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Schedule:
Regular Schedule:
SaturdayVespers 5pm
Sunday Matins 9am
Sunday Liturgy 10am
2 Friday, Vespers, 7pm
3 Saturday, Raising of Lazarus, Liturgy 10am
HOLY WEEK:
4 Palm Sunday, Palm Liturgy and Breakfast. Bridegroom Matins, 5pm
5-6 Holy Monday & Tuesday, Presanctified Liturgy, 8am; Bridegroom Matins, 7pm
7 Holy Wednesday, Presanctified Liturgy, 8am; Matins with Holy Unction, 7pm
8 Holy Thursday, Vesperal Liturgy, 8am; Matins w/ Passion Gospels, 7pm
9 Holy Friday, Royal Hours 8am; Vespers 2pm; Matins w/Lamentations 7pm
10 Holy Saturday, Vesperal Divine Liturgy 10am;
Nocturnes 11pm
PASCHA
11 Pascha, Matins and Liturgy begins around Midnight.
Vespers with Gospel in many languages, Noon.
12 Bright Monday Liturgy, 9am
23 Friday, St George; Liturgy 9am
25 Sunday 1 year Memorial for Jim Zacharias.
Pascha: Can These Bones Live?
In the book of the Prophet Ezekiel, written in the 6th Century before Christ, God asks Ezekiel if the dead bones of the people of Israel could live. Ezekiel, answering with great intelligence, says, "O Lord God, you know." Then God asks Ezekiel to "prophesy to bones" that the Lord will bring them back to life. Ezekiel repeats this and he is given a vision of the bones being brought back to life. This vision was given to Ezekiel as a promise of life and hope.
Do we have this hope? Do we actually believe that God can change us, radically? Can we face death and the decline of our bodies through sickness and age, with hope? Do we focus desperately on our own health and physical pleasures? Do we let habits (eating, drinking, anger, impatience, gossip, etc.) cover over our anxieties, or do we confront these anxieties through prayer and fasting?
But before we can faithfully confront these things, we have to know what is our goal and our hope. St. Paul tells us what our hope is: "we shall all be changed, in a moment in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality... then shall come to pass the saying that is written, "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death where is your victory? O death where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin.." "But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:51ff)
Our goal is to peacefully and joyfully come to life in Christ. He has died in a human and mortal body, in order to raise us up in our own human bodies: bodies changed, made divine and immortal. Joining us in our human experience of death, Christ has brought the power of God into our experience of mortality. If we pray and seek Christ, yearning for his life, we shall come to victory with him over both death and sin. Then we say: Christ is risen!
Truly he is risen!
The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown has been a best-seller for quite a while now. The book also inspired an ABC one-hour television special which reflected primarily on Brown's fascination with the relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Let us reflect on the main premise of Brown's book. Brown believes that the first Grest Ecumenical Council convened by the Emperor Constantine in Nicaea, 325 AD, resulted in making Jesus divine and establishing an infallible New Testament, which he claimed was never universally believed among Christians. This was a plot of the "Vatican" and the "Roman Catholic Church" to consolidate power. Already we are faced with brown's ignorance since these institutions were not inplace at this time. [at least not as we know them, and certainly not with the authority they claimed in modern times]
Brown shows an additional ignorance about the Apostolic and Post-Apostolic period up to the time of Constantine. The New Testament writings of the 1st century and the writings of the Church Fathers of the next 2 centuries: Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Irenaeus of Lyons, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage, Hippolytus of Rome, Clement of Alexandria and Origen all testify to Jesus Christ as divine. The Church of the 2nd and 3rd centuries encountered and defeated Gnosticism, a collection of various sects and groups that claimed "new" and "true" revelations about Jesus Christ and who he truly was. Among these were strange stories about Mary Magdalene and her relationship with Jesus. [written to bolster bizarre and sometimes disgusting rituals and beliefs]
Brown is right about one thing: the meeting in Nicaea in 325 AD was a high water mark in Church history. The Church defeated the teachings of Arius who insisted that Jesus was not divine. However, Brown adopts Arius and his teachings as being the normal belief of Christians prior to Nicaea. This is a serious error. Arius became a major threat to Apostolic teaching, and was roundly defeated by that teaching and the consistent record of it for nearly three hundred years.
