Saint George Orthodox Church of Spring Valley, IL

06/22/2026

We are now well into summer, and we are reviving an old blog series: the Holy Mysteries (or Sacraments) of the Orthodox Church! For the next few weeks we will dive into each of the seven Mysteries,…

06/22/2026

Blessed Sunday!

On this Third Sunday after Pentecost, we hear Christ's words from the Sermon on the Mount, reminding us to keep our hearts and minds focused on God. In the Gospel (Matthew 6:22–33), the Lord teaches that "the eye is the lamp of the body," encouraging us to seek what is good, pure, and holy. He also reminds us not to be consumed by worry over earthly needs, but to place our trust in God's loving care.

Christ calls us to set our priorities rightly: "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." In a world filled with distractions and anxieties, this Gospel challenges us to fix our gaze on Christ, trusting that He will provide for us and guide us in all things.

06/21/2026

06/21/2026

A Father's Day Reflection
By His Grace Bishop Thomas

God bless you!

The gospel reading for Sunday, June 21, Father’s Day on the civil calendar this year, comes from the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus teaches how to live our lives in the reality of the Kingdom of God.

In verse thirty-three of chapter six, he gives us a direct call for all our lives and especially for our lives as fathers, as men, who desire to be like “Our Father who is in heaven.” Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom of God, and his righteousness” (Matt. 6:33).

SEEKing the Kingdom of God implies intention, effort, and perseverance, all attributes of the life of a good earthly father in relation to the care and nurture of his family.

Seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God clearly defines the priority of a life lived in and for God. Godly fathers make as the priority of their life the Kingdom of God, personally and in how they lead and care for their families.

Seeking first the KINGDOM OF GOD, identifies where the focus of life is placed. Rather than prioritizing and working for the development and growth of his own kingdom, the earthly father who reflects our heavenly Father is the one who lives his own life and shapes the life of his family around God the Holy Trinity – prayer, reading the Holy Scriptures and the lives of the Saints, active participation in their parish, using his resources to care for those in need, etc.

Finally, seeking first the Kingdom of God, and his RIGHTEOUSNESS provides the quality of life that a godly father will seek to live and form at home – a life of love, joy, peace, patience goodness, etc. This is the orientation of the life of a godly father, and it is the orientation of the life of a member of The Order of St.Ignatius of Antioch!

May God bless all of our fathers, grandfathers, godfathers and spiritual fathers, and may we all continue to “seek first the King of God, and his righteousness” as members of The Order of St. Ignatius through our generosity and service.

In Christ,

Rt. Rev. Bishop Thomas (Joseph)
Spiritual Advisor of The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America

https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2855



(His Grace penned this article for The Order, but its wisdom applies beyond. Icon by Uncut Mountain Supply.)

06/20/2026

Blessed feast day of the Apostle Jude, the Brother of the Lord.

The Holy Apostle Jude was one of the Twelve Apostles and a relative of the Lord through St. Joseph the Betrothed. At first, he did not fully understand who Christ was, but he later came to believe in Him as the promised Messiah and became one of His faithful followers. Out of humility, Jude did not call himself the Lord's brother, but referred to himself as the brother of James. He is also known by other names in Scripture, including Thaddeus and Lebbaeus. After Christ's Ascension, St. Jude traveled widely, preaching the Gospel in Judea, Galilee, Samaria, Syria, Mesopotamia, and other regions. He encouraged Christians to remain faithful, grow in prayer and love, and support their faith with good works.

St. Jude also wrote the Epistle that bears his name in the New Testament. In it, he urges believers to remain steadfast in the truth and to guard themselves against false teachings.
After many years of preaching Christ, St. Jude suffered martyrdom around the year 80 near Mount Ararat in Armenia.

***

Divinely we praise you, O Jude, as a faithful witness, knowing you to be the brother of Christ. You trampled on delusion, and so preserved the faith. Today as we celebrate your holy memory, by your intercessions we receive remission of sins. - Troparion, Tone 1

You were chosen as a disciple for your firmness of mind: An unshakable pillar of the Church of Christ, you proclaimed His word to the Gentiles, telling them to believe in one Godhead. You were glorified by Him, receiving the grace of healing, healing the ills of all who came to you, O most praised Apostle Jude! - Kontakion, Tone 2

06/19/2026

The Faithful and Secularism, Part Two
By His Eminence Metropolitan Saba

What are we to expect when the spirit of piety and the sanctifying life grow weak; when the spirit of prayer is neglected and reduced to the mere performance of rituals; when the life of prayer is replaced by work and organizations; when the spiritual dimension is neglected; when the faithful lose the sense of sin and forget repentance; and consequently, when the eschatological dimension of the Christian faith disappears–or is made to disappear?

