Newsletter July 11, 2025

On the Interpretation of the Holy Bible, Part Four

There is a tendency to isolate the letter of scripture. But to truly understand scripture we have to understand it liturgically and experientially: through the celebration of the Divine Liturgy, through participation in the sacraments, through the preaching of the Church, through the lives of its spiritual fathers and mothers. All of this forms part of the total richness of the Church. This is the context we have for understanding scripture. We allow full scope to the witness of the saints. Let us remember what was said by a great Serbian bishop Nikolai Velimirovic, who is already regarded as a saint by the Serbian Church. He said: ‘The opinions of the scholars may be marvelously clever and yet they may be completely wrong. Whereas,’ he added, ‘the words of the saints are often simple but always right.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2471

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 TITUS 3:8-15

Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful. All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Gospel: MATTHEW 5:14-19

The Lord said to his disciples, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

When the Church Seems Too Messy

Fr. Jeremy

So, what can we take away from this lesson? Sometimes it seems like the wrong people are in charge and the Church is a mess. But all we see is the brief little moment of history that we live in. Many of us grew up on TV shows in which everything is neatly wrapped up in 30-60 minutes. But that’s just not how life works, or how things have ever worked in the Church. Scandals, heresies, and controversies arise, people take different sides, and it can take years, decades, or even centuries for things to get sorted out.A

Read the entire article: https://www.orthodoxroad.com/when-the-church-seems-too-messy/