What would you do if Jesus told you, ?Go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor and follow Me? (v.21)? Would you walk away from Jesus grieving and crying (v.22) or would you joyfully leave everything immediately, delighted that the Master invited you into His inner circle? The latter way is

   During this weekend of our Greek Festival, we are proudly offering our ethnic food, music and dancing. We also are seeking to share our faith through our bookstore, free literature and church tours. In the tour of the church we use the architecture and iconography to explain Eastern Orthodox Christianity.

   Just ten days ago on August 6^th we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord in which Jesus takes Peter, James & John up a high mountain and reveals His divine glory before them (Mt.17:1-9).

  How many of us have send the billboard called ?Extreme Makeover?Meth Edition?? It shows a photo of a seemingly beautiful and smiling middle-age woman on the left side. Then on the right, there is a photo of a woman who looks much older, haggard, worn-out and sad.

   Picture this: a teenager standing in front of refrigerator or a cupboard full of food and saying, ?There is nothing to eat around here.? Sound familiar? We ourselves have probably done the same thing and then decided to go out to eat or order in from a restaurant.

   ?Rejoice in hope!? (v.2) is what St. Paul says in today?s epistle reading (3^rd Sunday of Matthew, Romans 5:1-11). Elsewhere in the scriptures we hear, ?This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it? (Psalm 118:24) and St.

   Happy Father?s Day! Remember when Dad spanked us or yelled at us for being naughty? Or when we were teenagers, he?d tell us to pick-up our room or stop picking our nose and we?d respond with a loud voice, ?Stop yelling at me?? Think about that for moment.

   Orthodoxy Christianity is not a society of historians. The Orthodox Church is not a system of museums throughout the country. Liturgy is not a drama club presentation. These statements may seem obvious to some but to others they could be a revelation of sorts?a new perspective on the Faith.

When we consider the Orthodox Christian understanding of vocation, several points can be made. The most obvious are the following:

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   Every Sunday morning, newspapers are delivered to households across the country and in the Sunday paper are a plethora of advertisements. Some of us may have looked them over before coming to church this morning.

   Introduction- Jesus was walking along one day when he came upon a man crying, and He said, ?My friend, what?s wrong?? The man replied, ?I?m blind; can you help me?? Jesus healed the man and he went on his way. Jesus continued along and came upon another man sitting and crying.

   Most of us probably think there is one Gospel reading for the Orthodox Funeral Service. That is for good reason because only one passage, John 5:24-30, is read in the Greek Orthodox practice. However, the ancient tradition calls for a different reading for each day of the week.

   Christ is Risen! This is our greeting of the past week since the celebration of Pascha and we will continue to use it for the next five weeks in order to spread the Good News that Jesus our Lord has defeated sin and death.

A little less than half way through the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 12 we hear that:

³⁸Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered [Jesus], saying, ?Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.? ³⁹But He answered and said to them,

   Between the strict Fast of Great and Holy Lent and the austere Fast of Great and Holy Week is a two day period of great joy and celebrating. It?s kind of like a soldier who goes through basic training and then gets a furlough before having to report for duty on the battlefield.