Articles

The parents' attitude towards Church and Sunday is the is crucial. There are parents who are habitually late for Church. The result is that children miss part of the Sunday School lesson.

Sometimes titles can be deceiving. Recently, I was given a copy of "Divine Ascent: A Journal of Orthodox Faith", published by St. John of Shanghai Monastery, in California. One of the articles in the journal discussed the nature of the Church's pastoral ministry during the time of the USSR.

When considering what is needed for outreach and mission in the Church we can say that that it begins with the personal effort of the faithful in each congregation as they strive to become what God created them to be.

"Everything is fine the way it is. Why change?" "We don't need new members. We just need to keep the ones we already have." "If too many new people join.

Of late I have been wondering about the Liturgical Life of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. I have been thinking what is included in that life based the guidelines given to us by our Church as well as questioning their practical implementations according to the Life of each parish.

The center of worship for a family is often the home, perhaps the holiest place there is. The home is where you gather with family to eat, to raise a family, to read the word of God. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14: 23).

On May 11th of this year the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada, with the blessing of Metropolitan John, unveiled the newly published “Good Shepherd” prayer book. The publishing of this prayer book is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in the life of the UOCC over the past decade. For the first time we have a standard, bi-lingual edition of all major and minor feasts and services.

The greatest act of Christian corporate worship is the Holy Eucharist, through which we achieve an intimate union (“communion”) with God and His People. So central is the Eucharist in the life of the Christian, that the first century Christian bishop and martyr, St Ignatius of Antioch, called it “the medicine of immortality and the antidote to death.”

One of the best-known prayers in our Church is the prayer to the Holy Spirit, which begins every rite and service known to Orthodoxy: "O Heavenly King, Comforter, Spirit of Truth, everywhere present and filling all things. Treasury of blessings and Giver-of-Life: come and abide in us, cleanse us of every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One."

It has been very important to me at each seminar to begin my presentation with a short reflection about the subject of the seminar which in this case is suffering and pain. Just recently having visited one of our parishioners who was facing the ultimate challenge of our life-death, I looked into her puzzling eyes. Although she was looking at me, I knew that she was also looking for something beyond me and this world.