Where does the Resurrection Lead Us?

St. Mark tells us that the women who first discovered the empty tomb were amazed “trembling and astonishment had come upon them.” The resurrection is hard to believe because death shocks us-even God seems to have no power over it-in our spiritually weak state.

St. Matthew proclaims to us that the Resurrection causes fear and joy. It causes fear to those who do not yearn for it, because it destroys the way the fallenworld works:guards cannot guard, the self-righteous cannot boast, and the authority and power based on fear crumbles. For those who seek life and freedom, the resurrection brings joy and the fear which comes with a sense that a surprising, deep and joyous change has occured in our sight.

St. John shows us that the Resurrection brings Jesus’ peaceful presence as the Word of God and his power to continually work with us and enliven us with the Spirit. He shows us both Mary Magdalene’s blindness through sadness and Thomas’ blindness because he does not share the other apostles’ communal, churchly experience of Christ’s risen body.

St. Luke calls us to be quietly and gently illumined by the scriptures (the Old Testament) which cause Christ’s presence to burn within us so that we might see him when we come to communion.

But where does all this lead? Simply to sit back and watch the Lord doing something for us as if he were as distant as someone on TV? No!

Jesus Christ has given us new hope of life so that we might pray with great longing for the fire and wind of God. These will propel and power us, as the ship of the Church, into the deep waters where our love for God and our neighbour draws every “fish,” or person, into the net of salvation. Every color, language, and background of humanity belongs to God and will be offered back to him if we act boldly, as the Church. This is Pentecost.

If we are not bold, the Holy Spirit tells us: “because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spew you out of my mouth.”

(Rev. 3:16)

Schedule:

Sundays:

Matins, 9am

Divine Liturgy, 10am

Saturdays:

Vespers, 5pm

Special Events:

5/4

Vespers and Council Meeting with Bp. Nikon,

Vespers, 6:30pm.

Council Meeting, 7:30pm

5/5

Liturgy, Midfeast of Pentecost, 9am

5/20

Liturgy, Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ,

9am

5/21

Liturgy Sts. Helen and Constantine, 9am.

5/22

St. Nicholas Spring Dance, 7:30pm

at New Hyde Park Inn:

214 Jericho Turnpike, New Hyde Park.

The Orthodox Mission Teams In 2004 Consider this: especially college kids and younger people!

St. Augustine, FL -- Dare to Make a Difference in 2004! Orthodox Christians are needed to help make a difference in the world by applying to become a member of one of 13 OCMC Mission Teams in 2004. All those willing to share their faith, time and talents are being called to serve for 1 to 4 weeks this summer or fall. Those who answer the call will be following in the footsteps of the missionary saints by helping Orthodox communities in Alaska, Brazil, Guatemala, Ghana, India, Korea, Romania or Tanzania. Applications are now being accepted and space is limited. The Orthodox Christian Mission Center is offering many wonderful opportunities for those interested in construction/restoration projects combined with local evangelism efforts in Alaska, Brazil, Ghana and Korea. For those especially interested in working with children and youth there are opportunities in Romania, Guatemala and Tanzania. Orthodox volunteers with experience in construction, teaching, substance abuse counseling, health care, infant care and theological education, and all those with faith and enthusiasm are needed to apply.

ALASKA: In June 2004, the Mission Center will kick off its summer season by sending three Teams to Alaska. One Team will be a teaching team that will host youth camps and offer catechism in the Pribolof Islands, one of the most remote parts of Alaska. Another Mission Team will venture to Spruce Island to participate in much needed renovation work there. The third OCMC Mission Team to Alaska is a unique one-week dental care Team to Bethel on the Kuskokwim River. Dentists and dental assistants are needed to apply.

GHANA: In July, an OCMC construction/evangelism Mission Team will be off to Ghana, in West Africa, to work closely with local volunteers in building a church. Team members will also have the chance to assist in local evangelism efforts while in Ghana.

