The Way

Love and Forgive One Another - Br, Justin Varghese by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

Partake in Christ Suffering (1 Peter 4: 12-19) - Rev. Fr. Gheevarghese John by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

Giving a defense of what we believe is not something that most of us are comfortable with. In fact, it's the one thing that most of us don't like doing or will not do in terms of our Orthodox Christian faith. Personally, I have to tell you that I am not comfortable with defending my faith when questions arise or when I find myself in a situation where I have to reply to someone else's idea of faith or religion. But I can also say that I have gotten better at it. I mention this because I want to make the point that this is not something that unique to laypeople, it is also true for clergy.

We are gathered together today: the first Sunday after the Ascension of our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We are met with the words of the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians in chapters 7 and 9. In chapter 7: 1-2, St. Paul talks about how a man and a woman should have a spouse, albeit because otherwise we might fall into sexual immorality. In chapter 7: 25-34, he talks about those who are married and unmarried. He also talks explicitly about how the unmarried can focus on God; and how the married must focus on their spouse. In chapter 9: 1-10, he mentions that he and Barnabas are not married but that the other apostles are. The content of chapter 7 and 9 are being read today, partial because it is the Sunday of Monks, but also because the Church is attempting to explain the three "journeys" that we all have in life; that is, either we are single, or we are living a celibate life (unmarried), or we are married. These are NO three different paths or roads, but a "journey" that an individual takes on the same road. The Scriptures do not point to singlehood, celibacy, or married-life as being different roads that we take that are isolated from each other; instead, it is the same road that each one has chosen to take. Although the path or road is the same, the journey has different struggles and experiences. Let me explain this a little bit further.

One thing in this life that will be constant is being treated contemptuously for doing the Will of God. In whatever way it shows itself, it is relatively hard to find a supportive group, outside of the Church, that wishes to live according to the Gospels. Often, those who influence our lives push us towards a life that is in direct contrast to a life according to the Scriptures. We may have friends or even family members who either question, mock or even ostracize us when we wish to live a good Christ life. We may not be physically attacked, but very often, our resolve to do the good which is asked of us shatters because of the influence of friends and family. The number one way this happens is when we are left out of certain circles because of our religious affiliation. This can show itself through fewer phone calls or text messages or people outright avoiding us. When we go through this, two things may pop up in our minds. We either build up resentment for those who ignore us, or we put the fault on God, though never directly.

There is a lot to say about this Gospel portion, but the most exciting point that hits most readers is that two of the 72 Evangelists could not recognize Jesus, even though they talked about Him. After having received the news that the tomb is empty and that the women received a vision from the angels that Christ had risen, Sts. Luke and Cleopas traveled from Jerusalem to Emmaus. Christ meets them on the journey, but they do not recognize Him. To be more specific, Scripture states that their eyes were held fast or shut from seeing Christ. What was the reason why these two could not recognize Jesus? It was due to their preconceived notion as to who Jesus was. For those two Evangelists, Jesus was merely a great Prophet, not the Son and Word of the Father. As it states in this Gospel portion, these two Evangelists were hoping for an earthly ruler, not the Ruler of all creation.

In the Bible, we read about building the first Temple, which is described in chapter 6 of 1 Kings. But such a Temple would not last because King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia and his army entered Jerusalem and burned down the Temple. The Temple was in utter ruin, but in God's time, the Temple was rebuilt with the decree of King Cyrus, under the reign of King Darius 1, as described in Ezra 5: 1-7. But again, in 70 AD, as Our Lord had prophesied (Mark 13: 3-4), the Second Temple was utterly destroyed by the Romans. After that, no attempt was made to rebuild the Temple, and it remains so till the present.

It has been two weeks after the Great Fast, two weeks after celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. What has changed within us? Are we the same people from before the Fast? Did we not grow in our spiritual journey? Or, worse yet, did we grow during the Fast and, once it was over, choose to revert back to our old ways? This was the case for the Disciples. Even after having communed with the Risen Lord, the Disciples went back to their old lives. There is almost an immediacy regarding how quickly they went from seeing Christ and St. Thomas saying "my Lord and my God" to the Disciples getting into the fishing boat to return to their life before they met Christ.

The Eagles Training Camp begins in August, followed by the preseason and then, what the NFL calls, the "regular season." These distinctions are made because each area of football has a meaning and purpose. The training camp's focus is to identify critical plays and acclimate the players and the coaching staff to the rigor and toughness necessary for the regular season play. Although the points and scores begin to count in the regular season, the regular season has a high probability of failure without a proper training camp and preseason. Even though we are speaking of football, much of what I said relates to our Great Lent experience, which we just completed last week.

