On July 22, on the 8th Sunday after Pentecost the Rector of St. George Church, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy at our parish temple. Following the Gospel lesson he preached a homily in Russian.

In his homily the Rector explained certain aspects of interpretation of the Gospel story about the miracle of feeding five thousand men with five loaves and two fish (Mt. 14, 14-22). He pointed out that the miracle took place at the evening, after the whole day of teaching and healings performed by Jesus. It tells us that spiritual matters and the works of mercy should take precedence over the needs of the body. The miracle itself, although it was aimed to feed the hungry, had a spiritual meaning. It was an image of the Eucharist, as well as the image of future multiplication of the followers of Christ. It also showed that Jesus is God and can multiply the matter and creation. God created the world out of nothing, so it is easier to multiply something which already exist; but still God alone is able to do such thing. The fragments of food which remained after the feeding were collected in 12 baskets. Those 12 baskets signify the 12 Apostles who had to share the Word of God and the Eucharist with the nations to whom they were going to preach.
In the conclusion of his homily the Rector called the faithful to seek spiritual things first and to appreciate the Holy Eucharist and the unity with God which is attained through our fellowship in the Church.

The choir prayerfully performed the singing at the Liturgy. It also beautifully sung the Psalm 33 during preparation for Holy Communion.

Following the dismissal of the Liturgy the Rector preached a short sermon in English stressing the main points of his Russian homily. Then a short memorial service was performed at the request of Claudia Popescu.

Following the services the Rector and parishioners enjoyed delicious meals and a nice company at the coffee hour.