Tag Pastoral Blogging

Some of my favorite childhood memories revolve around the Christmas tree.  On Christmas morning my brothers and I would wake up be we could not come out into the living room until my parents, and my grandmother, were in their…

There is the old axiom “It is better to give then to receive” but I prefer to receive gifts than to give them, not because I am cheap but because I hate shopping!  But gift giving is important as it…

“Let my prayer rise like incense, the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.” Psalm 140:2 These words from Psalm 140 are used during the celebration of Vespers in the Orthodox Church.  The priest, standing before the altar,…

One of the things I like best about the Christmas season is the music.  Not the modern junk that is out there, although I do like some of the Celtic Christmas music and the Country Christmas Music is also pretty…

Fr. John is really trying to stretch my imagination with the topic of today, the foot.  The foot has to be the ugliest part of the human body, no wonder it is located where it is! However, the Bible has…

So the holiday season is upon us.  For some this is a time of great excitement and for others this is a time of depression.  Maybe they have lost a loved one over the holidays and are still grieving, maybe…

Today, November 30th, is the Feast of the Holy and First Called Apostle Andrew.  St. Andrew has a special place in my heart as he is the patron saint of Scotland as well as Romania so in St. Andrew we…

Over the next few days Americans will spend upwards of $60 billion dollars in retail sales on stuff that they think will make them happy.  That works out to about $423 per person over the next few days.  The big…

Prior to 1863 the National Holiday of Thanksgiving that we know in US did not exists.  Each state would set their own dates for a general time of giving thanks mostly because the states still thought of themselves as individuals. …