Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church

130 North Saint Francis Cabrini Avenue Scranton, PA 18504

Rev. Protodeacon Michael Jolly
Administrator pro tempore
570-213-9344

Reader Michael Simon Parish Office 570-343-6092

E-Mail: Web: Webmaster:

scrantonmelkite@yahoo.com http://melkitescranton.org Sal Zaydon

November 6, 2011 Tone 4 and Orthros Gospel 10 Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vespers 4pm Compline Weds 8:30PM

7th Sunday After The Holy Cross The Daughter of Jairus Sunday Orthros 8:55 am Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 am Parish Notes:

Welcome back Father John Wysochanski who serves liturgy today . Great Vespers returns to 4PM this Saturday now that daylight savings time has ended. Work has completed on our steeple repair, thank you for your patience. Parish Council Meets today after Divine Liturgy Thanks to all who helped at the Spaghetti Dinner. We served over 170 dinners and grossed over $1900. Dn Michael is away Weds Fri this week . Compline will Not be served Wednesday evening. The Qurban used in todays liturgy was baked by Simeon Clark

Liturgy Intentions:
November 6, 2011 Officer Joseph Wargo by Protodeacon Michael November 13, 2011 James Murray by Henry and Denise Nahal Joseph Diaco by Jim and Betsy Zaydon
Cover Icon: Saint Paul of ConstantinopleConfessor

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The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

Antiphons:
First Antiphon Through the prayers of the Mother of God Second Antiphon O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead Hymn of incarnation Third Antiphon Tone 2 Tone 2 Tone 4 Tone 4 Tone 4 Tone 3 Tone 2

Hymns:
Resurrectional Troparion Troparion of the Martyrs Zenobios and Zenobia Troparion of St. Joseph Kontakion O Never Failing
Your confession of the divine Faith established you in the Church as another Paul, full of zeal, among the hierarachs. Your innocent blood cries out the Lord with that of Abel and Zecheriah.

Prokiemenon
How great are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom You have wrought them all. Stichon: Bless the Lord, O my soul!You are very great indeed, O Lord my God!

Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Galatians 2:16-20

BRETHREN, , we know man is not justified by the works of the Law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Hence we also believe in Christ Jesus, that we may be justified by faith in Christ, and not by the works of the Law, because by the works of the Law no man will be justified. But if, while we are seeking to be justified in Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore the minister of sin? By no means. For if I rebuild the things I destroyed, I make myself a sinner. For through the Law I have died to the Law that I may live for God. With Christ I am nailed to the cross. It is now no longer I who live, but Christ is living in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live within the faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

Alleluia (Tone 4) Ps.44: 5, 8

String your bow, go forth, reign for the sake of truth, meekness and righteousness, and your right hand shall lead you wonderfully. Stichon: You loved righteousness and hated iniquity: therefore God, your God, anointed you with the oil of joy above your companions.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

8: 41-56

At that time behold, there came a man named Jairus to Jesus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue; and falling at the feet of Jesus, he entreated Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying. And it happened as He went that He was pressed upon by the crowds. And a certain woman who for twelve years had had a hemorrhage, and had spent all her means on physicians, but could not be cured by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the tassel of His cloak; and at once her hemorrhage ceased. And Jesus said, Who touched Me? But as all were denying it, Peter, and those who were with Him, said, Master, the crowds throng and press upon You, and You say, Who touched Me? But Jesus said, Someone touched Me; for I perceived that power had gone forth from Me. But the woman, seeing that she had not escaped notice, came up trembling, and falling down at His feet, declared in the presence of all the people why she had touched Him, and how she had been healed instantly. And He said to her, Daughter, your faith has saved thee; go in peace. While he was yet speaking, there came one from the house of the ruler of the synagogue, saying to him, your daughter is dead; do not trouble Him. But Jesus on hearing this word answered the father of the girl, Do not be afraid; only have faith and she shall be saved. And when He came to the house, He allowed no one to enter with Him, except Peter and James and John, and the girls father and mother. And all were weeping and mourning for her. But he said, Do not weep; she is asleep, not dead. And they laughed at Him, knowing that she was dead. But He, taking her by the hand, cried out, saying, Girl, arise! And her spirit returned, and she rose up immediately. And He directed that something be given her to eat. And her parents were amazed, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

