Contributors

By Joseph Kormos, Parish Development Ministry Leader – Archdiocese of Western Pennsylvania Dealing with One of the Society’s Pervasive Trends Reprinted from the May 2013 issue of Parish Pulse – the Archdiocese’ Parish Development e-Newsletter. Sunday morning soccer (or sports in general) and its ability to pull youth away from church is a concern of priests and parents. What should … Read More

by Deacon Basil Crivella A 3rd-year Seminarian in St. Vladimir’s Seminary’s Master of Divinity (M.Div.) program. He belongs to the Orthodox Church in America’s Diocese of the Midwest. Deacon Basil prepared this sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Great Lent, the Sunday of St. John Climacus. He and his wife Rose of the parents of four children two of which … Read More

by Philip Mamalakis, Ph.D. Holy Cross Greek orthodox School of Theology Self-esteem is usually defined as our sense of our own value or worth – how we feel about ourselves. Does a person, understand and see himself as good and capable, and is he secure in his value, or does a person feel, or believe, that he is bad, incapable, … Read More

By: Fr Jonathan Cholcher, Rector of St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church in Warren, OH. The topic of ministering to unwed mothers and their children assumes that the Church will deal with this situation if and when it arises.  Such ministering presents an opportunity not only for correction of a wrong, but especially for re-direction in what is right: for … Read More

Labor Day has come and gone — as has the ecclesiastical new year, which Orthodox Christians observe on the first day of September.  As the days grow shorter, we once again focus on the normal routines we may have suspended during the “lazy, hazy days of summer” — family, school, work and church. As with the beginning of the civil … Read More

“Gospel values do not prescribe how to shape our governments. They tell us how to live.” As committed Orthodox Christians, the decisions we make about our lives and our society are supposed to be “Gospel-based.” What does that mean in general, and what does it mean specifically with regard to our politics? Gospel values are Christ-values, and we are given … Read More

Rev. Joel Weir, Rector, St. Stephen the First Martyr Orthodox Church, Crawfordsville, IN, Camp Priest, St. John’s Camp Programs. When I was asked to write a reflection on the importance of camp programs, I immediately recalled a conversation my wife and I had with Bishop Paul on his first visit to our parish. We asked what he thought were the … Read More

Father Thomas Hopko often said, “All is well.”  He would quote Saint Therese of Lisieux who said, “For the heart that loves, all is well.”  But, at first glance, all doesn’t seem well.  We need only look at the front page of any newspaper, or the insides of our hard hearts.  All doesn’t seem well.  That’s the point.  We are called to … Read More