Rev. Peter M Preble – Page 184 – Open-Minded, Open-Hearted Minister & Soul Friend

24 October ~ Maglorious of Sark

Posted on October 24, 2010 by Fr. Peter

Saint Maglorious was an abbot of Irish origin. He was educated at Llantwit Major by Illtud. With Samson he went to Brittany and founded monasteries under the protection of King Childebert. Maglorius became abbot of one of them near Dol. After some years he retired to Sark, where he founded a monastery and died. A connection with Jersey is also claimed by his late Life: his removal of a tiresome dragon was rewarded by gifts of land. He died in 575.

23 October ~ St. James, Brother of Our Lord

Posted on October 23, 2010 by Fr. Peter

According to some, this Saint was a son of Joseph the Betrothed, born of the wife that the latter had before he was betrothed to the Ever-virgin. Hence he was the brother of the Lord, Who was also thought to be the son of Joseph (Matt. 13: 55). But some say that he was a nephew of Joseph, and the son of his brother Cleopas, who was also called Alphaeus and Mary his wife, who was the first cousin of the Theotokos. But even according to this genealogy, he was still called, according to the idiom of the Scriptures, the Lord’s brother because of their kinship.

This James is called the Less (Mark 15:4) by the Evangelists to distinguish him from James, the son of Zebedee, who was called the Great. He became the first Bishop of Jerusalem, elevated to this episcopal rank by the Apostles, according to Eusebius (Eccl. Hist., Book II: 23), and was called Obliah, that is, the Just, because of his great holiness and righteousness. Having ascended the crest of the Temple on the day of the Passover at the prompting of all, he bore testimony from there concerning his belief in Jesus, and he proclaimed with a great voice that Jesus sits at the right hand of the great power of God and shall come again upon the clouds of heaven. On hearing this testimony, many of those present cried, “Hosanna to the Son of David.” But the Scribes and Pharisees cried, “So, even the just one hath been led astray,” and at the command of Ananias the high priest, the Apostle was cast down headlong from thence, then was stoned, and while he prayed for his slayers, his head was crushed by the wooden club wielded by a certain scribe. The first of the Catholic (General) Epistles written to the Jews in the Diaspora who believed in Christ was written by this James.

From: www.goarch.org

Pilgrimages of the Month of October

Posted on October 21, 2010 by Fr. Peter

His Eminence Archbishop Nicolae
Guest Blogger

The month of October is rich in spiritual events, for in the course of this month we celebrate two of the saints whose relics repose in Romania: St. Parascheva, the protector of Moldavia and the St. Dimitrie the New, the protector of Bucharest. We know that the two feast days create opportunities for large scale pilgrimages in Iasi as well as Bucharest. The Righteous Mother Parascheva lived in the first half of the 19th century. Having been raised in a Christian family in the village of Epivat in the region of Thrace, near Constantinople, it is said that at ten years of age, when standing in a church, she heard the call of the Savior: Whoever wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow Me (Mark 8:34). She began to deny herself and took the path of solitude from the world, heading first to Constantinople, followed by a monastery in Pontus, and then to the Jordanian desert. Around the age of 25, an angel came to her in a dream and revealed to her the divine call to return to her native place. She returned to Epivat and passed away into eternity unknown by anyone. But God prepared her for great glorification, and in miraculous manner her body did not decompose rather it remained uncorrupt and became greatly sweet-smelling. Her body was soon unburied and placed with honor in the Church of the Holy Apostles in Epivat. Her holy relics have been moved first to Tarnovo, Bulgaria, then to Belgrade, Serbia and thirdly to Constantinople until they reached their final repose in 1641 in Iasi, Romania.

The Righteous Father Dimitrie the New has a similar life story, leading a life of solitude and prayer in a skete near the village of Basarabi, just south of the Danube, sometime during the 18th century. He also passed away from this life unknown by anyone, and his uncorrupt and sweet-smelling body was found in a wonderful manner by God’s intervention. His wonder-working relics reached were settled in Walachia during the Russo-Turkish War of 1769-1774. Henceforth, he showers with blessings and healings all who venerate him with faith.

The lives of these two saints do not appear to reveal anything sensational; still their holy relics prove that their lives were indeed holy. In other words, they have lived a life dedicated to God; have renounced this worldly life in order to gain the heavenly one. They have lived unknown by men, but known by God. They have lived short lives here on earth but they have gained the eternity of those who are close to God. They have listened to the advice of the Savior, to follow Him and they have proved through their lives that whoever offers his soul for Christ and the Gospel, will gain it and save it (Mark 8:35). Pilgrimages to their holy relics are occasions for enrichment in faith and understanding of the purpose of our earthly lives; but also an occasion to near the holiness of God made evident by the relics of these saints.

