St. George. Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church W. 14th Street, Cleveland OH The Pharisee and Publican

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1 St. George Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church 2587 W. 14th Street, Cleveland OH The Pharisee and Publican Serving the Orthodox Christian Community of Greater Cleveland

2 St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church V. Rev Father John Ojaimi, Pastor Office: (216) Fax: (216) Cellular: (440) Archdeacon Yarid Sahley Subdeacon Sam Elias Pastor s frjojaimi@msn.com Parish office@stgeorgecleveland.com Sunday February 21, 2016 Tone 5/Eothinon 5 Sunday of The Pharisee and Publican Venerable Timothy of Symbola; Eustathios, Archbishop of Antioch; Zachariah, patriarch of Jerusalem; George, Bishop of Amastris WELCOME TO OUR GUESTS We are glad you are worshiping with us today. There are Service Books in the pews. Orthodox Christians must be prepared for Holy Communion through Confession, Fasting, Prayer and by being at peace with others. Please seek and give forgiveness before receiving Holy Communion. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, please join us for coffee hour in the Parish Hall. t ½Êà The mission of St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church Is to serve God and the community by commitment to the Gospel s command to grow in the knowledge of Jesus Christ through faith, hope, and love. It is a parish of the Self Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. The Orthodox Church follows the faith and practice of the apostles and disciples of Christ handed down by the ancient Christian fathers and twenty centuries of Church tradition. Genuine Christian life nurtures and stimulates our spiritual and moral development. The liturgical life of the Orthodox Church has been developing over the last 2000 years. By taking part in the mysteries of Christ s life, death and resurrection at the liturgical services, the community members are drawn to repentance and the gradual change of their inner selves. To join the community of St. George or to find out more information, please fill out the Guest Book in the Narthex. We hope this day will be spiritually rewarding for you. Fr John will be happy to answer any questions. Join us in the hall after Liturgy for our Coffee Hour and Fellowship.

3 Bread of Oblation is offered in memory of Evelyn Baldassari by the Cole Family Bread of Oblation is offered in memory of Elias Youssef Nader by Therese Nader & Family Bread of Oblation is offered in memory of Takla Issa Michael (6 months) by Mahdi Shaker Kona and Family Candles are offered for the Health, Safety & Spiritual Welfare of: Abraham El-Khoury (Birthday) by Teta Fida & Family Family & Friends by Michele Lakis Family & Friends by George & Joie Haddad Candles are offered in Beloved Memory of: Anees Rafeedie & all the Deceased of the Rafeedie Family by Nijmeh Rafeedie & Family Yacoub & Nour Karsheh by Nuha Karsheh George & Alice Lakis by Michele Lakis Michel Hayek by the Hayek Family My Beloved, Mother Mary, Father Abraham, Brothers Emile and James, Sitteh Zaineh & Uncle Kaiser by Emilie L. Easa Wadia Ameen by his wife Mary & Family Edward Haddad by his wife Evelyn & Family Edward Fadel by his wife & family Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, How can this man give us His flesh to eat? So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. John 6:52-54 With fear of God, faith And love draw near. Come to Church, Jesus loves you, we love you we are waiting for you. Prayers are requested for the sick, sufferings, shut-ins needy, homeless, victims of disasters, war and violence in the whole universe. UPCOMING DIVINE SERVICES Sunday February 28, 2016 Matins 9:30 am, Divine am Confessions will be heard on Sundays Morning before Liturgy starts or by appointment. Sign up and take your turn in offering a Coffee Hour. Pick a birthday, memorial, anniversary etc.. or just a day that no one has sponsored.

