Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church Sunday, January 27, th Sunday of Luke

Transcription

1 Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church Sunday, January 27, th Sunday of Luke SAINTS OF THE WEEK Martyrs Philotheos, Hyperechios, Habib, Julian, Romanos, James and Parigireas - Jan. 29 These seven saints lived in the third-century town of Samosata in Turkey during the Christian persecutions of the ruthless Emperor Diocletian. Once before a battle against the Persians, all the citizens were required to worship at the Temple of Fortune. Philotheos and Hyperechios, magistrates of the city of Samosata, refused and went instead to pray at a chapel. With them was Habib, Julian, Romanos, James, and Parigoreas. When the emperor learned that Philotheos and Hyperechios did not offer the public sacrifice, soldiers were sent to apprehend them. All seven men were tortured, and still, they refused to sacrifice. Their arms and thighs were broken with thick rods, and their skin was flayed. They were stretched on the rack and given stripes. Bound in heavy chains, they were imprisoned. For over two months they were left in prison to starve. They were invited again to offer sacrifice, but they said they would not deny Jesus Christ. The emperor ordered seven crosses to be set up near the city gates. The martyrs were suspended, and their heads were nailed to the wood. Orders were given to throw their bodies in the river, but a Christian named Bassus bought their bodies and buried them by night. Tinos Icon of the Mother of God - January 30 The Most Holy Mother of God once appeared to an old man on the island of Tinos, telling him to dig in a certain field to find her Annunciation icon in the foundation of an ancient church. Then she disappeared. Only two people in the town believed the old man, and they dug a whole night finding only a part of the church wall. Then St. Pelagia, who was then a 80- year-old nun, had the same dream three times. She was instructed to go to a wealthy man in the village named Mr. Kangades, to enlist his help in the search. Kangades went to Bishop Gabriel, who in turn wrote to all the churches of Tinos for their help. The foundation of the church was uncovered but the money ran out, and no icon was found. Again, the Most Holy Mother of God appeared to Pelagia, and she went to the bishop. He went to the people to raise funds to build a new church on the old foundation. The church was built, and when the ground was being prepared for a stone floor, a worker s pick struck the icon splitting it in two. The icon was repaired, cleaned, and given to the bishop. This miraculous icon has been the source of a multitude of healings and deliverance from danger South Archer Road, Justice, Illinois (708) , fax (708) Web: office@holycrossil.org Rev. Fr. Demetrios Kounavis - Parish Priest

