Newsletter September 26, 2025

The Little Churches

The family is considered the first church of every believer. It is there that one learns the first steps of faith and reverence, the love of God, and the practice of virtue. The larger church, the parish, is nothing other than the union of these smaller “domestic churches.” The more faithfully our families live out their faith, the more they will raise men and women filled with love, zeal, and devotion. In turn, the Church of God is strengthened, producing saints and witnesses, men and women committed to serving both God and society.

Within the Church, believers experience the communion of one faith, which makes them one body, a single family. Christians are called to live with a deep awareness of this spiritual kinship, for in the Holy Eucharist, Christ Himself establishes a bond stronger than blood or tribe.

This communion must not remain an idea; it must be lived out. When it is broken by division or offense, the Gospel commands us to refrain from approaching the holy chalice or offering sacrifice until reconciliation has taken place: “If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:23–24).

Read the entire article: https://www.antiochian.org/regulararticle/2573

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 SECOND LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS 6:1-10

Brethren, working together with him, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, “At the acceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation.” Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

Gospel: LUKE 5:1-11

At that time, as Jesus was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, he saw two boats by the lake; but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a great shoal of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they beckoned to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he was astonished, and all who were with him, at the catch of fish which they had taken; and so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were partners with Simon. And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; henceforth you will be catching men.” And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed him.

LIVING FAITH AND UNSUNG SAINTS
Memories of a Holy Island

Archimandrite Raphael Pavouris

RTE: May Aphrodite pray for us, as well. Did you also meet Father Porphyrios?

FR. RAPHAEL: Yes, the first time was in 1983. I was young and this was my first encounter with a living holy person, where you could feel the holiness even in the surrounding countryside. I remember that he was lying in bed in his cell, already very ill and there were many people waiting to see him. I only kissed the cross that he held.

Some years later, in 1989 or 1990, my brother, my cousin, a friend who is now a priest, and myself visited a monastery outside of Athens for the Christmas vigil. It wasn’t far from Fr. Porphyrios’ skete and the next morn- ing, Christmas Day, we thought, “We should go to Fr. Porphyrios now. There won’t be many people there because it’s Christmas.” So we went, and indeed there was no one there except his attendants, who said, “Yes, you can see him.” We couldn’t believe that we would have Fr. Porphyrios all to ourselves, so we went in and he said to us, “You’ve been to the monastery for vigil.” We said, “Yes,” and he said, “Good. Now since you are studying theology (three of us were theological students) can you sing the apolytikion, the Christmas dismissal hymn for me? Of course we knew the apolytikion, but when he saw that we were a bit nervous to sing it in front of a holy elder, he began singing himself so we could join in. Then he said to us, “What is this “light of knowl- edge” that this hymn speaks of? We said, “Father, you tell us.” (We were not very cooperative.) He said, “I think that the knowledge of the existence of God is everywhere, and naturally implanted.” Then he used a phrase that sounded like a quotation I later found in St. John of Damascus’ The Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith. “The knowledge that God exists is embedded every- where. If you have pure eyes you can see it.” He spoke to us individually also, and he gave us each wonderful counsel. He died in 1991, the following year.

Read the entire article: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e78f10494c7b26bc99e2fd2/t/5e8e386388635272ce06bed1/1586378855575/68.LIVING_FAITH_AND_UNSUNG_SAINTS.pdf