On Touching the Hem of His Garment

WE LIVE IN A SPEED-DRIVEN AGE. We look for faster ways to accomplish every task: in the office, in the kitchen, in the classroom. In our economy, speed is a source of competitive advantage. In the workplace higher speed means greater efficiency. Today to build a better mousetrap means to build a faster mousetrap. As a result we are increasingly intolerant of slowness. Waiting becomes more and more difficult. If we encounter a long line in a store, a bank or a post office our impulse is to leave and come back later. Our relationships with others may be scarred or shattered by our impatience with others. Our impatience with ourselves can make it impossible for us to rejoice in or even accept life in the present. While people with chronic illnesses or handicaps have health services available to them as never before, their greatest suffering today may be psychological: knowing that they must live with their affliction day in and day out without hope of deliverance. Some advocate suicide or mercy killing as a way out of this impasse. The Netherlands, Belgium and Switzerland have decriminalized mercy killing in certain circumstances to give people a way out of their hopeless conditions. In contrast we find the situation of the woman recorded in the Gospels whose hopeless condition exceeded anything prevalent in developed countries today. We are told that she had been hemorrhaging for twelve years. In the Torah any contact with vital fluids such as blood rendered a person ritually impure and called for the sufferer to be avoided. If a woman hemorrhages for many days not at the time of her period she shall be unclean as in the days of her period. Every bed that she lies on and every object that she sits on shall be unclean as in the time of her period. Anyone who touches her shall be unclean and shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening. When she is cleansed from her discharge, she must count off seven days, and after that she will be ceremonially clean. (Leviticus 15:25-28).

Since this woman was still hemorrhaging, it

meant that she could not experience any intimate contact for twelve years. Christ Alone Brings Healing In Mark 5:26 we read that her attempts at finding medical help had been as fruitless as they were financially draining. She had no hope until she heard of Jesus. She approached Him secretly to avoid defiling Him or being rejected by Him, but touching the All-Pure One cleansed and purified her. Contact with the Long-Suffering One ended her long suffering. In the New Testament physical healings and other miracles generally point to spiritual healing. Here the womans illness and her healing contact with Christ direct our minds to reflect on our own spiritual condition. Most Christians today look upon the idea of ritual impurity in the Old Testament manner as antiquated and not part of our spirituality. Yet, each of us is unfit for contact with the Holy One because we share a nature scarred by sin and subject to death. We need to touch the hem of Christs garment for our broken nature to be restored. For us who live in the time after Christs resurrection the hem of His garment, the physical realities which convey His divine power to us, are the Holy Mysteries. In baptism we rise with Him from the death of our broken humanity. In the Eucharist we become more deeply one with Him in His Body, the Church. We come to Him in the various circumstances of our life our need for physical or spiritual healing, our desire to experience His blessing on our families and our ministries seeking to be transformed by His presence. And when we approach the water, chrism, oil, or crowns with the faith of this unnamed woman in the Gospels we are touched by the power going out from Him through them as well. The Mysteries as Works of the Law It is all too easy for us, particularly those raised in the Church, to approach the Holy Mysteries as if they were acts of ritual cleansing as described in the Torah. We can bring our children for baptism because thats what we do with babies to make

them Christians. We can approach the mystery of confession legalistically, so that we can get a pass to receive the Eucharist. Approaching any of the mysteries as if they were rites of passage or ritual purifications or as anything other than reaching out to touch the hem of Christs garment turns them into works of the Law. And, as St Paul insists, by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified (Gal 2:16). Our sacramental contacts with Christ are meant to affect our life. The Holy Mysteries are not simply rites, ceremonial moments that we perform then return to ordinary life without their affecting the way we live. On the one hand we live and worship as Christians only because we have touched Christ. He alone is holy, He alone is Lord. On the other hand we know that our baptismal union with Christ does not guarantee that we will live the life we have received. As with the woman in the Gospels, our contacts with Christ are simply part of the story. The way we live determines how the story develops and will end. The Woman in Eastern Christian Lore The Scriptures do not mention this woman again. A later work, the Acts of Pilate, gave her a name, Berenice, but this does not shed any light on how her healing affected her life. In the West this name was transliterated as Veronica, whose connection with Christs passion was popularized in the Middle Ages. The Acts of Pilate, parts of which date to the midsecond to third century, describe this woman as offering testimony at the trial of Jesus: There was found there also a woman named Berenice, and she said: Twelve years I was in an issue of blood, and I only touched the edge of his garment, and directly I was cured. The Jews say: Our law does not admit the testimony of a woman (Acts of Pilate, 7). According to one tradition, Berenice caused a statue of the Lord Jesus to be made in gratitude for her healing, before which she prayed to God. The fourth century Bishop of Caesarea, Eusebius, described it: Since I have mentioned this city [Caesarea Philippi] I do not think it proper to omit an account which is worthy of record for posterity. For they say that the woman with an issue of blood, who, as we learn