Christ is risen. This phrase is one of the most common things you will hear people say today. Even little children will be able to respond when anyone states, Christ is risen. Today marks the greatest event in history. Christ is risen. In our songs today, we sing “Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by His death...” and the author of the piece is so filled with joy that he had to include, “rejoice oh beloved Church, for your master has risen.” Today is the feast of all feasts; there is nothing more significant to exclaim except that Christ is risen.

Have you ever wondered as to why Christ came into Jerusalem triumphantly, riding on a donkey? If Christ was triumphant, why does He not choose a majestic horse and chariot to go into Jerusalem? Why did Christ choose an animal which was considered unclean according to the Law of Moses? Not only that, why did He choose a donkey which was not yet tamed to be that very instrument in which He enters into Jerusalem. Christ's triumphant entry into Jerusalem while riding on a donkey is a calling for each of us to join Him in His glorious victory. Not as one of those who shouted “Hosanna,” but rather, the calling is for us to become like that chosen donkey.

It is typical for us to think of leadership in non-Christians organizations (businesses, associations, political groups, community agencies, companies, corporations, etc.) and our church community. Maybe we are all willing to admit that it is not the same. The prevailing assumption is that good leadership has certain distinguishing qualities across the board, such as people management, organizational skills, and content knowledge and expertise. However, there is a difference between the two. When we reflect on Christian leadership, there is a clear distinction that must be made; Christian leadership has nothing to do with the prominence of an individual or with achievement or success but has everything to do with influencing others for Christ and His kingdom. To explain this, let me point out two things.

This Gospel account is a prime example of our own prayer life; this is how we should pray. This Canaanite woman exemplifies our struggles in prayer, but more to the point, she shows us how we are to pray. Prayer, and I mean True Prayer, is something that we must struggle with. Very often in our spiritual life, specifically in the context of being in need and praying to God for help, we often feel despondent or disheartened when our prayers are not answered. God does not answer every prayer that we pray to Him in the manner in which we intend. When we pray in our times of need, we do so while looking for a specific solution or a response within a timeframe. It is always hard to accept God's answer or His response time.

Here, in this famous Christian poem, the origins, and authorship which are in dispute, speak of the presence of Christ in our life when we feel abandoned and alone. When we think that God is not there, the reality is He is ever-present in our lives. He is working out the best for us so that in the end, our life may glorify Him. Humanly speaking, if you think the Hand of God is not present in your life, look again, and you will see that he is indeed present, but in a way that our human eyes cannot understand or perceive.

The Gospel portion for today shows off a strange encounter. For those who have studied Jewish Law, it is also an encounter that went against the Law. For any Old Testament scholar reading this, or for anyone Jew who saw this in person, they would have been reminded of the leprosy laws that are found in Leviticus, specifically Leviticus 13:45-46, which states, “Now the leper on whom the sore is, his clothes shall be torn and his head bare; and he shall cover his mustache, and cry, ‘Unclean! Unclean!' He shall be unclean. All the days he has the sore he shall be unclean. He is unclean, and he shall dwell alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.” Translating this over to the time of Christ, there were leper colonies outside the walls of the city where those who were sick with leprosy were forced to live in squalor.

If we listen closely to the hymns of the Holy Friday service, we will hear a lot of emphasis on how the Jews killed Jesus. In fact, in my opinion, it personifies them as guilty of the crime. Indeed, they are guilty; but so are the Romans, and so are all of us.

Today is the remembrance of all the Faithful Departed which means that next week we will begin our Great Fast. With regards to our fasting, if you hadn't noticed, in every season there is a fast; and for many of us, we plan to “start-up” our spiritual journey during the fasts. In the preceding days or weeks before the fasts, we typically have the mindset of “I will start my spiritual journey off strong… when the fast begins.” May it never be the case that someone gives the argument saying that “I am young and wish to live life as I see fit.” For in this parable, Jesus explicitly tells us what is asked of us, which is to be prepared for His Second Coming at all times and warns us of how we should never act, which is to live as if tomorrow is a certainty.

