Newsletter June 15, 2023

Having celebrated the feast of feasts, the Lord’s Pascha, and Pentecost fifty days thereafter, we are about to embark upon the Apostles’ Fast, which this year begins on June 12, 2023, and ends with the commemoration of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul on June 29.

The Fast is a prescribed fasting period of the Church, lasting from the day after the Sunday of All Saints to the 29th of June, the feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

It is a sad truth that many neglect this particular fast for a variety of reasons inconsistent with the apostolic and patristic tradition. Prior to reflecting upon the importance of the Apostles’ Fast, a review of the ancient history of this particular fast may help us to recognize its integral place in the life of each and every Orthodox Christian.

Read the entire article:
https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/685

Next Saturday (6/24), 9:00 A.M. If you have any question regarding weather, etc., please call.

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 2:10-16

Brethren, glory and honor and peace for every one who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

Gospel: MATTHEW 4:18-23

At that time, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left their boat and their father, and followed him. And he went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people.

Why Praise God and What Is the Right Way to Do It?

Archpriest Andrei Gavrilenko

We have forgotten how to give praise. We still manage to praise children somehow. But as for adults, our “praise” is almost always tinged with flattery or envy.

We don’t praise God at all. We are used to asking Him for things. Many have learned to give thanks to God, and this is great. But praising Him is something we clearly do not know how to do. We do not often hear sermons about how we are called to give praise to God. But praising God is not flattery. It is an acknowledgment of His power, wisdom, holiness, kindness and love. If there is no acknowledgment of all these, then there is no faith in God’s help, in His Providence and in salvation that comes from the Lord.

You will probably be surprised, but our Orthodox service is built on praise. We have the Great Doxology and the Small Doxology. The latter is used at the end of almost every prayer: “Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.” This is the acknowledgment of the greatness of the Holy Trinity now, always and forever. Amazingly, the entire Liturgy is imbued with the spirit of praise. The first two psalms sung at the Liturgy, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” and “Praise the Lord, O my soul,” are a call to our entire being to glorify the Greatness of God. The first exclamation of the Liturgy encourages us to wake up and stand before the greatness of God’s Kingdom.

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The church teaches us to praise God. An attentive life teaches us to praise God. There are the following words in the morning prayers, “Open our mouths and fill them with Thy praise.” The Apostle Paul urges us to sing to God and give Him a sacrifice of praise (cf. Heb. 13:15). The examples of saints teach us to praise God. Our heart and mind need to praise God. May my tongue and my will be directed towards this filial endeavor.

Read the entire article:
https://orthochristian.com/154258.html