On Election Tuesday, many will go and vote at the polls.  Yet we must remember that before we do anything we must do the following:
1. Pray - it's ok to make the sign of the Cross over your ballot before filling it out, asking God to guide you through the process.
2. Make sure you are aware of what is on the ballot
3. Pray after - not that your candidate or for the outcome you want, rather that God's will be done here "on earth as it is in Heaven."
4. Pray regardless of the final tally.  We hear in the petitions in our Divine Services "For our country, the president, all those in public service, and for our armed forces everywhere, let us pray to the Lord."  This comes from St. Paul himself as he writes to Timothy - and during those times, the civil leaders
WERE PERSECUTING THE CHRISTIANS WHO WERE IN FACT PRAYING FOR THEM -WOW!!!

Let that sink in for a moment.

On Election Tuesday many will go to the polls to vote for either candidates or on ballot questions that will affect ones area and possibly change laws.

But did you know that as an Orthodox Christian, we vote everyday?

No?  Listen How...

Yes it's the fall season and many are already watching or listening to Christmas music.  One character that comes to mind during this time of year is Scrooge.  How he was stingy and only thought of himself, yet we know that after his visit from 4 spirits, he repented and changed his life.

This makes us ask ourselves the following question:

Are we generous or being stingy in our daily lives?

Today during the Divine Services we hear about a couple in different places being remembered for different things.  At every Divine Liturgy we say in the Creed and remember the husband when we say "...and He was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate".  Today we remember the wife, St. Procla.

Yes, you read that right, the wife of Pontius Pilate is a Saint of the Church?

This makes us ask the question...
How do we what to be remembered???

Listen...

Today we hear in the Epistle Reading , "you are the temple of the living God" and todays sermon focuses on the topic of Cremation and the view/practice of the Orthodox Church when a member of her falls asleep.

Please listen and share with others...

"Clean Your Room" this phrase has been said to every single person at some point as they were growing up (unless they were the 1% that kept it clean).  Did you know that we are to keep other things clean too?

What are they?

Listen...

It is October, and the senses of the season are in full affect, pumpkin spice flavors, apple cider, leaves changing colors, etc.  In the Gospel Passage for today we hear about the Parable of the Sower and how our Lord goes into detail explaining the seed and each area that it landed/rooted in.

Some questions that need to be asked are:

What kind of "soil" best represents you right now?

What kind of soil would have represented you five years ago?

What kind of crop are you going to yield this year?

(Fr. Demetri offers his parish priest report during his sermon)

When it is a rainy day out and we are leaving from one place to another, a strong sturdy umbrella is very helpful.   The same thing can be said about our stewardship in the life of the Church.

Listen to the sermon to see where you (or your household) fall in line with the two umbrellas shown.

For a visual of this sermon and to see what happened/why one umbrella is ripped in various places click here to watch  (fast foward to 2:45:20

In the Epistle Reading today we hear how the church of Corinth was beginning to doubt St. Paul, because they feel he let them down.  We also hear in the Gospel Passage about loving our enemies.

How do these Scripture Passages connect?

Listen...

In the Gospel Passage today, we hear our Lord mention loving people, and he mentions that we are to love our enemies?

HOW???

Listen...