Resources & Articles

What does "Prepare the Way of the Lord" look like?
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St John Baptist's entire life was a preparation for Our Lord's advent. In the same way, St John urged us to use our entire life to prepare the way of the Lord. We do that by bearing fruits worthy of repentance. These fruits are not merely avoiding sin, but replacing our misdeeds with the opposite. For example, it is not enough to avoid hurtful words; fruits worthy of repentance include speaking kind and helpful words at precisely that time when we want to be sarcastic or snarky. Or, it is... Read more...
Advent Retreat
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The Society of St Benedict, a ministry of St Michael's Church, will hold its annual Advent Retreat on Saturday, December 10. Download Retreat Flyer The meditations for this year's retreat will be offered by the Very Reverend Edward Hughes, Pastor of St George Orthodox Church in Lawrence, Mass., and Vicar General for the Western Rite Vicariate. The retreat will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 3 p.m. It will include praying select offices from the Benedictine Breviary, Mass, and quiet time for reading, prayer, confession and reflection. During the course of... Read more...
No One Should Suffer Alone
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One of the challenges of being American is that we have been marinated in the pungent spices of individualism. We sing that we can go our own way. We declare that we will do it our way. We value making our own choices. We talk about taking ownership. We won’t believe the verdict of a jury until we’ve seen the evidence for ourselves and made up our own mind. This way of talking and thinking and feeling is so ingrained, that to challenge it sounds repugnant and offensive. And so,... Read more...
Elections & Christ the King
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It is felicitous that every year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the last Sunday in October. For commonly, at this time every two years, national elections are in our minds, on our lips, and in our prayers. And those elections may produce in many us either hope or trepidation for the future of our nation. The purpose of this feast, however, is to remind that we are sojourners on earth, and that our true citizenship is in heaven; that we are partakers, with the Saints, in... Read more...
St Michael's Ministry To Our Parish
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Patronal Feast of St Michael Orthodox Christian Church Children don't really choose their parents. Parishioners don't really choose their priests. And parishes don't really choose their patrons. Instead, a patron is gifted to a parish, and the parish learns to love and pray to him; and to see that he truly is a gift from God. St Michael the Archangel is truly a gift to this parish. Like all the holy angels, obedient to God, he humbly ministers to us. And why would he do that? Why would St Michael, who... Read more...
Details Matter
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A fair summary of main points in yesterday's homily: There are details in the miracle of Jesus healing the deaf and mute man that are too often overlooked, but are equally significant. The first detail is that the man is brought to Jesus by friends. Rarely does Jesus seek someone to heal; more often, they come to Him or are brought to Him. This is good, because it is a lesson in humility. We must humble ourselves before God by showing that we are in need of His mercy, that we... Read more...
Humility & Thanksgiving
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God's almighty power is not shown chiefly in terrifying displays (like the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah, wiping out the Egyptian army, or the flood). God's almighty power is shown chiefly in mercy and pity -- when He raises the dead, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, or forgives the sinner. Our pride gets in the way of God's almighty mercy. Example: when we refuse to go to private confession because we think we've done nothing wrong, or because we don't think we need the priest to forgive us, or... Read more...
Homily for Nativity of BVM
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The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary St. Matthew 1.1-16 Dearly Beloved: Close your ears to anyone who tells you anything about another Jesus. Our Jesus Christ can trace His ancestry back to David. He is the Son of Mary. He really was born and ate and drank. He really was persecuted under Pontius Pilate. He really was executed on the cross and died in the sight of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth. But that’s not all. He also was truly raised from the... Read more...