We are here in this old church and you can see where our ancestors prayed up to 600 years ago. They were poor people. They had nothing, but they had one important thing — the faith, a living faith — and this faith was encouragement for them to survive and to fight through daily life. Look around here. We traveled comfortably by bus to arrive here. Can you imagine that they were so poor that they would walk here every day? READ MORE.

The biggest commandment is the commandment to love God. God has to be first in our lives, dear brothers and sisters. No one or nothing else. We need to ask ourselves every day: Is God really first in my life or is there something else that I have placed first? READ MORE.

We are gathered here with our Mother. We have all come to ask for her help, to ask her for support in our lives. She is a good mother, and she cannot but listen to our prayers. As a good mom, she needs to help us. For this reason, we have gathered from across the United States. It is not so easy to travel here to Uniontown. It takes sacrifice and even some suffering, but this, too, is part of the pilgrimage experience. Our sacrifices may include thirst, hunger, fatigue, bearing the hot sun. READ MORE.

We might wonder today what is happening in the United States in these days following the most recent revelations regarding clergy sex abuse. It is necessary that each one of us — clergy and lay faithful — say sorry and do penance.  It is not enough to keep the apologies and the repentance for the cardinals and bishops that are implicated in the abuse — it is easy to tell somebody what to do — but we need to begin by reflecting on our own life.  READ MORE.

I would hope everyone has had a good experience or fond memories of their mothers. As we get older, it is always good to keep these fond memories from our childhood at the fore, and we find it important to go back home and visit with our mothers.

The feast of St. John the Baptist is a big feast for our eparchy. As you know, St. John the Forerunner is our patron saint. The Gospel reading today tells us about the beginning of the Forerunner’s life. We could say that the events surrounding his conception and birth were a little bit strange. They also reflected the signs and traditions in the Old Testament, in which unbelievers were punished. READ MORE.

Every day, we are tested in our faith. We need to decide whether we believe in God or whether we will rely on our own knowledge, decisions and solutions for our lives. In today’s Gospel, Jesus Christ invites us to believe as the centurion believed. At that time, Jews would not associate with pagans or enter into their houses. To do so would have made them impure and prohibited them from participating at synagogue. In the Gospel of Matthew, a Roman centurion — a pagan — goes to Jesus. And what does Jesus do? He speaks with the centurion. In speaking with a pagan and answering his petition, Jesus Christ shows that he is the Savior of all people everywhere in the world. READ MORE.

Pentecost, in a certain sense, celebrates the birthday of the church. There, in the Upper room, the Apostles were gathered together with the Mother of God in prayer. In that moment, the promise of Jesus Christ was fulfilled. He who promised the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, now sends it in the form of tongues of fire on the disciples in the Upper Room. READ MORE.

Our thirst for life is built into our very being; we spend our days doing everything we can to protect it, preserve it, and feed our hunger for living. The Sunday Gospels of Pascha bear in mind this thirst in every human heart, where we see those who are stricken by disease and disability — the blind man and the paralytic — reaching out for Jesus to attend to this desire. In particular, the story of the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:1-42) explores this theme well... READ MORE

What do you think? Do people here in the United States and other parts of the world invest too much money in their health? Look at your health insurance bill; that will be enough to tell you. But it is normal to take care of our health. We want to be healthy. We have, written into our DNA, the instinct of self-preservation; we want to be alive... READ MORE

In some ways, it is not necessary to preach on Pascha, for the meaning of the feast is clear. It is the feast of feasts, which brings joy to our hearts. Having felt this joy that is in us, it is an experience that we share with Christ’s followers after Pentecost. Click on the headline to read the full message.

When children are small, they fear losing their parents. To be separated from their parents, even for a few moments, can make children feel lost and cry. But, once they are reunited with their parents, their fear is calmed and their joy returns.

In these days after the Nativity of our Lord, the church offers particular insight into the hidden life of Jesus before his public ministry. Forty days after Christmas, the church contemplates his presentation in the temple for the Jewish ritual of circumcision, along with the usual offerings of turtle doves and the accompanying purification ritual for the Mother of God.

One hundred years ago, my great-grandfather arrived in Chicago, not for a holiday, but because of the harsh poverty in his home country of Slovakia. He came here with the hope of making and saving some money, and then deciding whether he would remain here or return.

The Byzantine Church’s liturgical life exists for one reason alone: to restore the divine image of Christ in us. The liturgical year of the church invites us to celebrate the entirety of Christ’s life, from his nativity to his resurrection.

One week ago we suffered a tragedy in Las Vegas. Hearing awful news such as this is likely to make us fearful and sad. Similarly, the death of a close friend or relative can bring about the same sadness. The Gospel passage of the raising of the widow’s son (Lk 7:11-16) offers Christ’s response to tragedy. We hear about the tragic death of a young man. It is tragic because, as a young man, his life and bright future ended all too quickly. But tragic also for his mother, for she had but one son and was widowed.

In the Byzantine tradition, the Exaltation of the Holy Cross is one of the 12 great feasts of the church. We lend our attention to the cross for a simple reason: through the cross, salvation has come to the world. Through the death of Jesus Christ, we receive new life, eternal life. Jesus explains this to us in the Gospel of St. John.

We must not fall into the trap of looking at the Eastern Church’s relationship with the Mother of God with arrogance, as being outdated. The Mother of God teaches us one thing: to trust in the Word of God. How important it is today to trust in the Word of God!

Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This is the great mystery of Pascha. In today’s Gospel, Christ offers us a little Pascha in the healing of the two blind men and the infirm. Every illness is some kind of death. If somebody is blind or ill, it is an expression of death. It is a recognition of the human limits that everyone has, myself included.

Our Holy Father, Pope Francis, appointed me apostolic administrator “sede vacante” of the Eparchy of Parma for the Ruthenians June 17, 2017. The decree was published June 24, 2017 in Rome. I would like at this time to extend my warm greetings to all of you. I am sending these greetings from my homeland, which is also the homeland of the ancestors of many of the faithful of the Eparchy of Parma.