GUATEMALA: An incredible opportunity exists at the Hogar Rafael Ayau Orphanage in Guatemala in July. At this Orthodox orphanage an OCMC Mission Team will assist in classroom activities, provide youth outreach and interact with over 150 children.

TANZANIA: The Mission Center will also be sending two Teams to Tanzania in the Summer of 2004. One Team, traveling to four different villages, will offer evangelism, teaching and medical care within the diocese of Bukoba in July. Health care professionals are needed for this Team. The other Team to Tanzania will have the exciting opportunity of hosting a youth camp for approximately 200 youth in August.

KOREA:August 2004 marks the first ever OCMC Mission Team to Korea! This momentous Team will assist in the construction of an Orthodox community center in Chuncheon and be supporting the growth of Orthodoxy in an area where it is still relatively new.

ROMANIA: Also in August, an OCMC Mission Team will get the chance to go to Romania and work with abandoned babies at the Protection of the Theotokos Family Center. Team members will assist with infant care and provide staff-training in infant development and care. Those with experience in child-care and/or pro-life counseling are highly encouraged to apply.

Also to Romania in 2004, two valuable Teams are being planned to assist long-term missionary Floyd Frantz in substance abuse counseling programs. There is a very high rate of alcoholism in Romania and a great need exists for volunteers to help in this important work. Those with experience in substance abuse counseling or related fields are encouraged to apply for either the Team in March or in June.

INDIA: A unique OCMC Mission Team will travel to the Calcutta/Bengal region of India in September 2004. The Mission Center is seeking clergy, senior seminarians and theologians to serve as teachers alongside local clergy for this Team.

BRAZIL:The last OCMC Mission Team of 2004 will be sent in October to support the growth of the Orthodox Church in Brazil. This Team will offer outreach and catechism in several indigenous communities throughout the diocese, as well as participate in finishing work on a large wooden church.

For more information & downloadable application forms please go to: www.ocmc.org/teams. For any questions please contact the Mission Center at: teams@ocmc.org, Tel: 1-877-GO-FORTH (463-6784) or (904) 829-5132.

Parish Council Report

April was a busy month, especially with the Pascha celebration. On Palm Sunday we had our traditional pancake breakfast hosted by the Daughters of St. Nicholas. Since our chief chef, Tina Peters, was visiting her daughter in Switzerland for the holidays, I would like to express a special thank you to Christina Liolin and Linda Foundos for stepping up to continue the tradition.

The Pascha services were on throughout the week with standing room only for Friday and Saturday night services. The church was especially crowded on Saturday evening, and the large crowd both downstairs and outside made it a real challenge. A special thanks to Ardian Mile and Damian Peters for preparing the sound system, even hooking up speakers outside, and the video system for Pascha. Also a big thanks to Nick Papagjorgi for organizing the people to man the candle stand and the ushers and all the men and woman who were more than willing toserve during this busy weekend. Petrika Troja was able to obtain a large van from a benefactor that allowed him to bring a large group from the Bronx. The alter boys and singers also deserve a word of thanks for their efforts. And finally a special thank you to all the ladies that did such a beautiful job decorating the epitaphion.

Fr. Elijah has made the decision to request a release from Bishop Nikon and make other plans for his and his family’s future. He has made several positive contributions to the parish and the services for which we will remember him. He will be with us until the end of June and we are consulting with Bishop Nikon for a new pastor for St. Nicholas. We thank Fr. Elijah for his service at St. Nicholas and wish him, Rebecca and Gabriel all the best for the future.

Lou Foundos,

Parish Council

President.

WISE SAYINGS OF MODERN SAINTS

“Don’t pressure your children. In your prayers say the things that you want to tell them. Children don’t listen through their ears, but only when divine grace comes to enlighten them, then they listen to the things we want to tell them. When you want to say something to your children, tell it to the Virgin Mary and she will bring it to pass. This prayer of yours will be like a spiritual caress which will embrace your children and will grab their attention. Sometimes we try to caress them and they react, though they never react against the spiritual caress.