4 Divine Liturgy Variables on Sunday, February 14, 2016 Tone 5/ Eothinon 5; Sunday of The Pharisee and Publican Venerable Timothy of Symbola; Eustathios, Archbishop of Antioch; Zachariah, patriarch of Jerusalem; George, Bishop of Amastris

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6 **ATTENTION GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS AND COLLEGE STUDENTS** The Lebanese Syrian American Junior League will again be awarding scholarships to young men and women of Lebanese and Syrian descent residing in the greater Cleveland area. The application process begins on January 31st. High school seniors should request applications from their guidance counselors. College students can request applications by contacting Scholarship Chair Karen (Haddad) Ziton at or (440) All applications MUST be received by March 31, If you have any questions or would like further information regarding this notice, please feel free to call me at RESERVE THESE DATES ON YOUR CALENDER * March 20, 2016 Hierarchal Sunday of Orthodoxy Liturgy and Sunday of Orthodoxy Vespers Ύ D ĂLJ Ϭϳ ϮϬϭϲ ^ƚ ' ĞŽƌŐĞ &ĞĂƐƚ ĂLJ ĞůĞďƌĂƟŽŶ

7 The Teens Group Meets every Sunday after Church In The Teens Room If you re a Teen Join us For fun and Education

8 Beginning of the Lenten Triodion, the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. By Fr. Thomas Hopko The pre-lenten season in the Orthodox Church begins with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. On this particular Sunday the liturgical book called the Lenten Triodion begins, and this liturgical book would be used in the Orthodox Church all the way through to the celebration of the Lord s resurrection the holy Pascha and then from the holy Pascha from Easter, the resurrection of Christ to Pentecost another liturgical book is used. Now the Lenten Triodion begins with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee; on this Sunday the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee is read at the Divine Liturgy and on this Sunday also, at the services of vespers and matins, hymns are sung during the services that relate to this Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. And this hymnology and these Scripture readings are intended to focus the believers minds on the approaching Lenten season that will prepare them for the celebration of the resurrection of Christ, so that the whole journey begins after the reading about the Canaanite woman and Zacchaeus that precedes this Sunday; it begins with the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee. Also on this particular Sunday a penitential hymn is introduced at the Sunday matins service after the reading of the resurrection Gospel because at every Sunday matins service in the Orthodox Church an account of the Lord s resurrection from the dead is read, because Sunday is always a celebration of the Lord s resurrection. But on the Publican and the Pharisee Sunday, for the first time and this is sung all the way up until Palm Sunday you have these particular hymns which are sung at the service. They go like this: Open to me the doors of repentance, O Life-giver, for my spirit rises early to pray toward your holy temple, bearing the temple of my body all defiled, but in your compassion, purify me by the loving-kindness of your mercy; lead me on the paths of salvation, O mother of God, for I have profaned my soul with shameful sins and have wasted my life in laziness, but by your intercessions deliver me from all impurity. When I think of the many evil things I have done, wretch that I am, I tremble at the fearful day of judgment, but trusting in your loving kindness like David, I cry out to you: have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy. And these hymns are sung together with Psalm 51, the penitential psalm of David, which is actually read at every single matins service, in every compline service, too, and the third hour service, too, at Orthodox services, Psalm 50 (51), the psalm of David repenting after his sin of murder and adultery when the prophet Nathan rebuked him; that psalm: Have mercy on me, O God, according to your great mercy, according to the multitude of your tender mercy. is read daily in the Orthodox Church rule of prayer and it s read at three of the daily services: third hour, matins, and compline. Now this Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee we have this parable being read. And I always recall when I was a parish priest how I would discuss this parable with children. Inevitably when you d ask children about this parable, they would answer something like this: you d say, Children, what do you think is the meaning of this parable? and almost inevitably the child would answer and say, O Father, the Pharisee thought he was a good guy, but really he was bad, but he didn t know it, he thought was good, but the tax collector, the Publican, he thought he was bad, but really he was good, he didn t know he was good, but he thought he was bad. And that is a kind of an interpretation that I noticed, that even many adults have when they hear this parable, they think that the Pharisee was really bad and the Publican was really good, and they didn t know it, but the Publican was humble and therefore God accepted him because he really was a good guy. But that is not the parable at all; the parable is that this figure symbolizing the Pharisee had done all the external rules of uprightness according to the Law properly: he fasted twice a week, he gave tithes of what he possessed, and that he really kept all the rules. And this was true; he really did keep all the rules: he did it externally correctly.

