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Liturgy Intentions:
November 20, 2011
Emma Betress
by Saint Joseph Ladies Society
November 27, 2011
Angela Scavo
By her daughter, Boots Zaydon
E-Mail: [email protected] Web: http://melkitescranton.org Webmaster: Sal Zaydon
November 20, 2011
Tone 6 and Orthros Gospel 1 9th Sunday After The Holy Cross
Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vespers 4pm Compline Weds 8:30PM
Sunday Orthros 8:55 am Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
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
Parish Notes:
Welcome back Father John Wysochansky who
serves liturgy today .
Divine Liturgy on Monday at 7PM for the Feast
of the Presentation in the Temple of the
Theotokos. This is a mandatory feast for Melkite
Catholics.
The Qurban used in today’s liturgy was baked by
Mary Clark
Join us today after Divine Liturgy for a buffet
luncheon to celebrate Deacon Michael’s 25
anniversary of ordination to the diaconate.
Baptism of Gabriel Joseph Fitzpatrick and Divine
Liturgy next Saturday served by Father
Christopher at 11am
THE BISHOP’S APPEAL: At this time of year when we offer thanksgiving for all
God’s blessings, Our Lord speaks to us in the Gospel about storing up treasure in Heaven
and about being rich in the things of God. Let us give back to the Lord in return for all the
blessings he has bestowed upon us. Let us give thanks to God for the precious gift of our
Melkite Church and offer a tribute of thanksgiving in honor of the labor and sacrifice of our
forebears in the faith who have gone before us. Offer thanks to God by giving a generous
gift to the Bishop’s Appeal. Extra Appeal envelopes are available in the narthex. Thank
you for your generosity.
Today’s Icon: The Feast of the Entry of the Most Holy
Theotokos into the Temple has only one day of prefeast. The
hymns for today praise St Anna for bringing her daughter,
the living temple of God, to the Temple in Jerusalem.
The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom
Antiphons: First Antiphon
Through the prayers of the Mother of God Tone 2 Second Antiphon
O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead… Tone 2 Hymn of incarnation Tone 4 Third Antiphon Tone 6
Hymns: Resurrectional Troparion Tone 6 Troparion of the Fathers Tone 4
O God of our Fathers who always deal with us according to Your compassion, do
not remove from us Your mercy from us, but through their intercession, direct our
lives in peace,
Troparion of the Forefeast Tone 4 Ann is now preparing a great joy for us all, for she has given birth to the only ever-
virginal one, who is a joy that dispels all sadness. Today, Ann fulfills her vow with
gladness, presenting to the Temple of the Lord the one who is the true Temple of
God’s Word and His pure Mother.
Troparion of St. Joseph Tone 2 Kontakion for the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Tone 4 Pg 120
Prokiemenon (Tone 6) Ps.27: 9, 1 O Lord, save Your people and bless Your inheritance!
Stichon: To You, O Lord, I have called: O my Rock, be not deaf to me!
Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Ephesians 2:4-10 BRETHREN, God, Who is rich in mercy, by reason of His very great love with which He has loved us even
when we were dead by reason of our sins, brought us to life together with Christ, and you have been saved by
grace. [God] raised us up together, and enthroned us together in heaven in Christ Jesus, so that He might show
in future ages the overflowing riches of His grace, through His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you
have been saved through faith: and that, not on your own, for it is God’s gift, and not the result of work which
might have been a pretext for anyone to boast. For we are His workmanship, we who were created in Christ
Jesus through good works which God has pre-planned so that we could walk in them.
Alleluia (Tone 2) Prv. 10:31; Ps. 36:31 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High abides in the shadow of the God of heaven.
Stichon: He will say to the Lord, “My wall, my refuge, my God in Whom I will trust!”
