October 2017 Message From Father Peter

Dear Parishioners and Friends,

Christ is in our midst!  He is and ever shall be!

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.

In our adult education class, we are spending time reading and discussing the recent survey that the Assembly of Bishop’s commissioned to learn more about the characteristics of growing and thriving Orthodox parishes, with the intent of discovering ways we can strengthen our parish. We have already gained some useful insights which we believe can help our parish to better serve the Lord and His Holy Church. We look forward to sharing our findings with the entire parish membership at the Annual Parish meeting.

As we begin the month of October, I encourage you to take time to thoroughly read this month’s edition of The Prophet. In addition to being brought up to date on the present and future happenings in our parish and the local Orthodox Community, you will enjoy another heartfelt reflection by our resident writer, Serge Mihaly. After reading about the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, you will also be treated to an amazing account of a miraculous healing of a little girl who was unable to speak from birth which took place last week in Greece. And much more!

I pray that you are richly blessed this month, with renewed strength and zeal to live our precious Orthodox Faith to the fullest as we walk together on the straight and narrow path which leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.

With Love in Christ,

Fr. Peter