from the sacred Gospel, received from our Savior deliverance from her affliction, came from this place, and that her house is shown in the city, and that remarkable memorials of the kindness of the Savior to her remain there. For there stands upon an elevated stone, by the gates of her house, a brazen image of a woman kneeling, with her hands stretched out, as if she were praying. Opposite this is another upright image of a man, made of the same material, clothed decently in a double cloak, and extending his hand toward the woman. They say that this statue is an image of Jesus. It has remained to our day, so that we ourselves also saw it when we were staying in the city. This statue was preserved up to the time of Julian the Apostate, when it was altered to become a statue of Zeus.

Among Todays Saints

Saint Paul the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople, was chosen to the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Alexander (+ 340), when the Arian heresy had again flared up. Many of the Arians were present at the Council which selected the new Archbishop of Constantinople. They revolted in opposition to the choice of St Paul, but the Orthodox at the Council were in the majority.

The Church's Teaching Concerning Angels

The word "angel" means "messenger" and this word expresses the nature of angelic service to the human race. From the days of man's life in paradise, mankind has known of their existence, and its almost universal recognition is reflected not only in Judaism but in most other ancient religions as well.

When Adam was expelled from paradise after his fall, one of the cherubim with a flaming sword was set to guard the gates of Eden (Gen. 3:24). When Abraham sent his servant to Nahor, he encourThe emperor Constantius, ruling over the Eastern half of aged him by telling him that the Lord would send His angel bethe Roman Empire, was an Arian. He was not in fore him and prosper his way (Gen. 24: 7, 40). Jacob saw angels Constantinople for the election of the Archbishop, and so both in a dreamthe vision of the ladderand when awake it took place without his consent. Upon his return, he when returning home to Esau he saw a host of the angels of God. convened a council which illegally deposed St Paul, and In the Psalter there are constant references to angels, and we also the emperor banished him from the capital. In place of read of them in the Book of Job and the prophets. The Prophet the saint they elevated Eusebius of Nicomedia, an Isaiah saw the seraphim surrounding the throne of God, and the impious heretic. Archbishop Paul withdrew to Rome, Prophet Ezekiel saw cherubim in his vision of the Temple of God where other Orthodox bishops were also banished by (Is. 6:1-7, Ezek. 10:1-22.) Eusebius. In the New Testament, the Book of Revelation contains much Eusebius did not rule the Church of Constantinople for information about angels and many references to them. An angel long. When he died, St Paul returned to Constantinople, announced the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias; so also did and was greeted by his flock with love. But Constantius an angel announce the birth of the Savior to the most holy Virgin exiled the saint a second time, and so he returned to Mary and appear in a dream to Joseph. A mighty host of angels Rome. The Western emperor Constans wrote a harsh sang the glory of Christ's nativity; an angel announced the birth of letter to his Eastern co-ruler, which he sent to the Savior to the shepherds and stopped the Wise Men from reConstantinople along with the holy exiled archpastor. turning to Herod; angels ministered to Jesus Christ during His The threats worked, and St Paul was reinstated upon the temptation in the wilderness; an angel appeared to Him in the archepiscopal throne. Garden of Gethsemane; angels announced His Resurrection to the myrrh-bearing women; and at His ascension angels proclaimed, But soon the pious emperor Constans, a defender of the His second coming. Angels loosed the bonds of Peter and the Orthodox, was treacherously murdered during a palace other Apostles (Acts 5:19) and of Peter alone (Acts 12:7-15); an coup. They again banished St Paul from Constantinople angel appeared to Cornelius the Centurion, telling him to send for and this time sent him off in exile to Armenia, to the city Peter who would instruct him in the word of God (Acts 10:3-7). of Cucusus, where he endured a martyr's death. An angel announced to Paul that he was to appear before Caesar When the Archbishop was celebrating the Divine (Acts 27:23-24) and the vision of angels is the foundation of the Liturgy, Arians rushed upon him by force and strangled Revelation of St. John. him with his own omophorion. This occurred in the year The Creation of the Angels 350. In 381, the holy Emperor Theodosius the Great solemnly transferred the relics of St Paul the Confessor In the Symbol of Faith we find the following words: "I believe in from Cucusus to Constantinople. In 1326, the relics of St One God . . . the Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things Paul were transferred to Venice. visible and invisible." The invisible, angelic world was created by God before the visible world. "When the stars were made, all My St Athanasius the Great, a contemporary of St Paul, angels praised Me with a loud voice" (Job 38:7). The Apostle writes briefly about his exiles, "St Paul the first time was Paul writes: "For by Him were all things created, that are in heavsent by Constantine to Pontus, the second time he was en, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be fettered with chains by Constantius, and then he was thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were locked up in Mesopotamian Syngara and from there created by Him and for Him" (Col. 1:16). Studying the first words moved to Emesus, and the fourth time to Cappadocian of the Book of Genesis, "in the beginning God created heaven and Cucusus in the Taurian wilderness." earth", some of the Fathers of the Church understand the word

