January 2014 Newsletter - st-innocent.org Newsletters... · January 2013 1 7301 Rivoli Road, Macon,...
Transcript of January 2014 Newsletter - st-innocent.org Newsletters... · January 2013 1 7301 Rivoli Road, Macon,...
January 2013
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7301 Rivoli Road, Macon, GA 31210 Fr. Theophan #478-538-8161, email [email protected]
www.st-innocent.org
January 2014 Newsletter
Greetings in the Lord,
Our North American society since the late
20th century has taken a rather casual approach to
life. We have, at home, in public, in school, and at
work have been encouraged to discard basic decorum
(appropriateness) in preference to an off-the-cuff
approach to life. Traditional norms have been
thrown away as old straitjackets that we would prefer
not to wear. This approach has affected all aspects
of our society and has even been brought into the
Church.
One of the areas our encouragement to be
casual has affected the faithful is in our approach to
the Holy Eucharist. It has become prevalent in the
culture of modern Orthodoxy, to partake of the
Eucharist frequently but with minimal or no
preparation.
At one time, and even now in some countries,
due to the emphasis on the holiness of the Eucharist,
people would only partake once or twice a year after
a rigorous preparation. This approach can be
problematic because many instead of living
faithfully and receiving the holy gifts regularly,
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many decline the Eucharist because of the daunting
preparation involved.
In response to the rigorist approach, or some
would say, in reaction to it, there developed a new
norm in the Church, at least in the US. Frequent
Communion has been encouraged for at least forty
years now. In some ways this is good. Many faithful
partake regularly and live their Christian lives within
the Church. However, the emphasis on frequent
communion has also opened the door to the Eucharist
being approached very casually, without any
preparation or thought about what it is we are taking
into our bodies.
Both extremes can be problematic. On the
one side there is more to receiving Holy Communion
than simply checking off a list of daunting rules and
regulations. On the other side when we partake
casually and unprepared it can harden our hearts
towards the things of God. Of course, God is not
bound by our preparedness, He discloses Himself to
whom He pleases, but we must never take this for
granted.
The Holy Eucharist is not a good luck charm
or a magic trick, rather to properly receive the Holy
Mysteries of God we always have to living a life of
faithfulness to the Gospel. As Christians we should
always be in preparation to receive Christ into our
hearts and life. That is to say, we are always in a
state of preparation, which is manifested by the way
we live. We live to receive Christ, whether it is by
the Holy Eucharist or in the multitude of other ways
that God discloses Himself to us.
Receiving Communion, in this light, assumes
that we are living a Christian life outside of the
services of the Church. The great commandment is
to love God with all of our strength and to love our
neighbors. We show our love for God by pursuing
an intimate daily relationship with Him. This
relationship certainly includes prayer and fasting.
We show our love for neighbors by treating all
people with dignity, serving those in need around us,
and by forgiving people when we are offended.
The reception of the Holy Eucharist certainly
assumes that we are trying to live holy and moral
lives. If our lifestyle is at odds with the teachings of
the Church we are given a choice: we can repent and
change our ways, thereby turning towards Christ or
we can go our own way and turn away from what our
Lord calls us too. Repentance means actively
struggling against and renouncing our sinful
behaviors. If we choose to disagree with the morality
that God has revealed to the Church and go our own
way we excommunicate ourselves from God and the
Church.
Some lifestyle choices that are at odds with
traditional Christian teaching are: sex or sexual
activity outside the context of marriage, the viewing
of pornography, masturbation, drunkenness,
cohabiting couples who are unmarried, murder,
swearing, abortion, lying, stealing, gambling, and
more. Of course, as the list goes on it gets more
subtle so what has been listed is considered basic
Christian morality. When we engage in lifestyles
that are incompatible with Christian teaching we
should avoid taking the Holy Eucharist, unless of
course we are willing to repent and struggle to
correct our ways.
Beyond the above mentioned sins we have to
watch over our hearts that they may abide in purity.
