Back on to the Path: November is Stewardship Month

"Human beings are not consistent in the choices they make. One moment a person may choose to act in a most generous and self-sacrificing way; then a moment later the same person may act with greed and selfishness. ... We will always be inclined to stray from the path of love; day by day we will make wrong choices. ... To be a disciple of Christ is not a guarantee of always remaining on the path; rather it is a commitment – a promise – to stay as near to the path as the will allows, and to struggle back onto the path after straying."

So wrote our beloved St. John Chrysostom about stewardship over 1500 years ago. Stewardship is a deeply powerful and mysterious calling from our Lord, and a doorway in to many important questions and challenges. This month on Antiochian.org, we're featuring a small selection of some of the writings and resources on stewardship from within our Archdiocese today.

+ What relevance does the ancient practice of tithing have for us today? : The Trail of the Tithe, by Fr. Thomas Zell

+ “The longest path is the one that leads from the heart to the pocket.” : Confessing Your Financial Sins, by Fr. Michael Tassos

+ "As each new liturgical year roles around in September, we find ourselves looking for parishioners to teach in our Church School, sing in our choir, serve in the altar, oversee our Youth Ministry, join the organizations, usher, chant, cook, clean, plan for the future, pay the bills, make the necessary decisions, and so on, ad infinitum. Then, we look at them all and call them such wonderfully “dedicated volunteers,” and try to be ever so careful not to put too many demands on them, or expect too much from them, because they are simply “volunteers.” Well, enough of that word and mentality! May I humbly, yet boldly, say we are NOT volunteers. We are stewards!" : Volunteerism or Stewardship, by Christopher Holwey

+ "The 2007 tithing program for children presents the Saints Helen, Constantine, Artemius, and the Patriarch Jacob, as exemplars of stewardship, trust, dedication to God, and thankfulness - traits that nurture the practice of tithing." : To Tithe is to Share, 2007-2008 Department of Christian Education Tithing Program for Children

The Advent Season

In December, Antiochian.org will be unveiling more changes to make your time on our site more fruitful. We'll also be bringing a range of posts on Nativity. As we enter together in to the Advent Fast before this great Feast, let us point to two special articles for the season:

+ "Christmas Eve, to me, is a time for reflection. The year is slowly sinking into the ocean of eternity, and in my reflection there are painful questions: Did I love Him enough? Did I serve Him enough? Did I suffer enough? Did I forgive enough? How many tears did I dry? How many wounds did I bind? Was I faithful to Him who loved me beyond measure?" : On the Nativity of the Lord: 1994 Christmas Sermon by Metropolitan Philip

+ "What is the meaning of the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord in our family life? How can we live through the preparatory period of Advent as a Christian family? Can this meaning be truly and naturally, unpretentiously, embodied in the experience of a family, a home with children, teenagers, adults and old people?" : The Advent Period in Home Life, by Sophie Koulomzin