Newsletter August 3, 2023

The uniqueness of man; that which distinguishes him from all other creatures, lies in the fact that he is created in the “Image of God.” And in that his uniqueness is not limited only to the “Divine Image,” but also in the fact that this “Icon” is called to be in the “Likeness of God.” This is what Orthodox Christian theology has known and taught from the very beginning.

As bishop of Lyon Saint Irenaeus (130-202 AD), preached that the “Glory of God is the Living Man.” Some of the Fathers of the Church define or identify rather than combine the “Divine Image,” or the “Icon,” according to which man was created to mean the totality of his nature. Because man is viewed as a single entity uniting all the divisions known to human culture such as body, soul and spirit. Church Fathers consider the “Image” to mean the supreme manifestation of man, referring to his spirit and his spiritual understanding. Saint Gregory Nazianzus says: “Being dust, I cling to the life of this earth, but also being a masterpiece of God, I carry within me the desire for the life to come.” This is the understanding through which man obtains the knowledge of God and through it he lives in communion with God.

According to our faith, this means that the “Image of God” in man is what differentiates him from animals: his freedom, the ability to choose and change, the knowledge of good and evil, the ability of innovation, the power of creativity and the reshaping of the world, to praise and to re-offer the world as a transfigured world, etc. We should be aware that the thought of the holy fathers avoided defining the image of God with any part of the human being.

Read the entire article:
https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1692

With all of this rain… This Saturday (8/5), 9:00 A.M. If you have any question regarding weather, etc., please call (so much rain lately!)

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. PETER’S SECOND UNIVERSAL LETTER 1:10-19

BRETHREN, be more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never fall; so there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things. For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, ” we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Gospel: MATTHEW 17:1-9

At that time, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain apart. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. And Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is well that we are here; if you wish, I will make three booths here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” He was still speaking, when lo, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces, and were filled with awe. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. And as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Tell no one the vision, until the Son of man is raised from the dead.”

The Essence of Orthodoxy

Fr. Lawrence Farley

What is the essence of Orthodoxy?

For some it is doctrinal rigour and its partisans are keen to sniff out any hint or whiff of possible heresy. Like modern Byzantine heirs of the Spanish Inquisition (now sadly expected by everyone online) they scroll through the pages of blogs and OCA catechetical manuals for imprecise or infelicitous phrases to denounce with a kind of triumphant joy.

For others it is liturgical fullness and precision. Dismissively labelled as “typikonchiki” by the late Fr. Alexander Schmemann, these zealots insist as a matter of supreme importance absolute conformity to every last detail of the Typikon, the monastic rule book offering details for how life (liturgical and otherwise) should be ordered in a monastery. Deviation from the requirements of the Typikon (such as the abbreviation of services or the serving of them at times other than those specified in the Typikon) are denounced as base betrayals of Orthodoxy and as symptoms of apostasy and theological liberalism.

I suggest another marker as the essence of Orthodoxy: love—specifically, love for God and its corollary, love for one’s neighbour. Or, in different words, devotion to Jesus Christ.

…

The essence of Orthodoxy is therefore found in our love for the Lord. As an example of such love and devotion, I would call your attention to a Bulgarian peasant noticed in his devotion by the late H.V.R. Morton almost a hundred years ago. The passage, though a bit lengthy, is worth quoting in full.

Morton was visiting the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and waiting for his turn to enter the Tomb of Christ. His turn was long delayed, because someone had entered the Tomb before him. Morton (in an account published first in 1934) recorded his experience:

“I could see a pilgrim kneeling at the sepulchre, so I waited in the small, dark ante-chamber outside. Becoming impatient, I bent down and, peeping through the low entrance, saw that the man inside was an old, bent peasant in ragged clothes, his feet in a pair of huge shoes made of felt. He was a Bulgarian who had come over in a pilgrim ship, and he had probably been saving up all his life for that moment.

Read the entire article:
https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/nootherfoundation/the-essence-of-orthodoxy/