Discussions about the relationship between parish life and monastic life often get way off track. It becomes all too easy to go off on a tangent with abstractions, quotations from this Holy Father and that, accounts of various monasteries in other countries and other centuries, and spiritual-sounding concepts that have little to do with real-life […]
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Loving someone…because He loved us first! Loving someone…because He loved us first! A dear sister in Christ shared the following story with me and gave her permission to share it with you. May we learn to love others, because it is the right thing to do and it is what we are made to do!! […]
GOD IS NOT MOCKED! By Fr. Stephen Powley During my years of being a prison chaplain I met many, many men who had mocked God. At that time they seemed to take delight in making fun of anything Holy. But God is not mocked (Galatians 6:7) and He too has a sense of humor. He […]
Paradise and Hell Saint Paisios of Athos tells a story about God revealing Paradise and Hell to a simple man (perhaps the saint himself). Here’s the story: “Well, one night while he was asleep, he heard a voice telling him: ‘Come, I will show you Hell.’ He then found himself in a room where many […]
The Icon depicted is called: St. Basil, Protector of the Poor My travels often take me to downtown areas in big cities. Walking around the streets brings me face to face with many poor and homeless folks. I suspect that each one of us has experienced that awkward moment as we tried to look the […]
The Storms of Life with Fr. Stephen This past year has seen its share of really bad storms hitting various areas of our country. Some of these storms brought horrible devastation to so many, many people. Such storms often bring to mind a story I had heard many years ago that may be of some […]
Paschal Letter Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” 1 Corinthians 15:5 Christ is Risen! We at the OCPM would like to wish you and yours a blessed Pascha! At this most holy time of year, we are reminded yet again why Christ is center to our lives […]
Blessings Beyond Bars is a Lenten Youth Project with the Orthodox Christian Prison Ministry (OCPM) to teach children and young adults about prison ministry. OCPM provides a lesson plan and do-it-yourself craft activity to involve youth with a hands-on project using shoeboxes as mock-prison cells. We offer fundraising ideas to collect donations in the boxes […]
What does your mommy or daddy do? What does your mommy or daddy do? Many of us remember a teacher asking that question when we were very young. With much enthusiasm we would stand in front of the class and tell all about our parent. What does a child say when mom or dad is […]