The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke 8: 41-56 The Lord told this parable: “The land of a certain rich man brought forth abundant crops. And he began to
consider, saying, ‘What shall I do, for I have no room to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull
down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store up all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my
soul, ‘Soul, you have many good things laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God
said to him, ‘You fool, this very night, you must give up your life; and the things you have provided, whose will
they be?’ So is the man who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich as regards God.” After He had said
this, He cried out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Our True Riches
What does it mean to be “rich toward God” (Lk
12:21)? Many of us may remember the concept of
spiritual bouquets promoted by many Roman
Catholic religious orders in schools and churches,
particularly before Vatican II. A person
accomplished so many Masses, so many
Communions, so many rosaries, etc. which were
then offered for another person or a special
intention. This practice, which urged many people
to more frequent devotional practices than they
would have observed otherwise, was a kind of piety
of numbers: the more you do, the better.
Is this what the Lord Jesus meant by being “rich
towards God”? Instead of amassing earthly
treasures are we intended to accumulate spiritual
“points” which we can bring with us when we stand
before the Judge? Such an approach can bring us
close to the Pharisee in Christ’s parable who lists
his spiritual accomplishments in contrast to the
repentant Publican. At best it reveals our faith as
immature, incapable of digesting spiritual meat (see
1 Cor 3:2).
Our True Wealth Is God
The actual treasure which is ours as the adopted
children of God is nothing less than “to know the
love of Christ which passes knowledge that you
may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph
3:19). We are, as St. Paul insists, a temple in which
God dwells both individually and as Church. Our
ability to know God begins with His indwelling
presence within us.
We certainly know that God loves us in Christ, and
may believe that He dwells in us but it often seems
to be an abstraction: something we know is true but
doesn’t touch us in any significant way. “God loves
us… Michelangelo gave us great art… Bell gave us
the telephone…” we may know all these things in
the same way. But to know God’s love in a way
“that passes knowledge” is to do so in a manner that
goes beyond intellectual knowledge to a knowledge
of the heart.
As St. Paul says here, this knowledge is not an end
in itself but enables us to be filled with God’s
fullness. Once our hearts are opened by a realization
of how God loves us, they can experience God’s
saving presence. This presence transforms us –
deifies us – making us sharers of His divine nature,
which the Greek Fathers call theosis.
Some people have achieved this “knowledge past
understanding” through the direct intervention of
God. God makes Himself known unexpectedly to
people and energizes their lives dramatically. St
Gregory of Nyssa, for example, testifies that “One
night there appeared to Basil an outpouring of light,
and, by means of divine power, the entire dwelling
was illuminated by an immaterial light, having no
source in anything material” (Funeral Oration for
His Brother, Basil the Great).
Most of us, however, have not had such an
experience. How do we begin to arrive at this
knowledge? Our attentiveness to prayer, the
sacraments and the Scriptures are certainly signs
that we look to know God. Still, our contact with
the Bible and the Church’s liturgy is intermittent.
Even if we pray every day, these acts of openness to
God are intermittent. Can ordinary people be in
more constant communion with God than that?
Sitting in the Presence of God
St. Isaac the Syrian insists that we can and must
commune with God continually to be on regular
speaking terms with Him, as it were. “Sit in the
presence of the Lord every moment of your life, as
you think of Him and recollect Him in your heart.
Otherwise, when you only see Him after a period of
time, you will lack the freedom to converse with
Him, out of shame; for great freedom of
conversation is born out of constant association
with Him.”
What St Isaac calls “sitting in the presence of God”
others in both East and West have described as
developing an awareness of the presence of God.
We regularly pray that God is “everywhere present
and filling all things” (“O heavenly King”) but are
more frequently unaware of God’s presence as we
go about our daily tasks. As the Divine Liturgy
expresses it, “Christ is in our midst – He is and ever
shall be.”
Even more compelling is the realization that the
Spirit of God is not only with us but also within us
through baptism, that we are members of the Body of
Christ. If God “dwells within us”, then everything
we do is in the presence of God although we
regularly forget it. Developing an awareness of the
presence of God, then, simply means keeping the
memory of God in our thoughts, and living like we
really mean it.
Many people have learned to use an everyday event
to trigger their awareness that God is present now. It
may be an icon at one’s desk or kitchen counter, the
ringing of a telephone or the sight of a child.
