Newsletter November 13, 2026

The Sacrament of Confession, Part One

The work of the priest has expanded in our time, and his duties have multiplied, no longer limited to performing rituals, but extending to the fields of education, guidance, and social services. Amidst these diverse services, the risk of the priest losing sight of his purpose is very real. According to our Orthodox faith, everything must contribute to the primary goal we call “life in Christ,” that is, helping people achieve spiritual healing and open themselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in their person and life. Therefore, his role as confessor is paramount. His essential service lies in being a spiritual father who raises children in Christ and for Christ.

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2993

Many thanks to Jeff Alipy for the new icon of the Lord’s Supper over the Holy Doors of our iconostasis. Jeff Alipy and his family are dedicating this icon to the memory of his recently reposed mother Virginia.

Get ready! Our Fast in preparation for the Great Feasts of the Lord’s Nativity and Theophany begins Noveember 15 and continues through December 24.

I am beginning to put together the schedules for next year for the Bakers and the Epistle readers. If you would be interested in joing into either of them, please speak with Fr. Mark.

It is a joy and blessing for me to see everyone’s desire to venerate the newly placed icons at the front of the Church (nave)! If I may make one point for the sake of clarification. Coming forward to venerate the cross being held by the priest and to receive the antidoron (bread) is the end of the Divine Liturgy and is the proper manner and way to leave the Church. In our practice at St. James, the reader reads aloud the Prayers After Holy Communion. These are beautiful and important prayers. They are also read to provide a prayerful environment for us as we depart the Church (and to remind us to NOT begin chatting and greeting each other until we reach the Parish Hall). I thank you all for the piety with which this is all conducted every Liturgy! Now for the practical note. For those who wish to venerate the icons in front of the Church after the cross veneration, it is appropriate to do so immediately after the veneration has concluded, even if the reader is still reciting the Prayers After Holy Communion. As I said above, those prayers are there as a background: so please continue to listen to them, but still come forward and venerate the icons as you do so. Thank you!

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 2026 web.pdf

Full schedule:
https://stjfc.org/Pages/Ministries/Altar/Docs/epistle readers for 2026.pdf

Epistle: ST. PAUL’S LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS 2:14-22

Brethren, Christ is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

Gospel: LUKE 10:25-37

At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered right; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed mercy on him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.

The Measure of Our Christianity

Igumen Gabriel

But after laying the foundation of genuine humility, we must build upon such a foundation by means of true faith. Although true Christian love is a thing divine, nevertheless Christ has given us absolutely everything needed to make such love and divine life our own. He has done this above all through the Mysteries of the Church: baptism, chrismation, confession, and Holy Communion. When yoked together with a life of prayer and of faith, the Holy Mysteries fulfill in very truth the words of Christ: “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God” (Luke 18:27).

And what if we are already living such a life — at least, to the best of our ability — and still find ourselves unable to love as we ought? In such a case, the Holy Fathers have passed down to us a particularly powerful practice: to pray every single day for those whom we are struggling to love, making a prostration and saying: “Save, O Lord, and have mercy on Thy servant N., and through his/her holy prayers have mercy and save me, a sinner.” This prayer is especially powerful because we are not only asking God to bring the other person into the Kingdom of Heaven, but we are also relying on their prayers for us to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. In particular, the humility it takes to rely on the prayers of our enemies (especially when yoked together with physical prostrations) does much to draw down upon us the grace of God. And in the long run, it is impossible for such a prayer to coexist in a human heart together with any kind of hatred or animosity or even coldness toward that other person. One will eventually drive out the other.

Read the entire article: https://www.rememberingsion.com/p/the-measure-of-our-christianity