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Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission |
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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:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
December 21, 2003
Divine Liturgy Intentions: 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
Vigil of the Nativity of Our Lord
Come and celebrate the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil with us:
9 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 24, here at the church.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Father O’Connell, on your 40th anniversary in the priesthood! May God grant you many years in health and happiness!
Thank you for everything you do for all of us!
We Love You!
The Genealogy of Christ
This Sunday is specially consecrated as preparation for the Nativity. It is called the “Sunday of the Fathers” or
the “Sunday of the Genealogy.”
“Turning our thoughts to Bethlehem, let us lift ourselves in spirit to contemplate the great Mystery that is taking
place in the cave. Now that the time of our salvation draws near, prepare thyself, O Bethlehem,” the choir sings, and
mention is made of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the holy women of the Old Covenant who “through faith shine like
the stars.” The Church’s idea, this Sunday, is to bring the righteous who lived before Christ into the joy of the
Nativity and “to invite them all, through praises and divine songs, to prepare for the birth of Christ.”
The Gospel read at today’s Liturgy traces the genealogy of Jesus according to the flesh: “The generation of Jesus
Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob,” and it continues up to
Joseph, “the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.” We may have the impression that this
reading is of purely historical interest. We ask what this list of names brings us of any spiritual import.
Each one of these names has a particular meaning, if we remember the story of the person who bore it. We must realize that the
ancestors of Jesus were not all just and holy men. Among them are sinners: some have committed incest, others adultery and
murder; there is an alien woman. The names of Judas, Thamar, David, and Ruth are filled with spiritual significance. Jesus
wanted to be humanly linked with “all that” and “all those.” He wanted to clear a way through the sins
and of men. And so He takes upon and overcomes the history of each of us. We all have some of the faults of Jesus’s
ancestors. In each of us can be found, either dormant or awakened, the sins of the patriarchs and their children.
Nevertheless, Jesus must be born in us. We must, in ourselves, overcome and go beyond the misdeeds that certain names in the
genealogy of Jesus represent. It is necessary for us to live this genealogy, for us to acquire a personal experience of it, so
that through falling and starting afresh, we shall eventually reach Joseph and Mary. This does not mean sinning deliberately
so that we can identify ourselves more closely with the genealogy of the Lord, but simply recognizing certain elements of this
genealogy in the sins that we do commit, which prepared for the birth of Jesus. Thus the genealogy of Christ will become an
integral part of our own lives.
—Father George Vida
Pastoral Ponderings
While the secular world has been celebrating Christmas for the past few months, the church, in its counter-cultural stance,
remains faithful to the spirit of Philip’s Fast. When the 24th arrives, Christmas begins at sundown, and the
liturgical festivities commence. We will gather for the Holy Supper and then celebrate Divine Liturgy at 9 p.m. Next
Sunday, which celebrates the Feast of the Holy Family and the 20th anniversary of Holy Family Parish, the Parish Dinner will
be held at noon at The Barn, and Divine Liturgy will begin at 2:30 p.m.
There has been a slight modification in the pew arrangement in the front of the church. By removing a half pew we have been
able to provide room for a variety of instances when the previous arrangement was a bit constricting. In addition to allowing
more room for communicants during Divine Liturgy, there is now the option for those using wheel chairs or walkers to be seated
near the front.
Since there will be no bulletin on Christmas day, I will use this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a blessed and
joyous Christmas celebration.
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 31-Dec-2003 |
