Newsletter July 20, 2023

The Blessing

The relationship that binds believers to their spiritual fathers is a familial relationship in the spiritual sense. From here, the believer seeks the blessing of the Lord, which he finds in the blessing of his spiritual father. This protects the believer from deceptive pride and protects him from personal moods and pathological delusions. Self-reliance, on the spiritual path, exposes a person to fall into the trap of discretion, so he does what he inclines himself to do and what is in accordance with his mood and nature, even if it is harmful to him, whether he knows it or not.

This discussion leads us to a little insight into our current spiritual reality. The relationship that is supposed to be established between the believers and their shepherds is a spiritual relationship that aims at the salvation of all. The shepherd’s main concern is the salvation of his flock, one by one. From this standpoint, he takes care of them with love, tenderness, and patience. Their salvation is before him at all times. For their salvation, the priest draws up his plan and guidance. He is a spiritual father, first and foremost. And if the world is reducing the Church to a social institution, and priests, to social workers, then the clergy and laity must correct this misperception.

Read the entire article:
https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/1682

This Saturday (7/22), 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. 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.

The Power of Repentance

Hieromonk Gabriel

We celebrate today the feast of the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Apostles Peter & Paul. Out of all the countless generations of mankind, out of all the vast multitudes of every tongue and tribe and nation to have lived and walked upon this earth, Christ our True God chose precisely these two men — above all others — to stand at the very forefront of the ranks of His holy disciples and apostles. So important is today’s feast — so important are these two holy men whom we now celebrate — that one of only four fasts in the entire Church year has been appointed to prepare us for this great and holy day.

But what is it precisely about these two men that caused Christ to so highly exalt them? What virtues made them worthy of such unparalleled glory and praise? What ascetic feats and labors did they accomplish that the Church should today set them before us as the highest of heroes, worthy of all honor and the most steadfast imitation which we sinners can muster?

Truly, their virtues are without number and their praises can hardly begin to be sung. Yet despite all our inadequacy and the blindness of the eyes of our hearts, even so we can and must make a beginning in trying to comprehend the lives of the two holy men standing noetically before us today.

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Indeed, without such zeal their preaching could scarcely have had the power to “turn the world upside down” (cf. Acts 17:6), and to bring so many countless souls to the knowledge of Christ. And unless we ourselves learn to imitate their zeal, neither will we be able to become participants in their apostolic labors. After all, if the love of Christ has not yet been able to utterly transform our own lives, how can we possibly expect to be able to help bring such transformation to the lives of those around us? Therefore each of us ought to pray fervently today to these holy saints to help us to imitate their apostolic zeal, and so to become sharers in their apostolic labors and participants in their apostolic love.

And yet there is a hard truth here, and one that we must always keep before the eyes of our hearts. Even such great and unmatched zeal was utterly unable to keep St. Peter from denying his Lord, out of fear of a simple serving girl; it was likewise unable to keep St. Paul from his savage and bloodthirsty persecution of the very Church of Christ. In fact, it was not only in spite of their great zeal that these two saints each suffered their most terrible fall, but it was even precisely because of it. St. Peter’s zeal was what led to his false and foolish boast that nothing could never cause him to deny or abandon Christ; St. Paul’s zeal was, of course, the very reason he went to such great lengths to hunt down and destroy every Christian he could possibly find, whether in his own city or in any other. And so we must take to heart these two twin lessons: that zeal is absolutely necessary for us in the spiritual life, and that nevertheless — at least on its own — it is also wholly insufficient.

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And so, on this great and holy feastday, let each of us fervently beseech the Holy, Glorious, and All-Praised Leaders of the Apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul, to open our spiritual eyes to both of these truths in equal measure. Let us not shrink from the knowledge of our own wretchedness. But let us also never forget the boundless love and mercy of our God. Let us hold both of these two truths together, so that — when we inevitably suffer some sinful fall to our passions — we will be able to run zealously not away from God, but straight towards Him. If we can muster the faith and the humility and the courage to do this, then Christ our True God will without any doubt turn even our most shameful defeats into the most glorious of victories — no less than He did for St. Peter, and no less than He did for St. Paul.

Read the entire article:
https://blogs.ancientfaith.com/rememberingsion/2023/07/12/the-power-of-repentance/