9 The tax collector, on the other hand, had broken all the rules. In fact, the tax collectors, as we all know, were kind of the paradigmatic sinners at the time of Jesus; they were Jews who betrayed their own people, who worked for the Romans, who extorted money from the people, who collected more money for taxes than they needed to collect, who gave that money to the Roman occupiers and kept the rest for themselves and basically were considered to be very sinful people. So this tax collector really was a sinner. He did not keep the laws, he did not fast twice a week, he did not give tithes; on the contrary, he stole money. Nevertheless when he came into the temple, he didn t dare stand up in front, like the Pharisee did; he didn t dare thank God that he was not like other people, at least that that moment he knew who he was and what he was because he had had a real encounter with God and in that encounter with God he knew his sin and he said, O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Now Jesus says that when both these men left the temple, it was the Publican who was justified; it was the Publican who was heard and not the Pharisee. And then the interpretation is that if we keep all the rules and boast about it and think that in those rules is our merit, is our religious life, is our standing before God, then we are greatly deluded and we even, if we dare to boast of these things, we are even more deluded. Now the Pharisee s problem, so to speak, was he had not really had an encounter with the living God, he had never met the righteous, holy, glorious God, who is merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and mercy. He really thought that by these external regulations and keeping them properly that he was justified before God, but the Lord Jesus said that he was not. And that Publican, who really was a sinner, it seems clear, had an encounter with the living God. He knew that he was a sinner, and whenever we encounter God we know that we are sinners; whenever we encounter God we know that, however well we keep rules and regulations, that that is not the heart of the matter. Now the Orthodox Church tradition following the Bible would be very very firm and strong and affirming that the rules have to be kept. Yes, the rules have to be kept: we should fast; we should say prayers three times a day, seven times a day; we should tithe, we should more than tithe; we should give what we can to the poor and the needy; and we should keep vigils and we should watch and we should do the Church services and we should keep doing prostrations and we should be careful of our diet; we should read the Bible all of these things are essential, they are absolutely essential. They are what prove that we have faith, and they are the ways that we open ourselves to the grace of God and encounter with God. However, as all of the holy Church Fathers and saints teach, these are means to an end; they are not an end in themselves. They are means to an end. Now if we neglect these means, our life really will be sinful, but if we deify these means, idealize these means, think that in these particular actions is lying our whole righteousness, then we are very far from God; we are actually deluded. In fact, some of the Church Fathers would say we are even idolaters because we are worshiping the laws and not the Law giver. Now no one would justify the behavior of the tax collector; the tax collector has to repent, and it s very interesting that in this parable we don t know whether he repents or not. We know that Zacchaeus the tax collector did repent when Jesus came to his house, but we don t know about this publican. Jesus doesn t say. He simply said he prayed, Be merciful to me, [and] left the temple. Maybe he kept on sinning; how do we know? But in any case at that moment before God, bowing down to the earth in the back of the building, his prayer was heard because his prayer was true. But the Pharisee s prayer was not even a prayer; it was just a rehearsal of his own righteousness before his own mind. So as the hymns of the Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee say they say we do not even have the righteousness of the Pharisee and yet we tend still to boast how great we are. And we do sin like the publican, like the tax collector. And especially if we re Christians we are told, not only not to steal, we are told to share our goods, and if we don t share our good then we are crooks, we are stealers ourselves according to the sermon on the mountain, so there is a sense in which we have sinned more than the publican, or more gravely at least, being Christians, but do not have that same compunction, that same sense of contrition before God.