Jesus says “blessed are the pure in heart” and purity
of heart is the ultimate Christian goal that we may
“see God.” One of the assumptions of our faith is that
we will fail in some areas in our Christian walk. We
will fail to love God, we will fail to love our
neighbors. When we fail we should seek
reconciliation with God asking Him for forgiveness.
We should also bring our failures to Holy Confession
that we may be cleansed by God. Whenever possible
we should also seek to reconcile with those who we
have offended.
St. Paul, in reference to how we are to
approach the Holy Eucharist tells the Corinthians:
For I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the
same night in which He was betrayed took
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bread; and when He had given thanks, He
broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body
which is broken for you; do this in
remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He
also took the cup after supper, saying, “This
cup is the new covenant in My blood. This
do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance
of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this
bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an
unworthy manner will be guilty of the body
and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of the bread and
drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks
in an unworthy manner eats and drinks
judgment to himself, not discerning the
Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak
and sick among you, and many sleep (1
Corinthians 11:23-30).
On the one hand we are always unworthy. All
of us carry sins that we are often blind to. Regular
personal prayer, confession and effort in cultivating
relationship with our Lord in Savior along with
prepared partaking of Communion will undoubtedly
aid us in the discovery of those more subtle sins. That
path and those efforts will lead to healing and fuller
integration into the Kingdom of Heaven. However
our blindness to the more subtle sins that allow us to
approach the chalice with faith in God’s loving
mercy do not excuse us from any unworthiness that
may fall into the clearer, more basic forms of
Christian morality stated earlier in the article.
If we have discovered or already know that
we are “living in sin” we should not despair. It is true
that those sins should keep us from the chalice but if
we confess and repent we are easily restored to
Communion. God is just as loving and merciful,
when we sin He desires for us to be restored. He
desires communion with us. This is why our Lord
incarnated, lived and died for us. He has made every
effort to restore us to Himself and His kingdom but
we must do our part. Every week when the priest
brings out the chalice he states clearly to all, “With
the fear of God and faith and love, draw near." May
God bless us to take the Holy Mysteries of God
seriously with Godly fear and love. May He also
bless us to renounce any sins that separat us from the
Body of Christ. Finally, we are only saved by the
mercy and love of God, let us continually seek God’s
mercy and attract His grace by living pious lives
dedicated to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
In Christ, Fr. Theophan
Announcements
If you would like your house blessed please let
Fr. Theophan know by calling him or emailing
him. There will be a signup sheet in the Narthex
of the Church.
Orthodoxy 101/ Catechism classes will resume
on Wednesday the 8th at 6:45pm. All are
welcome. We are currently covering the Holy
Mysteries of the Church.
Fr. Theophan has enrolled in a Clinical Pastoral
Education (CPE) class. CPE is a post graduate
professional training for ministers.
The Parish Council is scheduled to meet on
January 9th at 6pm. In the December meeting we
elected Heidi as our Warden, Diane as our
Treasurer and Eric as the PC Secretary.
Church Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday the
11th at 10:30am. At this cleanup we will be
putting away all of the decorations. Any and all
help is appreciated.
The Outreach Committee will meet on the 18th at
10:30am.
Church School resumes on January 19th.
Confessions are heard every Saturday from 5-
6pm, on Sunday’s before the Liturgy, and by
appointment during the week.
Sunday Gospel Readings Sunday January 5th Mark 1-1-8
12th Matt. 4:12-17
19th Luke 18:35-43
26th Matt. 15:21-28
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Many Years! Birthdays January 1 George Moore
1 Raymond Brown
6 Olga Uchakin
7 Peter Hintermaier
21 Carmen Luca
24 Leann Almquist
27 Anton Osobov
28 James Talley
Anniversaries January 12 Ray and Patti Lanier
Theophany House Blessings
It is that time of year again! It is an Orthodox
Christian tradition and custom to have your house
blessed every year between the feast of Theophany
and the beginning of Lent. In many places, after the
water is blessed on the day of Theophany the priest
would begin to go house to house, blessing with the
newly blessed Theophany water. In our times many
people live further away from the Church, so it is
often that the priest to be invited to a particular home
for the house blessing.
