This week Mother Natalia talks about finding beauty in the midst of suffering. She gives examples of saints lives who were able to find beauty despite their suffering. She also talks about how God draws good out of suffering, despite suffering being an evil.

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This week Mother Natalia reflects on her recent retreat in Colorado. She talks about the rest she had during retreat and the moments of rest she has during her busy life. She talks about the importance of purposefully finding rest throughout our day, week, month, and year.

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This week Fr. Michael takes inspiration from a prayer said by the Maronite priests at the end of Divine Liturgy. He talks about how important the altar is to a priest and how the priest is "tethered" to the altar. He then expounds further into sacred spaces that are important to the lay people and monastics, and how each person can be reminded of this before or after leaving that space. 

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This week Mother Natalia talks about how we are formed by the community around us. She gives examples of formation within a monastic community, family, and friends. She talks about how our formation can lead us down the wrong paths, but through God's grace how we can turn back to the truth.

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This week Fr. Michael talks to Fr. Nathan Symeon and Fr. Joel Barstad about married priests and celibate priests in the Eastern Catholic Churches. They talk about considerations that need to be taken for each option.

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This week Mother Natalia reflects on the Gospel passage where Peter walks on water and asks Jesus to save him. She talks about realizing that God works to save us in the midst of the storm, but doesn't necessarily have the storm cease. Fr. Michael prepares for the homily for the upcoming Sunday, reflecting on the Epistle and the Gospel as well.

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This week Mother Natalia shares stories of three beautiful things that happened to her recently. She talks about relying on technology vs encountering people. She shares a story of being able to use Photina funds to give to someone in need. She also reminds us that God wants to work for good for us in everything that we're doing, even the super mundane things.

References:

Into Your Hands, Father: Abandoning Ourselves to the God Who Loves Us by Fr. Wilfrid Stinissen

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This week Fr. Michael reflects on the Gospel from the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. He discovered that the root word means both shame and exalt or lift up, and he compares those in relation to how we live out our lives. He talks about bringing shame to Christ by our actions and inactions, and what it means that Christ will be ashamed of us if we shame Him.

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This week Mother Natalia talks about our identity and understanding our identity as God sees us. She talks about recognizing our identity in God as opposed to the circumstances of our life like parenting, work, school status, etc. 

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This week Fr. Michael reflects on the recent Gospel passage of the unforgiving servant. He talks about how our forgiveness flows from words, to our minds, to our heart and the differences between those areas. He talks about the need to pursue forgiveness and ask for the grace to forgive from the heart.

References:

Matt 18:23-35

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