Elder Porphyrios

“Neither should wealth impress you, nor honor, but always walk justly. Eat your bread with your honorable sweat and not through unjust means... Live honorably and humbly, and as much as possible extend your hands in Charity. Knock on the doors of the poor, the sick, the orphans. You should prefer the homes of the afflicted to the homes of the joyous. If you do good works, you will have a great reward from God.”

Fr. George of Drama

[quotes above are from Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit,thepublisher can be reached at: www.protectingveil.com)

“There are two types of love in the world: one that take and one that gives. This is common to all types of love-not only towards man. Each person can love a friend, family, children, scholarship, art, motherland, one’s idea, oneself and even God-from either of these two points of view. Even those types of love which by common acknowledgement are of the highest category can carry this dual character...One can direct two ways of love toward God. One can see him as the heavenly protector of “mine” or our earthly desires and passions. The other love will humbly and sacrificially offer one’s own small soul into his hands. Other than the appellation-”love”-other than external similarities, these two expressions of love have nothing in common.” St. Maria Skobtsova(This quote is from her writings available on the web at: www.incommunion.org)

“The resurrection is life and a daily experience which we taste every time we approach the cross and carry it joyfully.” Fr.Pishoi Kamel

Byzantium: Faith and Power

This new exhibit (March 23rd-July 4th) at the Metropolitan Museum of Art is a wonderful display of Orthodox iconography and liturgical arts. The exhibit focuses on the last two centuries of the Byzantine (or Christian Roman) Empire. The exhibit also makes clear the influence that Byzantine art had on the Renaissance in the West. It also shows how in the declining years of the Empire’s power it also received some artistic influence from the West.

The icons in the exhibit are often exquisite, some of them with amazing detail and fine craftsmanship. Of particular note are a number of very tiny icons that are made with almost microscopic mosaic tiles set in wax. It boggles the mind to think of the artists working on them.

It is important for us to go and look at these icons. They are good examples of traditional Orthodox iconography. Unfortunately, what we have at St. Nicholas is not good, and is something of an impediment to our visual experience of good and true Orthodox theology.

Some good Orthodox websites:

www.oca.org (OCA website)

www.goarch.org (Greek Archdiocese of America)

www.orthodox.co.uk/arimathea.htm (music and spiritual writings)

www.anastasis.org.uk (Orthodox services and hymns)

www.holymyrrhbearers.com (monastery near NYC)

www.myriobiblos.gr (Greek website, much in English)

www.scoba.us (listing of Eastern Othodox Churches)

www.svots.edu (webpage of our premier US seminary)

www.new-ostrog.org (Canadian OCA monastery)

www.stnicholascenter.org (legends &facts about St.Nicholas)

St. Nicholas Community News

Church Activities this Last Month

The beginning of this month was dominated by the services of Holy Week and Pascha. The atmosphere was prayerful, but attendance seems to have dropped off a bit from the previous year. The Church was helped in many ways with the preparation for Pascha, many people volunteering for one activity or another (see the Thank You’s below).

Unfortunately, Fr. Elijah had to announce to the Church that he is leaving the parish to go back to the Midwest to focus on finishing up his Ph.D. We pray that the next priest that Bishop Nikon will choose and send to the parish will be able to further all the good things which were done under Fr. John and Fr. Elijah and even do other new and good things.

As a parish we must be ready and able to receive a new priest with eagerness to learn, to pray and humbly work together with him. It is especially imperative that all who take positions of leadership in the Church act humbly, wisely and with great support toward the priest.

Sunday School Report

The Sunday school engaged in two projects over the last three weeks of classes. The first project took two weeks. This project involved taking discarded cardboard and ripping or cutting pieces and forming a picture out of them with glue as adhesive and as texture, then painting it with gold paint, to make something like a low-relief sculpture. The whole point of the project was to take something scattered, like the pieces of cardboard, and to compare it to the disciples, scattered after Jesus’ death, and gathered by Christ in the Resurrection, which fills us with light.

