Christ Is Risen...Truly He is Risen!

Transcription

1 ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE Vicariate of the Palestinian & Jordanian Orthodox Communities in the U.S. ST. JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH 195 N. Main Street; Milpitas, CA sjorthodox.org (Office) Very Rev. Fr. Jeries Hanna Fr. Dcn. Joseph Kawar UPCOMING SERVICES Sunday, April 29 Sunday of the Paralytic 8:00 am Matins 10:30 am Divine Liturgy FASTING SCHEDULE April 25 April 27 LOOKING AHEAD May May 20 August 12 Sept Nov. 17 Fish is Allowed Fish is Allowed Visit of Archbishop Demetrios Annual Picnic* Festival Kick-off Event Annual Food Festival Christmas Dinner *If you would like to help by donating towards our Annual Picnic, please contact any board member! Bulletin for April 23 - April 29 (4/16-4/22) Issue No. 740 Christ Is Risen...Truly He is Risen! Visit of His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios - 5/12-5/14 We are excited to announce that His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America will be visiting the Vicariate on May 12th & 13th for the Door Opening Ceremony at the new St. George Cathedral of San Francisco. Please see attached flyer for more information. Tickets for the Dinner Reception with his Eminence Archbishop Demetrios are now available, please contact any board member for tickets. Please see attached flyer for more information. There will be no service at St. James Orthodox Church in Milpitas on Sunday, May 13th, as all of the Vicariate churches will be at the St. George Cathedral in Daly City with his Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios will be at St. James Orthodox Church to celebrate the Great Doxology service on Saturday, May 12 at 10:00 am. Prayer service to be followed by brunch in the church hall. Congratulations! Anthony & Gina Mogannam on the baptism of their son Yousef Anthony Mogannam! May God fill him with joy, peace and love. 6 Month Trisagion Service this Sunday For the Handmaid of God, Gladys Khoury. Please join the family for a meal of mercy following the service in the church hall. May her memory be eternal. Scrip Program A large variety of scrip (gift) cards are available at the church hall following the liturgy. We have Amazon, Gas, Visa cards, your favorite restaurants and much more! By purchasing scrip cards, our church will receive a percentage or kick-back from the company. Please help your church by supporting the scrip program.

2 Sunday of the Paralytic - 4/29 On this day, the fourth Sunday after Pascha, we commemorate the paralytic who was healed by the Lord, and we celebrate this as a miracle of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ. The commemoration of this event is made on this particular day because it occurred during the celebration of the Hebrew fifty days (between Passover and Pentecost). Christ entered Jerusalem during this time of the Jewish festival, and He went to a place north of the Temple near the Sheep Gate called the Sheep's Pool. Built by King Solomon, this pool was covered by a dome that.. was supported by five sets of pillars, thus creating five porches. It was called the Sheep's Pool because the sacrificial lambs were washed there before they were offered in the Temple. An angel of the Lord came down at a certain time and stirred the water, and the first person to step into the water after it had been stirred was healed of whatever disease he possessed. Thus, the five porches were crowded with a multitude of sick folk as they awaited the moving of the water. There Christ found a man who had been a paralytic for thirty-eight years and who, since he was so ill,... did not have anyone to help him into the water. From this fact, we can learn how great a virtue it is to wait patiently. Since God was to grant baptism, the cleanser of all sins, He willed in His economy, according to the Old Law, to work this particular miracle through the use of water so that it would be that much easier to accept the mystery of Baptism. Thus, Christ came to this paralytic, named Jairus, and questioned him, yet we should note that the paralytic did not ask for help. But Christ knew that He would be cured of his disease and said to him, "Pick up your bed and walk!" (John 5:8). Immediately, the ill man was made well and he picked up his bed and carried it on his shoulder to show that his deed was not just a fantasy in his mind, but a reality, and he went home. had healed him before the Jews, saying it was the same One who told him to pick up his bed and walk, though it be a Sabbath, for he did not know who He was. During this time, a great number of people had gathered, and Christ had stepped aside and hidden himself. However, Christ later found the man in the Temple and said to him, "Behold, you have been made well. Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you" (John 5:14). Many incorrectly say that Christ said this because this man was going to strike Jesus when He was brought to stand before Caiaphas the High Priest. The striking of Jesus was a worse temptation, and yielding to that temptation would. have resulted in the inheritance of the eternal fire of torment, as compared to only thirty-eight years of paralysis. The Lord particularly showed through these words that the illness of paralysis that had befallen the man was due to his sins. However, not all sicknesses are due to sin, but to the weakness of our nature, gluttony and our trifling deeds. When the paralytic understood that Jesus had made him well, he reported it to all the Jews. They were infuriated by this and sought to kill Christ, for He had broken the Sabbath. Then Jesus spoke many things and showed that it is right to do good on the Sabbath and that He... is the One who stated that the Sabbath should be honored and that He is equal with the Father and that even as the Father works, so does He. This miracle is celebrated now because it happened during the fifty days, like the miracle of the Samaritan woman and the blind man. The preceding Sundays, celebrating St. Thomas and the Myrrhbearing Women, were in honor of the fact that they led many to belief in the Resurrection of Christ from among the dead; while these other Sunday commemorations until the Ascension are made because they occurred during the Jewish celebration of those distinguished fifty days. This, in short, is what we have learned from St. John the Theologian. Because it was a Sabbath (Saturday), the Jews did not allow him to carry his bed due to rabbinical regulations. But the paralytic brought the Lord Who.

