Visit #192 ~ Thinking about Water and God's Call

Fountain of Holy Water

It was great to be in Liturgy and think about water. How could I not? There was a big fountain of Holy Water in the front by the Ambo and a table with cups for consumption.  I heard a sermon on Ancient Faith Radio on how Holy Water isn't magical but rather, restored to what it was before the fall of the Cosmos.  I have heard stories on how Holy Water kept in bottles for years did not "go bad."  It seems the Incarnation has great implications for the universe. By Christ entering into the waters of Jordan to receive Baptism, He sanctified the waters!

Holy Water to Drink!

Fr. Gary's Homily was especially insightful.  He talked about the call of God and then gave examples from Sacred Scripture on how some did not, at first, embrace this call.  Moses tried to talk God into choosing someone else and Jonah just plain  ran away! Yet, even though we are unworthy, God calls us anyway.

"If you are looking on God's calling as something you are unworthy of, then you are thinking of it the right way"   -Fr Gary, Homily of January 10, 2016

 God, in his mercy, uses us! May we be ever ready to serve Him as He desires!

Visit #191 - Surprise at Vespers!

Vespers Selfie!

So what was the surprise at Vespers? The surprise was I was there! Normally, at the time of Vespers was going on, I'd be at work but, through a series of unfortunate events, I could not go to work last evening. Basically, the night before I had a flat tire at work with no spare (I feel so silly) and I had to get towed home. (Thank God for AAA.) But I ended up getting home at 4am so when I woke up the next day to go to work, I felt horrible and really couldn't function on such little sleep.  So I called out sick.

The end of a long night!

But as the day wore on, I felt a little better and then I started thinking about how my protestant parish used to have "watch-night services" on New Year's eve but no longer does. Wait a minute! Doesn't my local Orthodox Church have something going on? So, I checked my calendar and, yes, a Vespers with Litya!  

So I went and was so happy to be back at Vespers. We were a small group but, to me, we sounded wonderful as we sang the hymns and Psalms, celebrating both the Circumcision of our Lord and the Life of St. Basil. 

I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year and hope that we all grow closer to Christ!