Newsletter January 17, 2025

Baptizing the World, Part Two

This leads us to reflect a little on our spiritual and pastoral reality. The rhythm of life in today’s societies is no longer limited to the religious aspect because they have become irreligious, or simply satisfied with superficial religion. Materialism has become predominant, par excellence, in all aspects of life. Man has been deprived of one of his most important dimensions, and he no longer finds the spring capable of quenching his thirst. The rush to possess material things is not a sign of a healthy lifestyle, but rather a confirmation of an inner void seeking fulfillment in the ephemeral things of this world.

As pastors and believers, we should reflect on how to baptize and Christianize today’s world, addressing it and reaching it in a language that is faithful to the faith. This requires, on the one hand, a deep understanding of humanity in general, and contemporary humanity in particular; and on the other hand, a deep, rooted understanding of the Christian faith, with a pure conscience filled with and inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2301

In this time after the Feast of Theophany and before Great Lent (1/6 – 3/2) we bring the Holy Water newly blessed during Theophany services to each of our homes and celebrate the service of the Theophany Home Blessing. I would love to celebrate it at everyone’s home (catechumens included!) this year.

As I am still working a secular job, weekday evenings are the prefered time. Please contact me via phone or email to schedule a time. Also, while I appreciate everyone’s hospitality, I would ask that there be no food. We can celebrate the service and then have a visit over a cup of tea (or other refreshment).

For the celebration of the service, I simply need a small space near your icons. I will bring everything required with me. If you would like to light a candle and carry it around during the blessing that would be great. The service is simple: we will say the few prayers and a litany, and then we will walk through the home and bless each room with the Holy Water.

Andrew and Alli Lindquist have asked a blessing to fulfill their practicum project for their college courses here at St. James. Below is their announcement. It will be a beautiful project for us and helpful for them. Please assist them!

Help Us Celebrate the Patron Saints of Our Children!

Andrew and Alli Lindquist are working on a parish project as part of their Orthodox education programs. They are creating a booklet for St. James highlighting the patron saints of the children in our parish. This booklet will include a short story and an illustration for each saint, sharing their unique significance to our families. Once completed, the booklet will be distributed to families and added to our church library for everyone to enjoy and learn from.

To make this project truly meaningful, they need your help! If you’d like your child(ren) to be included in the booklet, please share the following details with Andrew and Alli:
Name of your child
Age
Patron saint (specifically!)
Why this saint was chosen or any other meaningful details
You can connect with them during coffee hour in the coming weeks or send them an email at andrew@teamlindquist.net
Thank you!

Genesis Class
St James Church
Saturdays 9:30am–11:00am
January 18–April 5, 2025

We will begin with a brief review of what we covered in the fall 2024 course (Genesis 1–11). We will then turn our attention to the patriarchs & matriarchs (Genesis 12–30) and the Joseph narrative (Genesis 31-50).

Per usual, people who are interested in participating in this class should email me so I can send them PDFs of the course readings (JEL1451@gmail.com). All are welcome.

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 2025 web.pdf

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

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE COLOSSIANS 3:4-11

Brethren, when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. In these you once walked, when you lived in them. But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

Gospel: LUKE 17:12-19

At that time, as Jesus entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices and said: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’s feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then said Jesus: “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” And he said to him: “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Theophany – Showing the World to Be the World

Fr. Stephen Freeman

I was already puzzled that we were praying for God to make the Jordan be the Jordan, and now we were asking Him to “show” this water to be a string of marvelous wonders. Shouldn’t we ask Him to “make” it be those wonders?

The answer came with the drop of a theological coin. Fr. Alexander Schmemann taught that, in the sacraments, we are not asking God to make something to be other than it is but to reveal it to be what it truly is. Asking God to show the Jordan to be the Jordan is simply the most blatant example of this principle.

Read the entire article: https://glory2godforallthings.com/2025/01/06/theophany-showing-the-world-to-be-the-world-3/