Then the Church becomes an institution of this age and loses the very essence of her existence. At best, she is transformed into a humanitarian institution, perhaps even one of high caliber, but she loses her mission of sanctifying man, raising him up to the Kingdom of God, and thus bringing him to salvation.

One of the dangers of secularism is that it changes the mind without coercion. It confines the mind's thinking to what is sensible and tangible, causing the household of God—the children of the Church—to rush into following the ways and methods of the people of this age, even in ecclesial ministries. Thus, you see them pursuing dazzling achievements at the expense of the human person. They give priority, in their planning, to establishing institutions and ensuring their survival, with the aim of serving man; yet they neglect serving the very man they intend to serve until construction of the institution is completed. Then they discover that the institution itself requires constant development and support, exhausting the efforts of those responsible for it. And so the poor, the wounded, the suffering, the despairing, and the grieving remain forgotten. Where, then, is living and active love embodied?

They may also seek to modernize pastoral and spiritual ministry by following the methods of this age: planning, calculations, and endless meetings. God is forgotten, and souls no longer hope for His blessing upon the ministry they seek to offer. At that point, the work becomes entirely a human endeavor, while those carrying it out remain convinced that they are serving God. The spiritual dimension may disappear without anyone noticing, and the Church becomes a "sector" that may be called "spiritual," but only alongside a number of other sectors that human beings need. What remains of her essence if she becomes like the rest, and is no longer the one who directs, gives meaning to, and grants life? Indeed, when she loses the essence of her existence and imitates the other sectors, she appears either feeble or artificial, and she loses her precedence before other worldly institutions and organizations, which may surpass her in reaching the intended goal because they are more specialized and professional.

In his book "For the Life of the World," Father Alexander Schmemann says: "The Church is in the world but not of the world. Only because she is not of the world can she reveal the 'world to come,' that which transcends the world." What truly remains of her if she loses this role? Activism prevails and prepares the way for fundamentalism to arise as a reaction to the loss of purpose.

When activism overwhelms the Church—that is, when pastoral activities or practical witness dominate while the spirit of prayer and repentance recedes—the balance is disturbed, and the scales tip toward resembling the fallen world. Activities then become the goal in themselves. Conversely, when the Church removes active pastoral care from her ministry, isolates herself from this world in her thought and service, cuts herself off from it, and contents herself with preserving the right faith apart from Christian love in imitation of Christ—when she does not strive unceasingly to embrace the world and seek its salvation—then she falls into fundamentalism. In truth, both secularism and fundamentalism are forms of alienation from the spirit of the Gospel and a terrible betrayal of true Christianity.

I will take an example from the Catholic Church, since she confronted contemporary secularism and modernity before others in Western Europe. In the years immediately following the Second Vatican Council, despite all its positive aspects, the Catholic Church fell into a very powerful movement of activism. The Italian Jesuit Father Giovanni Martinetti described her condition in prophetic words in his book "Ragioni per credere oggi":

"The post-conciliar Church lost her mystical face, and became the Church of constant dialogue, organizations, consultations, conferences, councils, committees, academies, parties, pressure groups influencing public opinion, functions, structures and restructuring, social experiments, and statistics. Thus the Church became, more than ever before, the Church of men—that is, an entity without identity."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, in the final years of her life, to the astonishment of the volunteers in her humanitarian works, ordered the closure of all the bank accounts of the international body that supported the works of her charitable religious order, and the cancellation of the meetings of the international group that supported her humanitarian activities, when she learned how enormous the expenses of those meetings had become!

Those in whom the Spirit of God acts shock the world by their attitudes and conduct. But what kind of Christianity is it that goes along with the world and its sins, instead of awakening it from its heedlessness and deviation?

There is a great difference between caring for humanity, accompanying it, and sharing in its pain in order to raise it from that pain toward salvation, and accepting its sin. The Christian loves the sick person, not the sickness. The Christian comes from eternal life, not from secular life; meaning, he illumines earthly life with the light of eternity. He does not reduce his life, its needs, and its goal to the limited years he spends upon this earth.