10 And here we know that we cannot pray prayers of contrition; we cannot sing hymns like: Open to me the doors of repentance. I bear the temple of my body all defiled. I ve wasted my life in laziness. We can t know these kind of things unless we have had an encounter with the living God, though if we have had an encounter with the living God then we will always repent of our sins. We ll know that we re creatures; we ll know that even if we have kept all the rules we are still unworthy servants, and we will know that the rules do not save us. Only God can save us by his grace by faith; yet if we are believers then we will keep the rules, but we will not deify the rules; we will not idealize the rules; we won t worship the rules or the laws in the place of the one who gives us these rules and these laws. There is a popular book in Russian Orthodoxy. It was published in 1867 in Russia. It was by a saint named Ignatius Brianchaninov; he was a bishop, and he wrote this book for his fellow monks and nuns because he was terribly worried that the monastic people of his time were deifying and idealizing all the rules, but were not keeping the commandments of the Gospel and were not really living a deep authentic spiritual life, they were just going according to external practices. He said that they were idealizing dried bread and beans and formal readings of prayers and liturgical rituals and so on, and he said the following. He said, If we think about the parable of the sower we will understand everything. He said, In the parable of the sower, God is giving us his words as seeds, and only he can give them; we have no right, no demand, no deserving that we would have these words; God gives them by sheer grace, just as a gift. And then he also said, God gives the growth to these seeds in us. He makes them grow up bearing the fruit worthy of repentance, to use John the Baptist s expression, the fruit of the holy spirit as St. Paul said: love and peace and joy and patience and kindness and goodness and gentleness and self-control. So God gives the seeds, and God makes the seeds grow and this St. Ignatius, this bishop, even said, And the Holy Spirit is like the water that waters these seeds and makes them grow. The Holy Spirit is the power of this growth, and the Holy Spirit is also a gift; it s also a grace. We can t force it; we can t demand the Holy Spirit. God gives it, so God gives his word and his spirit to us. But then St. Ignatius said, We have to receive it; we have to accept it. And then he said, In the parable of the sower we are the earth. In fact, it s interesting that the name for man is earth-man, Adamach. Adam in the Bible means earth-creature, clay-creature. St. Paul even said we have our treasure as clay pots, earthen vessels, dirt, mud, clay. You know that s what we are, but we have to prepare that earth. And so in the parable of the sower, St. Ignatius says, Where the earth is hard and rocky you ve got to get rid of the rocks; where there s weeds and thorns, you ve got to get rid of them; where the soil is shallow you ve got to deepen it, you ve got to cultivate it, you ve got to put in fertilizer, you ve got to make it ready to receive the words of God, and he said, That is what ascetic practices are, that is what the rules of the law are: fasting, saying prayers, going to church, keeping vigils, doing prostrations, tithing with our money. That is nothing but cultivating the soil. And then he went on to say: if a farmer would try to plant a field and just take the seeds and just throw them all over the place without preparing the soil, nothing would grow. Some would be on rocks, some would be in weeds, some would be in thorns, some would be in shallow earth, but nothing would grow. On the other hand, if a farmer just kept cultivating the soil: digging it deepening it, getting rid of the rocks, getting rid of the weeds, getting rid of the thorns, manuring it, making it really fertile, but never put any seeds in it, that man would be insane, too, because nothing would grow. So he says, We must cultivate the earth, and that s what ascetical practices are, that s what the rules are. But we must also receive the seeds, we must receive the word of God and the Holy Spirit by grace, otherwise there is nothing. And so St. Ignatius said, If a person puts all their righteousness in these external actions like it seems that the Pharisee did and thinks that they re really the spiritual life, well, they are just in the hands of devil. He said, On the other hand if people never practice the rules, don t keep the rules, don t keep the commandments, don t read the Bible, don t say their prayers, don t go to the Church, don t share their goods, then they are just given over to the crudest sins and passions: gluttony, pornea, sexual unchastity, greed, anger. So he said, The narrow path, the royal path, is, yes, to be like that Pharisee and to keep those rules, but to keep those rules with an encounter with the living God, so that those rules open us to the grace of God in

