Category Archives: Blog

The Gospel of John, Chapter 1, tells us that The Light of Christ came into darkness. The world was dark before the savior came. This fasting season moves from darkness to light in the Nativity of Our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ! Perhaps you are experiencing this already in your own life. The more […]

During the past few hundred years, the Easter Catholic Churches have had to fight for their Eastern heritage. One of the difficulties has been our question, “how can we be both Eastern in our theology, spirituality, and liturgical life, while at the same time being in communion with Rome?” During the past sixty years (at […]

Andrew is one of the 12 Apostles who followed Jesus during the 3 years he taught, healed and cast out demons before he died on the cross.  Andrew was originally a follower of the Holy Prophet, Forerunner, and Baptist John.  We call Andrew the “First Called” because he left John to follow Jesus after John first said […]

The feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God Into the Temple praises and glorifies God for His plan of salvation. God prepares for Himself a holy dwelling place. The Byzantine Church never tires of praising the Mother of God for her role in our salvation. She is called the “Heavenly Tabernacle” in the […]

The Phillip’s Fast began Monday, Nov. 15th.  This 40-day fast in preparation for Christmas, like the others (The Great Fast etc.), involves prayer (our communication with God takes on a tone of anticipation), fasting (denying ourselves certain earthly goods so that we are yearning for Christ’s coming with our body as much as we are […]

The 40-day fasting period that prepares our minds, souls, and bodies for the Nativity of Our Lord begins Monday, Nov. 15th. I’ll be sending out my own thoughts on the fast in an email to the parish, but here are some reflections from Bishop Kurt that I found helpful. Why do we fast? There are three […]

Acquiring Spiritual Friendships: St. John tells us, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them” (1 John 2:15). So many of our friendships are with the world. St. Teresa of Avila offers the following guidelines for spiritual friendships, or friendships […]

Unable to intimidate Bishop Romzha, the Soviets decided to liquidate him, and staged a highway accident. A military truck rammed the horse drawn carriage in which the Bishop was returning home from the rededication of the parish church of Lavki, near Mukachevo. Bishop Romzha was badly injured, but survived; and passersby took him to the […]

A special obligation binds us to make ourselves the neighbor of absolutely every person, and of actively helping him when he comes across our path, whether he be an old person abandoned by all, a foreign laborer unjustly looked upon, a refugee, a child born of an unlawful union and wrongly suffering from a sin […]

I’m currently in Albuquerque, NM, the city in which I grew up. I’m here for my childhood pastor’s 40th anniversary of ordination. At this event, I’ve naturally done some reflecting on the beginnings of my Byzantine Catholic faith, what it means to be a priest, and thanked God for this good man and priest in […]