2 ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ EPISTLE READING FOR THE DAY ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ ΤΗΣ ΗΜΕΡΑΣ GOSPEL READING FOR THE DAY Ἀδελφοί, τοιοῦτος γὰρ ἡμῖν ἔπρεπεν ἀρχιερεύς, ὅσιος, ἄκακος, ἀμίαντος, κεχωρισμένος ἀπὸ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν, καὶ ὑψηλότερος τῶν οὐρανῶν γενόμενος ὃς οὐκ ἔχει καθʼ ἡμέραν ἀνάγκην, ὥσπερ οἱ ἀρχιερεῖς, πρότερον ὑπὲρ τῶν ἰδίων ἁμαρτιῶν θυσίας ἀναφέρειν, ἔπειτα τῶν τοῦ λαοῦ τοῦτο γὰρ ἐποίησεν ἐφάπαξ, ἑαυτὸν ἀνενέγκας. Ὁ νόμος γὰρ ἀνθρώπους καθίστησιν ἀρχιερεῖς, ἔχοντας ἀσθένειαν ὁ λόγος δὲ τῆς ὁρκωμοσίας τῆς μετὰ τὸν νόμον, υἱὸν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τετελειωμένον. Κεφάλαιον δὲ ἐπὶ τοῖς λεγομένοις τοιοῦτον ἔχομεν ἀρχιερέα, ὃς ἐκάθισεν ἐν δεξιᾷ τοῦ θρόνου τῆς μεγαλωσύνης ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς, τῶν ἁγίων λειτουργός, καὶ τῆς σκηνῆς τῆς ἀληθινῆς, ἣν ἔπηξεν ὁ κύριος, καὶ οὐκ ἄνθρωπος Brethren, it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect for ever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord. Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, διήρχετο τὴν Ιεριχώ καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀνὴρ ὀνόματι καλούμενος Ζακχαῖος, καὶ αὐτὸς ἦν ἀρχιτελώνης, καὶ οὗτος ἦν πλούσιος, καὶ ἐζήτει ἰδεῖν τὸν Ιησοῦν τίς ἐστι, καὶ οὐκ ἠδύνατο ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄχλου, ὅτι τῇ ἡλικίᾳ μικρὸς ἦν. καὶ προδραμὼν ἔμπροσθεν ἀνέβη ἐπὶ συκομορέαν, ἵνα ἴδῃ αὐτόν, ὅτι ἐκείνης ἤμελλε διέρχεσθαι. καὶ ὡς ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον, ἀναβλέψας ὁ Ιησοῦς εἶδεν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπε πρὸς αὐτόν Ζακχαῖε, σπεύσας κατάβηθι σήμερον γὰρ ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ σου δεῖ με μεῖναι. καὶ σπεύσας κατέβη, καὶ ὑπεδέξατο αὐτὸν χαίρων. καὶ ἰδόντες πάντες διεγόγγυζον λέγοντες ὅτι παρὰ ἁμαρτωλῷ ἀνδρὶ εἰσῆλθε καταλῦσαι. σταθεὶς δὲ Ζακχαῖος εἶπε πρὸς τὸν Κύριον ἰδοὺ τὰ ἡμίση τῶν ὑπαρχόντων μου, Κύριε, δίδωμι τοῖς πτωχοῖς, καὶ εἴ τινός τι ἐσυκοφάντησα, ἀποδίδωμι τετραπλοῦν. εἶπε δὲ πρὸς αὐτὸν ὁ Ιησοῦς ὅτι σήμερον σωτηρία τῷ οἴκῳ τούτῳ ἐγένετο, καθότι καὶ αὐτὸς υἱὸς Αβραάμ ἐστιν. ἦλθε γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ζητῆσαι καὶ σῶσαι τὸ ἀπολωλός. At that time, Jesus was passing through Jericho. And there was a man named Zacchaios; he was a chief collector, and rich. And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaios, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he made haste and came down, and received him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, "He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zacchaios stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold." And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost."

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4 Are You a Fly or a Bee? By St. Paisios Which of the following two categories fits you? Are you a fly or a bee? This was a question St. Paisios asked guests who came to him accusing others of various things. He would say, I know from experience that in this life people are divided in two categories. A third category does not exist; people either belong to one or the other. The first one resembles the fly. The main characteristics of the fly is that it is attracted by dirt. For example, when a fly is found in a garden full of flowers with beautiful fragrances, it will ignore them and will go sit on top of some dirt found on the ground. It will start messing around with it and feel comfortable with the bad smell. If the fly could talk, and you asked it to show you a rose in the garden, it would answer: I don t even know what a rose looks like. I only know where to find garbage, toilets, and dirt. There are some people who resemble the fly. People belonging to this category have learned to think negatively, and always look for the bad things in life, ignoring and refusing the presence of good. The other category is like the bee whose main characteristic is to always look for something sweet and nice to sit on. When a bee is found in a room full of dirt and there is a small piece of sweet in a corner, it will ignore the dirt and will go to sit on top of the sweet. Now, if we ask the bee to show us where the garbage is, it will answer: I don t know. I can only tell you where to find flowers, sweets, honey and sugar; it only knows the good things in life and is ignorant of all evil. This is the second category of people who have a positive thinking, and see only the good side of things. They always try to cover up the evil in order to protect their fellow men; on the contrary, people in the first category try to expose the evil and bring it to the surface. When someone comes to me and starts accusing other people, and puts me in a difficult situation, I tell him the above example. Then I ask him to decide to which category he wishes to belong, so he may find people of the same kind to socialize with. A thought from St. Nikolai Velimirovic The Lord stands at the door of your soul with a broom, ready, at your invitation, to clean the horrendous filth out of your soul, to make your newlycleaned soul fragrant with incense and fragrance, and to adorn her with virginal jewelry the Lord is standing and waiting for your invitation. At the edge of your heart the Lord is standing with a tall candle that burns without smoking or melting. The Lord is standing and waiting at your invitation, to bring the candle into your heart and enlighten it, to burn up all the fear in your heart, all its selfish passions and all its ugly desires, and to drive out of your heart all the smoke and foul stench. At the edge of your mind the Lord is standing with His wisdom and with His tongue, ready, at your invitation, to enter into it and drive out all its foolish thoughts, all its filthy fancies, and all its mistaken notions, and to erase from your mind all nonexistent images the Lord is standing and waiting to introduce His reason, His seals, and His words. Yet you say: Where is the Lord? At the edge of your life. Therefore your life has become hunchbacked. If the Lord were in the center, where He was in the beginning and where His rightful place is, your life would be upright and you would see the Lord, and you would not be asking: Where is the Lord?

