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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
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
MAY 18, 2008
SUNDAY OF ALL SAINTS THE HOLY MARTYR THEODOTUS OF ANCYRA THE HOLY MARTYRS PETER, DIONYSIUS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS
Our Offerings
The Apostles Fast
Through prayer and fasting, the Apostles prepared themselves for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They prayed and fasted much
before they went out to preach the Gospel. After praying and fasting, they ordained new presbyters for apostolic work, as
we read in the Acts of the Apostles: “And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed” (Acts 14:22).
Thus, from the earliest times, the Church has prepared her faithful with prayer and fasting for the feast of the major
Apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul, whose memory we celebrate on June 29. The fast begins tomorrow and ends on June 28.
Wednesdays and Fridays are to be kept as days of abstinence: no meat or meat products.
Celebration Not Obligation
The primary reason for the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist is not so that each baptized person can fulfill an
individual obligation. The church satisfies neither its own desires nor those of its members. It responds to an
indispensible mission received from God through His Son. We should not go to church like beaten dogs saying: “Oh,
it’s Sunday, again, and I have to go to liturgy. What a chore!” If it is like that for you, ask God to convert
you and lift the cloud of bitterness that hangs over your heart. Ask Him to let you discover the joy, grace, and generous
gift which you — called to take part in the church’s mission in the world — received at your baptism.
Sunday of All Saints
The Sunday after Pentecost Sunday is dedicated to the memory of All Saints. The commemoration of All Saints Sunday is
placed just after Pentecost Sunday in order to remind us of what the power of the Holy Spirit can do in our lives. The
saints were—and continue to be—those individuals who allow the Holy Spirit to be active in their lives.
Saint Paul tells us that when the Holy Spirit is alive and active in our lives we will experience “love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:21) On the other hand,
if the Spirit is absent from our lives, there will be “hatred, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of
selfishness, dissension, occasions of envy, and the like.” (Galatians 5:21)
Interestingly, at one time the words “saint” and “Christian” were interchangeable. In the early
Church, sainthood was not considered to be an exceptional way of life. Sainthood was expected of every Christian. Saints
were not considered to be perfect humans, rather saints were simply considered to be forgiven sinners who tried their best
to follow after Christ.
Let Us Remember and Honor Our Brothers and Sisters in Christ
“We extol you, apostles, martyrs, prophets, and all saints, and we honor your holy memory as you pray for us to
Christ our God!” (Hymn of Praise of the Sunday of All Saints)
Our liturgical calendar dedicates each day of the year to one or more saints or groups of saints. There are multitudes of
saints in heaven whose names are not recorded in the liturgical calendar and whose names are unknown to the world even
though they are forever inscribed in the Book of Life.
Therefore, it is the wish of the Church that fitting honor be paid to both the known and unknown saints in heaven.
The first group of saints to be honored was the holy martyrs. The feast of All Martyrs was kept in the Eastern Church even
during the time of St. John Chrysostom — the late fourth and early fifth centuries. A eulogy he delivered in
their honor on the first Sunday after Pentecost has survived. “Seven days had not yet passed,” he says,
“since we celebrated the holy feast of Pentecost, and once again the choir of martyrs has received us, the faithful
warriors and army, who do not yield to the army of angels that Jacob had seen but are equally zealous and equal to
them.”
The saints are the closest friends of God; hence the honor we pay them is pleasing to God, for they loved God above all
things. The Second Vatican Council encourages us to venerate the saints: “It is supremely fitting, therefore, that we
love those friends and co-heirs of Jesus Christ who are also our brothers and sisters and extraordinary benefactors; let us
render due thanks to God for them, and let us suppliantly invoke them and have recourse to their prayers, their power, and
their help” (On the Constitution of the Church, 50).
All the saints are very close to us for they, like us, were once citizens of our earth and are of our own flesh and bone.
They are members of the same Church as us, although they belong to the Church Triumphant while we still struggle as members
of the Church Militant, the Church on earth. They are not indifferent to our welfare and salvation. Hence, there exists no
doubt that they readily listen to all our petitions and prayers and gladly present them before the throne of God.
PASTORAL PONDERINGS
Sometimes visual aids are the only way to express what seem to be unfathomable mysteries. Here are three examples
concerning the Trinity from such reputable sources as St. Patrick, St. Cyril and St. John Vianney.
The shamrock, a kind of clover, is a leguminous herb that grows in marshy places in Ireland. St. Patrick used the
shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity. The story goes that one day his friends asked Patrick to explain the mystery of the
Trinity. He looked at the ground and saw shamrocks growing among the grass at his feet. He picked one up and showed it to
his friends saying, “Look at this beautiful little shamrock. Do you think it has one leaf or three?”
Patrick’s friends couldn't answer — the shamrock looked like one leaf, but it clearly had three parts. Patrick
reassured them, “The mystery of this shamrock is like the mystery of the Trinity; there are three parts but they are
all part of one.” Christians around the world continue to puzzle about the mystery of the Holy Trinity: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit — one God in three Persons.
St. Cyril, the teacher of the Slavs, tried to explain the mystery of the Trinity by saying, “Do you see in the
heavens the brilliant sphere of the sun and how from it light is begotten and warmth proceeds? God the Father is like the
sphere of the sun, without beginning or end. From Him is eternally begotten God the Son, like light from the sun; just as
there comes warmth together with light from the sun, the Holy Spirit proceeds. Each one is distinguished separately: the
sphere of the sun and the light and the warmth — these are not three suns, but one sun in the heavens. So also, in
the Holy Trinity, there are three Persons but God is one and indivisible.”
St. John Vianney used to explain the Holy Trinity using lighted candles and roses on the altar and water in the
cruets. “The flame has color, warmth and shape. But these are expressions of one reality, namely, rose. Water, steam
and ice are three distinct expressions of one reality. In the same way one God revealed Himself to us as Father, Son and
Holy Spirit.”
—Father Thomas O’Connell
Last updated: 17-Jun-2008 |