"heaven" as meaning not the firmament, which was created later, but the invisible heaven, the world of angels. Many teachers of the Church have expressed the thought that God created the angels long before the visible world (Ambrose, Jerome, Gregory the Great, Anastasius of Sinai) and that at the time when the material universe was created, they already stood before the face of the Creator and served Him. St. Gregory writes about this as follows: "As the goodness (or "love") of God could not find satisfaction in contemplating Himself, He wished to spread this goodness ever further, so that the number of those who would enjoy it should be as great as possible (for such is the nature of the highest form of goodness) and so God first thought of the angelic heavenly powers, and thought became act, carried out by the Word and fulfilled by the Spirit. As His first creation was pleasing to Him, He then devised another world, material and visible, and a well-balanced unity between heaven and earth and that which is between them." This idea of St. Gregory is echoed in the work of St. John of Damascus (Precise Confession of the Orthodox Faith, Book II, Chapter 3). The Nature of the Angels

The Degree of Perfection of the Angels Angels are the most perfect spirits, superior to man in their spiritual powers; but even they, like all creation; are bound by their limitations. As they are incorporeal spirits, they are less confined, by space and place than men, and can travel distances of, to us, inconceivable vastness with lightning speed, to appear where it is necessary for them to act. However, it is impossible to say that they are totally independent of limitations of space and place, or that they could be omnipresent. Holy Scripture depicts angels as descending from heaven to earth, or ascending from earth to heaven, which gives us reason to believe that they cannot be on earth and in heaven at the same time. Immortality is one of the qualities of angels, as we are given clear evidence in Holy Scripture, which teaches that they cannot die (Luke 20:36). However, their immortality is not divine (that is, independent and unconditional), but depends, like the immortality of human souls, completely on the will and mercy of God.

