On the seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Fr. Matthew Howell passes on advice that he received the previous Sunday while serving liturgy at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, Pennsylvania. He served with a retired OCA priest of 54 years, Fr. John Steffaro, who told him three things to do as a priest: 1) Preach the Gospel; 2) Pray the Liturgy; and 3) Love your people. Fr. Matthew ties this into today's epistle from Romans 15 and then relays this advice to his parish. He explains that it is readily applicable to the life of any Christian who should live the Gospels, attend and pray the Liturgy and services of the Church, and love the people that God has set before them. The final thought of the homily is from a phrase that Fr. John Steffaro uses in his interactions with people: "Let us love one another as Jesus has loved us."