Brown claims that Constantine and those meeting in Nicaea created an infallible New Testament limited to 27 books, disregarding other writings which showed a different Jesus. Again, Brown shows ignorance of pre-Nicaean history. The Church had colected and shared 1st century letters and gospels which were slowly being formed into new canon of Scripture. During this time, additional letters and gospels were said to be discovered, which the Church rejected as fraudulent or counterfeit. Most of these were writings attempting to back up the Gnostic teachings that the Church rejected as heretical. By the time of Constantine, the Church had come to a nearly complete consensus on what writings should be in the New Testament. Two writings, Hebrews and Revelation, were still in debate even after Constantine and the meeting in Nicaea. It wasn't until later that these books were included in the "27". The Da Vinci code may be an interesting read, but it's still fiction.
Fr.Olof Scott,
Orthodox Priest
Parish Council Report
On Sunday, March 21st, we held our annual general meeting. This is an opportunity for all to hear what is happening in the parish and also to express their opinions.
Fr. Elijah indicated that the Sunday school is progressing nicely and they are keeping the students' interest by using art and singing projects combined with some question and answer sessions. The church building is now over 35 years old and thus we have to do more maintenance and this will continue. Nick Papagjorgi has been handling building maintenance issues. He has recently organized people to fix the kitchen drawers, installed a shelf for our guest book to free up some floor space, installed a valve to reduce the pressure at the water fountain and other smaller repairs. We still need some plumbing repairs and some major work on the front doors to see if we can make them last a little longer before we have to replace them; a major expense. If someone has those skills and can volunteer some time it would be greatly appreciated. We also reviewed the finances for 2003. We had operating income of about $103,000 and expenses of $114,000. Fortunately interest and dividend income of about $11,000 just about covered our deficit. About 60% of the income is covered by donations through pledges, candles, try and holiday donations. The balance is generated from hall rentals and fund raising. The fund raising that included the golf outing, raffles, flea market and dances totaled $28,000, which is the highest we have ever had.
Our assets have increased over the years, which is good, since this provides the interest and dividend income that we need to balance the budget. I suggested that we look at professionally managing the assets to maximize the return from our assets.
Lou Foundos,
Parish Council
President.
Pascha Homily of Saint John Chrysostom.
Is anyone devout and loves God? - let them enjoy this fair and shining festival.
Is anyone a grateful servant? - let them enter into the joy of his Lord.
Have any wearied themselves with fasting? - let them now enjoy their payment.
Has anyone laboured since the first hour?- let them today receive their due.
Did any come after the third hour? - let them feast with gratitude.
Did any arrive after sixth hour? - let them not hesitate, for there is no penalty.
Did any delay until after the ninth hour? - let them approach without hesitating.
Did any arrive only for the eleventh hour? - them not fear because of their lateness,
for the Lord is generous and receives the last as the first:
he gives rest to the worker of the eleventh hour as to those of the first.
He has pity on the latter, he cares for the former.
He gives to the one, he is generous to the other.
He accepts the work done, he welcomes the intention.
He honours the achievement, he praises the purpose.
Therefore all of you enter into the joy of our Lord:
first and last, enjoy your reward.
Rich and poor dance together.
Sober and slothful honour the day.
Fasters and non-fasters be glad today.
The table is full, all of you enjoy yourselves.
The calf is fatted let none go away hungry.
All of you enjoy the banquet of the faith.
All of you enjoy the richness of his goodness.
Let no one grieve at their poverty: for the kingdom for all has been revealed.
Let no one bewail their faults: for forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let no one fear death: for the Saviour's death has freed us. By enduring it he quenched it.
He who descended into Hades has despoiled Hades.
He embittered it when it tasted his flesh as Isaias proclaimed in prophecy,
'Death', he said, 'was embittered when it met you there below'.
Embittered, for it was destroyed.
Embittered, for it was mocked.
Embittered, for it was slain.
Embittered for it was wiped out.
Embittered, for it was bound fast.
It received a body, and came face to face with God.
It received earth, and met heaven.
It received what it saw, and fell through what it did not see.
Where, death, is your sting? Where Hades, is your victory?
Christ has risen and you are abolished!
Christ has risen and the demons have fallen!
Christ has risen, and Angels rejoice!
Christ has risen, and life has found freedom!
Christ has risen, and there is no corpse in the grave!
For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who sleep.
To him be Glory and might to the ages of ages. Amen.
Christ is Risen!
Truly He is Risen!
