit with occasional short outages. The culture and environment there somehow made it eas

The Nature of Human Relationships It is hard to imagine a deep friendship or marriage without some sort of forgiveness being asked of one another. As we dance together in life, we have surely stepped on each other's toes at some point and have felt hurt by the other and, for sure, have regretfully caused suffering as well. You know the feeling. When this happens, we will feel awkward, distant, and perhaps angry or become silent. We feel blamed and judged, wronged. Or we blame