Angels, being incorporeal spirits, are capable to the highest degree spiritual development. Their mind has a much more exalted quality than that of the human mind and in power and strength By their nature, angels are active spirits endowed with reason, will and knowledge; they serve God, fulfil the will of His Provi- they transcend all earthly authorities, as St. Peter teaches (II Pet. dence and praise Him. They are incorporeal spirits, and because 2:11). The nature of an angel is higher than the nature of a man, they belong to the invisible world, cannot be seen by our bodily as King David teaches us when, to stress the dignity of a man, he remarks, "Thou hast made him a little lower than the aneyes. St. John of Damascus writes: "When it is the will of God gels" (Ps. 8:5). However, even their exalted qualities have their that angels should appear to those who are worthy, they do not limits. Holy Scripture tells us that they do not know the depths appear as they are in their essence, but, transformed, take on of the essence of God, which is known only to the Spirit of God: such an appearance as to be visible to physical eyes." In the book of Tobit, the angel accompanying Tobit and his son says of "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (I Cor. 2:11). They do not know the future, which is also known himself: "All these days I was visible to you, but I neither ate only to God: "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, ... nor drank, this only appeared to your eyes" (Tobit 12:19). not the angels which are in heaven" (Mark 13:32). The angels But St. John of Damascus also writes: "An angel can only be are also incapable of fully understanding the mystery of redempcalled incorporeal and non-material in comparison with us. For tion, which they "desire to look into" (I Pet. 1:12) but cannot. in comparison with God, Who alone is beyond compare, every- They are even incapable of knowing all human thoughts (Kings thing seems coarse and material, only the divinity is totally non- 8:39), and cannot perform miracles on their own but only by the will of God. "Blessed is the Lord, the God of Israel, Who alone material -and incorporeal." does wonders" (Ps. 71:19).

Devotions and Readings for this week

Mon 11/7 Tues 11/8 Weds 11/9 Thurs 11/10 Fri 11/11 Sat 11/12 Martyrs of Meletine Synaxis of the Archangels Martyrs Onesiphoros and Porphyry Olympos and his companions of the 70 Martyrs Menas, Victor, Vincent and StephanidaVeterans Day John the Almsgiver Col 2:13-20 Heb 2:2-10 Col 2:20-3:3 Col 3:17-4:1 Col 4:2-9 Col 4:10-18 2 Cor 5:1-10 Lk 12:13-15, 22-31 Lk 10:16-21 Lk 9:23-27 Lk 9:44-50 Lk 9:49-56 Lk 10:1-15 Lk 9:37-43

Saint Joseph Parish Council Minutes

10/9/2011 Attendance- Deacon Michael Jolly, James Zaydon, John Coury, Betsy Zaydon, Sal Zaydon Open with a prayer- Deacon Michael People elected into parish council: Jim Zaydon John Coury Deacon Michael appointed Sal Zaydon- Secretary Parish Council Chair will be elected at the next meeting Status of the church and Diocese of NewtonDeacon Bishop Nicholas was installed as our new Eparchial Bishop on 8/23. We were represented by Deacon Michael and Reader Michael. Deacon Michael complimented Reader Michael on his participation in the installation Liturgy. Deacon has spoken to him about the assignment of a priest to Scranton, There are 6 other parishes without priests. Saidnya is trying to fill these gaps but there is only one seminarian. Deacon is arranging for priests on a weekly basis. Stipend is supplied for the visiting priests. If no priest is available we will celebrate the Typika service this will be minimized. Rectory is unoccupied Rugs have been pulled out in the bathrooms. Tiles will be put down and the downstairs water

closet has been repainted. Planting around the church is complete. Church Steeple Benington has been contracted to repair the leaks, fix the structural problems and paint the dome. Work has begun. Holes in the sophet are very large Dome will be a gold color Key has been given to the workers Workers will clear out the garbage in the steeple (old lumber and tar cans etc.) Work should be done by the end of the month Tom Joyce is providing cleaning and maintenance, His next large project will be to replace the sealant on all the church window sills and to repaint them Religious education None is currently being done Should start in November or December Finances (See the financial breakdown) Bottom line was that St, Josephs had a $7000 deficit in the last fiscal year (steeple was $5000 of that). In the current account, we will be left with around 2000-3000 after all work is done with the steeple but we still need to repair the ceiling in the back of the church where it leaked, Expenses are much less since we are not paying a priest

Church calendar should be created: Pasta dinner-October 26 Rummage sale-? Womans Christmas party- Betsy will talk to Karen Childrens Saint Nicholas party-December 4 Kids education days (tbd) Saint Joseph Feast Day Potluck the Sunday after Christmas (January 1st 2012) Food Festival/ picnic 8-11 and 8-12 Saint Joseph Breakfast-April 22nd 2012 Parish Council MeetingsFirst Sunday of each month where practical. Coffee Hours- People need to volunteer, October 30th- pancakesJohn Coury will prepare them January- John will have a breakfast

