Newsletter December 19, 2024

Vince has led the project to correct our low water pressure. Thank you! Everything is installed and functioning.

There is now an electric pump installed in the men’s bathroom that automatically turns on and off to boost the pressure. So men, beware of the noise until we get used to it. And let’s be thoughtful of the young boys so as to not frighten them. They may use the women’s if that is more comfortable for them…

Here is link to keep you informed from our Patriarch concerning current developments for our brothers and sisters in Syria. This page will be continually updated as new information becomes available from the Patriarch. Please check back.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2271

The Nativity and Almsgiving, Part Two

This simple reflection on Christmas leads us to the Christian concept of giving. The first attitude required of Christians is to be open to the gift of God, because when they accept the divine gift and appreciate its importance and role in their life, they become worthy to practice giving in turn. “By this we know love, that He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1 John 3:16).

The Bible urges us to give and places great importance on giving. In the Old Testament (Deuteronomy 26), giving tithes was an expression of man’s gratitude to God for the gifts He has given us. In the New Testament, this concept extends beyond tithes to giving everything. The Lord says, “Give to anyone who asks of you” (Matthew 5:42), meaning that Christ asks His disciples to keep their hearts and hands open. Ears unwilling to hear are a sign of hardness of heart, unbefitting of a disciple of Christ.

Christian giving does not have a certain limit; it is open to perfection. Humans give according to their ability. But this ability is determined by their love for the Lord, and their appreciation for what He has done and is doing for them. It is also determined by the degree of their freedom from the love of possession, and their awareness of the importance of almsgiving to the extent where almsgiving will become their joy.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2276

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
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Prosphora/Docs/prosphora sched 2025 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2024.pdf
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2025.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE HEBREWS 11:9-10; 32-40

BRETHREN, by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God. And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets – who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life. Others suffered mocking and scourging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were killed with the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, ill-treated – of whom the world was not worthy – wandering over deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Gospel: MATTHEW 1:1-25

The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa, and Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ. So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

Orthodoxy in America

Jonathon Pageau & Fr. Josiah Trenham

I do not listen to many podcasts… But this is a great one! Two of the greatest Orthodox thinkers and speakers sharing a discussion together. Wow! They cover a lot of topics with great insight and spirituality.

Listen/Watch: https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/content/orthodoxy-in-america-with-fr-josiah-trenham