Newsletter November 15, 2024

The Christian Approach to Crises, Part Four

Q: You assert that if God is with us, then everything is fine. Atheists challenge this by asking for evidence of His existence. How can it be proven?

A: It’s important to acknowledge that there is no definitive intellectual or philosophical proof on this matter. Attempting to provide logical evidence can be likened to proving the subjective experience of love. Imagine asking someone deeply in love to logically prove the beauty of his or her partner. It’s a matter of feeling, something that defies straightforward intellectual arguments. They will tell you if you look at them through their eyes, you will see that this is the most beautiful person.

Experiential matters, including matters of faith, lack mathematical proofs, where you can say one plus one equals two. For instance, one’s appreciation for classical music can’t be intellectually forced upon someone who doesn’t share the same experience or cultural background. What might be considered a fine art by one person could be perceived as noise by others. It may provoke them to the point of agitation, so how can you convince them that it is a fine art?

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2241

It is time to fast again! The Nativity Fast begins today and continues through Christmas Eve. May God grant you a Good Fast!

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.

Some practical information regarding communicating with me.

In person, face-to-face is BEST! It is the most human and the most real. Our communication is much more than just words and only when communicating directly in person can we experience and enjoy the fullness of communication.

The next best is via phone call. While not as perfect as face-to-face, it at least allows immediate interaction.

Email works for short informational items: scheduling, reminders, etc. But I will not enter into any kind of discussion via email.

I do almost no texting. It works for immediate items like adjusting meeting times and places. Not much else.

Finally: I pay very little attention to my email and phone, except for it ringing. So start there. Otherwise, I check occasionally. I do, however, truly look forward to visiting with you in person!

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: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE GALATIANS 2:16-20

Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Gospel: LUKE 12:16-21

The Lord said this parable: “The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.” As he said these things, he cried out: “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

The Doors and God

Fr. Stephen Freeman

You cannot attend an Orthodox service and not be aware of doors. There are the doors that form the center of the icon screen, opening directly upon the altar. There are the two doors that flank them, one on either side, known as the “Deacon Doors.” Someone always seems to be coming out of one and going into another. One visitor to my parish confessed that the service reminded her of a “cuckoo clock.”

“The door opens. Someone comes out and says something and goes back in again.”

I have to admit that I have never been able to rid my mind of her description. Doors are important things, even within the Scriptures. Their place in the liturgical life of the Church is important for all of

…

Such liturgical moments are profoundly true. The drama within the liturgy itself is made to serve the spiritual reality of the event. What they await is the corresponding movement within the human heart. Words alone are often not enough to open the door of the human heart itself. The dramatic portrayal adds yet one more plea from God in His invitation of love. Sadly, our hearts sometimes remain unmoved and the gates remain shut. It has always struck me as the greatest spiritual irony that the most recalcitrant locks that we encounter are those on the outside of the gates of paradise, those that insist to God that He remain beyond our world behind gates we have barred against Him. And there on the outside, we can rant and rage against all the injustice of our world and all that God has not done for us – or simply go about our business as though there were no paradise beyond those doors waiting to come forth.

Read the entire article: https://glory2godforallthings.com/2024/11/04/the-doors-and-god-2/