Therefore, the mission of the Church lies in raising the world with her to where it once was and to what it once was; in reminding the world of the life to which God has called it—not only by preaching, but in practice; and in manifesting the action and truth of God's Incarnation in human history by embodying His presence in the heart of the world in which she lives.

If God's action and fruit are not visible in the life and service of Christians, do they not become a secular social organization, depriving the world of the transfiguration to which it is called?

When the Church, in her ministry, does not make room for the hesychastic life—or what is today called spirituality—and directs nearly all her concern and energy toward action, she becomes secularized. That is, she loses her connection to the heavenly Kingdom, by which she is called to transform the earthly world, through its transfiguration in her authentic work, which must be done by the inspiration, presence, and action of the Holy Spirit.

The secularization of the Church deprives human beings of the grace of truly becoming children of God, not merely in word. They then search for the meaning of their lives in other places, and the word of the prophet Jeremiah becomes true of them: "They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water" (2:13).

I will give two examples.

**Is it not possible for ecclesial media, when placed in the hands of those who are not prayerful and spiritually watchful, to become a means of displaying achievements and boasting about them, rather than urging viewers or readers to cultivate the spirit of love, service, and giving?

**And is it not possible for the goal of "pastoral" activities to shift toward fundraising, instead of being a practical means of supporting the faithful spiritually, helping them experience joy in the midst of the community, solidarity among the brethren, growth in the life of virtue, and the living out of love with greater effectiveness?

These are some of the deviations we can easily fall into without even noticing. To the extent that the life of prayer—and I emphasize the word life—grows within us, the children of the Church, we become more aware and vigilant so as not to lose sight of the goal, and the influence of worldliness weakens within us, and we truly become the Church of Christ.

(To be continued)

https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2845

06/15/2026

June 15 - Today the Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Prophet Amos.

The Holy Prophet Amos lived in the eighth century before Christ. He was a simple shepherd and farmer from the village of Tekoah, near Bethlehem. Although he was not wealthy or highly educated, God chose him to be a prophet because of his strong faith and devotion. God sent Amos to the northern kingdom of Israel, where many people had turned away from Him and worshipped idols. Amos boldly called the people to repent, warning them that their sins and injustice would bring suffering if they did not return to God.

Because of his message, Amos faced opposition and persecution from those in power. Despite this, he remained faithful to God's calling and continued to proclaim the truth.

06/13/2026

06/13/2026

The Faithful and Secularism, Part One
By His Eminence Metropolitan Saba

Secularism refers to a purely earthly way of thinking, that is, a philosophy of life based only on the givens of earthly existence. In Arabic, according to Al-Munjid dictionary, a dawqhrī is an atheist who says that the world has existed from eternity and will remain forever, having no Creator. In this sense, the word is similar to the word "world" as it appears in the Gospel of John. The Christian is in this world, but he is not of it. In other words, he lives in the world, but he draws his way of life from the Gospel, not from the world.

In its contemporary practical sense, secularism means managing the affairs of life by human ability alone, without God. Man alone becomes the reference point, starting point, and source of the secular world. This concept began to grow stronger and to prevail, becoming a philosophy and policy adopted by people, societies, and states, roughly three hundred years ago. And the more technological abilities have developed, granting man the power to overcome the difficulties of life, and means to confront and eliminate them, the more the secular manner of life has become established and deeply rooted in human consciousness.

The danger of secularism does not lie only in the fact that it replaces God with man as the reference point of humanity. Its danger also allows one to deny God's action in the world not only theoretically but practically. Secularism turns God into something into nothing more than an image, a form, or a theoretical belief. It may preserve religious practice, but it empties that practice of its essence and replaces it with something purely worldly. It separates life from faith and confines the life of faith to a few religious practices. Thus, the secular man does not live according to the demands of his faith so much as he lives according to the demands of secular culture.

According to secularism, the affairs of life are handled in a worldly manner, while the affairs of God are handled in the temple on Sunday. That behavior becomes separated from faith, as do morals, values, and ways of living. Man becomes confined to the earthly dimension of his life, and he turns the spiritual dimension into a kind of perfume that gives him the feeling that his conscience has been satisfied, while preventing him from examining himself in the light of the Gospel and, consequently, from demanding of himself more than what he already is.

