It is good to see parish life returning to a more active pace as we begin the New Church Year. Thankfully Church attendance has picked up I am thrilled that we had a nice group of people taking part in the weekday holy days of the Nativity of the Theotokos and the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Having a core group of people honoring these feasts is good for the spiritual health of our parish. These feasts give us an opportunity to thank God for his many blessings, and strengthen us in our resolve to grow spiritually.

I greet you with much joy as begin the New Church Year.
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With Summer vacation over and our children and young adults back to school, parish life now shifts to high gear. Later this month our Church School program begins and we resume our Orthodox Boot Camp” adult education series. We also celebrate the Great Feasts of the Nativity of the Mother of God and the Exaltation of the Precious Cross, which set the tone for parish life in this new Church Year.

It was such a joy to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost with all of you! The services were spiritually uplifting and the Church, thanks to Karen Ivers was beautifully decorated with greenery. We were blessed to have a wonderful new addition to our Church temple for this feast, the beautiful icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, which was donated in memory of Helen Rowland.

It is hard to believe that we are now in the final days of Holy Week!

I have been very pleased this year to observe the seriousness with which you, the faithful of this community, are walking on the path way of the Great Fast. Not only has attendance been greater at the various Lenten services, I see in the calm demeanor of so many of you the fruits of the three pillars of Lent at work in your lives, that of Prayer, Fasting and Good Works.

I have enjoyed our discussion of our Lenten reading book The Way of The Pilgrim. The Pilgrim’s quest for intimate communion with God in unceasing prayer has inspired us to become more zealous in our own prayer life.

Parishioner Tim Paproski, along with seven other Diocesan College Students is in the midst of an 8 day service learning trip to Thessaloniki, Greece. Thanks to the generosity of a grant from the Kulis Foundation and assistance from parishioners, Tim is able to take part in the Orthodox Christian Fellowship Real Break Program which offers Orthodox College students an alternate Spring Break Travel opportunity.

Tim and his Diocesan colleagues are part of a 30 person Team who will tour the Orthodox Holy Places in Thessaloniki and assist with outreach projects of the Orthodox Church of Thessaloniki. Learn More and view the Team's daily travel blog.

We are now at the threshold of the Great and Holy Fast in preparation for the Feast of Feasts, The Resurrection of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

During the first week of the Fast, although fasting from food, extraneous conversation, and sinful activity, we feast on the rich spiritual food offered to us in the daily services of the Lenten Hours, Compline and the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, the Presanctified Liturgy and the Service of Supplication (Paraklis) to the Most-Holy Mother of God. These services with their penitential and somber character, often served in a candlelit Church, are a source of consolation and assistance to us as we labor to repent – to change our mind and our hearts, so that we can foster a deeper relationship with our Lord.

What an incredible few weeks it has been since the Great Feast of Theophany! I have very much enjoyed travelling to nearly every home in the parish. The custom of blessing homes is a very beautiful opportunity for me to extend the blessing of the Jordan River to your home, and spend some quality time in fellowship with you. During our visits we have shared our hopes and dreams for a happy, holy and blessed New Year and have prayed that God grant us many more years together, serving God as he gives us the ability and strength.

I great you with much joy as we enter into the final days of preparation before the Great Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

During the time of Advent we began a beautiful adult education class on a new book on the Orthodox Faith, Welcome To the Orthodox Church – An Introduction to Eastern Orthodoxy. Written by a convert to the faith, it discusses in great detail the Orthodox Christian theological understanding of Salvation, as opposed to that espoused by other Christian Confessions. This book very beautifully describes the coming into the world of our Savior as a rescue operation. He came to redeem, or rather, rescue us from the darkness of sin, which tarnished the image of God within us as a result of the sin of Adam and Eve.

The month of December is upon us and we are in the beautiful and holy season of the Nativity Fast in preparation for the birth in the flesh of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It is indeed a busy and hectic time of year, as there is much to do to prepare for our Christmas celebration with our family and friends.

With this in mind, knowing that we need to find a calm in the midst of a storm, Bishop Gregory in his Encyclical for the Nativity Fast has asked us to become more spiritually active, by increasing our efforts in church attendance, in prayer, in fasting, in scriptural reading, in almsgiving, in repentance and confession, and in receiving the Holy Eucharist. In addition, as he did last year, Bishop Gregory is again asking all the faithful of the Diocese and especially our youth to offer a special prayer for peace each night of the forty day fast during evening prayers.

Dear Parishioners & Friends Christ Is In Our Midst! He Is And Ever Shall Be! It is hard to believe that Autumn is here in its full glory and later this month, we will be gathering together with our families to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. In this month's edition of The Prophet I have chosen to highlight the venerable, saintly brothers in the flesh, Saints Cosmas and Damian of Asia Minor

Dear Parishioners and Friends, Glory To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever! It is hard to believe that the Summer is nearly complete and our youth and young adults have returned to school for another academic year. I am looking forward to a return to a more active parish life as we begin the new Church Year. As we begin the 2016-2017 Church School Program later this month, I ask all parents to do everything in their power to make the religious education of their children a priority. Regular attendance at Church School and Divine Liturgy and frequent participation in the Holy Mysteries of Confession and Communion is essential in the spiritual formation of serious, active Orthodox Christians, who will be equipped to carry their crosses in this spiritually difficult generation.

It was such a joy to celebrate the Feast of Pentecost with all of you! The services were spiritually uplifting and the Church, thanks to Karen Ivers and her sister Debbie, was beautifully decorated with greenery. It was a particular joy for me, that this year, for the first time ever, to co-celebrate Liturgy with my dear friend and Seminary roommate, Fr. Andrew Anderson of Montreal, Quebec. It was a special treat for me to visit with him and his beautiful family on this Great Feast.

Brothers and Sisters, Isn’t it interesting that the Church uses the adjective “Great” when it refers to the fasting season in preparation for the Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord? As we know this season is referred to as either Great Lent or the Great Fast. From a human standpoint, we might legitimately ask what is so great about Lent? After all it is a time of deprivation and negative. What is so great about giving up some of the things we love so much: meat, dairy, sweets, and other pleasures and entertainments? What is so great about having to fit our busy weekday schedules attendance at the Wednesday and Friday Presanctified Liturgy and Paraklis Services?

By the Grace of God the beautiful and holy season of Great Lent will soon be upon us! It will give us the opportunity to examine our lives and honestly reflect on where we are in our relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We will have the opportunity to recalibrate our lives and get back on track spiritually, so that, once again, we are journeying in the direction of the Heavenly Kingdom.

What a great time I had taking once, again, the more than five hundred mile journey around the parish blessing homes! I am so grateful that each year you willingly welcome me to your homes so that I could bestow the blessing of the Church upon your homes with the newly sanctified Jordan (Holy Water). This feast day is high on my list of favorite celebrations. It gives me an opportunity to offer back to you the many blessings that I receive from you throughout the entire year. You are my spiritual family, and like my own family in the flesh, you do so much to support my ministry.