"As Mary could not hold on to the Jesus she had known, so we cannot hold on to the lives we have always known. To Golgotha we must go, bearing the cross of this pandemic with us, but where we are going is to the empty tomb, proof that death is not the end of the story. For, you see, Christ is risen—and so are we." +John Michael Botean --- Music: Scott Buckley - Tears in Rain

Bishop John Michael Botean CHristmas Message (2019)

Are you in a worrying mode? Worrying about worries? Best time to listen to this episode. Music: Kevin MacLeod ("Thunderbird", "Immersed")

Fear is a movement of the sensitive appetite. We experience it every day in different forms. Probably one of the greatest human fears is of the unknown - of death. How do we deal with that? Listen to this episode by Fr. Calin Tamiian to find out the answer. Music: Kevin MacLeod ("Our Story Begins", "In the Hall of the Mountain King", "Almost New"- see incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0 License.

Can you imagine a world in which kindness would be on everybody's lips as a result of the way in which people guide themselves daily? If kindness would be the currency that we use in every single relationship? Kindness is not just something that happens to us overnight. It is the result of many such efforts that can have a "butterfly effect" in the world that we are living. Music: Kevin MacLeod

What does the opioid crisis in Ohio and a lamb can have in common? Listen to Br. Seoirse's meditation on this stringent subject. Music: Kevin MacLeod Visit us at www.refreshingbread.org

This week's word is "revenge". How many times have you thought about "paying back" to someone who has heart you? What if there is another way, a better way to cope with this? Listen to Sr. Theresa's answer in overcoming her own challenge of dealing with the desire to take revenge. Music: Kevin MacLeod Visit us at www.refreshingbread.org

This week's word is "memory" and it's a search for a defining story answering one of the greatest human questions: who are we? Brought to you by Sr. Theresa. Music: Kevin MacLeod www.refreshingbread.org

This is a new series entitled "The Word of the Week" - One word, one story, one action. Episode 1: Incense (with Sr. Theresa Koernke) Music: Kevin MacLeod - Relent www.refreshingbread.org

The fourth element of the Church's Mission is Diakonia, service among others, as a way of living. Music by: Kevin MacLeod

The third element of the Church's Mission is Koinonia, the communion or fellowship with God and other Christians. Music by: Kevin MacLeod

Welcome to Refreshing Bread and our series, “The Mission of the Church Today”. Here is Father Calin Tamiian. This is Father Calin Tamiian again welcoming you to the series “The Mission of the Church Today”. We’re going to speak about liturghia. Liturghia is a Greek word that speaks about the praise and the worship that we are due to God. We use the word in English as liturgy both in East and West as a modality to name all those beautiful rituals that we are presenting as we sanctify the people of God. But liturghia goes much deeper than just those rituals and praises that we see in the public marketplace or in our churches. Liturghia is the way in which we exhibit or piety first individually and then as a Community of Faith, as the body of Christ. And when I speak about piety in my tradition as a Byzantine Catholic priest I merely go to my first image in my childhood of my grandmothers and the women in the villages in the Carpathian Mountains I grew up in. I remember the way in which they entered the church. Everything was so gracious, everything was speaking of a presence in the spirit, and even though often their theology was probably lacking a lot of understanding, their hearts were singing, their body was praising, and their mind was focused on one thing - to give thanks publicly to their presence in the Liturgy, to the deep gratefulness and reverence they had for God. So, liturgy for us needs to start the same way: wherever we are and wherever the Spirit of God brings us to witness to him to proclaim the good news, again it's not just the level of our words and our attitude towards the world, but it needs to come from a deep spiritual life. For that I often remind people if we eat several times a day and sometimes we would like to snack between the meals, do we pray likewise? Because as we need food and water to take care of our bodies we also need the exercise of piety in the praises that we bring to God who is the source and the author of all our lives. For that, what is your practice of liturghia today? How do you praise the one who doesn't need anything else from us, but just a deep heartfelt and bodily expressed thank you. When I’m thinking of the importance of liturghia, this story comes to mind. It is said that during the Russian Revolution of 1917, there was a group of monks living in a monastery. The commander of the Communist Party in that area decided to make an example out of them. Supposedly the monks were all fat and enjoying a good life. So he thought it would be an easy target to point out to the crowds that really religion has no power. And for that he brought out the crucifix from inside the monastery and asked the monks to spit on it and to step on it if they want to save the lives. An interesting thing happened right there in front of all the people. Under the pressure of such persecution the abbot looked at his brothers and said “Brothers, even though we had lived in the past in no accordance with the world of God, today it's important for us to witness to his presence among us”. And instead of spitting or trampling over the crucifix he bowed down and worshiped it, thus, a beautiful sign of the power of liturghia. This story ends with the fact that each and every single one of those monks ended up dying that day, but they died as Saints. And the Liturgy is the way in which the saints come together to worship and to witness and to work in the vineyard of the Lord every day of our lives. This is the end of episode 2 in the series “The Mission of the Church Today”. Refreshing bread is a production of the Romanian Catholic Diocese, Eparchy St George in Canton, Ohio. Today's episode was offered by Father Calin Tamiian. Our editing and technical support is cared for by Mr. Raul Botha. Thank you so much for listening. Music by: Kevin MacLeod ("Evening Melodrama", "Revival", "Runaways")