Whenever they encounter their “trigger” they say a
brief prayer.
Learning to Focus on God’s Presence
Setting aside time for silent reflection helps us
refocus our attention on the presence of God in our
midst. Spiritual writers of all ages recommend that
we go apart – to our rooms, the outdoors, a church –
where we can be undisturbed. There we can
disengage from the activities of the day, close our
eyes and begin to focus on the unceasing presence of
God in which we stand. A time of silence may be
enhanced by a simple breathing exercise to help us
concentrate on the fact that we are in the holy
presence of God.
St John Climacus, the 7th century abbot of Mount
Sinai and author of The Ladder, suggests the next
step. “Become aware of God, in whose presence you
are while you pray,” he writes. “Then take a formula
of prayer and recite it with perfect attention both to
the words you are saying and to the Person to whom
you are saying them.” In time the Jesus Prayer –
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a
sinner – became the standard prayer in the Byzantine
Churches for resting in the presence of God.
Sit quietly and repeat the prayer without hurrying for
whatever length of time you have set apart for sitting
in God’s presence. It is good to have a regular period
of time for this activity – e.g. 15 minutes, for a start –
which may be adjusted as circumstances dictate.
Counseling 17th century nuns, the Bishop of Geneva,
St Francis de Sales, suggests a different kind of
adjustment than we would normally consider. “Half
an hour’s meditation is essential except when you are
very busy,” he teaches. “Then a full hour is needed.”
The more harried we are by stress at home or work,
the more we need to focus on the presence of God to
bring us peace.
As Brother Lawrence, the 17th century Carmelite
monk, whose teachings are recorded in the book The
Practice of the Presence of God, adds another
dimension to our consideration of our true wealth as
Christians. We are fulfilling our eternal calling as
people devoted to the worship of God “I am doing
now what I will do for all eternity,” he exclaimed. “I
am blessing God, praising Him, adoring Him, and
loving Him with all my heart.”
Patriarch offers his
prayers for Syria
— Most senior cleric in Syria hopes that the country
will soon pass through its ‘big ordeal’
Patriarch of Antioch, Gregory Laham, the spiritual leader
of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, and most senior
Catholic cleric in Syria, has said Syria is passing through
a ‘big ordeal.’ but it will overcome the crisis under the
leadership of President Bashar al-Assad, and called on all
citizens to pray for its stability.
A statement by the Patriarchate’s Council criticised the
Arab League’s recent resolutions on Syria, which
condemned the violence used by President Assad’s
Government in dealing with the eight-month long
uprising.
Patriarch Laham (right) said that the Arab League is
‘separating, not uniting,’ and ‘it will not taste victory, but
failure’, adding ‘Syria, Lebanon and Palestine are the
measure of security, stability, coexistence and
democracy.’
King of Jordan’s comments
However on Monday Jordan’s king became the first Arab
leader to openly say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
should stand down.
King Abdullah said that if he were in Mr Assad’s
position, he would make sure ‘whoever comes behind me
has the ability to change the status quo.’
He urged President Assad to launch dialogue with the
opposition to effect an orderly transition.
“If Bashar has the interest of his country, he would step
down, but he would also create an ability to reach out and
start a new phase of Syrian political life,” he said. “That’s
the only way I would see it work and I don’t think people
are asking that question.”
Criticism and protest
Jordan, which borders Syria, has been increasingly
critical of the crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Arab leaders have increasingly criticised the crackdown
in Syria after months of violence.
The head of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, said last
weekend the organisation was ‘studying mechanisms it
could implement to protect civilians in Syria.’
He spoke after the league voted to freeze Syria’s
membership, a move that sparked pro-government riots in
Syria. France has joined the condemnation of President
Bashar al-Assad’s government. It summoned the Syrian
ambassador to Paris on Sunday to demand an explanation
for attacks by Assad loyalists on diplomatic missions in
Syria, including its own, following Saturday’s
suspension.
Turkey, which has begun withdrawing non-essential
diplomatic personnel and families of diplomatic staff,
called on the international community to ‘respond with a
united voice to the serious developments in Syria.’
