Royal Doors

Feb

05

2017

The Purpose of the Great Fast

Christian Life, Featured Articles, Liturgy

Because we did not fast we were banished from paradise. So then let us fast so as to return back to paradise. (St. Basil, On Fasting, 1) Although our time has brought with it many changes in church laws, traditions, and discipline, and the Second Vatican Council has relaxed the rules for fasting, including the Great Fast[1], nevertheless, the Forty Days Fast still has significance for our spiritual life. For various reasons, today we may be unable to fast in the same way as our ancestors did; yet even today we are obliged to a spiritual fast—that is, we are…

Feb

03

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 2:25-38- Jeffersonism

Faithanna, Jefferson, prophesy, symeon, truth

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Ever prefer the Jesus in your mind to the one which we have been presented with through the Scriptures and the Church He established? In his later life, Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence, decided to make his own version of Jesus. Very meticulously he took a razor and cut out many of the miracles, the Resurrection and other things he didn't really like about the God-man he had read about in the New Testament. This book he referred to as…

Feb

02

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Luke 2:22-40: Ear Training

Faithholy spirit, Presentation, silence, stillness

Glory be to Jesus Christ! Did you ever have to train your ear to learn singing or play a musical instrument? It is amazing what more you can hear in a piece of music when you are actually listening for it. Little nuances between artist's interpretations of the same piece, the different musical quality of the various instruments all stand out to you when you may have completely missed them before. Today we celebrate the feast of the Encounter of Our Lord in the Temple, and we meet two people, Symeon and Anna, who have been waiting and listening to the…

Feb

01

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Mark 12: 28-37- Shema

Faithcommandments, honesty, love

Christ is Born! When I was a teacher, I taught a student named Shema. This is the Hebrew word for the Greatest Commandment which is referenced by our Lord in our reading today- to love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, all your mind and all your strength. Christ has been speaking to Scribes the whole way through this Gospel and none of them seem to get it. What is the difference here? While the other Scribes had been interested in setting traps for our Lord, this one comes to Him honestly. This is what allows…

Jan

31

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Mark 12:18-27 – Eternal Memory

FaithDeath, life, Time

Christ is Born! What’s your earliest memory? It’s always interesting to ask people this question and see what event stood out in their mind when they were just a little kid. Some people can remember events when they were very young, others have memories which start when they are a little older. God’s memory is eternal. He is from everlasting. For Him every moment is “now” not yesterday or tomorrow or “some other time.” We are creatures who live in time. God is outside of time. We read in our Gospel passage today how our God is not the God…

Jan

30

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Matthew 5:14-19 – Life in the Fishbowl

Faithcommandments, fish, freedom

Christ is Born! Fish seem to be the only pet we can really take care of as a family. Although my kids desperately want a dog, I recently broke and allowed them to get a beta fish which they named dizzy. Dizzy lives in a little bowl on our shelf in the living room. His world consists of a little pool of water in this enclosure. These parameters, limits and restrictions allow Dizzy to survive. We live in a culture brothers and sisters which sees all restriction to choice to be a restriction to freedom. If I don’t have infinite…

Jan

28

2017

By Brent Kostyniuk

Trust

Both Lungs

by Brent Kostyniuk As Christians, one of the things we most strive for is to trust God. Most of us are familiar with the image of Christ with His arms extended towards us, offering His Divine Love and Protection—Jesus, I trust You—this holy image admonishes us. Trust comes in many forms and degrees. Ultimately, we should turn our entire lives over to Jesus. He did, after all, create us, and certainly knows what is best for us—whether we accept it or not. Sometimes, the reality He presents us is so out of tune with our own expectations it seems impossible…

Jan

28

2017

By Fr. Michael Winn

Fasting and Abstinence Rules Prescribed for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church | 2015

Christian Life, Featured ArticlesFasting

Definitions Abstinence means that we do not eat a certain type of food or any other foods that have that as an ingredient. Fasting means that we eat less food. A general rule is that for a day of fast, the amount of food of the main meal is less than the other two meals combined. Those exempt from fasting and abstinence are: Children under the age of 14 Adults over the age of 60 those who are gravely ill pregnant women post-partum mothers breast-feeding mothers travellers (if travel time exceeds 8 hours) those engaged in heavy labour those who…

Jan

27

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

John 10:9-16 What’s My Motivation?

Faithacting, good shepherd, motivation, sheep

Christ is Born! "What's my motivation?" I remember this becoming a half joke among my drama friends back in High School. As an actor struggles to play a character, and to really understand that character from "the inside out," they would continually ask themselves why that character would be doing what they were doing in the scene. What emotion was driving that line? What intention was behind them doing a certain action. In our reading today, Our Lord outlines what His motivation is. He is the Good Shepherd, the one who is motivated through love of the sheep. He is…

Jan

26

2017

By Fr. Michael Bombak

Mark 11:27-33- The Truth!? You Can’t Handle the Truth!

Faithchief priests, honesty, scribes, truth

Christ is Born! Remember when you were younger and there was something you didn't understand and so you brought it to your parents who realized how long it would take to try to answer the question, and how you wouldn't get it anyway, and so they said "we'll tell you when you're older." You may have not been ready to understand the truth because of your age, but at least you were interested in knowing the truth. This is the difference between a child asking, someone who will honestly not understand, and the chief priests and scribes to which Jesus is…