Holy Resurrection Byzantine Catholic Mission

Icon of the Archangel Gabriel

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.

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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
FATHER THOMAS O’CONNELL, PASTOR
FATHER MICHAEL MAPLES, ASSISTANT PASTOR
FATHER DEACON RON VOLEK, PASTORAL ASSISTANT
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH
307 BLACK OAK RIDGE ROAD PO BOX 817
SEYMOUR, TN 37865
PHONE: 865-609-1081
www.hrbcc.org

Slava Isusu Christu! Slava Na Niky!
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

Divine Liturgy begins at 4 p.m. Every Sunday
Ninth Hour Prayer precedes Liturgy at 3:30 p.m.

Potluck supper follows Liturgy on the third Sunday of the month
Also at this time non-perishable foods and items for those in need

JANUARY 6, 2008
THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST

Our Offerings
Dec. 30: $262 — Candles: $27

Troparion of the Theophany (Tone 1)

When You were baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity made its appearance. For the voice of the Father bore witness to You, when He called You, His beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the truth of the word. O Christ our God, who has appeared and has enlightened the world, glory to Thee!

FEAST OF THE THEOPHANY OF OUR LORD

In the first centuries of Christianity, the Feast of the Theophany was regarded as a collective feast for it embraced other events in the life of Jesus Christ, which bore witness to His Divinity. The events celebrated on this feast were: the Nativity; the homage of the Wise Men from the East; the Baptism of Jesus; the miracle at Cana of Galilee; and the miraculous multiplication of the loaves.

The Feast of the Baptism or Epiphany of our Lord places before our eyes one of the greatest and most profound truths of our holy faith. This truth is that the Most Holy Trinity was revealed and bore witness to the Divinity of Christ.

The Feast of Theophany is a celebration of a historic event, the Baptism of Christ. We also celebrate all the manifestations of God—theophanies—to men in the person of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. We celebrate in this feast His mysterious union with humanity in the Church—a union of faith and love that engenders to men a new spiritual life in baptism. The Baptism of Christ in the River Jordan (Mark 1:9-11) serves to reveal this union in a clear and special manner.

In accordance with the Gospel, this is the first revelation of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The icon brings this revelation to us. At the top of the icon the opening of heaven is symbolized by the segment of a circle. This circle signifies God’s presence and witness at the event. Emanating from the circle are rays of light surrounding the Holy Spirit, depicted in the figure of a dove descending upon our Savior, who is being baptized in the Jordan by St. John the Baptist. The Father and the Holy Spirit give testimony to the appearance of the Son of God in the flesh among mankind.

In this icon we are immediately drawn to Christ, standing in the waters of the Jordan. The imagery shows that the entire body of Christ is immersed in the Jordan in token of His burial: In Colossians we read, “In baptism you were not only buried with Him but also raised to life with Him because you believed in the power of God Who raised Him from the dead” (2:12). The illustration of the total immersion of Christ as well as His right hand blessing the waters signifies the sanctification and purification of the waters by Christ. No longer is water an image of death but an image of birth into a new life that we share with Christ. In Christ we celebrate that all of Creation is renewed.

A further illustration of our coming to share this new life in Christ is the symbol of Christ undergoing baptism “clothed” in the nakedness of Adam, the father of all mankind. Through Christ’s sanctification of the waters, He enables us to be raised up with Him and to put on the robes of incorruptibility.

The role of St. John the Baptist is depicted by the placing of his right hand on the head of Christ. With his left hand, St. John makes a gesture of prayer, symbolizing the trembling awe that overwhelmed him at the sight of the divine manifestation.

Angels are also present. Their heads are bowed as an indication of their role of service to God and their reverence for Him whom they serve.

The icon of Theophany brings us visually and symbolically to the presence of the manifestation of God, the revelation of the Trinity, and the deep, spiritually rich significance of baptism. In its presence we know that God does reveal Himself to us and that through our baptisms, established by the baptism of Christ, we are made new in Christ.

PASTORAL PONDERINGS

The Feast of Theophany, which refers to God's self-revelation, as well as to the revelation of Jesus as his Son, is really an older celebration than the feast of Christmas. It originated in the East in the late second century, and in Italy and Spain, the gifts traditionally associated with the Christmas season are exchanged today. Among Italians it is believed that the gifts are brought by the old woman, Befana; whereas, Spanish custom attributes the gifts to the kings or magi. The feast commemorates the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles in the Western Church. In the Eastern Church it is the commemoration of the baptism of Christ. The angels revealed Jesus to the shepherds, and the star revealed him to the Magi, who had already received hints of Him from Jewish scriptures. Later, God the Father revealed Jesus identity at His baptism in the Jordan. In the synagogue at Nazareth, Jesus revealed himself as the promised Messiah. These multiple revelations are all suggested by this Feast.

On a slightly lighter note, there is the story of a certain pilot’s epiphany. A helicopter was flying around above Seattle one day when an electrical malfunction disabled all the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to steer to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said, “Where am I?” in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign, and held it in the building window. Their sign said, “You are in a helicopter.” The pilot smiled, waved, looked at his map, determined the course to steer to Sea-Tac airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, the co-pilot asked how the “You are in a helicopter” sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded: “I knew that had to be the Microsoft building because, similar to their help-lines, they gave me a technically correct but completely useless answer.”

Have a good week!

—Father Thomas O’Connell

Last updated: 22-Jan-2008