Newsletter August 8, 2024

The Christian Priest

The priest is an apostle, but he can either be faithful to the gospel or become a mercenary. There is no in between. Christianity is not fundamentally a religion, but a path, a way of life. The priest is a guide on this path. He accompanies the believers on their journey towards God and achieving theosis. He provides them with the divine mysteries which grant them divine grace. He accepts their confession. He guides them, lighting their path. He has compassion on them, as Christ had compassion on the sick, the leper, and the widow, as well as on the crowds, whom he often saw as “sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).

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The priest is both great and small: great, because he is in the image of his Lord, not dwelling on trifling details, but rather transcending them; and small, because he does not disdain to condescend lovingly to the world of sinners, in order to purify them. He is high and lofty, and at the same time very humble and low.

My Lord, make Your priests worthy of Your fulfillment. Support them, console them, encourage them, and give them strength in the face of the many difficulties and trials they face. Enlighten them, my Lord, with Your light, so that they may be fulfilled with You, and may in turn fulfill the world with You.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2134

Our next seasonal fast: the Dormition Fast in preparation for the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos: August 1-14. May it be blessed!

Here is an articel from the Archdiocesan website: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/112

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 ROMANS 15:1-7

Brethren, we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves; let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to edify him. For Christ did not please himself; but, as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached thee fell on me.” For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope. May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.

Gospel: MATTHEW 9:27-35

At that time, as Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, “Have mercy on us, Son of David.” When he entered the house, the blind men came to him; and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” Then he touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith be it done to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly charged them, “See that no one knows it.” But they went away and spread his fame through all that district. As they were going away, behold, a dumb demoniac was brought to him. And when the demon had been cast out, the dumb man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Never was anything like this seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.

Death Does Not Come For Coffee

Fr. Michael Gillis

I have been greatly inspired by the words of Elder Arsenie Papacioc of Romania available in English in the book Eternity In The Moment, published by St. Herman of Alaska Brotherhood. Elder Arsenie’s credentials as a holy man seem unassailable, yet he doesn’t always say or do what you might expect a holy man to do. For example, he spent years as a confessor in Communist prisons and also years living in the wilderness as an “accidental” hermit—he would say of himself that he was only accidentally a hermit because the communist authorities forced him into hiding in the wilderness with elder Cleopa. Once a dead child was brought back to life through the Holy Relics of St. Paraskeva and through his prayers. Certainly his words are backed by deeds. Yet Fr. Arsenie would say things like “personally, I am not for fixed prayer rules.”

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Still, sorrowful repentance at the end of one’s life is very valuable. Wasting one’s life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing that can happen is to waste one’s life and not acknowledge it, not be sorrowful, not to repent. Despite a wasted life, the Good Thief received Paradise in acknowledging that he was guilty and Christ was innocent. The worst thing that can happen is to refuse to see what you spent a lifetime ignoring. The worst thing that can happen is to end one’s life justifying oneself and blaming others.

Read the entire article: https://www.holynativitychurch.ca/blog/death-does-not-come-for-coffee