3 SAINTS OF THE WEEK St. Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium Saint Basil the Confessor, Bishop of Parium, lived during the eighth century. He was elected as bishop by the inhabitants of Parium, who venerated the saint as a true pastor of the flock of Christ. When the Iconoclast heresy broke out, Saint Basil resolutely came out on the side of icon veneration and refused to sign the orders for their abolition (the Iniquitous Scroll of the Council of 754 which was convened under the emperor Constantine V Copronymos ( ). The saint avoided any contact with the heretics and did not permit them into his diocese. For his zeal he suffered much persecution, hunger and deprivation. Saint Basil remained faithful to the Orthodox Church until his death. Holy Martyrs Agape, Irene & Chionia Agape, Chionia and Irene were three sisters who came from a wealthy and influential family in Thessalonica. When the Emperor Diocletian was at Aquileia, he learned that these Saints were Christians, and had them brought before him. Because they would not deny Christ, he had them imprisoned, and when he went into Macedonia, he committed them to Dulcitius the Prefect, who, however, lost his understanding and became incapable of doing them any harm. Diocletian then gave Count Sisinius charge over them. He had Saints Agape and Chionia burned; he ordered that Saint Irene be put in a brothel, but by the providence of God this was not accomplished, and she was shot with an arrow. These holy sisters suffered martyrdom in Thessalonica in the year 295. Holy Apostles Aristarchus, Puden & Trophimus of the Seventy These three were numbered among the Seventy Apostles, Followers of the Apostle Paul, who preached the gospel of Christ, and Suffered with their teacher Paul in persecutions and trains and temptations. Saint Aristarchus is mentioned in the Epistle to the Colossians (4:10), and also in the Epistle to Philemon (v. 24). By his ascetical manner of life, this Saint proved to be another Saint John the Baptist. He became Bishop of Apamea in Syria, and brought many to the Faith of Christ. Saints Pudens and Trophimus are mentioned in II Timothy 4: Also, Acts 21:29 mentions that Trophimus was from Ephesus. According to sources that Saint Dorotheus of Tyre (celebrated on June 5) found written in Latin in Rome, these Apostles were beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero.

4

5 We are excited to announce that His Eminence, The Archbishop of America DEMETRIOS Will be Visiting & Blessing ST. JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH SATURDAY, MAY 12 AT 10:00AM BRUNCH TO FOLLOW 195 NORTH MAIN STREET MILPITAS, CA ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS

6

7 Item Amount Donated By Chicken Shawarma $450 Gyro $400 Kefta Meat A $350 Kefta Meat B $350 Chicken Kabob $500 Pork Souvlaki $200 Lamb Shanks $400 Falafel $300 Hummus $150 Rice & Salad $200 Utensils A $250 Utensils B $250 Water $300 Sodas $400 Beer & Wine $500 Kanefeh $1300 Ice cream/ice $300 Chairs, Tables, Dance Floor $1500 Games (Youth Section) $1500 Permits $3000 Advertising, Marketing, Prints $6000 Festival Wish-List Below is a list of only half of the expected expenses for our next festival, please help if you can. Thank you and God Bless! Festival this year will be on Sept

8