Spirituality

In today’s gospel from Matthew 6:22-33, Jesus exhorts us that the, “eye is the lamp of the body”, if your eyes are healthy then your life will be filled with light, but if they are unhealthy then your life will be full of darkness.

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints of North America and Russia, the Sunday following the Feast of All Saints.

Today the Sunday following the Feast of Pentecost, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, and the beginning of a new liturgical cycle, highlighted by the scriptural readings taken from the Gospel of Matthew.

The Feast of Pentecost, which we celebrate this year on June 12, 2022, is one of the seven Great Feasts of the Lord observed during the liturgical year. Pentecost celebrates the Lord’s bestowal of the Holy Spirit upon His Church.

On the sixth Sunday following Pascha, the Church commemorates the Feast of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council held in Nicea in 325 AD. Through these Holy Fathers of the Church, God has given us the Creed of Our Faith, better known as the Nicene Creed.

On the Thursday of the sixth week of Pascha, we in the Orthodox Church celebrate the Ascension of our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ. This Feast, one of the Twelve Great Feastdays of the ecclesiastical year, is based on the Gospel of Luke 24:50-53 and the Book of Acts 1:1-12 which speaks of this event 40 days after Pascha.

This Sunday has two names: the first is the Sunday of the Last Judgement and the second, Meatfare Sunday. The Gospel reading for this Sunday from Matthew 25:31-46, vividly describes the scene of Christ the King, the Son of God, seated on His throne separating the people like a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

We have already begun the Lenten Triodion last Sunday with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Today we hear the Gospel of Saint Luke chapter 15 verses 11 thru 32, the story of the Prodigal Son.

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Lenten Triodion in which we hear the lesson from the Gospel of St. Luke Chapter 18 verses 10-14, the story of the Publican and the Pharisee.

We have already arrived at the Sunday of Zacchaeus and hear the Gospel from the Evangelist Luke 19:1-10 which tells the story of Zacchaeus, a Jew who served as a tax collector for the hated Roman government.