The Saudi and Qatari embassies were stormed during
Saturday’s pro-Assad protests, and new mass rallies by
loyalists were held on Sunday.
With Syria’s suspension not due to take effect until
Wednesday, Damascus has called for an urgent Arab
summit and invited Arab League officials to visit.
Opposition sources said the repression of dissent
continued on Sunday, with nine people reportedly killed
by security forces.
According to a report, which could not be verified
independently, security forces shot and bludgeoned to
death a schoolboy, 14, in the town of Dir Az-Zour after
he refused to join a pro-government march.
The UN says more than 3,500 people have died since the
start of the protests in March while the Syrian authorities
blame the violence on terrorists.
3. Young maidens gathered by Joachim
to form an escort for the Theotokos 4. Joachim and Anna, parents of the
Theotokos
1. The High Priest, Zacharias receives
the Theotokos at the steps of the Temple
2. The Theotokos as a small child being
received by the High Priest, Zacharias
The icon of the feast tells the story of
Mary's entry into the Temple. The High
Priest, Zacharias (1), is in his priestly robes
standing on the step of the Temple. His
arms are outstretched, ready to greet and
receive the Virgin. Mary is shown as a
small child, standing before Zacharias with
her arms reaching up to him (2).
In some icons the young maidens (3) who
served as her escort are depicted standing
behind her. Also, we see her parents, Joa-
chim and Anna (4), offering their child to
God and His divine service.
Icon of the Feast
Please join us for a luncheon to celebrate Deacon
Michael’s 25th anniversary of ordination as a deacon
Today
Following Divine Liturgy
To honor this event and to extend appreciation to
the Deacon for all his service to St. Joseph Church
for over 10 years and to the entire Melkite Eparchy,
the parish family is hosting a buffet luncheon after
the 10am Divine Liturgy on Sunday, November 20,
around 11:45am.
We will be serving kibbee, grape leaves, rice, green
beans, salad & dessert. Pizza will be available for
the kids. We are not selling tickets, but we are
asking for a free-will donation at the door to defray
the cost of the food. Charlie & Joanna Simon will
be our chefs.
Among Today’s Saints
Saint Gregory the Decapolite was born in the Isaurian city
of Decapolis (ten cities) in the eighth century. From his
childhood he loved the temple of God and church services.
He read the Holy Scripture constantly and with reverence.
In order to avoid the marriage which his parents had
intended for him, he secretly left home. He spent all his life
wandering: he was in Constantinople, Rome, Corinth, and
he lived as an ascetic on Olympus for a while. St Gregory
preached the Word of God everywhere, denouncing the
Iconoclast heresy, strengthening the faith and fortitude of
the Orthodox, whom the heretics in those times oppressed,
tortured and imprisoned.
Through his ascetic effort and prayer, St Gregory attained
the gifts of prophecy and wonderworking. After overcoming
the passions and reaching the height of virtue, he was
permitted to hear angelic singing in praise of the Holy
Trinity. St Gregory left the monastery of St Menas near
Thessalonica, where he had labored for a long time, and he
went again to Constantinople in order to combat the
Iconoclast heresy. At the capital, a grievous illness
undermined his strength, and he departed to the Lord in the
year 816.
St Gregory was buried
at a monastery in
Constantinople, and
many miracles took
place at his tomb. As a
result, the monks
removed the holy
relics of St Gregory
and enshrined them in
the church where
people could venerate
them.
When Constantinople
fell to the Turks in
1453, the relics of St Gregory were carried to the region of
the Danube by a Turkish official. In 1498 Barbu Craiovescu,
the Ban of the Romanian Land (Wallachia) heard of the
miracles performed by the holy relics and bought them for a
considerable sum of money. Barbu Craiovescu placed the
relics in the main church of Bistritsa Monastery which he
founded in Rimnicu Vilcea, where they remain to the
present day.
Walk-ins welcome.
We are sure Deacon
Michael will be so
pleased to have you
join him at Liturgy
and Lunch.