Church Activities This Last Month
A bunch of the Daughters of St. Nicholas helped set up a nice supper for the March 7th Vespers we hosted. Fr. Elijah, with occasional parishioners accompanying, also helped an Episcopalian priest (very dissatisfied with the state of that church) set up an Orthodox education program to bring his people closer to conversion to Orthodoxy. The Orthodox Church is THE CHURCH for all Christians, and for all the world. We must recognize this so that we take "missionary" responsibility, as its members, to bring its goodness to everyone through our love, good works, and willingness to share our faith with others.
A few people have taken the opportunity to receive cleansing through the Orthodox Sacrament of Confession. To those who have come, keep it up; to those who are still waiting or using tired and illogical excuses to avoid it, come! It is only for your good and the healing of your soul.
The parish meeting went well and a very large Parish Council was elected. Let us pray that the Parish Council does everything with calm words, and a sense of peace, prayer and deference to the will of God.
Sunday School Report
At least 12 students went to Confession this last month and learned about how good and healthy it is for us be cleansed of our sins by admitting them and receiving absolution. For all, this was a first Confession. Even some parents followed the kids' example! The students have been preparing for Holy Week and Pascha through hymns and lessons on the cross, and the resurrection. The children have prepared two beautiful "stain glass" crosses which are now displayed in front of the iconostasis. They will also decorate eggs with creatures that metamorphosize to show that God can change us.
There will be no Sunday School on Palm Sunday or Pascha. On Palm Sunday, the kids will carry the Palms at the end of Liturgy.
We want to thank Ronnie Kelapire for framing the icon the kids made of Christ as a youth.
Daughters Report
Spring is here and we are more than half way through Lent. The Lenten Supper in March with the visitors from other parishes for Vespers was just lovely. We had at least 60 people, including 10 of our members. I want to thank everyone who helped make special lenten dishes, helped set up and participate in the event. Please remember that April 9th is Good Friday, and we need people to help decorate the epitaphion in the morning. Please let me know if you will be able to help. We really need you. Pascha is April 11th, and on April 4th we will have our Palm Sunday Breakfast after Church. Please try to be there. Thank you all again for making this job so easy for me. God bless you, and may you have a joyous Pascha.
Thank You's
+ To all the ladies who helped make the Supper and set up for the Lenten Vespers with our other local Orthodox visitors.
+ To the few (Helen Pillary and Barbara Duggan) who have accompanied Fr. Elijah in visiting other local Orthodox Churches for the Lenten Vespers. Would that more people would come and enjoy this beautiful fellowship!
+ To all who have come to the Presanctified Liturgy, bringing food for potluck and participating in the lively discussions.
+ To those who have baked the Prosphora or "Meshe" this month: Christina Liolin, Larry Jance and Rebecca Luft.
+ To Ronnie Kelapire for framing the nice icon made by the Sunday School of Christ as a youth.
Coffee Hour
4/4 Palm Sunday Breakfast
4/11 Pascha
4/18 Barbara Duggan & Olimbi Nasi
4/25 Pauline Logore & Rebecca Luft
Usher Schedule
4/4 Nick Filis & Foti Kondili
4/11 Pascha: special arrangements
4/18 Robert Korra & Nick Papajorgji
4/25 Nasi Pavllo & Bill Peters
Calling All Altar Boys:
We need you for Pascha and for holy Friday night. If you want to serve, you must come on time. On occasion we do run out of robes, when many kids come. So be there on time, and you will be able to better participate. If you have never served before, you are welcome to try; the only condition is that you must be a baptized Orthodox Christian to serve.
Calling all Singers:
Join with the men who have been singing the Lamentations in Albanian at the Epitaphion on Holy Friday night. Women are welcome, too: many of the hymns are specifically written as the lamentations of the Virgin Mary and the other women at the tomb. If any would like to join Fr. Elijah in singing the other Lamentations in English, please speak to Fr. Elijah by Palm Sunday.
New Icon Exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
"Byzantium: Faith and Power (1261-1557)" March 23rd-July 4th, 2004. This exhibition is dedicated to Byzantine civilization and history. This exhibit starts with the period after the Roman Catholic monarchy established by the fratricidal 4th Crusade was ousted and the Byzantine government was restored. It shows how the Byzantine culture was informed by the faith of the Orthodox Church, and also Byzantine influence after the fall of Constantinople. There will be special talks and beautiful displays of historical icons done in traditional style. Please go and feast your eyes on what a glory and spiritual treasure real Orthodox iconography is.
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