Although the Qurbana is not a chronological order of the events of Jesus Christ, it does in some way highlight His birth, the institution of the Eucharist, and close to the end of the service when the Priest presents the Holy Mysteries to the congregation, the second coming. The Priest, before turning around toward the congregation says, “From thy Altar, may there descend pardon for they servants of Son of God, who came for our redemption, and who will come again for our resurrection and for the renewal of our race.” Here, close to the end of Qurbana, people are left with a sense that Jesus is coming again. That is, Christ is coming back to judge the world and to bring his believers to His kingdom. It leaves us with a sense of hope that we will see Jesus and reign with him forever. It also gives us a sense of relief that this world is not the end of our existence; there is more, and what lies ahead is better than what is here in the present.

What was it about that night that drew Nicodemus to Christ? What was so special about that night that gave Nicodemus the courage to go to Christ alone even though he was a Pharisee? Also, was it merely the fact that Nicodemus wanted to hide the fact that a Pharisee was going to meet with Christ? Or is it the fact that Nicodemus desired to have a one on one encounter with the Lord? For throughout the Gospels, Christ was always surrounded by crowds of people, or at the very least His 12 disciples. Therefore, at this moment, Nicodemus found the perfect time to be with the Lord alone, which was in the middle of the night. Nicodemus must have been a follower of Christ for he would have known that this setting is very common with Christ, for Jesus often leaves the crowds and His disciples to be alone to pray to the Father. Christ being alone in prayer is a fairly regular occurrence in the Gospels; for example, the Garden of Gethsemane. Yes, Christ takes Peter, James, and John to the Garden, but He leaves them to pray in seclusion. So, one could assume that Jesus did this often enough throughout His earthly ministry. Therefore, this is why Nicodemus decided that he would visit Jesus when Christ was going off to be alone to pray to the Father.

It is said that in time-eternity, the angels were created by God. They were magnificent and beautiful creatures; yet, they were not created in the image and likeness of God, like that of man and woman. (Genesis 2) Angels were created to minister to God. They were also created to minister to humans, as we see in their appearance in the Bible to various individuals to deliver a message from God.

Christ the Head (Matthew 14: 1-22) - Br. Predeep Chacko by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

In my last sermon I spoke about how Abraham had strong unwavering faith, making reference to the epistle to the Galatians chapter 4. Indeed, Abraham's faith was strong and unwavering, but we should be mindful, not to think of faith as some sort of “supernatural” ethos that a Christian possesses to overcome challenges and trials in life. It is rather a “conviction” and “deep-rooted-belief” that God is with us—Emmanuel—and that He will not forsake us or leave us by the wayside. Moreover, faith is action. Conviction or deep-rooted-belief are made null and void if it is not proceeded by a change in behavior.

Today we remember a terrible event within the Gospels; two days after Christmas, the Church remembers the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents. This gruesome Bible passage is only found in St. Matthew's Gospel. It is said that this event was so terrible that St. Luke, the Evangelist who offers the best historical account, just could not stomach this event and therefore skipped it altogether. One of the things that St. Matthew sets out to do is to show how the prophecies from the Old Testament were fulfilled, and therefore he shows how Jeremiah's prophecy came to fulfill through this event.

Abraham was given a promise by God in three areas: (Gen 12) 1) the promise of the land 2) the promise that his descendants would be a nation 3) the promise that through his descendants (this nation) all the families of the earth would be blessed. Learning about Abraham and his story in Sunday School, in our reading of the Bible, and through homilies, these promises seemed like too much for God to accomplish, at least it does for us. However, Abraham knew that it was God who established a covenant with Him and that God is not a liar like men but that His words are true, always. This is why the Apostle Paul says today in the Pauline epistle, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4: 20-22) As already stated, for us looking into this great drama between Abraham and God, we would think it is impossible for these promises to come true because we look in our own lives and consider God has limitations in what He can do. This was not the way Abraham thought. He believed that God would bring to fruition the promises that He had declared. Abraham had a strong faith and did not waver but believed. Do we have such unwavering faith in God? Or do we always doubt God?

In the Book of Genesis 3:16 God puts a burden upon women that they would henceforth give birth in pain and suffering: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children.” This punishment that is directed toward women was a consequence of Eve's sin. So, for generations after Eve woman had to undergo a great deal of pain when giving birth. It should be duly noted that man also had to suffer by toiling the earth for food and sustenance. Therefore, both Adam and Eve had to suffer. It was not a one-sided punishment—both man and woman were both punished.

