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
Slava Isusu Christu! Slava Na Niky!
Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Potluck supper follows Liturgy on the third Sunday of the month
MAY 20, 2007
THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA
Sacred scripture proclaims: Jesus is Lord, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Jesus affirms His oneness with
God the Father since before creation. This Sunday between the Ascension and Pentecost is a celebration of the Divinity of
Christ. He is one with God forever and for all time.
Prayer to the Holy Theotokos
We earnestly seek your intercession, O Virgin Mother of God. Do not neglect our prayers in our times of need, but as you alone
are pure and blessed, deliver us from all danger. O most glorious Ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ our God, receive our
prayers and present them to your Son and our God, that He, for our sake, may enlighten and save our souls.
HOLY SCRIPTURES AND TRADITION
There are two sources of church doctrine: Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. Much of church doctrine comes from tradition
because the church established by our Lord existed before the books of the New Testament were written.
The first generations of the Church communicated their beliefs in the method used in rabbinical schools: oral transmission of
material from teacher to disciple. The importance of tradition is made even clearer if we consider that it wasn’t until
the fifth century that the church officially established which books were truly inspired by God’s revelation. It was in
this way that the church, herself, determined what texts would be included in the Bible.
In making this judgment, the church relied a great deal on oral tradition, which was and remains unbroken from the days of the
Apostles. Therefore, it is to the church that we must turn for the true interpretation of the Bible. Without such a criterion,
the authority of the Bible would rest upon the subjective opinions of every individual trying to interpret it. It is for this
reason that we believe the Bible, by itself, without tradition, is insufficient as a source of truth.
To see this in practice, the Apostles met in Jerusalem as a body to discuss matters of importance to the new church. The
fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles gives us some details of this meeting. Afterwards, similar gatherings of the
successors to the Apostles — the Bishops — took place from time to time. At these meetings, articles of faith were
formulated and decisions were made on contemporary problems that arose in the life of the church. We live and believe in these
articles of faith, collected under the name — tradition — just as if they were found in the Bible. The first of
these meetings known as — Ecumenical Councils — was held in 325 at Nicea in present-day Turkey.
Gospel Thought
“Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
(John 17:2)
Today, we commemorate the 318 Holy Fathers of the Council of Nicea. In the year 325, they gathered together to defend the true
teaching of the church against the heretic Arius. Arius denied the divinity of our Lord. The Council of Nicea unanimously
decreed:
“We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, light from
light, true God from true god, begotten not made, one in being with the Father, through whom all things were made...”
The Divine Liturgy lauds the wisdom of the Fathers, for they:
“Proclaimed You, O Lord, preaching that You, O Son of God, are equal to the Father on the throne and to the Spirit,
also!”
To this council, we owe the Nicene Creed that is recited at every Divine Liturgy.
PASTORAL PONDERINGS
Last week we looked briefly at the origin and scriptural basis of the restored order of the permanent diaconate. This week we
will look at the development of the permanent diaconate during the twentieth century.
Revived interest in the permanent diaconate dates back at least to the time of World War II. Priests imprisoned in Nazi
concentration camps, reflecting on the difficult situation of the church, speculated that permanent deacons — married or
single men with a formal, stable commitment to the work of the church — could have accomplished much good. Interest in
the idea continued after the war, when it was taken up by theologians and scholars, especially in Europe, and discussed in a
number of articles and books.
Vatican Council II’s principal statement on the restoration of the permanent diaconate appears in the Constitution
on the Church as follows:
Deacons...receive the imposition of hands not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service. Strengthened by
sacramental grace they are dedicated to the People of God, in conjunction with the bishop and his body of priests, in the
service of the liturgy, of the Gospel and of works of charity. It pertains to the office of a deacon, in so far as it may be
assigned to him by the competent authority, to administer Baptism solemnly, to be a custodian and distributor of the
Eucharist, in the name of the church to assist and to bless marriages, to bring Viaticum to the dying, to read the sacred
Scripture to the faithful, to instruct and exhort the people, to preside over the worship and the prayer of the faithful, to
administer sacramentals and to officiate at funeral and burial services. Dedicated to works of charity and functions of
administration, deacons should recall the admonition of St. Polycarp: “Let them be merciful, and zealous, and let them
walk according to the truth of the Lord, who became the servant of all.”
Last updated: 28-May-2007 |
