The idea of denying oneself anything in today’s secular culture is considered ‘abnormal.’ The message of the cross of Christ, on the other hand, communicates a complete opposite outlook: Christ God says to us today, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Mk. 8:34). […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – September 8, 2013
Today we celebrate the Nativity of the Most-Holy Theotokos. We call to mind her miraculous conception by barren parents past child-bearing age and contemplate the divine mystery of the Feast. The Church acclaims the birth of the Theotokos in poetic terms so that we may more fully and reverently delve into the Great Mystery of […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – August 25, 2013
The disciples faced many fears—fear of rejection by their own for following the Messiah, fear of arrest, persecution, of losing all their temporal attachments, forsaking their families, suffering prison, torture, martyrdom, and even wondering where their next meal would come from. To all of these fears, Jesus reminds them that He and HE ALONE is […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – August 18, 2013
St. Paul admonishes us today with some powerful words: we’re warned against the sin of division (schism). This unity and the remedy to our sad divisions is found in the holy Orthodox Faith through which Christ God unites us to Himself and with each other. In our culture today, there are many things that compete […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – August 11, 2013
Christ God’s healing of the paralytic last week and of the two blind men today give us two vivid encounters with Christ’s power to heal as God and also a great lesson in faith for us. The paralytic consented to be carried a long distance by his friends who, together with him, demonstrated their faith […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – August 4, 2013
Christ stuns us in today’s Gospel with the unexpected: those who arduously and sacrificially brought their friend, the paralytic, to be healed by Christ, at first find that there is more in Christ that even they with their great eyes of faith had seen (no one would go to such effort if he did not […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – July 28, 2013
We’re reminded in today’s Gospel of the reality of spiritual warfare and the devastating effects of a soul given over to the evil one and his demons. St. Paul relays this truth to us, saying, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against rulers of the darkness of this […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – July 21, 2013
Sin is one of those oft misunderstood concepts in Christianity. Even in Orthodoxy, many people don’t understand sin, its consequences, and its remedy. St. Paul assures us in today’s Epistle that “sin leads to death” (Rom. 6:23). Why is this so? The Orthodox Faith teaches us that sin is “missing the mark,” being disobedient and […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – July 14, 2013
Christ God warns us in today’s Gospel that we cannot serve two masters… we cannot serve God and mammon. The pull of the world, of our culture, can be great on us; it can tempt us away from pursuing “the One thing needful,” our life and communion in Jesus Christ. Listening to the world and […]
Weekly Update and Bulletin From Fr. Robert Miclean – July 7, 2013
St. Paul describes the faith of the Saints of old and what they endured for the sake of the truth of God as follows, they: “subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong… Others were […]