June 06, 2021

Pray & Sing in Suffering
Sunday of the Blind Man

- Fr. Micah Hirschy -


Today on the Sunday of the Blind Man, the Epistle reading comes to us from Acts 16:16-34. In this reading we learn that Paul and Silas are stripped, beaten and thrown into prison after casting out a demon from a young slave girl. Father Micah shares with us a message of encouragement, pertinent to the imprisonment and suffering in our own lives. Paul and Silas find themselves in the darkest part of the inner prison and yet verse twenty-five tells us, they were praying and singing hymns to God, as the other prisoners listened.  They turned the prison into a sanctuary, by offering up Glory to God, in the midst of suffering. The story of Daniel in the lion’s den and the three youths in the furnace, along with the Psalms, give us a pattern in Scripture of praying in the midst of suffering. It is important for us to remember not to wait till suffering comes to pray, but to live a consistent, daily life of prayer and follow the example of the saints.

 



Fr. Micah Hirschy grew up in St. Paul, MN and attended St. George Greek Orthodox Church. He graduated from Hellenic College in 2004 and continued his studies at Holy Cros

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Photography Credits: Beth Hontzas - Music: Presbytera Katerina Makiej





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Fr. Micah Hirschy grew up in St. Paul, MN and attended St. George Greek Orthodox Church. He graduated from Hellenic College in 2004 and continued his studies at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, where he graduated with an M. Div. in 2007. Upon graduating, he began working at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Memphis, TN as Pastoral Assistant. He was married in 2011 to Anastasia Hartzes of Mobile, AL and was ordained to the Deaconate and Priesthood by Metropolitan ALEXIOS of Atlanta in December of 2012. He currently serves as Ephemerios at the Holy Trinity Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Birmingham, AL.