11 humility and gratitude and not thanking God [we] were not like other people, but thanking God that he has been gracious to us. And then, when we keep those rules, then the strange thing is, no matter how righteous we are, externally, we will still pray the Publican s prayer. We will stay pray, O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. So the pre-lenten season begins when we meditate [on] this parable of the Publican and the Pharisee. So as the hymns of the Church say, Let us flee from the boastfulness and the pridefulness of the Pharisee who just kept the rules externally, and let s learn from the Publican s tears. And even the Holy Fathers say, Without tears, no one can be saved. But what s so interesting is that the more righteous, the more holy, the more full of grace, the more the fruit of the Holy Spirit is in a person, the more they repent, the more they weep, and the more they pray the Publican s prayer: O God, be merciful to me, a sinner. In the life of the body a man is sometimes sick, and unless he takes medicine, he will die. Even so in the spiritual life a man is sick on account of sin. For that reason he needs medicine so that he may be restored to health; and this grace is bestowed in the Sacrament of Penance.

12 NINE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD TITHE According to Hebrews 11:6, God says without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him. When you tithe to God, you are truly walking by faith and not by sight. Most of us normally don't have enough money to spare. So when we tithe, we're putting God to the test. We're saying, "Yes, Lord, I believe you are the God of your Word, and I am giving by faith". You have to use your faith to please God. As you step out in faith to give your tithes and offering, you are showing God that you believe him, and great shall be your reward eventually. Be faithful day in and day out, week in and week out, month in and month out, year in and year out, and you will see the windows of heaven shower blessings on you and your family that are so great, that there will eventually be an overflowing in your life. What is tithing? "Tithe" means 10% or "a tenth part". God's Word tells us that the first 10% of everything we earn or receive belongs to Him. God says in Malachi 3:8, if you don't give your tithes and offerings to Him, you are a thief. In verse 9, He says that we bring lots of problems on ourselves if we don't tithe. The only way God's work will be doing on this earth is if God's people give of their finances. Certainly, the world isn't going to finance the end time harvest. It's the responsibility of the church, or God's people. What's the difference between the "Tithe" and "Offerings"? The tithe is to be the first 10% of everything you receive financially. An offering is any amount you would give above the tithe. Well, I thought tithing was Old Testament Jewish Law that's not for today. No! According to Galatians 3:17, the Law came 430 years after God instituted the promise and tithing with Abraham. If tithing was under the Jewish Law, why did Abraham tithe 430 years before the Law was given? According to Genesis 14:20, Abraham tithed to the Priest Melchizedek from the very beginning, hundreds of years before the Law. I can't afford to tithe! If you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you can't afford not to tithe! You need God's supernatural help if you're ever going to get out of debt. If you wait for your ship to come in before you tithe, you may be waiting a long time. Put your faith into action today by giving Him the first 10% of everything you earn or receive, and watch how He helps you get out of debt. I would also encourage you to teach your children to tithe to God from an early age, so they will be blessed all the days of their lives. NINE REASONS WHY WE SHOULD TITHE 1. God commands it. In Malachi 3:10, God says, "bring the whole tithe into the storehouse ". The storehouse refers to the place where you worship. The tithe is to be given to your home church, the place where you are spiritually fed. When you give to support charities and other

