Byzantine Catholic Mission
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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
Christos voskrese! Voistinnu voskrese!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. every Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Pascha
Divine Liturgy Intention
Our Offerings
Special Guest to Lead Weekend of Marian Devotion
Father Jack Custer, director of libraries and dean of Saints Cyril and Methodius Byzantine Catholic Seminary in Pittsburgh,
will visit us the weekend of May 15-16.
After the 5:30 p.m. Mass on Saturday, May 15, Holy Family will join us in treating Father Custer to a picnic on the
church grounds. At 8 p.m., we will go back to the church, where Father Custer will lead us in celebrating a Moleben
— devotional prayer service — to the Theotokos.
Father Custer will also lead us in celebrating Divine Liturgy at our usual time, 4 p.m., on Sunday, May 16.
After being ordained to the priesthood in 1983, and since receiving a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical
Gregorian University in Rome in 1987, Father Custer has taught, written, and offered retreats and seminars on nearly every
aspect of the Catholic, and specifically, the Byzantine, faith. Don’t miss out!
The Sunday of the Paralytic
Today, the Fourth Sunday of Pascha, we remember the cure of the paralytic. This miracle happened on the Sabbath at the pool of
Bethesda in Jerusalem. In Hebrew, Bethesda means “House of Mercy.” Today, Jesus reveals Himself as the Merciful
Savior, freeing a man from his lifelong ailment. We share in the joy of this moment when, at our baptism, the same Savior
washes us free from sin and makes us whole through His grace. His life-giving Death and glorious Resurrection free us from the
crippling effects of sin and re-create us in the image and likeness of God:
Come, let us partake of a new drink, not miraculously produced from the barren rock, but from the fountain of immortality, springing up from the tomb of Christ. In Him is our firm strength!
Gospel Thought
Jesus performed many miracles during His earthly ministry, but these miracles do not form the core of His mission. His
miracles are a proof of His ministry — that it was a divine ministry. They show that Jesus was the Christ for whom the
world had long awaited.
That Jesus cured the physical ills of many is a marvelous fact, but it is even more important that He came to cure our
spiritual ills. The physical cures and miraculous signs Jesus performed point to the spiritual healing that our heavenly
Father sent Jesus to administer.
After being cured, the paralytic met Jesus in the Temple, and our Lord warned him: “Sin no more unless something worse
befalls you.” What could be worse than spending 38 years lying in a bed? A person dying from the sickness of sin —
the sickness of the hands that are not dedicated to God, church, and neighbor; the sickness of the eyes involved in jealousy
and evil desires; the sickness of the feet in carrying us to forms of entertainment that are less than wholesome — all
these spiritual illnesses are worse than any physical ailment.
At the center of Christ’s ministry is the lesson of love, the power by which we can be cured of the spiritual sicknesses
and weaknesses caused by sin, which affects the use and health of our physical senses.
Perhaps you wonder why this parable appears during the Paschal cycle of Gospel stories. The Church Fathers tell us that in the
telling of the paralytic raised from his bed, we have a foreshadowing of our own resurrections.
—Rev. James Melnic
Pastoral Ponderings: One More — Worthy — May Celebration
As we enter the month of May, even though we remain in the Paschal season, subconsciously we enter a different season marked
not only by devotion to Mary, but also graduations, first communions, confirmations, weddings, ordinations and anniversaries.
While this is generally regarded as a joyful season, those whose pocketbooks get tapped for the requisite gifts sometimes
regard this as a season of “legalized robbery.” Cynicism aside, the month of May is an opportunity to increase our
life of faith and rejoice in the variety of events that traditionally accompany the month.
In keeping with the spirit of May, the communities of Holy Family and Holy Resurrection will celebrate an evening of devotion
to the Blessed Mother on Saturday, May 15. The schedule of events will include the customary Mass at 5:30 p.m.,
followed by a picnic supper in the Pavilion (Garden Level if the weather is not conducive). At 8 p.m. we will adjourn to
the church for a prayer service in honor of the Theotokos. Father Jack Custer, a member of the faculty of Saints Cyril and
Methodius Seminary in Pittsburgh, will lead and preach at what is traditionally called a Moleben.
So, for an evening of fun and prayer, mark your social calendars, which are no doubt already crowded with May celebrations.
Since both communities are known for their culinary abilities, the picnic should be an interesting combination of ethnic
specialties — pierogies — and customary foods. The Moleben in honor of the Theotokos will be a time of reflection
and praise, so much a part of the traditions of both East and West.
—Father O’Connell
Last updated: 2-May-2004 |
