HYMNS AND READINGS FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2018

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1 Welcome to Saint Catherine Greek Orthodox Church There are no strangers here; only friends you have not met! 5555 S. Yosemite Street, Greenwood Village, CO Phone Fax Office hours: 9am - 4pm Sundays hours of service: Orthros 8:15am Divine Liturgy 9:30am Weekdays hours of service: Orthros 8:15am, Divine Liturgy 9am Clergy: Father Louis J. Christopulos, Protopresbyter Father Paul Fedec, Archpriest Father Theodore Dorrance, Economos Father Jimi Foreso, Presbyter Deacon John Kavas Staff: Michelle Smith, Office Administrator Alina Buzdugan, Ministry Coordinator/Communications/Chanting Helen Kretzmann, Executive Assistant to Fr. Lou Alex Demos, Assistant to Youth Director (Fr. Theodore) Brenda Lucero, Accountant Spiros Deligiannis, Facility Manager Steven Woodruff, Assistant facility Manager HYMNS AND READINGS FOR SUNDAY, JANUARY 7, 2018 Resurrectional Apolytikion 6th Tone (Green Hymnal pg. 86) When the angelic powers appeared at your tomb and those who guarded You became as though dead, and standing by Your sepulchre was Mary seeking Your pure and sacred body. For You did vanquish Hades and uncorrupted by its touch You came unto the virgin woman, bestowing the gift of life O You who rose from the dead. Lord we give glory to You. Apolytikion for Afterfeast of the Theophany - 1st Tone When You were baptized in the Jordan, O Lord, the worship of the Trinity was made manifest; for the voice of the Father bore witness You, calling You His beloved Son. And the Spirit in the form of a dove confirmed the certainty of the word. O Christ our God, Who has appeared and has enlightened the world, glory to You. Ἐν Ἰορδάνῃ βαπτιζομένου σου Κύριε, ἡ τῆς Τριάδος ἐφανερώθη προσκύνησις, τοῦ γὰρ Γεννήτορος ἡ φωνὴ προσεμαρτύρει σοί, ἀγαπητὸν σὲ Υἱὸν ὀνομάζουσα, καὶ τὸ Πνεῦμα ἐν εἴδει περιστεράς, ἐβεβαίου τοῦ λόγου τὸ ἀσφαλές. Ὁ ἐπιφανεῖς Χριστὲ ὁ Θεός, καὶ τὸν κόσμον φωτίσας δόξα σοί. Apolytikion for Saint John the Baptist - 2nd Tone The memory of the just is observed with hymns of praise; for you suffices the testimony of the Lord, O Forerunner. You have proved to be truly more ven'rable than the Prophets, since you were granted to baptize in the river the One whom they proclaimed. Therefore, when for the truth you had contested, rejoicing, to those in Hades you preached the Gospel, that God was manifested in the flesh, and takes away the sin of the world, and grants to us the great mercy. Hymn of St. Catherine - 5th Tone We sing praises in memory of the bride of Christ, Catherine the Holy Protectress of Holy Mount Sinai, of her who is our helper and our comforter, silencing the impious ones with her brilliance. All by the power of the Spirit! And she pleads for us all great mercy, since she has been crowned a martyr of the Lord. Kontakion of the Nativity 3rd Tone You appeared today to us * on earth, O Master, * and Your light was signed on us * who cry aloud to You and say * with understanding, O Christ our God: You came and shone forth, O Light unapproachable. Ἐπεφάνης σήμερον τὴ οἰκουμένη, καὶ τὸ φῶς σου Κύριε, ἐσημειώθη ἐφ' ἡμᾶς, ἓν ἐπιγνώσει ὑμνούντάς σε. Ἦλθες ἐφάνης τὸ Φῶς τὸ ἀπρόσιτον. Instead of Truly it is worthy to call you blessed O my soul, magnify the ever-virgin Maid who from the curse has redeemed us. O all spotless Bride, surpassing comprehension * are the wonders of your childbirth, blessed Mother! * Through you obtaining comprehensive salvation, * we bring you a gift in striking up this worthy * hymn of gratitude to you our Benefactress. Communion Hymn In eternal memory, the righteous shall be always remembered. Alleluia!