The second project came out of one of the children’s questions (one which, if we think about it is not so obvious): “Who came first, Jesus or the Virgin Mary?” In other words: how could she be Jesus’ mother, yet coming into existence after him? These paradoxes are the core of what it really means to understand Orthodox theology. The kids dealt with this by discussing what is “eternity” and how Jesus is the “eternal” Son of God, and then related the idea of eternity to their own, “time-bound” lives by drawing the time-line of their days. Into this time-line they inserted a time for prayer and thanksgiving to the “eternal” God who is always there to help us and be with us.

Exams start May 23rd.

Daughters of St. Nicholas Report

April was a busy month with Easter services. The Daughters decorated the flowers for Good Friday. We only had six ladies participating, and it was very hard work for them. I would like to thank Viola, Helen Panajoti, Pauline, Gloria and also Olimbi and Rebecca. Next year I hope we will have more ladies to help. Palm Sunday was the Pancake Breakfast and the children had a special procession-they were wonderful. There were a lot of women helping with the setting up, making the batter and Mark and Nasi as our chefs for the day, to make the event a success. Now the next event is the Church dance in May and raffle as a fund-raiser for the church. I hope everyone had a blessed and joyous Pascha. Rosalie Zacharias

Thank You’s

+to all who worked on the Palm Sunday breakfast: Christina Liolin, Nasi Pavllo, Mark Papalexis, Linda Foundos, and others.

+to Ardian Mile and Damian Peters for preparing the sound and video system for Pascha.

+to the Prosphora (Meshe) bread makers: Christina Liolin, Rebecca Luft, Aida Bode, Viola Kallinikos, Premti Treska, Larry Jance and others.

+to the Altar boys who did such a good job on Holy Week and Pascha.

+to the singers, especially Helen Pillary and Jim Liolin for their work.

+to Andrea Topore for all his hours of set-up and cleaning.

+to the women who did the flowers: Viola Kallinikos, Pauline Logore, Gloria Sawyer, Olimbi Nasi, Helen Panajoti and Rebecca Luft. Also thanks to all who donated generously for the flowers.

+to all who ushered and took care of the candlestands.

+to Petrika Troja for driving a dangerously large bus to pick up people from the Bronx.

Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Albania, Holy Archdiocese of Tirana

An Offer with Special Significance: $600,000 for a church and a mosque in Kosovo

The burning of churches and mosques, does not promote justice and peace, and certainly neither progress. On the contrary, it is a return to times and practices which led the Balkans to stagnation, divisions and tragedies. Indeed, those who involve religion in the violence are essentially violating the spirit of religion. No matter how much one is in the right, he must respect the sanctity and the purpose of sacred places of worship. These should become centers of reconciliation and peace and not breeding-grounds for maintaining animosities. It is only with peaceful coexistence of the religious communities that genuine social progress can take place. This is the principal that we Christians and Muslims alike have adopted in Albania: to live together and to cooperate with each other in harmony. The sobriety of religious tolerance and courage of love must overcome the blind hatred that can only lead to an escalation of conflicts. In the 21st century, worldwide and particularly in the Balkan region, we are called -independent of the national or religious community, in which we were born- to work hard to coexist peacefully, with mutual respect and solidarity. With this conviction, the Orthodox Archdiocese of Tirana has made the following decision: We offer $600,000 -for the restoration of a church and a mosque in Kosovo, or the construction of a youth center there that will promote peaceful coexistence. This sum comes from the funds that, with great effort, we have raised for the construction of the Orthodox Cathedral in Tirana. It will be dispatched appropriately, so that it be used equitably, according to the special significance of this initiative.

+ Anastasios Archbishop of Tirana, Durres and All Albania, Tirana, 26.3.2004

There is no Coffee Hour or Ushers’ Schedule this month.