SEPTEMBER PASTORAL MESSAGE
Beloved,
As a new school year begins and our calendars fill quickly, we need to speak honestly about something essential: prioritizing Church for our children.
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Our Lord says, “Let the little children come to Me… for of such is the Kingdom of God” (Mk 10:14). The Church has long called the Christian family the “little church,” a place where faith is planted, watered, and grows. Yet the soil that nourishes this faith is the Divine Liturgy, the rhythm of prayer, and the life of the parish.
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Today’s world tugs at our families: sports on Sunday morning, endless screens, social pressures, and the quiet loneliness and anxiety many young people feel. Sunday worship is not one more activity; it is the anchor that steadies everything else. Our youth learn by presence, participation, and repetition: lighting a candle; kissing icons; the hymns and prayers that fill their ears and roll off their lips; the sign of the Cross with their hands; and the embrace of a community that knows them by name.
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So, how can you set your family up for success?
Choose Church first. Put the Divine Liturgy on the calendar before everything else.
Arrive on time, so the rhythm of the Liturgy gets a footing.
Sit where they can see. The eyes of our youth engage when they can watch the clergy, readers, altar boys, and chanters.
Offer small roles. Remind your children to bless themselves when they light a candle. Bake prosforo while allowing them to help and have them bring the bread offering. Remind them to think about someone they want to pray for as they place their candle.
Talk on the way home. Ask: “What did you notice? What did you hear? For whom did you pray? What did you talk about in Sunday School?”
Keep the fast with guidance. Fasting looks different for children; speak with me for a simple, age-appropriate plan and, more importantly, why we fast.
Let’s continue to grow together at St. Luke. Beginning with The Festival of Ministries on September 14th, let’s start the Ecclesiastical Year on the right foot. There is no perfect moment; there is only now. Bring your children, grandchildren, and godchildren. Invite a neighbor or a friend. Let them discover a place where they are loved, where Christ is present, and where their lives are shaped by beauty, truth, hope and love.
May our gracious Lord bless you with spiritual joy, good health, patience, and courage.
With brotherly love,
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Rev. Father Christ Kontos