2 Epistle Reading: Verse - The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 19:1-8. In those days, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said, "No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit." And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" They said, "Into John's baptism." And Paul said, "John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus." On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all. And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God. Gospel Reading: The Reading is from John 1: At that time, John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, 'After me comes a man who ranks before me, for he was before me.' I myself did not know him; but for this I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John bore witness, "I saw the Spirit descend as a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him; but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.' And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God." The Creation Fulfilled and Restored: Homily for the Sunday After Theophany (Epiphany) in the Orthodox Church Fr. Philip LeMasters Some people think of religion as a way of escaping the problems of life in the real world. They may view our physical bodies and their weaknesses, as well as all the problems that people and societies have in relating to one another, as evil or pointless realities from which they hope God will deliver us. Perhaps they want an imaginary spiritual bliss of not having to put up with others or with the other challenges that life in the created world presents. That hope may fit with the sensibilities of some and even be appealing to us at times, but it has nothing to do with the God Who revealed Himself as the Holy Trinity when Christ was baptized by St. John in the Jordan for our salvation. Think for a moment about how the Holy Trinity is manifested. Jesus Christ submits to the baptism of St. John the Forerunner in a river full of water. When the Lord comes out of the water, the voice of the Father identifies Him as His Beloved Son and the Holy Spirit descends upon Him in the form of a dove. Instead of escaping the creation or rescuing us from it, God enters into it. The Son lowers Himself into a river and gets as wet as anyone else who did so. The deepest mystery of the universe, that God is the Holy Trinity, is proclaimed in relation to what happened in a river full of water. The Savior was not baptized as a sign of His own repentance, of course, for He had no sins of which to repent. Instead, He makes the water holy by entering into it, by restoring the entire creation to its right relationship with God. As the God-Man, He descended into the world that He spoke into existence in order to free it from subjection to futility and fulfill it as an icon of His salvation. We, of course, are part of that creation in every dimension of our existence, both as particular persons and in relation to one another. Recall the nakedness of Adam and Eve when they turned away from God, for they stripped themselves of the divine glory by repudiating their calling to become ever more like God in holiness. They diminished themselves and the entire creation by serving their self-centered desires instead of the Lord. They brought death and slavery to our passions into the world, which we see so vividly when their son Cain murdered their son Abel. Our Savior entered fully into our distorted world of brokenness and pain in order to set it right. He was baptized in the Jordan in order to clothe the naked Adam, in order to restore us to the dignity of those who wear the robe of light of His beloved sons and daughters. We put Him on in baptism like a garment. By His mercy and grace, we participate personally in His healing and blessing of every aspect of our humanity. He does not call us to flee from His world, but to be so united with Him in holiness that we play our unique parts in fulfilling His gracious purposes for it. He invites us to become like Him as partakers in the divine nature by grace. That is really simply what it means to be a human being in the divine image and likeness. I hope that you will sign up today for a time to have your house blessed, which is a standard Orthodox practice at Theophany. We bless houses with holy water, which was blessed at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy on the day of the feast. By entering into the water, the Lord made the water holy, which means that He restored and fulfilled its very nature. We need water in order to live. The earth needs water in order to become fertile, bearing fruit and giving life to animals of all kinds. We wash with water and use it to maintain cleanliness and health. Without water, we become weak and die, as do other creatures. And in the world as we know it, water can kill us through floods and storms. Since the creation has been subjected to futility through the sin of human beings, the very water through which God gives us life may become the means of our death.

