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
February 8, 2004
Bios: Sts. Theodore and Zacharias
St. Theodore was a general in the army of Emperor Licinius. He suffered death at Heraclea in Thrace A.D. 318.
St. Zacharias was from the tribe of Levi, roughly 520 B.C.
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 Sunday of the Prodigal Son To prepare us for the Great Fast, holy church points out that humility is the first step to conversion, as seen in the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee last Sunday. Today, to show how one is converted to God, our church sets before us the example of the prodigal son. When there is humility and sorrow of heart, the door to God’s mercy is opened. Scripture scholars call the parable of the prodigal son the pearl of all parables. It is unique for its deep moral content. Its dramatic story is constantly repeated in the souls of millions throughout the world. The prodigal son is the symbol of every sinful soul. This parable shows that nothing on earth can satisfy our biting hunger and parching thirst for happiness. True happiness and peace are found only in God, our loving Father. Some call this parable the parable of God’s love. Anyone who, through sin, alienates himself from God and seeks happiness outside of God, sooner or later will be forced to say with the prodigal son, “I shall rise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18). Or with St. Augustine, who was himself a prodigal son for many years, “Our heart is restless, O God, until it rests in you.” —Father George Vida All Souls Saturday: We Pray for the Dead One of the most venerable traditions in the Church, equally observed in the West as well as the East, is the commemoration of the departed in our liturgical prayers. Since apostolic times, the Church has consistently taught that we, through our prayers, offerings, and good deeds, can help the faithful departed. St. John Chrysostom, speaking of the departed, reminded his people:
It is of great consolation for us, the surviving friends and relatives of our departed brothers and sisters, to help them and remain united to them by a bond of everlasting love. St. Ambrose, preaching in 395, on the fortieth day after the death of the emperor Theodosius, consoled the people with these words:
The custom of offering prayers and sacrifices for the departed comes to us from the Old Testament. Holy Scripture praises the custom as holy and pious, as written in the Second Book of Maccabees:
The Church considers it one of the main works of mercy to commemorate the dead. Praying for his devoted friend Onesiphorus, St. Paul asked that the Lord “grant him mercy” as he stood before the judgment seat (2 Timothy 1:18). All the church’s early liturgies, including the most ancient one, the Liturgy of St. James, contain a prayer for the departed. The liturgies of St. Basil the Great and St. John Chrysostom also include prayers for the deceased. The fathers of Vatican II rightly decreed that the church, “from the very first centuries of Christianity, has cultivated the memory of the dead with great piety and offered prayers for the deceased.” Special Liturgical Service — February 14 — First All Souls Saturday
We will pray the Panichida, a memorial service for our deceased brothers and sisters, at noon on Feb. 14 at Calvary
Cemetery in Knoxville. Please join us as we commemorate and pray for the faithful departed. Pastoral Ponderings: Volunteering As we approach the Great Fast, we might give some thought to volunteering some of our time and talent. If you stand in front of a group of kids and say these words: “I need a volunteer” — every hand will go up. Stand in front of a group of adults and the results will be different. We hesitate to reply. We need a personal invitation. We need to know we can do it. We need to know someone respects our gifts as well as our responsibilities. Maybe, just maybe, we will volunteer. Sometimes we don’t volunteer because we feel unworthy. We are painfully aware of our failures. Remember the prophet Isaiah? He thought himself unworthy until God convinced him with a burning ember. It was then that he replied: “Here I am, send me!” Maybe God has already called you and given you a sign.
Even though next Saturday, Feb. 14, is more commonly thought of as Valentine’s Day, in the Roman rite, it is also
the Feast of Sts. Cyril and Methodius. These brothers were the “Apostles to the Slavs,” missionaries to
Bulgaria, Moravia and Dalmatia. They translated the scriptures into Slavic, developing its “Cyrillic” alphabet.
So where is Valentine? Unfortunately the information about this Roman martyr is not considered reliable. So in the Roman
rite, the liturgical color for the 14th is white, not the red of martyrs. Wrap chocolates in red!
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 8-Feb-2004 |