Abraham was given a promise by God in three areas: (Gen 12) 1) the promise of the land 2) the promise that his descendants would be a nation 3) the promise that through his descendants (this nation) all the families of the earth would be blessed. Learning about Abraham and his story in Sunday School, in our reading of the Bible, and through homilies, these promises seemed like too much for God to accomplish, at least it does for us. However, Abraham knew that it was God who established a covenant with Him and that God is not a liar like men but that His words are true, always. This is why the Apostle Paul says today in the Pauline epistle, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.” (Romans 4: 20-22) As already stated, for us looking into this great drama between Abraham and God, we would think it is impossible for these promises to come true because we look in our own lives and consider God has limitations in what He can do. This was not the way Abraham thought. He believed that God would bring to fruition the promises that He had declared. Abraham had a strong faith and did not waver but believed. Do we have such unwavering faith in God? Or do we always doubt God?

Love and obedience are two Christian virtues which we are called to obtain. When it comes to doing the Will of God, we do so through our love for Him and obedience to His Commandments. When Christ said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven…” it is because children have, utilizing their innocence, these two virtues. A good child loves and obeys their parents and acts accordingly. When it comes to our relationship with God, we have become His children. For it states in 1 John “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!... Beloved, now we are children of God…” You know if a child has been raised with love and has a love for his or her parents if he or she acts according to the will of the parent without being asked. In other words, the child does not need to be asked to do his or her chores around the house; he or she does so out of love. This same love is what we are all called to have for our Father who is in Heaven.

We have returned to a familiar situation this Sunday. Because of the resurgence of the pandemic, we must celebrate the Divine Liturgy in this limited capacity. We have, in a sense, been kicked out of Eden, though not because of anyone's sin. This, however, gives us a great opportunity to reflect on a theme that is found amongst the Fathers. The theme of how St. Mary has become the “New Eve.”

Either if it was at our wedding or a wedding that we attended, we are quite familiar with the words of the Apostle Paul: “husbands love your wives as yourself.” (Eph 5:28) St. Paul's idea of how a husband should love his wife as himself were not his thoughts alone, but one that he took from his Lord. Christ taught that we should, “love our neighbor as ourselves.” (Mark 12:31) Here, St. Paul takes the teachings of his Lord and applies them to marriage.

At the time of our Baptism, Holy Chrism is used to anoint us. As children, it is spread over the entire body, as an adult, it was used to mark the sign of the Cross over us. Either way, it is as St. Philoxenos writes, “Neither the wetness of water in which we are baptized, nor the oiliness of the oil with which we are anointed, remain with us after our death, but the Holy Spirit, who is mingled in our souls and bodies through the oil and water, does remain with us, both in this life and after our death.” We have been sealed eternally; we have been marked with an eternal mark that is the seal and mark of the Holy Spirit.

In the Pauline Epistle today, the Apostle Paul makes a differentiating statement. He says, “all sin is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body.” (I Cor. 6:18) At first glance, this portion of St. Paul's teaching seems confusing because we may ask ourselves: Isn't all sin a part of the body? For example, when someone is angry or behaving gluttonously, is that not in the body, just like sexual immorality?

here is a story of a priest who was advising his spiritual son. The priest asked his son “what are your plans for the future?” and the son responded, “to finish college then find a good job.” To this, the priest responded, “and after that?”, “to get married and to buy a home.”, “and after that?”, “to have children.”, “and after that?”, “live long enough to see my grandchildren.”, “and after that?” “well, Father, after all this, I think I will have done everything that I need and will die.”, and to this the priest asked, “and after that?”

In BBC's virtual newsletter, called Future, author William Park wrote “Those we surround ourselves with have the power to make us fatter, drink more alcohol, care less about the environment and be riskier with sun protection, among many things.” (May 20, 2019) This article pointed out how our friends can be effective influencers in our decision-making in almost all keys areas of life, like health, career, family life, etc. The idea is quite simple: those whom we hang out with play a major in the positive and negative outcomes of our life. This is not to negate the responsibility that a person has in making decisions for oneself, as though one is helpless in the midst of friends; but it is to point out that such a human need—friendship—relationships—play a vital role in a person's life successes and failures.

Was it strange to anyone else that the Bible reading for today goes from talking about serving God and mammon as well as talking about the general love of money to “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.” The entirety of Luke chapter 16 speaks about being loyal stewards with your wealth. So why is the verse on divorce added in?

The “law” was given as a tool by God to the Jews to identify sin. Before that, there was an understanding of “right” and “wrong.” One can make this inference because when God did not accept the offering of Cain, He clearly stated, “if you do NOT do well, sin lies at the door. Sin desires for you, but you should rule over it.” (Gen. 4:6) However, it was only until the 10 Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai that God codified a list of sins. This brought forth the “knowledge” of sin as specific behaviors, such as, stealing, adultery, idolatry, etc. Although the knowledge of sin was now available, sin still reigned. In other words, sin did not disappear because people now knew what was specifically right or wrong, even if they had a reference point as the 10 Commandments. On the contrary, sin continued, carrying with it condemnation.