13 ministries, you should be giving out of your offerings. The whole tithe belongs to the local church. 2. Tithing proves God's Word is true. God' says, if you will put Him to the test in tithes and offerings, eventually you will see great blessings overtake your life, even to the point that you will see God open the windows of blessing upon you and your family. 3. God will rebuke the devourer. According to Malachi 3:11, you have an enemy that will steal all your finances, but, when you bring God the whole tithe, and give offerings as He leads you, God will rebuke the enemy. When you become a follower of Jesus Christ, the enemy targets you and your finances. You need God's help if you're going to make it financially in today's world and the tough times that we live in. God actually challenges every believer to "put Him to the test" in their giving, and watch what He does in their lives. It's time to put God to the test, and watch God's blessings flow toward you. Do it today! 4. Tithing teaches me to put God first. According to Deuteronomy 14:23, the purpose of tithing is to teach you to always put God first in your life. If God has our finances, then we know He has our hearts. If we refuse to tithe, we prove that He really isn't first in the first place. 5. Jesus recognized tithing. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus recognized or commended the Pharisees for tithing. Tithing was the only thing they were doing right. 6. Tithing is essential to spiritual growth. God tells us in Luke 16:11, "if therefore you have not been faithful in the use of money, how can you expect Him to entrust greater riches to you?" Many Christians don't grow spiritually, and remain spiritual babies because they are not faithful to obey God in the tithes and offering. 7. Tithing proves you love the Lord. In 2 Corinthians 8:8, God says that your giving tests the sincerity of your love. You say you love the Lord, but you prove you love him when you give. Talk is cheap, and actions speak louder than words. 8. Tithing is an investment for eternity. In Matthew 6:19, Jesus told us to "store up treasure in heaven." When you give your tithes and offerings to the Lord's work, you are investing your money in souls for the Kingdom, and helping to get people to heaven. 9. You cannot "out-give" God. In Galatians 6:7, God says, "do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows that he will also reap." God is watching, and whatever you give to Him, He will give back to you. Giving unlocks heaven's gates on your behalf. You cannot out-give God. The more you give to Him, the more He'll give back to you. Should one make a pledge as an individual or a couple? There is no hard and fast rule. Most married couples sign one pledge card. Some people feel strongly about making their own individual pledge. Each young person who works is invited to make his or her own pledge, even if he or she is living in the family home.

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15 Please Help ZOE for Life! Celebrate its New House Blessing Followed by an Open Hous We are deeply honored to invite you to share in the blessing of the new location of ZOE House, at 5454 State Road in Parma, on March 4th. It will be blessed by His Eminence, Metropolitan Savas of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh, The Most Reverend Nathaniel, Archbishop of Detroit and the Romanian Episcopate, His Grace, Bishop Daniel of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the USA, His Grace, the Right Reverend Paul, Bishop of Chicago and the Midwest of the Orthodox Church of America, and His Grace, Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, Primate of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese of the USA! We are humbled by their love and encouragement, and invite you to share our joy! We welcome you from 6:30. The Blessing will be at 7:00. Refreshments will be served.

16 What is Orthodoxy? First of all, Orthodoxy is right faith in God; it is that mighty power which makes each truly believing Orthodox Christian unwavering on the righteous and pious path of his life. To be Orthodox means to know correctly with the mind, to believe correctly with the heart, and to confess correctly with the lips all that God Himself has revealed to us about Himself, about the world and man, and about the tasks and aims of our life in the teaching on the attaining of our spiritual union with Him and our eternal salvation. Without such right faith, according to the word of the Apostle Paul, it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Orthodoxy is not only right faith and a right confession of the fundamental truths and dogmas of the Church of Christ, but also a right and virtuous life, founded on an unshakable law: the fulfilling of God s commandments, the permeating of the heart with humility, meekness and love for one s neighbor, the rendering of help to the needy and unfortunate, and the serving of one s church. The Apostle James teaches: Faith without works is dead (James 2:26). The Lord Jesus Christ Himself, the future Judge of the whole world, promises to reward every man according to his works (Matt. 16:27). The Apostle Paul testifies that every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor (1Cor. 3:8). Here is the Orthodox point of view. Right faith must be expressed in deeds, and deeds must serve as a manifestation of faith. One must be closely united with the other indissolubly, like soul and body. This only, then, is the Orthodox, the correct way leading us to God. Orthodoxy is not only right faith and a life according to faith, but also correct service to God. Our Lord Jesus Christ expressed the essence of the right worship of God in these brief but profound words: God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (John 4:24). Only the inspired divine service of the Holy Orthodox Church, which is permeated by prayer, has realized this sacred worship of God in truth. Moreover, Orthodoxy is strict proportionality and correctness in the manifestations of all the powers of soul and body. In Orthodoxy, a proper place is allotted to everything: to the intellect, to the wants and needs of the heart, to the manifestations of man s free will, to labor and prayer, to abstinence and watchfulness, in a word, to everything of which man s life consists.