Newsletter May 22, 2026

The Church Fathers and Us

For the Fathers, the ascetic life and prayer were intertwined with the gift of teaching, guidance, and interpretation. What they offered, and continue to offer, to the Church and the world is the product of lived experience, not intellectual theorizing influenced by this or that philosophical school.

Fidelity to the Fathers requires us not to cherry-pick their teachings, that is, not to take a saying here and another there to prove a preconceived notion or refute a position we deem deviant. Rather, we should engage with them through what our Church theologians call “the patristic mind” or “patristic consciousness.” The Church is “patristic” in the sense that the teachings of its Fathers are fundamental to understanding its theology, spirituality, and mentality, and therefore it cannot do without them. Living in the company of the Fathers means emulating their relationship with Christ and the virtuous lives they led, drawing deeply from their teachings.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2815

We will be studying the book “The Orthodox Way” by Metropolitan Kallistos Ware.
https://svspress.com/the-orthodox-way-classics-series-vol-2/

Our diocesan Parish Life Conference (which is the annual gathering of our diocesan community for fellowship and worship) will take place in Denver this summer (June 10th – 13th)! This is a great opportunity to experience the event. The culminating event is the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning, where all of the priests of the diocese celebrate together. It is, literally, awesome.

Here is the link for the PLC website. It contains schedules, location, registration, etc.
https://www.antiochianevents.com/wichita
Please note that you will need to register and pay for admittance to any of the events (except, of course, any of the liturgical services…).

Please remember that our full calendar continues to be available at our parish web site. Here is a link:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Calendar/calendar.php

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Prosphora/Docs/prosphora sched 2026 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2026.pdf

Epistle: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 20:16-18, 28-36

IN THOSE DAYS, Paul had decided to sail past Ephesos, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. And from Miletos he sent to Ephesos and called to him the elders of the church. And when they came to him, he said to them: “Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my necessities, and to those who were with me. In all things I have shown you that by so toiling one must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘it is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” And when he had spoken thus, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

Gospel: JOHN 17:1-13

At that time, Jesus lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him power over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work which you gave me to do; and now, Father, you glorify me in your own presence with the glory which I had with you before the world was made. I have manifested your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world; yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you; for I have given them the words which you gave me, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you did send me. I am praying for them; I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are mine; all mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me; I have guarded them, and none of them is lost but the son of perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled. But now I am coming to you; and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.

The Parable of the Tree in Me

Fr. Zechariah Lynch

Although creation is subject to futility due to humanity’s fall, it will be delivered from the bondage of decay into the freedom of the children of God; until then, it groans under the burden of mankind’s rebellion against God (cf. Romans 8:20-23). It was not created for futility. That’s not its nature in the least.

The parabolic nature of creation is part of its God-instilled logoi. When our Lord Jesus walked the earth, he drew many of his teachings from the parables of creation. “Learn this parable from the fig tree,” he clearly taught (cf. Matt. 24:32).

In the modern mindset, nature is utilitarian, not parabolic or symbolic. The Darwinian myth of our age sees in nature only death, survival, and instincts. These are there, but they are not the total picture by a long shot. As moderns, we observe through the narrow keyhole of futility, to which creation was subjected, and then assume that this futility is the totality of reality. The apparent brutality of futility is not the nature of creation but the effect of sin and death. We certainly observe it, but we should do so with sorrow because creation is in such a state due to humanity’s (our) rebellion.

Read the entire article: https://inklesspen.blog/2026/05/14/the-parable-of-the-tree-in-me/