We have lots of ministries to avail ourselves of at St. Hagop.  Those who wish to serve can do so in many ways, on parish council, on the altar or choir; as a greeter or lector or even on mission to Armenia.  Today though, the Apostle James reminds us of a church ministry which is…

Perhaps we know so little about the birthday of the church and so little about our own births, because birthdays aren’t buried someplace in the past.  Birthdays are an ongoing, everyday miracle, that everyday new life is granted to us.

A parishioner sent me an article this week from the Wall Street Journal titled ‘Eastern Orthodoxy Gains New Followers in America,’ which traces a small but growing trend of those with no ethnic ties joining Eastern Orthodox church like ours. The reasons for this, I believe, can be captured in one word from our introductory…

After many years in Monastic life, Syncletica teaches this: ‘If you find yourself in a monastery do not switch to another place, for that will harm you a great deal. Just as the bird who abandons the eggs she was sitting on prevents them from hatching, so the monk or the nun grows cold and…

So this is why I think we all benefit from marital preparation in any way, at any time.  Marriage-to work, to others, to God himself-is a sacramental bond specially blessed by God. But they can only form and transform us if we prepare and discipline ourselves to endure the ups and downs of those relationships. …

Today’s reading reminds us that the evil tries first to isolate us in order to defeat us.  St. Peter writes that the evil one prowls around the faithful like a lion, we are safe together, but vulnerable when isolated. As Christians, we need each other; we need to share each other’s triumphs and our trials. …