Work Crew

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Lots going on around the place today. We have a work crew installing a drainage thing in the parking lot and two contractors coming to look at the work that needs to be done in the church. Will be busy around here today.
Please check out the PODCASTS that have been posted and let me know what you think.

Pope Promises Catholic Help for New Patriarch

Posted on by Fr. Peter
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI told the newly enthroned patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church that he can count on collaboration from Catholics.
The Pope sent a delegation to Bucharest on Sunday to participate in the solemn enthronement celebrations of Patriarch Daniel Ciobotea, the new leader of 19 million Romanian Orthodox.
The Vatican delegation was led by Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and included Bishop Brian Farrell, secretary of the same dicastery, and Archbishop Jean-Claude Périsset, apostolic nuncio to Romania.
As a “pledge to search for full communion,” Cardinal Kasper gave the patriarch a chalice in the Pope’s name. He also delivered a letter from the Holy Father, written in French, which told the patriarch that “Catholics are standing with their Orthodox brethren, with prayer and availability, to offer useful collaboration.”
“The one and only Gospel waits to be proclaimed by everyone together, in love and reciprocal esteem,” wrote Benedict XVI.
The message recalls the good relations established by Pope John Paul II and the then Patriarch Teoctist.
Patriarch Teoctist died July 30, at age 92. He had served 19 years as patriarch.That meeting of religious leaders and the words spoken at that time, said Benedict XVI in his message, “continue to be relevant for me and the Catholic Church, highlighting that it is especially necessary to intensify the bonds that unite us for the good of the Church.”
The Bishop of Rome said that strengthening the friendship between Catholics and Orthodox will be decisive “to respond to today’s needs in Europe and the world, on both the religious and social levels.”
“A common witness of Christians is ever more necessary to respond to our shared vocation and to urgencies of our time,” concluded the message.
Patriarch Daniel, 56, was the metropolitan of Moldova and Bukovina. A renowned intellectual, the patriarch boasts three doctorates, two received abroad, 12 years of ecumenical studies and more than 10 years as a monk.
Among the Orthodox Churches, the Romanian Church is second only to the Russian Church in the number of faithful.

Sunday Homily

Posted on by Fr. Peter
September 30, 2007
II Corinthians 9:6-11
Luke 6:31-36
PODCAST

How hard is it to love someone? How hard is it to love someone who does not love you back? Now imagine trying to love someone who is your enemy? How hard would that be? “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return,; and your reward will be great…”

Jesus is telling us in this Gospel passage today that we must do just that. He is not suggesting that we love our enemies, no, He simply says, “But love your enemies.” All through the Gospel Jesus is trying to get us to reconcile with those who for one reason or another have wrong us. I have spent many homilies speaking about confession and reconciliation with God but little time on our relationships with others.

Why is it important that we love our enemies? Well for one reason it takes less energy to love than to hate. Hate destroys but love brings life. Hate builds walls but love builds bridges. Hate destroys the soul but love restores it up. But Jesus is asking us to love those who hate us and to expect nothing in return. He does not say to love your enemy only if they love you back. He simply tells us to love them and leaves it at that. Love is a big and complicated word. Thousands upon thousands of books have been written on the subject. But we can make it very simple, “Love one another as I have loved you.” It is this love of God that passes all understanding.

So how can we do this, how can we love those who do not love us back? For starters we need to forgive them for the wrong they have committed or for what we have done to them and do not expect anything in return. DO not place a condition on your forgiveness. Forgive them in your heart and let the love of God replace that hate and anger with love. Replace the coldness of hate with the warmth of love. Pray for them. Ask God to send the same warmth upon them to replace their coldness with warmth. Then simply let it go and move on. Continue to pray for them, but do not dwell on it. It is only when we are able to forgive that we then are able to be truly forgiven.

The other day while preparing for this homily I came across a great quote that I would like to end with. I would like each of you to think of this quote and to pray about it this week and see how we can make this our own. St. Seraphim of Sarov was an 18th century saint and monastic. He wrote many letters to his spiritual children on the topic of forgiveness. Listen to his words.
“Acquire the spirit of peace, and a thousand souls will be converted around you.”

New Patriarch

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Today in Bucharest His Beatitude Daniel was enthroned at the new Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church. We pray for him and for his ministry and wish him a long life.

New Project

Posted on by Fr. Peter

I have begun a new research project on the use of the “Rosary” in the Orthodox Church. I use that term “Rosary” to appeal to a larger audience. For the Orthodox it would simply be called prayer rope or komboskini in Greek, Tchotki in Russian, matanii in Romanian. Very interesting stuff out there in the web. In searching around I found this great quote from St. Seraphim of Sarov.

Acquire the spirit of peace, and a thousand souls will be converted around you!

I think this is like the greatest thing I have ever heard, save the Gospel of course. We all need to acquire the spirit of peace.

Ministry of Prayer

Posted on by Fr. Peter
We are beginning a prayer ministry here at St. Michael’s. The idea is to collect prayers and place them on the altar during the Divine Liturgy and other services in the church. These intentions will be lifted up during the services here. Prayer is a very powerful thing and we aim to help people from around the globe in our prayer ministry. If you would like you intention included you may e-mail me at:

Prayer Request

There will also be a link on the right side of the blog.

Adverts

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Over at Fr. Greg’s Blog he talks about the commercialization of certain events. He speaks about paying $10 to see a move and then has to sit through all the commercials at the beginning of the movie. So I came up with an idea that I think we should grasp on too. I am sure I am not the first one to come up with this but I am bold and I am saying it out loud!
THE DORITOS DIVINE LITURGY!
Why not get corporate sponsorship for the Divine Liturgy? We could have little signs around the church with different corporate names on them. And the priest could rent the back of his vestments for different signs… Maybe they could rotate like they do during the baseball game. The priest could help raise money for his salary this way!
I hope you all know I am kidding when I way this stuff. But Fr. Greg has a point. We are getting way too commercial.

Back in the Office

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Well I am back from my little mini vacation and back in the office. I love the time away but coming back and facing all of the mail, phone messages, and laundry really get me down. However this was a great weekend and one that I will not soon forget. Okay I was going to post some pictures but I only took about four so I will look at them and see if they are worthy of being posted.
The New Hampshire Highland Games is the biggest Highland festival in all of New England. Held each Year at Loon Mountain it attracts from 10,000+ people over three days. There is something for everyone. This is a great time to celebrate our Scottish Heritage, see old friends and meet some new ones as well. The weather cooperated this year so it really was great.
One of the highlights was to hear about something that is happening in Scotland in 2009 called Gathering 2009. The Scottish Executive is hoping to have a celebration of Scottish Clans and Societies in Edinburgh July 25th and 26th 2009. There was a buz of excitement all over Clan Village during the weekend as Lord Sempill came around to each tent and explained the program for the weekend. It sounds great! His Lordship is a Member of The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs. One of the things they are hoping to accomplish in all of this is to give the people of Scotland a shot in the arm about their Scottish Heritage. I am happy to help in any way I can to get more people to wear Kilts. I will be following up with more news on this event as it draws closer.
So now it is back to work here in the village. We have a roofer coming to day to try and fix our roof on the Church, once again! Never put a dome on your church they always leak! We are also supposed to have a contractor come by and work on a water problem we have been having in the parking lot and parish hall. So things are busy here. It is also unseasonably warm! I thought all of this hotness (is that a word) was gone but I guess it is back. Anyway off to open the door and start the day.
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