Newsletter May 23, 2024

Thoughts on the Fullness of Life, Part One

Christianity interprets all of this as a yearning for the divine image within us to return to its origin. Human beings are created in God’s image (which we need to constantly to purify from our attachments to sinful passions). Human beings are also called to grow in His image until they reach the fullness that satisfies the soul. They are inherently drawn to their unlimited, infinite, and eternal Creator. In this pursuit, humans would find the sea insufficient, even if they were to drink it all. As long as they haven’t discovered within themselves the original image of their Creator, unblemished by sin and corruption that befell it through their fall from their original paradise, they will keep seeking this origin in every other thing, field or path.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2058

I am behind in expressing thanks and gratitude to our parish family.

Thanks to Rebecca and Silouani and the choir and the chanters. Lent, Holy Week, and Pascha mean many services and a lot of new / different music and texts. Many thanks to them for giving us such beautiful and prayerful services.

Thanks to Nina for organizing the decoration of the tomb and the easter-egg hunt.

Thanks to the parishioners who donated the brand new white coffee mugs. No more hand-me-down “Alabama” mugs…

Thanks to Connor for handling all of the grilling for our Pascha picnic.

Thanks to our Parish Council who continue to do so much work to manage and care for our parish’s institutional necessities.

Christ is Risen! Thank you all for your pattendance, prayers, and help during all of out Lenten, Holy Week, and Paschal services.

I am going to take a break over the summer and postpone our Wednesday evening classes. We will still have Liturgy on Wednesdays (at 5:30) but no classes aferward.

The Parish Council has established a system for processing and receiving gifts electronically. The system accepts credit cards and bank transfers. It is run my one of the major major processors of electronic giving for non-profits. The company is called Helcim. All of the processing takes place within their system. St. James provides a link into their system and then receives the funds into our account and a report listing names and amounts. We do not see nor handle any credit card or bank account information.

There is a ‘Donate’ page listed in the menu of the website where all of the information is listed, and here is link directly to the page:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Giving/giving.php

Thank you for your ongoing financial support of our little parish family. We hope that these new features will facilitate the giving process.

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 2024 web.pdf

Full schedule: https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2024.pdf

Epistle: ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 9:32-42

In those days, as Peter went here and there among them all, he came down also to the saints that lived at Lydda. There he found a man named Aeneas, who had been bedridden for eight years and was paralyzed. And Peter said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you; rise and make your bed.” And immediately he rose. And all the residents of Lydda and Sharon saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Now there was at Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity. In those days she fell sick and died; and when they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, hearing that Peter was there, sent two men to him entreating him, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter rose and went with them. And when he had come, they took him to the upper room. All the widows stood beside him weeping, and showing tunics and other garments which Dorcas made while she was with them. But Peter put them all outside and knelt down and prayed; then turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, rise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up. And he gave her his hand and lifted her up. Then calling the saints and widows he presented her alive. And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

Gospel: JOHN 5:1-15

At that time, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda which has five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and troubled the water; whoever stepped in first after the troubling of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. One man was there, who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your pallet, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked. Now that day was the sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who was cured, “It is the sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry your pallet.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk.’ “They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your pallet, and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

Revelation: Removing the Veil (Part 9)
Fear None of Those Things Which Thou Shalt Suffer

Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol

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Here, in this verse, it’s not talking about spiritual poverty. This bishop wasn’t spiritually poor, as described below. Here it’s talking about material poverty. He was poor; the Church there was very poor. The early years of the Church, the persecution… Some people say: “And why does the Church need money?” Okay, it doesn’t need it, but you don’t need it either. You also can live on a piece of bread a day; you won’t die. But if you need to build a house or something else, then you’ll need to have money. So the Church sometimes needs to do some things, and so it needs money. If it doesn’t have money, it won’t be able to do it. If it doesn’t, the world won’t collapse. But this is really one of the difficulties. The Lord says to the bishop: “I know about your poverty, but you’re rich. Despite the fact that you’re in material poverty, you’re rich.” And then the Lord explains why he’s rich.

It can happen that a man is both poor and rich at the same time. There can also be the opposite situation, when a man is very rich, but at the same time he’s immensely poor: When he’s swimming in millions, but at the same time unhappy, stingy, greedy—then he’s poor, naked, and exhausted. He’s neither happy with money (he’s stingy, and so he gets no pleasure from it) nor does he have the Kingdom of Heaven, because he doesn’t use money with spiritual reasoning. He thinks he’ll take it with him. Why does God call the Bishop of the Church of Smyrna rich? He’s beset, condemned, fought against—the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. The Jews believed they were the chosen people of God. But the chosen people of God aren’t those who descended from Israel and have a hereditary, genealogical connection with it, but those who do the works of God. A Christian is more than a person who is baptized, goes to church, who keeps some rule according to the typikon. He is someone who has Christ within himself, who lives by the grace of God. The Jews were the people of God. The crucifixion of Christ severed their connection with God. They crossed over to the other side themselves, shaking off this Divine blessing from themselves. Now the chosen people are no longer the Jews, or the Greeks, or any other people, but the Church, which is beyond the bounds of nationality or family, and which embraces the entire world. Christians, the children of the Church, are the people of God.

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Read the entire article: https://orthochristian.com/160204.html