Like St. John the Baptist had while awaiting his beheading, we see a "peace from above" in the faces of those under persecution today in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

To those who are here amid work and worship, who have already raised children in the Church…be a source of encouragement to those with young children!  If there comes a moment where we should become distracted, let us remember the Gospel lesson today of what happens when we pay attention to the wind and storms around us.  Let us remember that if we truly do have a life that is deeply rooted in prayer, and if our minds and hearts are truly set on the Liturgy itself, then we should have a spiritual intensity within us that overwhelms the nervous ripples of noise and distraction in the Liturgy!

"...This treasure goes on and on, and gets better and better the deeper you continue to go into the depths of the Church…no matter how long you have been in the castle, or how many treasure chests you have already opened."

What would it be like to fall asleep for centuries, only to wake up and find a world completely different than the one you were used to?

There is a reason, dear ones, why the Great Artificer, when He was creating mankind, chose to put our eyes towards the top of our bodies.  It is because we as human beings have a natural tendency to gaze upwards towards the heavens.  Whether it is on a dark and starry night, or catching a beautiful sunrise, or even to let our minds wander while staring at the clouds, we are perhaps the only creatures on this planet who turn our gazes to the heavens in deep wonder and thought.