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††† 25636 N. Mosiertown Rd., Edinboro, PA 16412 Fr. Dennis Hendershot 814-734-3801 frdkh1@aol.com |
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February 19, 2012
Sunday of Meatfare — The Last Judgment
Apostles of the Seventy Archippus and Philemon, and Martyr Apphia (1st
c.)
Saints Eugene and Macarius, Presbyters and Confessors, at Antioch (363)
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2
(Sunday)
Gospel:
St. Matthew 25:31-46
THIS WEEK
Wednesday Bible Study...6 pm
Saturday Vespers...6 pm
Sunday Divine Liturgy...9:30 am
(Vespers and
Rite of Forgiveness follows the Liturgy)
TODAY IS THE LAST DAY
FOR EATING MEAT
Beginning tomorrow we abstain from eating meat until Pascha. Eggs
and dairy products are permitted this week, even on Wednesday and
Friday. (At least start off
STRONG!!! these next couple of weeks.)
NEXT SUNDAY IS
CHEESEFARE
Liturgically, it is the
Expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise. There are two
important notes for next Sunday:
1) The Vespers
and
Rite of Forgiveness immediately follow the Divine
Liturgy. We should all try to be
here for this service. We
begin Great Lent together.
2) Next Sunday
is the last day for eating eggs and dairy products until Pascha.
WEDNESDAY “LEARNERS
CLASS” & BIBLE STUDY
This Wednesday evening at 6 pm we will begin a study of the
Scriptures that are central to our faith and experience as Orthodox
Christians. This week there
is no church service. The study will be one hour long.
During Great Lent
the study will
continue on Wednesdays according to this schedule:
5-5:45 pm — Confessions. No confessions will begin after
this time.
6 pm — The
Akathist hymns to the Mother of God will begin promptly at 6 pm. (45
minutes)7-8 pm — The Bible Study will take place in the parish hall and
end at 8 pm.
This Wednesday we will be examining some of the great WORDS
of the New Testament as they were originally presented and understood in
the language of the original writers of the Gospels and Letters (Greek).
We are confident that your faith will be strengthened with just a
little “tweaking” of some familiar words used in our prayers and
Scripture readings.
NOTES AND UPCOMING
EVENTS...
1) Great Lent
begins
on Monday,
February 27th (a week from tomorrow). The first week of
the
Great Fast has services scheduled each evening.
Plan
now to get off to
a good start!
Monday through
Thursday will be the Great Canon of St. Andrew of Crete at 6 p.m.
That Friday we will celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy at 6 p.m.
2)
Icon Festival and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
This event is
sponsored by the
Clergy Brotherhood of Pittsburgh. The
Icon Festival
is Saturday, March 3rd, and Sunday,
March 4th, and includes lectures and icon painting demonstrations.
It is at
St. George
Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral, 3400 Dawson
St., Pittsburgh, PA 15213.
The
Triumph of Orthodoxy
service is Sunday afternoon at
4 p.m.
Posters on the boards.
SO FAR, SO GOOD…
Vern Baldwin
had successful outpatient surgery this past Thursday to
remove some cancerous polyps on/near his voice box.
Vern wants to say “thanks” for all your prayers. God willing, he
hopes to be back with us next week.
Metropolitan Anthony — “The Last
Judgment”
We have seen the humility of
the Publican...he realized that he was totally, utterly, hopelessly
unworthy, and he stood, not daring even to enter the Temple, because the
Temple was the place where the Lord lives, a place as holy as God's
presence makes it; and he beat his breast saying: Forgive me; I am a
sinner. That is a first step towards forgiveness, towards a healing of
our life and soul.
Today we are
confronted with something else. It is not strict adherence to rules; to
piety exhibited for the benefit of others; to praying, if we pray
unworthily; that saves us. The Lord at the Last Judgment, as it appears
clearly from this passage of the Gospel, will ask us nothing about the
tenets of our faith, or about the way in which we have tried outwardly
to please Him. He will ask us: “Have you been human, or inhuman?”
When you saw someone
who was hungry, did your heart turn to him in compassion and did you
give him food? When you saw someone homeless, did you think of a way of
providing a roof and a little warmth and safety for him? When we were
told that someone, perhaps someone we knew, had disgraced himself and
been put into prison, did we overcome the shame of being his or her
friend, and go to visit him? When we saw someone to whom we could give
the surplus of what we have, the unnecessary coat, the unnecessary
object which we possessed - did we turn and do that?
His only question is: have you been human in the
simplest way in which any pagan can be human? Anyone can be human who
has a heart that can respond. If you have, then the doors are open for
you to enter into the Kingdom and to become by communion with God, not
sacramental communion, but a deeper communion even than the Sacrament,
become one with Him and grow into being the Temple of the Spirit, the
Body of Christ, a place of His incarnate presence.
The
law of the lord is perfect,
reviving
the soul;
The
testimony of the Lord is sure,
making
the wise the simple;
the
precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing
the heart;
the
commandments of the Lord are pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the
fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring
forever;
The
ordinances of the Lord are true,
and
righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much
fine gold;
sweeter also than honey
and
drippings of the honeycomb.
(Psalm
19:7-10)
St. Tikhon ― Confessor of the Faith,
Patriarch of Moscow and Enlightener of North America "May God teach every one of us to strive for His truth, and for the good of the Holy Church,
rather than something for our own sake."
This will
be your bulletin if you were unable to get to Church. We will only
be mailing the bulletins to those without internet access. Please
make a copy of this
Sunday Bulletin and distribute it to those you know who may
have missed a Sunday. Thanks! |