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
Sunday of the Man Born Blind
Welcome, Father Custer!
We, the people of Holy Resurrection, welcome you to our mission! We thank you for sharing your weekend with us. As you lead us
in our worship and teach us with your words, may we grow in faith. Here in East Tennessee, we hope you find the faith thriving
and vibrant, the people caring and attentive, and the pierogies mouth-watering and delicious. May God bless you and grant you
many happy, holy years!
Our Offerings
Reminder! Upcoming Holy Day of Obligation
We will celebrate the feast of the Holy Ascension of Our Lord with Divine Liturgy beginning at 7:30 p.m. Thursday,
May 20, here at the church.
The Sunday of the Man Born Blind: Gospel Thought
In today’s Gospel, John 9:1-38, the man who was born blind lived in darkness because he could not see. But Christ,
the light of the world, miraculously gave him the gift of sight. Christ also wanted to confer “sight” on all those
who possessed physical sight but lacked the gift of true sight: faith. In this incident, the Pharisees lacked sight, or faith,
because of their pride. Christ alone can bestow the gift of faith. Todayrsquo;s Gospel presents us with a lesson on having the
true gift of sight: faith in Christ. —Rev. Anthony Holowaychu, OSBM
The Feast of the Holy Ascension of Our Lord
The New Testament tells us that Christ stayed on earth for 40 days after His Resurrection. This time was a period of training
and formation. St. Mark and St. Luke describe the time spent during these 40 days as a necessary preliminary to the
bestowal of the Holy Spirit (Mark 16:19 and Acts 1:3,9).
The number 40 is a perfect number for the Jews. In Scripture it is a classical number to indicate a period of formation. The
Flood lasted 40 days and 40 nights, Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai, the Israelites wandered 40 years in the desert, Elijah
walked 40 days and nights to Mount Horeb, and Christ Himself prayed and fasted in the desert for 40 days before beginning His
public ministry.
But what are the reasons for Christ to spend 40 days on earth after His Resurrection? First, to demonstrate that He had, in
fact, risen from the dead. Second, His coming back to life and His appearances afterwards were the means to commission the
official witnesses. Christianity spread to all the world through the eyewitness testimonies of the first Christians; it also
spread and continues to spread through the witness of succeeding generations of Christians. Even today, Christianity spreads
through the testimonies of today’s Christians.
Following His Ascension into heaven, Christ sits “at the right hand of God” (Colossians 3:1). Christ has
been constituted by the Father, Lord of all creation. The right hand is the position of honor — Christ sitting at the
right hand of God means that He has been elevated above all angels and men and above all creation to take up a place of honor
and to participate in the full glory and honor of God.
The First Ecumenical Question
In the search for Christian unity, here is a question asked by all denominations: “How many members of our congregation
does it take to change a light bulb?”
Roman and Byzantine Catholics? “None: We use candles.”
Presbyterians? “None: God has predestined when the lights will be on or off.”
Mormons? “Five: One man to change the bulb, and four wives to tell him how to do it.”
Unitarians? “We choose not to make a statement either in favor of or against. You are invited to write a poem or compose
a modern dance about your personal relationship with your light bulb, and present it next week at our annual Light Bulb
Sunday.”
Baptists or Methodists? “At least 15: One brother to change the bulb and two or three committees to approve the change
and prepare a casserole.”
— Father O’Connell
Pastoral Ponderings: Who Writes the Rules?
There were two main issues that threw the apostolic church into its first internal crisis: legislation and authority. When
preaching to non-Jews, Paul and Barnabas had been preaching that it was not necessary to become Jews in order to become
Christians. Not all Christians agreed. The questions were simple: Did Paul and Barnabas know the legislation correctly? Did
they have any authority to preach it?
The apostles and elders met in Jerusalem to consider these questions, and the gathering reached these conclusions: Yes, one
could become a Christian without first becoming a Jew, and Paul and Barnabas had the authority to speak for the church.
Issues of legislation and authority continue to vex the church. Sometimes people wonder if pastors and bishops have the
authority to make rules. Sometimes they question if these rules are in keeping with the spirit of the church. Such questions
are as old as the church herself. They can usually be resolved in charity and with reassurance.
— Father O’Connell
Please join us downstairs after Liturgy for a potluck supper! Make www.hrbcc.org your homepage today! Last updated: 20-May-2004 |