Recipe Wednesday ~ Apple Crisp

Posted on October 20, 2010 by Fr. Peter

I am starting a new feature on the blog this week. Starting today, and each Wednesday after that, I will be posting a recipe that I have used and maybe even modified a little. Here is this weeks recipe:

Apple Crisp

4 c. sliced pared apples

1/3 c. sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
2 T. water
3/4 c. rolled oats
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Grease a deep baking dish. Arrange apples in bottom. Sprinkle with 1/3 c. sugar, lemon juice and water. Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, pat mixture on top of apples. Bake in a moderately hot oven at 375 for 35 minutes or until the apples are tender. Serve with plain or whipped cream – or with ice cream.

Recipe courtesy of The Scottish Family Cookbook of the St. Andrew’s Society of New Hampshire and the Nam Hampshire Gathering of the Scottish Clans.

God Loves You, Always!

Posted on October 19, 2010 by Fr. Peter

Every two weeks I participate in a blog carnival. The idea is that on a specific day bloggers will all post on the same topic or in this case the same word. This is called the One Word at a Time Blog Carnival. Bloggers of all walks of life participate and I have edified by all of the posts in the past. Here is my contribution to this weeks carnival.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

How many times have we seen this passage? We see it in the end zone at football games and we hear it many times at church and out of church. I am sure it is the most memorized verse of Scripture.

But do we really know what it is actually saying? We need to push past the words and discover the underlying meaning. In these 25 words the entirety of John’s Gospel has been summarized. The vision here is that God does not just love this part or that part of the world but the whole world. But the striking thing for me is the word “should.”

“… that whoever believes in Him SHOULD not perish but have eternal life.”

This was one of those “a ha” moments for me. I was preparing for a sermon years ago and I read this verse again. And there is was. God does not condemn anyone we condemn ourselves! WOW, that was a bigy for me. We condemn ourselves. God loves us and wants to save us but we have to do the work. God stands there with His hand out and all we need to do it take it and hold on, but we have to take the first step.

As a child I had this image of a God that sits in judgment and sends us to hell or to heaven. The book of life is opened and a sum total of our life is taken, if it adds up with positive numbers we get into heaven, if it is negative numbers we go to hell. God pulls the big leaver and down we go for all eternity.

I serve on the faculty of a local college, and thus I have to provide grades for my students. One semester a student came to complain about a grade I had given him. I started by correcting him by saying that I only write down the grade you earn. Well God works the same way. He does not wish any of us to be condemned to hell for all eternity, in fact as the verse I quoted above states, He sent His only Son, He wants us all in heaven, but we have to do the work. God judges us on what we have done or left undone as we say in Orthodoxy. We hold all the cards, condemnation comes with the hand we hold.

We are the only ones that can avoid condemnation, us and only us. No one else is responsible for our actions and one day we will have to answer for them. The one comfort I find in all of this is that God loves me, and will love me no matter what, as long as I walk with Him all will be well. Even when I stumble and fall, and it does happen, God is right there to help me up and carry on, even when I neglect Him or ignore Him, he is still there and always will be.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Family

Posted on October 18, 2010 by Fr. Peter

I have posted before about my family but it seemed proper to post about them again.

As many of you know my mother went through a little health ordeal this September. She was in and out of hospital on many occasions and the last stay was just about three weeks. As our parents get older I guess this is what we have to look forward too. She is out of hospital now, home and doing much better. Thanks again for all the prayers.

As it would happen, my mothers sister, my aunt, not ant for those of you from the South, came for a visit. This had been planned long before the illness came. In fact when we were all in Tennessee for the family reunion this July we talked about it but it had been planned even before that event. Well Betty came, and shortly after, mom ended up in hospital.

To make matter worse, my father has a hearing problem and cannot talk on the phone so him being alone really was not an option. Well all I can say is Betty was a God send. She came in and took over and helped us get through this ordeal. She cared for my dad, cooking for him and cleaning the house but was much more than that she was another person in the house to talk too and just to watch TV and be with.

She is leaving today to head back to her life and all of us gathered here at the homestead to thank her for all that she did for us these past weeks. It is bitter sweet that she is leaving. Having her here has been great and we will all miss her and we look forward to seeing her again soon.

I think we take family for granted and very often do not say thanks when family helps out, I, guess family is supposed to do that, but saying thanks is important. I am lucky that my immediate family all lives so close even though I live the furthest away, and we do see each other on regular occasions.

So from all of us we want to say thanks to Aunt Betty, you were great to have around and we will miss you. You are welcome anytime, even if one of us is not sick! Come back often and safe travels as you make your way home.

Prayer for the Day

Posted on October 17, 2010 by Fr. Peter

I have been reading a new book by Max Lucado called “Out Live Your Life” I am reading this for a book review that will be posted in a few days.

Each chapter begins with a prayer and this one, found on page 17 jumped out at me yesterday and I thought I would post it as a prayer for today, well not just for today but for everyday.

