Parables of Community

6.15.25 Leaving Everything to Follow Christ

Fr. Nicolaie compares the journey of those who have left everything to follow Christ to the beauty of a wildflower field.

6.1.25 Shoes and the Path of Life

Fr. Nicolaie shares the stories of two community members, and ponders how "the right shoes" can help us to walk the path of life.

5.18.25 Longings for Encounter with Christ

Fr. Nicolaie shares stories that reflect on loneliness and our need for an encounter with Christ.

5.11.25 Illness, Mercy, and Building Community

Fr. Nicolaie shares insights from the community on how God can use times of illness to touch all of us with His mercy.

5.4.25 Myrrhbearers at the Mission

Fr. Nicolaie shares the stories of myrrhbearers Sergei and Timothy who came to the mission this week bearing countenances reflecting the joy of the resurrection.

4.13.25 New Life on Lazarus Saturday

Fr. Nicolaie shares insights into Michael's baptism on Lazarus Saturday.

Selflessness, Forgiveness, and Working Towards Peace

Brother Luke and Father Nicholaie share snippets of life at the mission, encouraging us to pray like a child, forgive as the Theotokos learned to do, and work towards peace.

3.30.25 On Faithful Generations, Fasting, and Healing

Fr. Nicolaie looks at the role of faithful fasting and prayer in bringing healing.

3.16.25 Embracing Resurrection

Fr. Nicolaie shares experiences that are helping the community to "water the dying plants" in their midst, embracing resurrection instead of neglecting it.

3.9.25 God Reveals His Love to Everyone Through Beauty

3.2.25 Forgiveness and the Messiness of Life

The community explores the beauty of God's forgiveness as it meets us in our messiness.

2.23.25 I Was Hungry

Fr. Nicolaie explores the truth that hunger, if met with kindness, heals deep gulfs between us and creatively brings about unity.

2.16.25 Faithfulness with Joy

Fr. Nicolaie encourages the community to be faithful to the work that God has prepared for them, specifically acts of mercy, and to do so with joy, unlike the older brother in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

2.9.25 The Triodion Prepares our Hearts

Padre Roberto and Fr. Nicolaie encourage us to take this Triodion season to prepare our hearts to say YES! to Christ, just as members of the community are doing.

A Church Without a Cross?

Father Nicolaie shares stories of the prayers of community members, and reflects on the value of their prayers for the entire community.

1.26.25 Learning Hospitality from the Outcast

The community processes Zacchaeus' outcast status, observing how repentance first opened his home to Christ, then turned his heart to the poor; then considers how this relates to their own situations.

1.19.25 Returning to Give Thanks

Fr. Nicolaie shares stories of community members who emulate the one leper who returns to give thanks.

1.12.25 Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

Fr. Nicolaie shares the week's scriptures and how they are playing out in the community.

1.5.25 Expectant Hope at Theophany

The community is becoming a witness of Theophany through the signs of healing it lives and experiences.

New Life and Loss: a Modern Carol

Fr. Nicolaie shares a reflection on new life and loss in the community, noting how both are part of the Nativity story.

Nativity in the Community

Fr. Nicolaie shares glimpses at Nativity events in the community.

Seasonal Reflections from the Community

Fr. Nicolaie and Brother Luke reflect on fasting and Christmas in the context of the community.

12.8.24 Grace for Those Who are Bent Over

A look at the Gospel reading of the woman who was bent over for many years, through the lens of community members' experiences.

12.1.24 Seeing Christ

John, a volunteer at the mission, is helping others to see Christ more clearly, even though he himself is legally blind.

11.24.24 Keep Walking

Fr. Nicolaie tells stories from the community in the context of the week's Gospel readings, encouraging us to keep walking, because when we do so, we walk through the door that is Christ; a door that is already opened to us.

11.10.24 The Care of the Community in the Face of Societal Norms

The icon of the small community who cares for all is the healing source of the modern soul today.

11.3.24 Comfort in the Chapel and in Community

Father Nicolaie shares stories of community members finding the kind of comfort both in the chapel and amidst the community that is similar to Lazarus' experience in the bosom of Abraham.

10.27.24 Choosing the Place of Humility and Cleansing the Eye of Charity

Fr. Nicolaie invites us to join the community in looking into the eyes of the Theotokos from a humble position at the feet of her icon; and to live ascetically in a way that opens our own eyes to charity and mercy.

A Handful of September Stories from the Community

Brother Luke shares three stories from community life.

10.20.24 Seeing Humanity in the Suffering Ones

It is the cry of the poor who are in solidarity with those who suffer the most, today. The poor are not indifferent to the suffering, but lift it in prayer, with faith that God hears them.