What is Christian Courage? What is True Happiness?  

For centuries, if we have the eyes to see and the ears to hear, the Church has been telling us the answers to these two precious questions! Every time we come to Divine Liturgy, through the words and actions of our worship to God, we can hear the echoes of the Holy Fathers who teach us that true happiness is kept…not in the secular joys of life which can disappear in a flash…but in the love towards God which transfigures and transforms the world around us.

When we love someone, we do everything possible to make sure that they never have to suffer.  When one of our spouses suffers from an illness or incurable disease, we are constantly trying to find ways to alleviate their suffering.  We wish that for just one moment, we can help carry the heavy burden that has been placed on their shoulders.

If God forbid any of our children are ever subjected to violence, as so many have been in the recent months, we would gladly rush into the danger in order to give our life for theirs. 

This is what true love is.  It isn’t “being nice” to one another.  Being nice is a heresy!  Being nice refutes and refuses to offer genuine love!

..They have been blessed to enter into Christ’s One Holy Church on this feast of Palms…on this feast of Joy…emulating our Lord as they make their triumphant entry into the fullness of the Christian Faith. And in just a few minutes, for the very first time, they will be able to experience a level of jubilation that not even King David or those children were able to experience.  Yes, our Lord was near them that day, but for us living 2 thousand years later…we have been given something that allows us to be united to God in ways that the world cannot even begin to fathom.

...We were given proof that day, that God exists, but on this day several thousand years ago…the Theotokos was given no proof.  She didn’t ask for a sign from the angel to prove that this was all real.  When she was told that she would be the chosen vessel to contain God, her acceptance was selfless…and her obedience was as pure as the myrrh which streams from her icon.  This is why, dearest brothers and sisters in Christ, Mary is the greatest saint of the Church...

Why does it always feel like the crosses that we have been asked to bear through life seem so difficult…and so heavy?  Why is it that it seems that others have better lives than us?  Why are their hardships so miniscule when compared to ours?  Why does a denial of ourselves and a willingness to pick up our Crosses and follow Christ…have to be so difficult?   I’m sure that each of us can point to a day in our life, where rather than bearing our passions and difficulties, it feels as if our ankles are tied to them and they are dragging us through life…as our bodies hit and bounce out of every Michigan sized pothole that the world can throw at us....