Devotions and Readings for this week
Mon 11/21
Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple Heb 9:1-7 Lk 10:38-42 11:27-28
Tues 11/22
Apostle Philemon and his companions 1 Thess 3:8-13 Lk 17:26-37
Weds 11/23
Gregory of Agrigentium and Amphilochios of Iconium
1 Thess 4:1-12 Lk 18:15-17 26-30
Thurs 11/24
Hieromartyrs Clement and Peter—Thanksgiving Day
1 Thess 4:18, 5:1-10
Lk 18:31-34
Fri 11/25
Great Martyr Catherine 1 Thess 5:9-13, 24-28 Lk 19:12-28
Sat 11/26
Alypios the Stylite 2 Cor 11:1-6 Lk 10:19-21
The Spirit of Thankfulness It is natural for us to ask help from God in times of
trouble or sorrow. It is also natural to plead on behalf of our
loved ones. These two forms of prayer - petition and
intercession - are vital. But the prayer of thanksgiving,
mentioned so often in Scripture and made so eloquently in
many Psalms, must also be an essential part of our lives as
Christians.
Are we truly thankful to God for His innumerable
blessings and mercies toward us? Do we really feel we even
have anything to be thankful for? Perhaps, amid our daily
duties and struggles, an occasion for gratitude seems hard to
find. We may have pressing financial needs, urgent family
problems, deep personal sorrows or concerns. We may be only
too well aware of the evils of our time, or the sins of our heart.
We may simply feel empty, weary, isolated. The evening
news, or the events in our neighborhood, may make us feel
that talk of thanking God is at best simple-minded and at worst
hypocritical.
In reality, the practice of prayerful thanksgiving is
essential to acquiring inner peace. Far from being simple-
minded, it requires - and develops - a living faith and humility
in the soul. One of the reasons God often seems far from us is
simply because we do not - even will not - see Him where He
is, in the daily circumstances of life He sends us.
Giving thanks to God for everything in our "ordinary"
lives can help us to see at last that nothing in our lives is really
ordinary. Life is never "ordinary". It is rather a passage from
time into eternity. The circumstances that rise before us, the
problems we encounter, the relationships we form, the choices
we make, all ultimately concern our eternal union with or
separation from God.
If we as Christians truly believe that our lives are lived
under the sign of the Cross and in the light of eternity, then we
must believe that God is with us in all the changing fortunes of
our days. And we must also believe that despite natural
disasters and human ills, evil is not finally triumphant and
death is not victorious. In our lives there are no chance events,
no irrational twists of empty fate, but rather the ever-present
workings of a provident God, Who uses all means to lead us
into the harbor of Christ.
When we begin to feel, however faintly, the truth of this,
we shall find much to be grateful for. The spirit of
thankfulness is a necessary part of the spiritual discipline of
living in the present moment - with God - and not in the past
or the future. We cannot know what will happen tomorrow, or
even tonight; we cannot change what is already past. But we
can be grateful today for the blessings of today - the blessing
of life itself, the blessing of communion with God through
prayer and the Holy Eucharist, the blessing of repentance, the
healing of forgiveness. Even the small, seemingly trivial,
moments in our day - the sight of a bird in the sky, the
greening of a tree, the laugh of a child, the voice of a friend -
speak to us of God if only we wish to hear, for everything of
beauty, of light, of love, comes to us from Him.
In such small moments, as much as in the dramatic crises
of our lives, the headlong rush of time opens upon eternity. If
we learn to live quietly, attentively, faithfully, in the "now"
which alone truly exists for us, we shall be prepared by
degrees for the "everlasting now" which awaits us after death.
If we do not find and follow Christ in the present moment, we
shall not recognize Him at the end of time.
Let us ask of God a grateful heart, and let us resolve to
give thanks each day for the day itself and the presence of
Christ in it, sustaining our life by His hand and giving courage
to our struggles, zeal to our repentance, contrition to our
prayer, and stability to our labors. If only we will make an
effort, we will find that giving thanks to God - even in
adversity - opens our hearts to see blessings we had not
thought to find.