House blessings are the spiritual version of a
spring cleaning. Over the year our houses slowly
collect dust and dirt, likewise our homes over the
year can become “spiritually dirty.” It is important to
cleanse and refresh our living environment
spiritually.
For those of you who may be new to the faith
or maybe have never heard of or seen a house
blessing, the general process is as follows. First, if
you desire your home to be blessed, you would need
to schedule a date and time to have your house
blessed by Fr. Theophan. In many places it is the
custom to have the priest and his family over for
dinner and house blessing. Others simply invite the
priest to come over and bless the house. Either way
is acceptable, whatever works for the family is
usually best.
In general, the priest will bring all that is
needed to bless the house. However, there are a few
things the homeowner can provide such as an icon of
Christ and a candle. Also, a list of first names for
whom prayers are to be offered, including members
of the family and all those living in the house. The
list should have a clear distinction between the living
and reposed.
Traditions surrounding the blessing differ
according to local custom. In general, when the
priest comes, all who are present in the house gather
around the icon with the candle. Often the family will
say the Trisagion Prayers and then help the priest
sing of the Troparion of the Feast of Theophany.
Then a family member, often the head of the
household, leads the priest through the house with a
lit candle. As he goes, the priest sprinkles holy water,
and prays for a blessing upon each room and the
activity that goes on there. When they have gone
through the entire house, the family gathers again
around the table and the priest blesses each person
present. For a house which has never been blessed
the process is a little more involved, let Fr. Theophan
know and he will explain the difference to you.
It is a pious custom in many cultures where
the priest is often unpaid to offer the priest a
donation. This donation is never required or even
expected.
If you desire to have your house blessed
please sign up at Church or you can email or call Fr.
Theophan to set a date and time. I am looking
forward to the opportunity to visit all of your homes.
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St. Innocent Orthodox Church January 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
Fish Wine and Oil
1 Fast Free
9am Divine Liturgy
for St. Basil and New
Year
2
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
3
9am Royal Hours for
Theophany
4
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
5 Strict Fast
9:40am Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45am break
12:15pm Great
Vespers w/ blessing
of the waters
6 Fr. Theophan off
9am Divine Liturgy
followed by Blessing
of the Waters for
Theophany
7
8
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
Resumes
9
Fr Theophan
9am-4pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
6pm Parish Council
10
11
10:30am Church
Cleanup
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
12
8:40 Baptism
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
Prosphora Workshop
13 Fr. Theophan off
14
15
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
16
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
17
18
10:30am Outreach
Committee
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
19
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
12:15 Church School
20 Fr. Theophan off
21
22
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
23
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
24
25
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
26
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
12:15 Church School
27 Fr. Theophan off
28
29
6pm Great Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
30
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
31
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St. Innocent Orthodox Church February 2014
Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday
1
4pm Confession
5pm Vigil For Our
Lord’s Entrance into
the Temple
2 Zacchaeus Sunday
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
12:15 Church School
3 Fr. Theophan off
4 5
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
6
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
7 8
10am Church Cleanup
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
9 Publican & Pharisee
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
12:15 Church School
2pm Wedding
10 Fast Free Week
Fr. Theophan off
11 12
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
13
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
6pm Parish Council
14 Valentine's Day
15
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
16 Prodigal Son
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
10 Year Parish
Anniversary service
and celebration
17 Presidents' Day
Fr. Theophan off
18 19
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
20
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
21 22
10am Memorial
Saturday Panikhida
5pm Confession
6pm Great Vespers
23 Last Judgment
9:40 Hours
10am Divine Liturgy
11:45 Agape
12:15 Church School
24 Meat Fast Begins
Fr. Theophan off
25 Meat Fast 26 Meat Fast
6pm Vespers
Orthodoxy 101
27 Meat Fast
9am-1pm CPE Class
1-4pm Central State
Prison Ministry
28 Meat Fast