Prayer and Faith, the wings for our Journey

Thoughts on today's sermon

"Every good thing begins in prayer. Every good thing ends in prayer."-- Fr. Dcn. Innocent, in the homily that he prepared today.
I'm very thankful for today's homily. Deacon Innocent's words, as I saw it, were truly inspired by the Holy Spirit... and I could tell by the complete stillness in the room that he was saying something God wanted everyone to hear, especially me. He spoke of faith and prayer, and how they act as our wings to "heaven." Without faith, there can be no prayer. Without prayer, there can be no faith. We need both to lift us towards the heights we aspire to reach.
He also spoke of God being able to do the impossible. This is particularly easy to forget, not only because we live in a dark and seemingly hopeless world. But we also live in an age where medicine, "coincidence" and old-fashioned pride, keep us from remembering just how much God protects us, provides for us, guides us and heals us--everyday.

Hopefully a recording of his sermon will be added to the church website by the end of the week. Click here to listen to any of Fr. Theodore or Dcn. Innocent's wonderful homilies!

The Spouse: A mechanic for when our wings malfunction...?

Last night Job was over. If we're hanging out in the evening, we try to close the day with small compline. Well, last night I wasn't feeling very well, and I just wanted to rest. Afterall, I'd already read the prayers for Vespers... didn't that count? Anyways, I knew that Job would do them with or without me, so I thought I'd just stretch out, take it easy and hope for "prayer via osmosis" while he read the prayers before the icon corner. Well, he started praying by himself, and I started feeling rather lazy and convicted of my slothfulness. The more convicted I got, the more I started making excuses for myself ("I'm not in the right mood for praying... so... therefore my prayer would be useless" and "I'm too tired, my head hurts."). Finally, when he was about 1/4 into compline, I got up from where I was resting and joined Job, standing before Christ's image, His Mother and the Saints.

Although I'm only engaged right now, I can already see just how much marriage is for our salvation. I'm still baffled as to how this young man came into my life. I might have introduced him to the Church, but he'll be the one keeping me on my toes. Glory to God!

Update: All trips to China I had planned have been cancelled. :)