My Paschal Pilgrimage — Part 2

The flight from Bratislava to Kosice was uneventful on Monday April 21, except for having to pay extra for the overweight baggage that was traveling with me, containing various books, presents and video recording equipment. Uzhgorod is right next to the border with Slovakia and its airport only services domestic Ukrainian cities. So the most […]

A Little Bit of “Old Country” in Virginia

When I was growing up in Pittsburgh decades ago, we referred to Europe as the “old country” where my grandparents came from, and whose food specialities included pirohi (pierogis for some), halupki, kolbasi, halushki, etc. We always had these foods at family gatherings, weddings & funerals, church events, and of course, regular family meals intermixed […]

Ecumenical Meeting on the Environment

His All Holiness, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, hosted a unique ecumenical symposium and prayer service this past week in Greenland, calling attention to the fragile planet on which we live. He and religious leaders from around the world gathered on a ship off the coast of Greenland near a large glacier that seems to be melting […]

The Plight of Christians in Iraq

On Sunday, October 21, 2007, Bishop Ibrahim Ibrahim, Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Detroit, will speak at a special event being held in Chicago.  The event will include a presentation by Bishop Ibrahim, a banquet of Iraqi foods and a marketplace of crafts and other religious items for sale.  It will take place at The Nativity of […]

Hangover or Church?!

On January 1 each year, the Church commemorates both the feast of the Circumcision of Christ as a child, and Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, who is attributed with the long poetic Eucharistic Prayer, or Anaphora, that we use on some major feast days and the Sundays during Lent. Since many […]

My Memories of Christmas

As a young boy—waking up at first light on Christmas Day before everyone else in the family to check out what gifts were under the tree for me!  I especially remember a battery powered, remote control tractor-trailer truck about three feet long that I could drive all over the house. As an older boy—enjoying the […]