06/13/2026
JUNE, 2026 MESSENGER
Keeping the Faith after the High Feasts of Pascha and Pentecost – Fr Tom
The entire period from Pre-Lenten Sundays through Holy Week and Pascha, and all the way to Pentecost, is a liturgical experience that renews our faith each year. To me, it is a sacramental Mystery by which we are drawn into the reality of our salvation as persons and as a People. In my preaching and writing, I try to hold up the personal meaning of this ongoing experience so that we don’t lose sight of it once the festal season draws to a close. This is difficult because what follows this great Church cycle is: graduations, athletic & scholastic contests, summer, beer, meaty cookouts, vacations, trips, beaches, Summerfest, and other outdoor galas. I’m not complaining about these things in which I also participate. But it is so easy to backslide into a worldly mindset that presents itself as an alternative world.
For Orthodox Christians, the finale of the Paschal Cycle, the Gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, is meant to equip us to continue
experiencing a daily pascha in and with Christ, a daily renewal of our faith in the quiet of our own hearts. And, of course, to continue to participate in the Eucharist as regularly as we can.
For the Eucharist is ALWAYS paschal and Pentecostal at its very core. By the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it not only unites us to Christ, but it makes us His Risen Body. These are essential things, ultimate realities after worldly things have vanished like a dream (or sometimes, we could say, ‘like a nightmare’).
We have seasons of greater intensity in our Church life. However, our life in Christ” - is not seasonal. It is above and beyond seasons. Meant to be something more than “permanent” – something eternal. What, then, should we do spiritually in the heat of summertime? First, don’t give up on prayer, which is the remembrance of God’s presence. We can’t afford to forget God.
Pray brief prayers throughout the day wherever you may be. Maybe not quantity of prayer, but quality. There are always people who need our prayer, maybe even more than we do ourselves.
There may be nothing else we can do for them. Every day we should entrust ourselves and these others and the whole suffering world to God. Trusting that, in the end, he will bring all to
a transfigured rebirth, a bright unending moment of peace, justice, and boundless mercy.
Beyond this, we might do some reading that expands our vision. We might find some work we can do that lifts up others. Some of us have jobs that do this. Others have done good work as
volunteers (like feeding people in need at the women and children’s shelter.) Some might march for peace and justice as a personal witness. When we take vacations or day trips away
from urban/suburban life, we might find peace and beauty in the natural world of God’s creation, of which we are a part. We could read about Orthodox Alaska to understand this better. We might limit our time on screen, even shut off AI in favor of the primordial Intelligence which is beyond analysis or categorization: the proverbial “Wisdom” or “Sophia” of God.
Finally, since our liturgical experiences are limited by the realities of our chapel situation, we should all do our best to attend when the services are available. These are just suggestions that
could keep us from falling into spiritual lethargy in these long, hot, summer days.