”Nu te teme, turmă mică.” Acestea sunt cuvintele lui Isus. Ele apar în Evanghelia Sfântului Luca (12:32), cuvinte pe care le-am ales ca moto al episcopatului meu cu douăzeci și unu de ani în urmă. Poate, acum, meditând asupra acestui moto, ați fi tentați să răspundeți "Dar de ce să nu ne temem? Trăim în momente înspăimântătoare!" Într-adevăr, lumea pare a fi un loc mai înspăimântător decât în aceeași perioadă a anului trecut, sau chiar cu șase luni în urmă, sau poate chiar săptămâna trecută, când ne îndreptăm instantaneu spre un fel de haos național și global, nefamiliar nouă și plin de presimțiri negre și de temut. Și nu există lipsă de "stăpâniri, autorități, și puteri [ale] acestui veac întunecat" (Efeseni 6:12) dispuse și capabile să se hrănească din teama noastră, să o folosească în moduri care par a amenința însăși existența rasei umane. ”Nu te teme, turmă mică.” În acest sezon de nopți lungi și de zile reci, mi se pare consolator să-mi amintesc aceste cuvinte ale Maestrului, deoarece El i-a sfătuit pe discipolii Săi să devină dependenți în totalitate de Dumnezeu. Nu ne putem uita la puterile instabile și tranzitorii ale acestei lumi pentru a ne oferi securitatea de care avem nevoie, pentru a trăi o viață demnă de a fi numită "umană". În schimb, nu trebuie să privim mai departe de o simplă iesle într-o peșteră întunecată din Bethlehem pentru a răspunde la toate întrebările noastre și pentru a găsi rezolvare tuturor problemelor noastre. În acea iesle sălășluiește misterul numit Emanuel, ”Dumnezeu este cu noi.” Dar trebuie să privim noi înșine în iesle; nimeni nu poate privi într-însa în locul nostru și să vadă ceea ce noi am putea vedea. Totuși, un lucru este sigur: ieslea nu este goală… Când ne uităm în ea, ochii lui Dumnezeu privesc înapoi spre noi cu iubire necondiționată și îndurare veșnică. Ne spune că suntem în siguranță cu El, iar eu Îl cred. Iar acum, în acest ceas solemn și dătător de speranță, vă doresc să regăsiți siguranța și pacea care vine de la cunoașterea lui Isus în acest Crăciun. Muzica: Kevin MacLeod - Meditation Impromptu 01

"Fear not, little flock." So go the words of Jesus from the Gospel of St. Luke (12:32) which I chose as the motto for my episcopal ministry twenty-one years ago. Perhaps, now, thinking about my motto, you might be tempted to ask, "Why not be afraid? We live in frightening times!" And indeed, the world seems a scarier place than it did this time last year, or even six months ago, or perhaps even last week, as we tumble headlong into a kind of national and global chaos, unfamiliar to us and full of foreboding and dread. And there certainly is no lack of the "principalities and powers" of which St. Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12, willing and able to feed off of our fear, to make use of this fear in ways that seem able to threaten the very existence of the human race. "Fear not, little flock." In this season of long nights and cold days, I find it comforting to remember these words of the Master as he advised His disciples to depend totally on God. We cannot look to the unstable, transitory powers of this world to provide us with the security we need to live a life worthy of the name "human." Instead, we need look no further than a simple manger in a dark cave in Bethlehem for the answer to all of our questions and the solution to all of our problems. In that manger lies the very mystery of Emmanuel, God-With-Us. But we must look into that manger ourselves; no one can gaze into it for us and see what we would see. Still, this much is certain: that Manger is not empty. When we look into it, it is the very eyes of God looking back at us with unconditional love and everlasting mercy. He says we are safe with Him, and I believe Him. May you too know the security and peace that comes from knowing Jesus this Christmas. Music: Kevin MacLeod - Meditation Impromptu 01

First in this series of 4 episodes on the mission of the Church today, Fr. Calin speaks today about kerygma (the power to proclaim) and how this power is present and can be used in our own lives.

While "Refreshing Bread" is transforming, enjoy the gift of Bishop John Michael Botean. Christ is Risen! What a gift!

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca meditates upon the simple but often forgotten truth: Jesus has come to call sinners and heal them. Those who are well are not in need of healing. Since we are all sinners in one way or another, Jesus calls us, you and me. How do we respond to his call? In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca Mark 2:14-17 Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca reminds us that dishonesty equates victims. In contrast, God is fair and right and expects the same from us. God is perfects and expects us to be perfect. Loves honesty and integrity and will bless us if we are just and fair. Proverbs 10:31 – 11:12 Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca makes an insightful analogy: imagine receiving two invitations to dine at different restaurants. The first is in the best restaurant in town, the second is a place almost shut down by the health inspector. Which one will you accept? Similarly, in our reading wisdom’s invitation to humanity is to a banquet at her house, with best food and drinks, great people and all are welcome. Foolishness, invites humanity to a different kind of meal – stolen food, eaten in secret; death is her guest. Which one will you choose? Proverbs 9:12 - 9:18 Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

In today’s episode of Refreshing Bread, Fr. Adrian Rosca speaks about wisdom as a “treasure of blessings.” Wisdom offers us life in God’s favor. This is the abundant life, this is the best life, this includes eternal life. Wisdom is knowing the perfect will of our loving God for every aspect and choice of life. It is the ability and knowledge of making decisions in every part of our life. Proverbs 8:32 - 9:11 Music: Lost Frontier by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)