There is nothing sacred in secularism. Man no longer lives in the anticipation and realization of eternity—or, more precisely, in the experience of it, even as a murmur, here and now. His earthly life is no longer an imitation of the things above and an embodiment of the things to come. Rather, the present world charts the path, direction, and aim of life. Indeed, quite the opposite happens: earthly life itself becomes the goal and the end, and all available possibilities, including religious and spiritual ones, are placed at its service. The happiness of earthly life becomes the framework within which this philosophy imprisons man, neglecting his non-material dimensions.

Secularism is a completely materialistic way of life. It is another face of Marxist materialism. It forms man within a world whose material demands never end, drawing for him a consumer society that makes him constantly pant as he chases his worldly affairs that have no end. Marxism openly opposes religion, while secularism outwardly accepts it, but at the same time absorbs it and strips it of its essence.

I remember the son of an American priest, of Middle Eastern origin, who wrote in his memoirs, with astonishment, after spending three months with me learning Arabic: "God is present in people's daily life here in the East! They bring Him into every matter of their lives, and they do not restrict Him to Sunday only!"

Secularism, which dominates man in general, has created a schism between faith and life. It is not always easy for the believer to distinguish between what befits him as a believer and what does not. This confusion has entered deeply into human consciousness, and human communities have absorbed it to different degrees, according to each community and the extent of secularism's influence within its society.

The more technological progress develops, the more man's ability to control his reality increases. Consequently, he comes to depend on his own energy and capabilities, replacing God with them.

Here are a few simple examples:

**Man used to turn to God, asking for healing from any pain or bodily illness, no matter how simple. Our ancestors were accustomed to calling the priest to pray over their sick and anoint them with holy oil. The sacrament of Holy Unction was a lived sacrament. Today, however, the believer turns immediately to the appropriate medicine, and few even make the sign of the Cross, asking God's blessing before taking the medicine. Prayer, meanwhile, has become the last refuge, when hope in medicine has come to an end.

**A quick survey of how weddings are conducted, both inside and outside the Church, shows the liturgical sacrament has become folklore! The reverent prayer of the Crowning has become a party! Attention is focused on everything except preparation to receive the blessing of God. This raises crucial questions: How many people practice the sacrament of repentance and confession before their marriage? What percentage approach the sacrament of the Eucharist before the celebration of their Crowning?

**How do the bride and groom today, while immersed in preparations for their wedding celebration, distinguish between what befits them as Christians and what does not? And if they do distinguish this, how can they face the influence of parents and friends? Do they have the ability to go against the customs that accompany the wedding celebration? What are the essential traditions that cannot be dispensed with, and what are the external formalities that can be abandoned? How do they understand the sacrament of marriage and, consequently, the Christian understanding of marriage?

**Has not entering the church for the celebration of the Crowning become, for many, completely empty of spiritual awareness? Does it not seem, in their consciousness, that they are participating in a sacred and reverent prayer, even though its rites are exceedingly beautiful? Do not the shameful clothes with which some enter the church point to a real divorce between real Christianity and their own form of Christianity? Does this behavior not indicate the domination of the worldly festive spirit over the sanctifying spirit?

**The secular spirit turns everything sacred into folklore or into a religious color that, in its outward form, contradicts the essence of the reality itself. We organize a church charity event during a fast, and we invite people to a luxurious fasting dinner! Does not the word "luxurious," that is, extravagant, contradict the very essence of fasting? And the agape meals, which are authentic in our tradition and which fundamentally express the familial sense of the faithful in the Church, become banquets in which only the well-to-do can participate.

**The secular spirit presents death as the natural end of life, and so reconciles man with it. It gives great importance to funeral rituals. In some countries, they cover the face of the deceased in makeup so that he may appear beautiful in his sleep and so that his appearance may not disturb others. Christianity, however, confronts death and exposes it as the final enemy of life, and transforms it into a passage toward fullness in the true life, as Father Alexander Schmemann says in his book "For the Life of the World."

This spirit of secularism has entered into the heart of the Church. This is no surprise, for the people of the Church, whether pastors or flocks, are children of this age. If the influence of this age upon them is stronger than the influence of the Gospel, they will behave secularly, even in the Church, perhaps unknowingly in many cases.

(To be continued)

https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2837