Loving Father, you made me, so you know very well that I am but dust. Yet you have called me into your kingdom to serve you at this specific place, at this specific time, for a very specific purpose. Despite my ordinariness, I belong to you – and you are anything but ordinary! Help me to pour out your grace and compassion upon others that they, too, may experience the richness of your love. Through me, my Father, show others how you can use an ordinary life to bring extraordinary blessing into the world. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

Where You Are From

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Fr. Peter

Every now and again I like to take a look and see where you, the readers of this blog, live in the world. It amazes me that my words are being read by people all over the world and I can only pray that these words will help people in their daily lives. If you come for just a minute or you come every day, I appreciate and pray for everyone of you. If I have caused any of you pain with my words please forgive me!

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Minneapolis, Minnesota
Phoenix, Arizona
Washington, District of Columbia
Southbridge, Massachusetts
France Paris, Ile-de-France
Saint Bonifacius, Minnesota
Macedonia Skopje, Karpos
Sweden rebro, Orebro Lan
White Bluff, Tennessee
Saint Augustine, Florida
East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
San Diego, California
Las Vegas, Nevada
Johnson City, New York
Kennesaw, Georgia
Redmond, Washington
Longview, Texas
Mountain View, California
Netherlands Leidschendam, Zuid-Holland
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
New Zealand Hamilton
Kansas City, Missouri
Lexington, Kentucky
London, Kentucky
North Grosvenordale, Connecticut
Fort Worth, Texas
Canada Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Tampa, Florida
Canada Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Missouri City, Texas
Canada Edmonton, Alberta
Spain Ciudad Real, Castilla-La Mancha
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Los Angeles, California
San Luis Obispo, California
Morton Grove, Illinois
Drums, Pennsylvania
Little Elm, Texas
Easton, Pennsylvania
Chicago, Illinois
Omaha, Nebraska
Syracuse, New York
Uxbridge, Massachusetts
Lansing, Michigan
United Kingdom Glasgow, Glasgow City
Melbourne, Florida
Oceanside, New York
Portland, Oregon
Canada Ottawa, Ontario

One Nation Under God

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Fr. Peter

In 1892 Baptist Minister and Christian Socialist Francis Bellamy wrote the pledge of allegiance. It was first released in a children’s magazine and was designed to be said by children. The pledge has been changed four times since it writing and the last change, signed into law by President Eisenhower in 1954 added the phrase “under God” to the pledge. I have been giving this some thought since my post yesterday Does God Care Who Gets Elected?

The question I have is whose God are we one nation under? The Christian God, the Jewish God, the Muslim God (all three are the same by the way), or are we united under the Buddhist god or any number of the gods that happen to be in fashion today. Money and power is a god for many people so maybe it is that one. We are the most religiously diverse nation on the planet so the question remains whose god are we united under?

I am a priest and an Orthodox Christian, and the Orthodox have what is called an Orthodox World View. Each religion or denomination has a world view based on what their denomination teaches. Some religions teach the same thing about God and others do not. Abraham Lincoln wrestled with this during the Civil War when he said in his second inaugural address, “Both read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the other…. The prayers of both could not be answered–that of neither has been answered fully” Oddly enough Lincoln would say these words just six weeks before his life would be taken.

Our understanding of God is very different now than it was 200 years ago. My Orthodox View of God is very different then say the Lutheran or Anglican view of God let alone the Buddhist or Zoroastrian God. So can we say we are under God? This is one of the reasons I get nervous when people start saying we need to start returning to our countries Christian roots! We are not the same country we were 200 years ago, we have evolved and become very diverse.

I would have to say yes we can. You might ask why I come to this conclusion and I would simply say that our diversity is our greatest strength. The fact that we are the most religiously diverse nation is exactly what makes us able to say we are under God, mainly because we can say that! Imagine, we have a law that says we are under God! What other nation on earth can say that? We do not judge, or at least we should not, judge another for their beliefs or lack of belief. We have freedom to express our vision and understanding of God as we see fit, that is what makes us One Nation Under God!

In 1782 by an act of Congress the phrase “E Pluribus Unam” was added to the Great Seal of the United States. “Out of many, one” has been the motto of the United States ever since. The philosophy comes from a poem attributed to Virgil and describes the blending of colors into another color. Another way of thinking about it is to say out of our diversity comes our unity. (E Pluribus Unam is the motto of the Great Seal, by act of the 84th Congress “In God We Trust” was adopted as the official motto of the United States of America.)

As long as we have been a nation we have called upon a deity for prayer and protection. It is printed on our money, over the objections of President Theodore Roosevelt because he thought it was sacrilegious to put God’s name on money, and it is in the Pledge of Allegiance. The writings of the founders echo with themes of God and God was invoked at the founding of this great nation.

I would say we are indeed Under God, the god of your choosing, and that is what makes this country great!