A New Year & Exciting News!

Those of you who have followed the journey of St. Nicholas of Myra Orthodox Parish on this blog are greatly cherished and loved. Your kind words and prayers for us have been an inspiration.
An incredible development has occurred that will affect us all in our small parish.
By request and appointment by The Right Reverend Archimandrite Maximos and with the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Hilarion,  Priest Benedict has been installed as the chaplain of the Monastery of the Glorious Ascension. The parish members of St. Nicholas have merged with the community of the chapel parish at the monastery. Priest Benedict has been blessed to serve the Eastern Orthodox Christian observances.
Regular weekly services will begin immediately.
The Monastery of the Glorious Ascension was founded in 1977 and is located in Resaca, Georgia. It is home to an icon of the Holy Theotokos that has wept in the past and now, the parish icon of St. Nicholas of Myra that some believe is in the process of self restoring. Services at the monastery are in English.
Anyone interested in attending services should contact the monastery or email Father Benedict at fr.benedict@ priest.com.
Come visit us in this exciting new phase in our journey!

SNMOC - Lost that Christmas Spirit??? Find it Here!

So many of us go through the “holidays” running from one place to another in a mad dash to buy presents for everyone on their list; hoping to outdo the things that we did last year.  We seem to think that if we don’t get one child the same amount of “stuff” as the other child, then someone is going to get their feelings hurt or that someone is going to feel left out.  

So… we keep running from one place to the other, buying this and that; the latest and greatest “thing” that the modern world has to offer, and we think in the back of our minds that this year, we will finally catch that elusive “Christmas Spirit”… And wonder why we fail to do so in the end.  In fact, we find that all we’ve managed to do is teach our children how to imitate our own holiday neuroses and insecurities.  We have managed to perpetuate the very behavior that has been the cause of depression, anxiety and even suicides during this time of year.

It wasn't always like that... And it doesn't have to be like this anymore.

I'd like to share a word with you this Christmas.  St. John the Apostle wrote very succinctly the meaning of Christmas when he was inspired to write,

“For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever should believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

This is a gift that transcends all of history and all of what is to come.  His coming mended time itself. It cemented in place the bridge that Adam and Eve tore down.

He did not come for just some or a privileged few. He came that “all” would believe and partake of the greatest of all gifts.  The Father did not give his Son out of some feeling of “having to” or trying to outdo some other gift.  The Father gave this gift out of the greatest of all motivations… He did so out of love. How many Gods have ever done so much for their creation? How many kings gave up so much for so many? How many greats had become the least for you and me? How do we honor such sacrifice? We accept the gift and then we imitate it towards all. Not just some or a few... ALL...

The greatest gift we can give is our time, our love and our compassion for each other.   For Christmas this year, let your gift be this…

“That you love one another… as I have loved you.” John 13:34-35

Jesus said to His disciples,

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you  sick or in prison and visit you? And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”  Matthew 25:35-40

Dear ones… Go and be reconciled to that family member you haven’t spoken to in years. Sons and daughters, seek out your parents that you may be at odds with and forgive and be willing to be forgiven for the grievances of old. Time is brief and fleeting. Be thou imitations of Christ in all ways. LOVE can be a warm coat to a cold person. It can be a shelter for someone without a home. It can be the hand of reconciliation to one who thinks they are beyond reconciling. And it can be mercy where none could otherwise be found.

And to those that search and wander still for purpose and meaning in this life, wise men still seek Him (the Christ). If you want to truly experience the true reason for Christmas… Then ponder these words written above. Search your heart and you’ll find that Christmas begins with a King born of lowly means but of the greatest and noblest of reasons. Emmanuel means "God is with us". And He is and ever shall be.

What a strange beautiful, way to save the world…

Priest Benedict+
"A beggar who gives alms..."

SNMOC - Come to the Feast...

As we get closer to the Nativity Feast, it is a joy to participate regularly in the Holy Mysteries.

Many things work against us to try to take us away from the regular participation in the mysteries of the Faith. Take heart and have Faith.

Christ bids us to come to Him, all who are heavy laden and He will give us rest. Divine worship is also about laying down the things of the world and taking upon ourselves heavenly things. This is why confession is heard before the Liturgy. We are Christians who are witness to the miracle of the Eucharist; partakers of the Cup of salvation. Heaven draws near and we are truly amongst the angels and archangels. With them, Christ is in our midst.

A note: Tacitus opined that when the Romans wanted to arrest the Christians, he said that to do so, one merely had to discover the location where they met, because on Sunday, all of the Christians would be there. Not some... all of them. For it had become known that those who were not at the worship of the Church were not 'in' the Church.

A stunning thought. We do not live in the danger of the police coming to round us up because of what we believe and profess as Christians. Well not yet... But let us do as it is said in the Divine Liturgy, "Let us who mystically represent the cherubim and sing the thrice holy hymn to the Life-giving Trinity, now lay aside all earthly cares... As we prepare to receive the King of All who is upborne upon the heavenly host'...

"Let us lay aside all earthly cares"...

NEW!!! SNMOC - Coats & Churches: Church Shopping as a Modern American Phenomenon

We Americans and others shop for churches like we shop for coats. Does the coat suit me? Does it make me look good? Does it "feel" good? Is it agreeable to my own sensibilities? If we ask ourselves those same questions and simply substitute the word "church", We will find the crux of the issue. Does this church suit me? Does this church make me look good? Does it make me feel good? Does this church agree with my own sensibilities? Dear ones... with such an outlook, we are looking for the church created in our own image and not the Church that is the Body of Christ. Think upon this. To become part of Christ's Holy Church one must sacrifice his own image in order to take upon himself the image and likeness of Christ; for indeed we are called to become imitations of Christ in all that we do. Even unto the Cross.

SNMOC - A Word for the Day: Of the Importance of Roots...

 There once was a husbandman who decided one day to plant some trees upon his property. He took young and healthy saplings and planted them on his property. The soil where he planted them was rich and fertile and in the southernmost parts of his fields where there was ample light and frequent irrigation from the rains that would come.


In time, these trees grew into big and strong maples providing verdant foliage and abundant shade in the heat of the day. Many of the maples formed deep and massive roots that anchored them well into the soil, even down as far as the bedrock. However, some of the trees laid down only shallow, smaller roots that spread out far around them but had no depth.


When in time, the heavy thunderstorms came; the deeply rooted trees swayed to and fro in the winds and even lost some of their leaves, but they remained firmly rooted to the good earth and hence, they survived. The others with the shallow smaller roots were not as fortunate. They swayed to and fro in the winds as well but were eventually uprooted and blown away with the storms. Even though their roots extended out farther around them, they had no depth and were not anchored to the good soil beneath them.


Dear ones... Let us be as the trees with deep roots anchored firmly to the solid foundation of the Christian Faith. We have a fertile home of abundance if we would persevere and send our roots deep into the Faith as it was once delivered for all time. Let us not expend our time looking here and there and sending smaller, more tentative roots out towards alternatives and unproven havens. The sure foundation of the Orthodox Church is the safe harbor of our salvation in Jesus Christ. Let us cling to the bedrock of our salvation.



Benedict+

SNMOC - Claiming Poverty With Full Storehouses

Today's Message: A homily on Luke 12: 16-21. The parable that Christ presents describes the folly of the rich man who fills up his storehouses with things so that he can sit back and "eat, drink and be merry".
However, as Christ points out, it is his soul that is required of him and he has been found wanting.

SNMOC - For We Are Legion (Homily on the Gadarene Demoniac)

A homily regarding Christ's exorcism of the Gadarene Demoniac and what it tells us about God's sovereignty over all creation...