Byzantine Catholic Mission
|
Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
| Home | Location | Schedule | Photos | Bulletin | History | Prayers | Contact |
|
O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
|
HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
Welcome!
To all who are tired and need rest, to all who mourn and need comfort, to all who are friendless and need friendship, to all
who are discouraged and need hope, to all who are hopeless and need sheltering love, to all who sin and need a Savior, and to
whosoever will, this church opens wide its doors in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. To all who are worshipping with us
today — welcome!
DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
Next Sunday is Food Sunday
November 9, 2003
Divine Liturgy Intention: If you would like the Divine Liturgy offered for a loved one, deceased or living, please give your offering to Father O’Connell and obtain a Liturgy intention card from William Gogar. Please write down the intention so it can be printed in the bulletin.
Our Offerings
St. Philip's Fast
St. Philip's Fast, also known as the Christmas Fast, marks the penitential season preceding the festive time of Christmas and Theophany. Like the Great Fast of Lent, it lasts 40 days; it is also called Winter Lent. Its name is derived from the
Feast of St. Philip, which falls on Nov. 14, the day before the fast begins.
St. Philip's Fast is truly a fasting season, a time of penitential contemplation of the fact that the Second Person of
the Triune God condescended to take on human nature. If He is willing to do that, maintaining a spirit of repentance and
cleansing is the least we can do, especially since the Christmas-Theophany season is a time of great joy and celebration,
which is why it is sometimes referred to as the Winter Pasch.
Many in our society, Christians especially, bemoan the fact that Christmas has been so commercialized and that the reason for
the season has been forgotten. The period from Nov. 15 to Dec. 25 is filled with so many celebrations that by the
time the Feast of the Nativity arrives it is anti-climactic; the following day, trees fill street corners even though the
celebration has just begun and lasts until the final day of the Theophany Postfestive. Christians need to reclaim the
preparatory Advent time of Philip's Fast for what it is: a fast. Just how do we do that?
Fast! Fasting from meat products on Friday is virtually mandatory, but one can and should do more. One should fast from meat
products on weekdays or fast from meat and dairy products on Wednesday and Friday or do a combination of both. There is no
fasting on weekends, and we have several feasts during the season which abrogate the fast: the Entrance of the Theotokos,
Thanksgiving, St. Nicholas's Feast, and the Conception of St. Anne.
And now here's the hard part: Avoid giving or attending Christmas parties during the fast. It is not Christmas until we sing
"God Is with Us" the night of Dec. 24. Do not be afraid of offending someone; simply explain the reason why you must
decline their invitation or why you are changing the date of your annual party. Most will find it fascinating, and you have
just evangelized them. Besides, there are weeks after Christmas for celebrating.
Enshrine the icon of Our Lady of the Sign in your icon corner or on your dining room table, and each evening sing the Troparia
of the Christmas Fast. Go ahead and Christmas shop -- fighting mobs of delirious people in a crowded mall is pretty
penitential, and if it is done in the right spirit, it teaches humility and patience, things that are needed to be learned
during a fast.
And when you finally sing "God Is with Us," celebrate and don't stop, for Christ is born! Glorify Him!
—Rev. Glenn Davidowich
Pastoral Ponderings
An article about forgiveness recently came to my attention, and I thought I would share some of its insights. According to the
author, forgiveness is one person’s response to another’s injustice or injury. Reconciliation, on the other hand,
is two or more parties coming together in mutual respect to mend fences and to attempt to rebuild trust and healthy
relationships.
There are a lot of things forgiveness is not. Forgiveness is not forgetting or denial. It is not ignoring the effects of the
wrongdoing or the allowance of time passing. It is not condoning. It is not a statement that nothing bad happened. It is not
pretending that it won’t happen again. It is not excusing. It is not forgiving with a righteous sense of moral
superiority. It is not seeking justice or compensation. Forgiveness is not a quid pro quo desire for compensation or
punishment. Forgiveness is not approval. When God forgives a sin, it does not mean that He approves the sin! Same with us!
Instead, forgiveness is really about not letting the pain of some moment in our past carry on into the future.
More on this subject next week.
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 19-Nov-2003 |
