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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
March 28, 2004 — St. Mary of Egypt
Divine Liturgy Intention:
Our Offerings
From the Church Fathers
“We should have a most lively spiritual union with the heavenly inhabitants, with all the saints, apostles, prophets,
and martyrs, as they are all members of one single body, the Church of Christ, to which we sinners also belong, and the Living
Head, who is our Lord Jesus Christ Himself. This is why we call upon them in prayer, converse with them, thank them, and
praise them. It is urgently necessary for all Christians to be in union with them if we desire to make Christian progress. The
saints are our friends and our guides to salvation for they pray and intercede for us.”
— St. John Kronstadt
St. Mary of Egypt: A Rose in the Desert
Some flowers, such as roses, must be crushed in order for their full fragrance to be released. Some metals must be melted in
the furnace in order to be purified. Spiritual growth often follows a similar pattern. It is often through pain, hardship,
and temptation that we grow in spiritual self-discipline and virtue. This fact was especially true of St. Mary of Egypt,
whom we commemorate today.
Saint Mary was born in Egypt in the sixth century. By the age of 12, she had dedicated her life to the pursuit of sexual
excess and debauchery. She lived this life for 17 years until she journeyed to Jerusalem and tried to enter the Church of the
Holy Sepulchre. She was stopped at the doorway of the church by an invisible force. At that moment, her sinfulness was
revealed to her and she promised the Mother of God that if she could enter the Church she would dedicate the rest of her life
to God.
After her dramatic conversion, she withdrew to the desert where she spent the remaining years of her life in self-denial and
repentance, nourished by Holy Communion given her by the priest Zozimus. She often wondered why God tolerated her early life
of excess and lust. She later came to understand that God tolerated her sinfulness because He foresaw what she could become.
May the example of St. Mary draw attention to our needs for repentance so that we may rededicate our lives to the service
of our God.
Lazarus Saturday
Next Saturday, the day before Palm Sunday, is a special day in the liturgical life of the Church. On that day, the Saturday of
Lazarus, we commemorate the memory of one of the greatest miracles of Christ: raising His friend Lazarus from the dead. This
miracle took place immediately before His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and His Passion and Resurrection during Holy Week.
The Church rejoices; here on earth Christ displayed His power to raise the dead, and therefore we are assured of our own
resurrections.
It was necessary for Christ to perform such a miracle so that people could have no doubt about Him. Jesus knew that Lazarus
would be raised from the dead with His Resurrection, but He wanted to show us His power to heal and save from sin. He knew
that His word would create and give life, and he shares that knowledge with us.
When He cried out to the tomb, “Lazarus, come forth,” His words were addressed to all people. With these
words, Jesus asks us to come to Him — during our daily lives, through our trust in God, and in our belief that Christ
has the power to save us from our sins and grant us eternal life with Him. Let us renew our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, as we come to the conclusion of the Great Fast and prepare to celebrate Christ’s glorious Resurrection.
Pastoral Ponderings: Through the Eyes of a Moth
What meaning is there in life when you must suffer though you do not know why? Does our Christian faith have anything to say
in reply?
Suppose a moth lands on a carpet of many colors. It walks around and sees nothing but colored threads running helter-skelter,
making no sense at all. To that moth walking on the carpet, the whole thing appears to be disorderly and without design. In
fact the many different colors make in dizzy and faint-like so he flies off and lands on an electrical fixture on the ceiling.
Then as he looks down at the carpet he sees to his great amazement that all these crazy colored threads are not without
meaning. They serve to make an exquisitely beautiful design on the rug. Looking down at the rug from the ceiling, he has a
completely different perspective and is able to see that what did not make any sense to him before now makes sense.
So it is with us. When we look at life from humanity’s point of view — which is essentially the point of view of
the moth walking on the rug — nothing seems to make sense. But when we look at life from God’s point of view we
gain new perspective. We see that all the seemingly purposeless and meaningless events of life work together to make a
beautiful design. We see that “all things work together for good to those who love God” (from
Eastern Catholic Life).
— Father O’Connell
Last updated: 1-Apr-2004 |