Follow the Good Shepherd (Matthew 16: 5-12) - Br. Predeep Chacko by St. Luke Orthodox Mission Church

The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. He is God! When we are baptized into Christ and receive the Holy Myron, we receive the Holy Spirit. Meaning, the Holy Spirit physically resides in us. The Holy Spirit works in and through us for the glory of the Kingdom of God. A person, if he or she is a baptized Christian, has the Holy Spirit inside of them from the time of their baptism, until death. However, how active the Holy Spirit can be within a Christian is based upon his or her prayer life and seriousness in observing fasting, all of which lead to a deeper relationship with Christ.

We say that we are Christians, and some of us even do good deeds regularly. But what is the source of these good deeds? In this Gospel portion, we see a common sight, Christ is chewing out the Pharisees because they act according to the rule of law. In this instance, Christ states in allegory that the Pharisees keep the outside of their cups clean while the inside remains dirty. The Pharisees only do what is asked of them out of duty. Some of us may be asking ourselves, “There are so many rules and restrictions as an Orthodox Christian, now you are saying that even if I follow all of these commandments, I may still be lacking?” What could be missing which is so important?

For many of us, when we read through this portion of the Scriptures, we just look at Christ being asked to pay a tax and Him paying it through a miracle. But, what is this Temple Tax, which Christ and Simon end up paying? In the book of Numbers chapter 3, we see a mention of taxing the people with reference to the Tabernacle. More specifically, there was a census throughout all of Israel that was surveying all the firstborn. In this census, 22,000 Levites were called to be dedicated to the Lord, specifically, it states that “The Levites shall be Mine: I am the Lord”. Those who were in the 22,000 were exempt from paying this tax, while the rest of the firstborn, which was numbered 263, we're told to pay a tax for their redemption. Not only were these select Israelites exempt from the tax, but also they were allowed to draw near to the Tabernacle without the fear of death.

During these uncharted times of COVID-19, we encounter many challenges like never before. We are very worried and anxious about our health and the health of our loved ones. Furthermore, because of the political and social condition of our world, especially our country, the United States, we feel even more anxious about the times we are living in. Why do we fear? Why are we anxious? Why are we worried so much? Here are some reasons why we should not fear, be anxious or worry:

Have you ever seen a Geode Rock? On the outside, it is a certain color but if you cut it in half various colors are formed into crystals on the inside, including completely hollow areas. The rock looks different from the inside than it does from the outside. We as humans are the same, figuratively speaking. On the outside, we are a certain color with distinct physical features, but we look different on the inside; I am not speaking in biological terms but rather in spiritual terms. That is, on the inside, we can find what we call: our personality, our spiritual life, our needs, and our desires. They are an outworking of various circumstances and situations that we have experienced in our life. Our mental, physical and emotional conditions all play a vital role in the condition of our “inside” being.

The book of Galatians says, “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed," who is Christ. (Galatians 3:16) Paul makes the point that the promise of God to the Jewish people is not only for them but also for all humanity through “the one Seed” Jesus Christ. Through the Seed, Jesus Christ, all of humanity will have an opportunity to be redeemed and saved. Since he is the Seed, he is planted and bears fruit; and we, as believers are his fruit. The plan of salvation by God for humanity can be seen in this way.

Jesus was a great preacher and teacher and his miracles were something the world had never seen before. He was also a great debater, so neither the Pharisees nor Scribes were able to stump him with any of their questions. His popularity was increasing and so he became a threat to the Jewish establishment of his time.  In the Gospel reading, taken from Mark 3: 20-30, Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the power of Satan—Beelzebub. This was an absurd suggestion because this implies that Satan was casting out Satan. In reply, Jesus said, “How can Satan cast out Satan. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand.” (Mark 3: 23) The Pharisees were resorting to this type of accusation because they had tried everything else and nothing worked. Calling Jesus Satan was a tactic of desperation.