Also discussed were the possibility of A Church outing A Ladies meeting November 23rd Deacon Michaels 25th anniversary of ordination as a deacon. We will have a celebration party on the 20th or the 27th. Bishop Nicholas will be invited. Communications Bulletin is printed, posted on the web and e -mailed, Website is in the works. The current website will be retired and replaced. Two domains names are acquired: Melkitescranton.org Scrantonmelkite.net (Someone is squatting on our old name Scrantonmelkite.org). We have also started a Facebook page. Next Meeting: November 6th Meeting closed with a prayer

Please join us for a luncheon to celebrate Deacon Michaels 25th anniversary of ordination as a deacon
Sunday November 20th Following Divine Liturgy

Dead to the World

Paul stated, For I through the Law died to the Law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in John Cassian gave some specifics regarding the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for how we can continually carry our Cross. If we were crume (Galatians 2:19-20). The point he is making is that if our hope is really in the Kingdom of God, the things of cified, we would not be free to go where we want, and participate freely in the things of this world; we would be this world have very little meaning. nailed in place. If our love for the Lord and the things of John Chrysostom stated that it is our love for God are real, we will consider this effect in our life. God that deadens us to the things of this world, such as Renunciation is nothing but the eviglory and honor, as if we were the only person on earth dence of the cross and of dying to your self. And and there was no glory to receive from others. By focusso you must know that today you are dead to this ing on the invisible things of God, we begin to not notice world and its deeds and desires, and that, as the the visible things of this world. Apostle says, you are crucified to this world and If anyone is caught with the fire of this world to you. Consider therefore the deChrists love, he becomes like a man would who mands of the cross under the sign of which you dwelt alone upon the earth, so utterly does he not ought to live in this life. We must therefore pass care for either glory or disgrace. As for trials, he our time in this life in that fashion and form in so despises them, both scourges and imprisonwhich He was crucified for us on the cross. So ments, as though the body in which he suffers that as David says, piercing our flesh with the were anothers and not his own, or as though he fear of the Lord (Psalm 119:120), we may have had a body made of adamant. As for the sweet all our wishes and desires not subservient to our things of this life, he so laughs them to scorn, is own lusts but fastened to His death. Thus shall so insensitive to them, as we are insensitive of we fulfill the command of the Lord, which says, dead bodies, being ourselves dead. He is as far He who does not take his cross and follow after from being taken captive by any passion, as the me is not worthy of me (Matthew 10:38). gold refined in the fire is free from alloy. For But perhaps you will say, How can a even as flies would not dart into the midst of a man carry his cross continually? Or how can flame, but fly from it, so the passions dare not anyone who is alive be crucified? Hear briefly even to come near this man. Observe Paul, how how this is. The fear of the Lord is our cross. One he felt towards the whole world. The world is who is crucified no longer has the power of movcrucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians ing or turning his limbs in any direction he pleas6:14). I am dead to the world, and the world is es. So we also ought to affix our wishes and dedead to me. And again: it is no longer I that live, sires, not in accordance with what is pleasant and but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). To show delightful to us now, but in accordance with the you that it was like he was in solitude, and so Law of the Lord, where it constrains us. One who looked upon the things present, hear him saying, is fastened to the wood of the cross (1) no longer We look not at the things which are seen, but at considers things present, (2) no longer thinks the things which are not seen (2 Corinthians about his likings, (3) no longer is perplexed by 4:18). What he is saying is that he sees the invisianxiety and care for tomorrow, (4) no longer is ble things, and the visible he doesnt see. Such disturbed by any desire of possession, nor inare the eyes, which are given by Christ; for these flamed by any pride, strife or rivalry, (5) does not bodily eyes see the things that are seen, but things grieve at present injuries, nor remember past unseen they dont see. Similarly those heavenly ones, and (6) while he is still breathing in the eyes do the contrary. No one that beholds the body considers that he is dead to all earthly invisible things, beholds the visible; no one bethings, sending the thoughts of his heart on beholding the things seen, beholds the invisible. fore to that place where he is shortly to come. So When we turn our mind inwards, we think of the

unseen things, and our views become raised above the things on earth. Let us despise glory; let us be willing to be laughed at rather than to be praised. For he who is laughed at is not hurt; but he who is praised is hurt much.

