The Easter celebration of Jesus’ resurrection proclaims the truth that amid all of the powers on earth that surround us and threaten to engulf us – cultural, financial, political, military, biological or any other – it is the G-D who raised Jesus from the dead who truly reigns in our lives and at the heart of the world...

We gather this night to eat as refugees do – on the run, under fire, terrified, tired, teary-eyed and trampled. Such was the first Passover – a band of slaves running for their lives, escaping the long coercive arm of Pharoah and his monstrous army. An uncharted journey into a menacing night. Exposed. Hunted. Haunted. Panting for breath. Yearning for safety...

Since this Sunday is the beginning of Holy Week, during which sinners were reconciled, it was called Dominica indulgentioe, competentium, and capitilavium from the practice of washing and shaving of the head as a bodily preparation for baptism. During the early centuries of the church, this sacrament was conferred solemnly only on the night of Holy Saturday – the text of the creed had been made known to the catechumens on the preceding Palm Sunday....

On June 24 the Church of St. John the Baptist celebrated its patronal feast with a majestic liturgy at 5:15 p.m. In his homily Fr. Michael spoke of John the Baptizer, the last of the prophets, as one who sought to right the wrongs of his day...