During these uncharted times, we may encounter financial hardships caused by the loss of a job, salary furlough, or salary reduction. The price of groceries and other goods has increased causing our budgets to shrink. We are hesitant to spend money as easily as before the COVID-19 outbreak because we are unsure what the future holds. Due to business closures, the economy has taken untold damage and it may take years to recover. Additionally, the unrest that our nation is experiencing has also brought on a sense of unease and worry. Life in this country does not look or feel like it did in 2019. Though life in our nation (and our world) has changed, God has not! God has not left this world to fend for itself. God has not abdicated his throne. He is still on the throne and ruler of all that is visible and invisible. Though we may face financial hardship now, and though there is unrest in the nation, God is still in charge. This should give us a sense of hope in these scary times. Hope – that God will provide. Hope – that God will not abandon us. It might seem that there is not enough but God will always provide. God will never leave us nor forsake us.

“You give them something to eat.” This command seems reasonable enough, right? I don't know about you all, but I know how to make a mean PB and J sandwich. To feed another person is not a big issue. However, it's the number of people that trips us up. 5,000 people? That is more than 4,999 people that I am able to afford to feed. Why does Christ tell his 12 disciples to do this impossible job? Is it merely to show them His own power to provide for those in need? I do not think that this is the case. Looking at the General Epistle reading for today as well, we see another seemingly impossible task. A Christian, Ananias, having to go to the greatest persecutor of Christians at that time, Saul. Not only that but to heal Saul and baptize him and to bring Saul into the Christian fold.

Jesus is typically seen and thought of as the peaceful and gentle Messiah, Lord, and Savior. However, the Gospels also record a Jesus who is confrontational and harsh. For example, Jesus overturned the tables of the merchants in the outer court of the Temple. (Matthew 21, Mark 11) He also directly confronted the Pharisees regarding their pride and hypocrisy. (Matthew 23: 1-12) He cursed the fig tree that had no figs. (Matthew 11: 12-25) After all, Jesus was not really the “nice guy” we thought he was. Read more: https://stlukemission.org/sermons/take-responsibility-for-your-faith

Racism, prejudice, and hatred: as a nation and global community, we have been speaking, posting, and protesting against such evils because the knee of a police officer murdered a black man. We all witnessed this horrifying incident on the news and social media. We were rightfully angry and disgusted. Many went to the streets in protest and others went to social media and expressed their feelings and emotions. We most likely sat down with our children and explained to them what was happening in the world and answered the question: “Who is George Floyd?” As a parish, we addressed the incident through our “Morning of Hope” and “Evening of Hope.” We continue to address the topic of racism, prejudice, and hatred through this homily. And will continue to address it in our parish through a Christ-centered focus. Addressing what has happened is very important. It is necessary! Being silent is not an option. How can we as Orthodox Christians, who participate in parish life and are active in the church, address these racial issues?

In the Gospel reading today we hear the words of Christ, “No one comes to me, unless the One who sent me, the Father draws him.” (St. John 6: 44) What does Christ mean by this? First, we must examine what it means to “draw.” There are a few synonyms for draw, such as: attract, captivate, and pull. These are but a few. I like the term “push.” More robustly “push us toward.” In the context of the Gospels, this means that it is God the Father who “pushes us toward” his Son. Therefore, outside of the power of God, we would not know Christ. This simply means that it is in and through God that we know God the Son. Of our power, of our own doing, of our strength, we would not know Christ. Here, when I say knowing Christ, I mean: to have a “conviction” in the core of our being that he is God, Savior, and Lord and to live this out in the life of the Church.

My family immigrated to America in 1986. From 1986 to 1992 (est.) my maternal grandfather would write letters because at that time in India, house phones were not available to everyone. At the very top of those letters my grandfather would always write three words: GOD IS LOVE.

In today's Gospel portion, Christ calls us all to be ready and tells us two qualities of what it means to be ready. He says that we are to be faithful and wise in order to do the good that he asks us to do. But how do we learn to be faithful and wise? Are these innate qualities or characteristics that we all have? The answer is no, these are all things we learn. But the next question is from whom do we learn this? Is it possible to merely read the Bible and expect to know everything that is needed from us? If reading and understanding Scripture were that simple then there would be one Orthodox Church instead of many reform churches. In other words, the interpretation of Sacred Scriptures would be uniform if it were that easy.

What's in your bucket list? A bucket list is a certain number of achievements or experiences that a person wants to accomplish during his or her lifetime. This idea was further popularized in American culture with the release of the movie, “The Bucket List (2007),” starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Do you have a bucket list? Most of us do, even though it is unintentional. In other words, we all have a few things that we want to do before we leave this world. And in most cases that deals with us going to a certain part of the world that is unique and exotic. Or maybe we want to reach a certain position in our career or have a certain level of accomplishment in our workplace. Whatever the case might be our “bucket list” usually is numbered with “going somewhere” or “doing something.”