5 PARISH COUNCIL We congratulate the new members of our Parish Council. They are: Constantinos Anagnopoulos, Paraskevas (Jim) Lilas, Bill S. Litsogiannis, Eustratios Margaritis, Demetri Nicholas, Mary S. Peters, Kosta Pinos, Susan Sarolas, John Small, William C. Toulios, Taso Tsiganos and Gus Xinos. SAVE THE DATE January 31: Metropolis of Chicago Department of Religious Education Trivia Night February 3: Apokreatiko Committee Meeting February 8-9: Parish women s retreat at the St. Iakovos Retreat Center, WI February 16: Winter Food Fest February 17: Triodion begins February 21: Monthly H.O.P.E. Group February 22: Friday Fish Fry resumes February 23: Parish Women s Breakfast February 26: Annual Parish Family Potluck with Trivia Night February 27: Holy Unction March 2: Saturday of the Souls March 3: Apokries Luncehon: An Afternoon in Paris March 5: Vigil for the Finding of the Holy Cross March 11: Great Lent Begins March 26: Philoptochos Feed the Hungry at Annunciation Cathedral March 30: Vespers of the Holy Cross March 31: Sunday of the Holy Cross with Greek School Program

6 «Ό Θεός ηµών πυρ καταναλίσκον» -Γέροντα, τι σηµαίνει αυτό πού λέει ό Απόστολος Παύλος «Ό Θεός ηµών πυρ καταναλίσκον» - Σε ένα καµίνι άµα πετάξεις χαρτιά, σκουπίδια, τι θα γίνουν; εν θα καούν; Έτσι και στον πνευµατικό άνθρωπο, ότι και αν τού πετάξει ό πειρασµός, καίγεται. «Πύρ καταναλίσκον Όταν άνάψη στον άνθρωπο ή θεία φλόγα, όλα καίγονται. έν κολλούν οι άσχηµοι λογισµοί µετά. ηλαδή δεν παύει ό διάβολος να τού πετάει άσχηµους λογισµούς, άλλα ό πνευµατικός άνθρωπος είναι «πύρ» και τους καίει. Όποτε κουράζεται µετά ό διάβολος και σταµατάει. Γι' αυτό και ό Απόστολος Παύλος πάλι λέει: «Πάντα καθαρά τοις καθαροίς». Στους καθαρούς είναι όλα καθαρά δεν υπάρχει τίποτε ακάθαρτο. Τους καθαρούς και µμέσα στον βούρκο να τους ρίξης, θα παραµείνουν καθαροί σαν τις ακτίνες τού ήλιου πού, όπου και αν πέσουν, παραµένουν φωτεινές και καθαρές. Ό πνευµατικός άνθρωπος από τον άγιο αλλοιώνεται µέ την καλή έννοια και από τον σαρκικό άνθρωπο δεν ερεθίζεται. Τον βλέπει, τον πονάει, άλλα δεν παθαίνει κακό. Ένας άνθρωπος σέ µέση πνευματική κατάσταση από έναν πνευματικό άνθρωπο αλλοιώνεται προς το καλό από έναν σαρκικό άνθρωπο αλλοιώνεται πάλι, άλλα προς το κακό. Ό σαρκικός άνθρωπος τον άγιο δεν τον καταλαβαίνει και από τον σαρκικό ερεθίζεται. Και ενώ ό δαιµονισµένος βλέπει τον άγιο και φεύγει, ό σαρκικός άνθρωπος πάει προς τον