Royal Doors

Nov

16

2017

The 2017 New Testament Challenge

Beginning Nov. 15th (the beginning of the Advent/Nativity Fast), we will once again be embarking on our annual challenge event to read through the entire New Testament (aloud) by Christmas! This is a great endeavor and exercise and you should join it! Read with your spouse as an Advent discipline! Even children can do this, and they have. You can do it, too. Join the many of us who do this every year and prosper your soul in the effort. You won’t be the same. Remember, we begin Nov. 15th! The New Testament Challenge is kind of a tradition. We…

Nov

13

2017

By Brent Kostyniuk

Obedience

Both Lungs, Featured ArticlesFr. Greg Faryna, Obedience, pastoral ministry

The Holy Spirit often calls us to the unexpected. We pray that we’re attentive to the call and respond in faith. by Brent Kostyniuk Most of us like to lead fairly settled lives. We have our homes, our jobs, and the routines which bring us, if not happiness, at least comfort. When life brings us changes, it is usually because we have instigated them; a promotion we have been working towards, time off for a long-sought holiday, or perhaps the birth of a child for which we have been longing. There is, however, a group of people for whom life’s…

Nov

02

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Touching the Fringe of His Garment

Faith, Featured Articles

IT IS COMMON IN MANY EASTERN CHURCHES to see people touching or kissing the priest’s vestment as he passes in procession. In this way, they express their veneration for Christ in the Gospel book, the Holy Gifts or other sacred object he is carrying. They are doing liturgically what people in Eastern cultures did regularly to express reverence for or dependence upon their religious or ethnic leaders – or even family elders – for centuries. We read in the Gospels that people would reach out to touch the hem of Christ’s garment in the hope that they would thereby come…

Oct

31

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

The Choir of the Holy Unmercenaries

Faith

ON THE FIRST SUNDAY in November a number of Byzantine Churches keep a special remembrance (Synaxis) for All the Unmercenary Healers: those who cared for the sick or aged in the spirit of Christ, without concern for gain. These physicians and other medical workers understood their skills in the spirit of St Paul’s teaching on spiritual gifts (“To each is given a manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” – 1 Corinthians 12:7). A Christian’s skills are given, according to Paul, not simply to enhance the person who receives them but chiefly to benefit the entire Body of Christ.…

Oct

22

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Dying to Self and Living In Christ (Luke 7:11-16)

Faithdying, raising, son, widow

When He Saw Her As we read this Gospel today it can be easy to miss the point, especially if we have the eyes of our times. “What’s in it for me?” What can Jesus do for me? What will I get out of being a follower of Christ? How will this fulfill me? Our Lord, having just healed the centurion’s servant who was close to death the day before, travels to Nain where He is greeted by a crowd of people who are burying the body of this young man who has died. And as we read, seeing him,…

Oct

17

2017

By Brent Kostyniuk

Protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Both Lungs, Featured Articles

by Brent Kostyniuk The notion of Both Lungs is about understanding each other, sharing, and learning. Although we are distinctly East and West, each with our own expressions of worship and theology, there is far more which unites us than separates us. One area of commonality is feast days and devotions. Many saints are recognized in both the East and West. St. Nicholas immediately comes to mind. Most notably, however, we all show our devotion to the Mother of God. In both East and West, the months of May and October are set aside on her honour. In the West,…

Oct

15

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

The Divine Iconographer- Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council

Faithfathers, iconography, icons, seventh ecumenical council

Why do we have icons? And so many of them? Icons in fact come out of a troubled time in the Church’s history. But that’s ok, because the Church comes out of a troubled time in history. This is what we read about in today’s Gospel. Our Lord’s prayer in chapter 17 of the Gospel of John is easy to get lost in. There is a lot of circular language which our Lord uses in His prayer to the Father. This was the final prayer and conversation that Christ had with His disciples before his betrayal and death, and has…

Oct

14

2017

By Fr. Roman Planchak

Icons in the Bible

Faith, Featured Articles, Liturgy

FROM TIME TO TIME Eastern Christians are reproached for venerating icons because “icons are not in the Bible.” St John of Damascus, whose treatises on icons were instrumental in defeating iconoclasm, taught that the Church’s icons are “in the Bible” because they stand in the context of God’s own self-revelation to us through images. We make icons because God has made icons. The Perfect Icon of the Father God the Father Himself is unknowable, beyond our understanding, according to the Torah. To represent Him in physical form would be idolatry. For the Jews even to speak His name would be…

Sep

13

2017

By Fr. Michael Winn

Baptism

Both Lungs, Featured Articles

by Brent Kostyniuk In the Byzantine religious tradition, a new Christian becomes a complete member of the Church by receiving the three Mysteries (Sacraments) of Initiation—Baptism, Chrismation, and Holy Eucharist–at the same time. The rationale for this is that from the beginning, the new Christian will be able to fully participate in the life of the Church. For an infant, he begins a life-long association with Jesus, being able to receive Him regularly from the very start of his life. If we truly believe in the spiritual nourishment the Holy Eucharist provides, then we are also able to believe that…

Sep

11

2017

By Fr. Andrii Chornenkyi

Resources for the Catechism “Christ Our Pascha”

Faith

Welcome to the Resource page for Christ Our Pascha, the English translation of the Catechism of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. These materials have been prepared by the National Catechetical Commission of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in Canada to assist parish priests and catechists in their presentation of the Catechism to the faithful. The resources include: PowerPoint Presentations There is one presentation for each of the three parts of the Catechism (from 26 to 30 slides per presentation). These are based on the Table of Contents with presentation notes for each slide. The notes are of uneven length given the content…