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!
DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
November 30, 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. Nicholas Day Liturgy and Celebration
Come join us in celebrating the Feast of St. Nicholas with a vigil Liturgy and “jolly ol’” party
Friday, Dec. 5. Divine Liturgy will begin at 6:30 p.m. with food, fun — and St. Nicholas himself —
with gifts for the children — appearing downstairs. Please bring a finger food, dessert, and/or two-liter drink to
share.
From the Church Fathers
“The Son of God came down to earth so as to recreate man ... to give life to him who had become dead, and to call him
from deception and error.”
—St. Symeon the New Theologian “Let us therefore consider how we ought to conduct ourselves in the sight of the Godhead and of His angels, and let us take part in the psalmody in such a way that our mind may be in harmony with our voice.” —St. Benedict of Nursia
“I Believe”
Every Sunday when we gather in church for the Divine Liturgy, we sing the Creed. This statement of faith contains the basic
truths of our religion. It is a statement of what we believe. It’s important — what people believe. Some say:
“I don’t care what a person believes as long as he is sincere.” Well, suppose two people each owe you $100.
One of them believes that everybody should pay his debts, and he pays you. The other person believes that only fools pay their
debts, and he doesn’t pay you. Both may be equally sincere. It does matter what people truly believe; that is the
foundation of their lives.
What do we believe?
Our statement of faith is called the Nicene Creed because the first part of it was compiled in AD 325 at the Ecumenical
Council of Nicea. It was finished in 381 at the Council of Constantinople. The Creed is more than 1,600 years old and is still
professed today. What was necessary for Christians to believe a thousand years ago is the same today — no more, no less.
Because of the Creed’s importance, it is sung at every Liturgy. We say: “I believe.” The first word is
I. Now, it is rather unusual to use this term in the Church’s worship. In the prayers and hymns we usually say
we because we are gathered together as Christ’s Family, the Church, the congregation, the people of God, the Body
of Christ. We pray, “Our Father ... Give us this day our daily bread.” In the Great Entrance
we sing: “Let us lay aside all earthly cares.” In the Ektenia we say, “In peace let us pray to
the Lord.” In other words, most of the time we pray as a group, as a family, together for all. But when it comes to the
Creed, we say “I believe.” This is so because belief is a personal thing. No one can believe for me. I
cannot take shelter in the faith of my parents or my forebears. I must believe. My mother, my wife, or my priest cannot
believe for me. I have to believe. And when I come to church I have to say what my belief is, so the Creed begins with the
word I. Then we say believe.
What does it mean to believe?
We cannot prove matters of faith the way we prove so many things. We cannot touch them, see them, feel them. But we believe
they are real, true. St. Paul says we, as Christians, “walk by faith not by sight.” We believe in God, in
Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit. We trust Him, we love Him, we serve Him. Remember the story of the man who once brought his
sick boy to the Apostles, but they could not help the lad. Then the father came to Christ for help. Jesus said the apostles
couldn’t help because of their lack of faith. The man said to Jesus: “Lord, help me if you can.” Our Lord
responded in words that meant: What do you mean, “If I can?” It’s up to you ... do you believe, for all
things are possible for him who believes. And so, the next time we hear the Creed in church, let us stand erect and recite
it for our own personal testimony, our own personal statement, let us say this is what I believe!
—Rev. James Melnic
Pastoral Ponderings: Forgiveness
(Continued from last week.)
Many of us have a lot of “shoulds” about forgiveness — teaching from parents, church, etc. that tell us that
we should always forgive — e.g. “70 × 7 times” as suggested in Scripture. These “shoulds”
can produce guilt because we sometimes can’t let go and forgive someone who has hurt us — especially if the hurt
or injury or abuse is serious. Forgiveness is difficult enough without feeling that the Church or your parents are trying to
shove it down your throat! It’s also important to remember that if someone has been abused, making them forgive before
they are ready can cause serious psychological harm.
Forgiveness needs to happen on several levels — physical, emotional, psychological, spiritual, relational, and so
forth. We may be ready on one level but not on others. It’s important to respect all of the different and combined
levels — not just one or two.
As you might expect, the finest example of how to forgive is in the Person of Jesus — not so much His words but how he
lived and died. At the end of His life, He asked His Father to forgive those who had tortured Him. We can do likewise during
the stages of forgiveness. We can ask God to do what we cannot do for ourselves.
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 4-Dec-2003 |