άγιο, για να τον πειράξει και να τον σκανδαλίση. Ένας πού έχει φθάσει σέ κατάσταση Σοδοµιτών σκανδαλίζεται και από τους Αγγέλους α- κόµη. Ό ταπεινός άνθρωπος, α- κόµη και άπειρος πνευµατικά να είναι, διακρίνει τον Άγγελο του Θεού α- πό τον δαίµονα, γιατί έχει πνευµατική καθαρότητα και συγγενεύει µέ τον Άγγελο. Ενώ ό εγωιστής και σαρκικός, εκτός πού πλανιέται εύκολα από τον πονηρό διάβολο, μεταδίδει και αυτός πονηριά και προκαλεί µέ την σαρκικότητά του και βλάπτει τις φιλάσθενες ψυχές µέ τα πνευµατικά του µμικρόβια. -Αγίου Παϊσίου του Αγιορείτη Λόγοι Β **************************** Μια Σκέψη «Η μεγαλύτερη φιλανθρωπία είναι η προσευχή και ας μη το καταλαβαίνουν οι άνθρωποι...» Μωυσής μοναχός Αγιορείτης.

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8 WEEKLY EVENTS TODAY Parish Council Oath of Office Agrafon Luncheon at Chateau Ritz, Niles 6:00pm - St. Valentine Couples Ministry Outing to Kefi Restaurant, Palos Heights Wednesday, January 30 8:30am - Feast of the Three Hierarchs 7:00pm - Orthodox Book Study - Session 2 Thursday, January 31 11:00am - Orthodoxi Zoe Saturday, February 2 8:30am - Presentation of our Lord 10:00am - Greek School Sunday, February 3 Apokreatiko Planning Committee Meeting ΗΜΕΡΟΛΟΓΙΟ ΣΗΜΕΡΑ Parish Council Oath of Office Άγραφον Γεύμα στο Σατό Ριτς, Niles 6.00μ.μ. - Συνεδρίαση St. Valentine s Couples Ministry at Kefi Restaurant Τετάρτη, 30 Ιανουαρίου 8.30π.μ. - Των Τριών Ιεραρχών 7.00μ.μ. - Μάθημα στα Αγγλικά Πέμπτη, 31 Ιανουαρίου 11.00π.μ. - Ορθόδοξη Ζωή Σάββατο, 2 Φεβρουαρίου 8.30π.μ. - Η Υπαπαντή του Κυρίου 10.00π.μ. - Ελληνικό Σχολείο Κυριακή, 3 Φεβρουαρίου Συνεδρίαση επιτροπής Αποκριάτικου Today s coffee fellowship is hosted by our Philoptochos Society. Everyone is invited to our community hall to enjoy fellowship. STEWARSHIP 2019 Stewardship cards can picked up in the church office. We ask that you prayerfully consider what you will offer to our beloved parish of Holy Cross in Our beloved parish requires approximately $915 per day to operate or an annual pledge average of $1670 per family. As always, we remain appreciative for all that you lovingly give. MEMORIALS Eleni Karakatsanis, 40 days, Right 1-3 George Kollias, 6 months, Right 4-5 Harriet Stokas, 1 year, Right 6 Odysseas Villies, 1 year, Left 2-6 Panagiotis Avgerinos, 1 year, Left 2-6 Ioannis Avgerinos, 5 years, Left 2-6 Panagiota Avgerinos, 19 years, Left 2-6 May their memory be eternal!