Newsletter August 22, 2023

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 2023 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2023.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS 15:1-11

Brethren, I would remind you in what terms I preached to you the Gospel, which you received, in which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold it fast—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He rose on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the Apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me. For I am the least of the Apostles, unfit to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God, which is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Gospel: MATTHEW 19:16-26

At that time, a young man came up to Jesus, kneeling and saying, “Good Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” And He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to Him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to Him, “All these I have observed; what do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” And Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.

The Transfiguration on Eden

Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick

Today we behold the restoration of Eden. Today we see the door of Paradise standing open, and we gaze within, seeing there the Kingdom of God. Today we behold the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ.

In the events of this feast, as the Gospel says, “Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart” (Matt. 17:1). We should always pay attention when we see Jesus on a mountain or when there is a mountain anywhere in the Scriptures, because it will almost always tell us something about the Paradise of Eden that God created in Genesis.

Now, you may say – wait a minute, is Eden a mountain? If you read Genesis 2, which depicts the creation of Eden, it may not be obvious that Eden is a mountain. We are given a clue, and that is that there are four rivers flowing out of it (Gen. 2:10-14), which means that it has to be at least an elevated place.

But all ambiguity about this is removed when we come to Ezekiel 28, which depicts the casting out of the devil, saying that he had been “in Eden, the garden of God” (Ez. 28:13) and that he had been placed on “the mountain of God” and then was cast down “from the mountain of God” (Ez. 28:14, 16). It is clear, therefore, that Eden is a garden on a mountain – made by God.

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God does love us as we are, but He loves us so much that He will not leave us as we are. God seeks our resurrection and transfiguration. He loves us with such power that He will not leave us in our sins. And that is why the most basic preaching of the Gospel, not just from St. John the Baptist but also from Jesus Himself is, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

Today, we have seen the Kingdom of God – it is the glory of Christ shared with His saints, dwelling together in resurrection on the holy mountain of God. And we are called to that glory. And if we will repent, then we will climb the mountain and behold Him face to face.

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The Transfiguration on Eden