we also, when crucified by the fear of the Lord ought to be dead to all these things. That is, not only to carnal vices but also to all earthly things, having the eye of our minds fixed there where we hope that we are soon to pass. For in this way, we can deaden all our desires and carnal affections. Cassian continued to say that taking up our Cross is easy if we take the right attitude. If we are actually strong when we appear to be weak, and if the things of this world dont bother us, life is easy. We can prove that our Lords saying is true, if we approach the way of perfection properly and in accordance with Christs will, deadening all our desires, and cutting off things we like that injure us. If we abandon this worlds goods, our adversary wont find opportunities for destroying us. If we actually recognize that we are not our own masters, we can truly make our own the Apostles words, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20). For what can be burdensome to one who (1) has embraced with his whole heart the yoke of Christ, (2) is established in true humility and (3) always fixes his eye on the Lords sufferings and rejoices in all the wrongs that are offered to him. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christs sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong! (2 Corinthians 12:10) By what loss of any common thing, I ask, will he be injured, who voluntarily rejects for Christs sake all the pomp of this world, and considers all of its desires as dung, so that he may gain Christ, and by continual meditation on this command of the Gospel, scorns getting upset at every loss? For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matthew 16:26) For the loss of what will he be bothered, who recognizes that everything that can be taken away from others is not their own, and proclaims with unconquered valor, We brought nothing into this world; it is certain that we can carry nothing out? (1 Timothy 6:7) John Chrysostom stated that there is a balance in providing for the needs of our flesh. The point is to make our flesh healthy in a godly sense. What does the Lord intimate in saying, Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its

lusts? (Romans 13:14). He does not forbid drinking, but drinking to excess, not marrying, but seeking luxurious self-enjoyment. He does not forbid making provision for the flesh either, but He does forbid doing so with a view to fulfill the lusts of the flesh, as for instance, by going beyond necessities. For that he does ask us to make provision for it, hear from what he says to Timothy, Use a little wine for your stomachs sake, and your frequent infirmities (1 Timothy 5:23). So here too he is for taking care of it, but for health, and not luxurious self-enjoyment. For this would cease to be making provision for it, when you were lighting up the flame, when you were making the furnace powerful. But that you may form a clearer notion what making provision for it to fulfill its lusts is, and may shun such a provision, just call to mind the drunken, the gluttonous, those that pride themselves in dress, those that are effeminate, those that live a soft and relaxed life, and you will see what is meant. For they do everything not that they may be healthy, but that they may seek pleasure and kindle desire. But you, who have put on Christ, prune away all those things, and seek for one thing only, to have your flesh healthy.

Great Vespers begins our weekly celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ
How great are you works, O Lord? Lord, to you I call. O joyful Light

Vespers returns to 4pm on Saturday Evening with the end of Daylight Savings time

Prayer Requests

Rev. Father Philip Azoon Rev. Deacon John Karam Rev. Seraphim Michalenko Rev. Basil Samra Rev. Peter Boutros Rev. Deacon Bryan McNiel Rev. Deacon Irenaeus Dionne

Parish Calendar
November 6 Parish Council after Liturgy 20 Parish celebration in honor of Deacon Michaels 25th Anniversary of Ordination following Divine Liturgy 21 Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation in the Temple

Marie Abda Marie Abda Marie Barron Joseph Barron Mary Sue Betress Chris Carey Nikki Boudreaux Dr. Frances Colie John Colie Ann Coury

Margaret Dillenburg Mark Dillman Karen Kane Niko Mayashairo Mary McNeilly Marie Patchoski Joanna Simon William Simon Dr. Thomas Zaydon

Sacrificial Giving 10/30/2011 Candles Weekly $ 1.00 $ 196.00

The Weekly Quiz

God asked Hosea to do a most unusual thing as a symbol of His relationship with Israel. What was it? Marry a prostitute. Kill his children. Carry a millstone around his neck. Walk around naked and without washing.
Last Weeks Answer Q. Who plotted to kill Daniel? A. His fellow administrators

All those Serving in our Armed Forces The Christian Community in the Middle East