US Melkite bishop urges study of
ordaining married men as priests WASHINGTON (CNS) -- To address a shortage of
priests in his nationwide eparchy, the Melkite Catholic
bishop of Newton, Mass., is exploring the possibility of
ordaining married men as priests.
Bishop Nicholas J. Samra of Newton notes that of the 40
parishes in his diocese, eight have no resident priest. And,
while the answer is more priests, the question is how to
get them.
The strategy Bishop Samra prefers is to develop priests
from within the diocese rather than ask Melkite Catholic
bishops from the Middle East, where the rite has its roots,
to supply priests.
Bishop Samra made his views clear during an address he
gave Aug. 23, the date of his installation as bishop.
"God calls men and women to religious vocations. And I
believe he also calls married men to the priesthood," he
said in his remarks. "We need to study this situation in
our country and develop the proper formation for men
who are truly deemed worthy of this call."
He added, " The (diocesan) deacon formation program is
a good program; however, (it) is not the back door to the
priesthood. Married men who are called to priesthood
need the same formation as those celibates who are
called. I have already discussed this issue with those
involved in priestly formation and hopefully soon we can
see the growth of properly formed married clergy. Of
course there are also major financial issues to be looked
at and we will embark on this also."
In a Nov. 9 telephone interview with Catholic News
Service, Bishop Samra said his comments should not
provoke any surprise at the Vatican.
"This is not new that I said this. I've said it before. They
must have known this when they named me (bishop)," he
said, adding he has even published his views in a book. "I
know a copy went to Rome and I'm sure they saw that.
"I haven't hidden the fact that it's a necessity for our
church," he said, noting that any such initiative would
need to be "properly managed, and not just ordaining
somebody who thinks they have a vocation."
The Vatican began placing limits on the ordination and
assignment of Eastern Catholic married priests in the
West in the 1880s. In 1929, the Vatican, at the request of
the Latin-rite bishops of the United States, ruled that
married priests could not serve the Eastern-rite churches
in the United States. The ban was applied to Canada in
the 1930s and to Australia in 1949.
But by the early 2000s, the Vatican had stopped
suspending married men ordained to the priesthood for
service in the Eastern Catholic churches of North
America and Australia.
Archbishop Cyril Vasil, secretary of the Congregation for
Eastern Churches, told CNS in Rome that the Vatican
reconfirmed the general ban in 2008, "but in individual
cases, in consultation with the national bishops'
conference, a dispensation can be given" allowing the
ordination.
Eastern Catholic bishops say the Second Vatican
Council's call to respect the traditions and disciplines of
the Eastern churches, and the 1990 Code of Canons of the
Eastern Churches affirmation of that call, in effect
nullifies the ban, or at the very least makes the ban a
"disputed question" and therefore not binding.
But practical questions abound for the Melkites. "The
Melkite Church never had a married clergy (tradition) in
the USA," Bishop Samra told CNS.
"We have a bunch of people who want to be ordained,
yeah, but we need to have men who have the credentials,"
he said, adding there are priests in the diocese who have
complained, "If I had to go through all that training to get
it (ordination), why shouldn't they?" To that end, Bishop
Samra said he planned on meeting with representatives of
the Byzantine Catholic seminary where Melkite
seminarians are educated to work out those issues.
There are some married priests serving the diocese; four
are assigned to small parishes that struggle to pay the
expenses incurred by the priests' families. To address that,
Bishop Samra said he would like to reinstate a dormant
philanthropic arm of the diocese, and apply 30-40 percent
of the funds raised as an escrow account to have the
dioceses pay the costs of a priest's family, leaving the
individual parish to pay the same costs whether the priest
is celibate or married.
One solution Bishop Samra said he would no longer
pursue is bringing in Melkite priests from the Middle
East. "Everyone we brought over we had problems with,
and they're all gone," he said, noting they did not adapt to
U.S. culture.
He added that he has told his brother Melkite bishops,
"I'm a little afraid now of requesting priests from the
Middle East. I'm just afraid you're going to send us
people who have problems and those problems are going
to be multiplied."
