SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week –  Persevering Through Temptations During Lent   “Entering the second week of Lent, have you noticed temptations increasing?… The Evangelist Matthew writes: “Christ fasted forty days and forty nights and then was hungry. And the tempter came to Him….” The tempter came to Christ when He was hungry. Thus, hunger attracts him, but hunger is eventually what defeats him, when, of course,

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Men Have Forgotten God Much of what is being done today in the name of peace and unity by large corporations, international organizations and the media is leading us to humanism. What could be wrong with wanting peace and unity? It is the way in which one goes about trying to achieve it! In the name of ‘brotherhood, union and

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – A Lenten Challenge “Do you want to do something radical for the Lord Jesus… something that will seriously change your life? Of course, you signed up for that when you became a Christian. The Christian life is by definition radical and it is by definition a lifelong quest to change our lives from loving ourselves to loving God. The Lenten challenge I would

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Annunciation “There are times in the life of a Christian when he or she must either say “yes” or “no”…. Sometimes saying “yes” means suffering greatly for the name of Christ…. We have come to a time in this country where we better be ready to say “yes” and “no” when it matters….” Excerpted from Turning “No” into “Yes” by

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week  On Forgiveness “… for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a “good deed” required by God and carrying in itself its merit and reward. But, the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Reflections on this Year’s Lent + Lenten Resources It has now been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged, changing almost overnight nearly every aspect of our day-to-day lives in the modern world. Some of us have lost loved ones…. The quarantine restrictions that have been in place… have also parted those of us still among the living from one

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – The Ancient Path “It is my belief that today we all suffer a kind of madness. Our thinking is infected with so many philosophies that are alien to authentic Christianity that it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to recognize the truth of the Gospel…. The madness of our modern world is no accident…. And even those who resist this tide

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week – Acquiring the Mind of Christ “…All Christians, clerical and lay, have often become aware that if there is a burning topic and a great contemporary need, it is the need to acquire the mind of the Church.  Our mind should be permeated by the mind of the Church. Our thought, life, mode of living, our desire, our will should be altered

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week –  Living in Truth In the 1940’s and later, Father Kolakovic warned Catholic Slovaks about the impending spiritual trials awaiting believers under the yoke of communist oppression which included censorship, physical tortures and even death. He saw what was coming and was able to educate Christians to prepare for their persecution. He encouraged his faithful to “See, Judge, Act. See meant to be awake to realities

SSCORRE! Saint Sophia Cathedral Online Resources for our Religious Edification Topic of the Week –  May God Give Us a Good Beginning So That We Might Find a Good End! How much better things turn out for us when we prepare ourselves and make plans ahead of time! While Great Lent, our time period of preparation for Pascha, begins in 6 weeks on March 15th which seems like a long time away, the Triodion (the