Bishop Samra is the Melkite Catholic diocese's first U.S.-
born bishop.
He said other approaches include having "working
priests" who make a salary outside the diocese staff
parishes during the weekend, and "asking a couple of our
birituals to help out a little more." Biritual priests have
permission to celebrate Mass in two rites, often the Latin
rite and an Eastern rite.
Melkite parishes have been closed, not for a lack of
priests but for a lack of parishioners, according to Bishop
Samra. He said Melkite Catholics without a priest will
typically worship at a Latin-rite church, but that the
longer they attach themselves to a Latin-rite parish, the
harder it is to bring them back to the Melkites once a
priest becomes available.
"I haven't had people calling me up complaining they
have no priest. They just don't understand modern-day
assignment procedures," Bishop Samra said. "I'm a
bishop, but that doesn't mean I can be a dictator. ...
Although they sing 'despota' in the liturgy, I can't be a
despot."
He added, "God provides, and that's my faith. We're
working on it."
Melkite Question Box
Q. What is faith?
A. Faith is, according to St. Paul, "the substance of
things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that
appear not. For this the ancients obtained a
testimony." Or, as follows: the apostolic orthodox-
catholic (faith) is to believe in one's heart and confess
by one's mouth one God in the Holy Trinity, according
to the teaching of the same St. Paul: "for with the heart
we believe unto justice; but with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation;" and then also, Faith is to hold
intact all the articles of the orthodox- catholic faith,
handed down by Christ the Lord through the Apostles
and pronounced and approved in the Ecumenical
Councils and to believe them without doubt as taught
therein, just as the Apostle designates: "Brothers, stand
fast and hold the traditions which you have learned,
whether by word or by our epistle." And in another
place: "I praise (you, brothers), that you are mindful of
me in all things; and keep my ordinances as I delivered
them to you." From these words it is clear that the
articles of faith receive their commendation and
authority partly from Sacred Scripture and partly from
church tradition and the teaching of the Councils and
the Holy Fathers. By way of explanation in this matter,
St. Dionysius says: "For the substance of our hierarchy
is the divinely given oracles; most truly we declare
these oracles to be venerated, which were given to us
by our holy founders, inspired by the Holy Spirit, in
Sacred Scripture and theological books, as also that
which comes from these same holy men in a more
subtle way, not completely treated from on high, but
by the penetration of one mind unto another, indeed by
way of the corporeal word, but nevertheless at the
same time immaterial, by which our holy founders
were taught without writing in this certain sacred
tradition." I speak, he says, of certain dogmas given
through the Scripture and contained in the theological
books (that is, of St. Basil); Truly these are dogmas
which were orally given by the Apostles and the Holy
Fathers. And on these two things the faith is based, not
only to remain in the recesses of the heart, with all
doubt and fear really removed, but to be proclaimed
and professed orally, even as the Psalmist says: "I have
believed, therefore have I spoken." "We also believe,
wherefore we also speak."
Parish Calendar
November
20 Parish celebration in honor of
Deacon Michael’s 25th Anniversary
of Ordination following Divine
Liturgy
21 Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the
Presentation in the Temple 7PM
December
4 Children’s Saint Barabar/Nicholas
Celebration after Divine Liturgy
Prayer
Requests
The Weekly Quiz
Last Week’s Answer Q. For which city did Abraham intercede with
God to try to avoid it's destruction? A. Sodom
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
Marie Abda Margaret Dillenburg
Marie Abda Mark Dillman
Marie Barron Karen Kane
Joseph Barron Niko Mayashairo
Mary Sue Betress Mary McNeilly
Chris Carey Marie Patchoski
Nikki Boudreaux Joanna Simon
Dr. Frances Colie William Simon
John Colie Dr. Thomas Zaydon
Ann Coury
All those Serving in our Armed Forces
The Christian Community in the Middle East
Sacrificial Giving
11/06/2011
Candles $ 3.00
Weekly $ 1,330.00
Holyday $ 40.00
Monthly $ 10.00