3 The good news is that our Lord has made even death an entrance into life. When we are baptized into Christ, we are baptized into His death. When we put Him on in baptism, we died to sin and rose with Him in holiness, regaining the robe of light and being restored to our intended place in the creation in God s image and likeness. When we bless holy water, we restore water to its intended place, to its original role in giving life and cleansing impurities. These are fulfilled in baptism, by which the Lord shares His eternal life with us and washes away our corruption. Here we see the purpose of water, and the creation itself, fulfilled. When we bless a home, or anything else, with holy water, God restores it to its natural state, to its place in fulfilling God s purposes in the creation. And since our homes are where we and our families live each day, how could we not want that blessing on our marriages, our children, and the physical space where we offer our lives to the Lord? When we bless our homes, we join what is most important to us to Christ s healing and restoration of the entire universe. We make our daily lives a liturgy, an entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven. We cannot stop there, however, for we must actually live as those who have put on a robe of light, who have entered into the fulfillment of all things in Christ. We must make our marriages, families, and daily interactions with others an epiphany, a manifestation of God s gracious purposes. We must become icons of the Holy Trinity as particular people united in holy love with others. As St. Paul taught in today s epistle lesson, And His gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Christ blesses us, not as isolated individuals, but as members of His Body for the blessing of all our fellow members and ultimately for the entire world. We become truly human together in Him. We will not find salvation in isolation, but as persons united in holy love who share a common life in Christ. As those created in His image and likeness, that is our natural state. It is revealed at Christ s baptism that He is the Son of the Father. That is a relationship of holy love beyond our full understanding. To be in loving relationship with others is a key dimension of what it means to be a human being in the divine image and likeness. When we bless our homes, we find strength to make our marriages and families icons of the fulfillment of God s gracious purposes. That is only a start, however, as we must intentionally turn away from darkness in all its forms in order to become radiant with the light of Christ. In other words, we must repent. That is ultimately how to celebrate this great feast, by offering every dimension of our lives to the Lord such that we become living epiphanies of His salvation in the world as we know it. The point is not to escape the world, but to become icons of its fulfillment.

4 Dear Parishioners of St. Catherine: This message is being sent to you to provide you with the latest information on the St. Catherine Beautification and Iconography Project - "On Earth as It is in Heaven." Architecture and Structure Construction has begun in the Narthex. Framing to raise the height of ceiling and to install the new arches has started as well as sheetrock installation in the Narthex, outer Narthex and Nave. Marble and stone for the Solea, Nave, and Altar arrived, with installation set to begin. Internal construction is on track to be completed on time to resume services in the church by Palm Sunday,April 1, The fellowship hall restrooms are out of commission for renovation purposes. We will be using the bathrooms on the second floor as well as the gym bathrooms until the new ones are finished. On Sundays ONLY, the bathrooms found at the end of the first floor may be used as well but during the week they are strictly reserved for the My School Preschool students. Thank you for your understanding! Fundraising Efforts Steps for financing the completion of the projects were discussed and approved at the Special General Assembly on October 8, To date, the total raised from all sources and fundraising efforts is well over $1.2 million. Donations Donations to the project now can be made online at Thank you again to the members for their support in making the vision for "On Earth as It is in Heaven" another step closer to completion! To follow the progress, "On Earth as It is In Heaven," visit the St. Catherine Construction website page.

5 PARYER FOR OUR NEW CHURCH HOME "On Earth as It is in Heaven" - Saint Catherine Beautification and Iconography Project O God Almighty, Who made the heavens in wisdom and set the foundations of the earth firmly in place, who through our Lord Jesus Christ built the Church and established it unshaken upon the rock of faith; do You, the same Lord, the great Architect and Builder, Provider and Sustainer of all the world, look upon us and bless the works of our hands. In Your name we have laid these foundations, and we ask that in Your power You may make them firm; for we are not wasting our labors by erecting this church on the sand, but on You, the unshakable rock, do we lay its foundations, so that if the rain should pour, the rivers should overflow, the winds should blow, it will neither fall nor be disturbed. Bless in peace our undertakings and bring them to a successful conclusion; for we did not gain this land by fire or sword, but by honest sweat and the pursuit of good works; and let this parish of Saint Catherine which You have entrusted to our stewardship endure forever and ever. For in obedience to You we accomplish all these things, working by the power and to the glory of You, our Father in heaven, and Your Only-begotten Son and creative Word, and Your Holy and Life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and to the ages of ages. Amen 2017 STEWARDSHIP UPDATE As the Father has sent me, so I send you. John 20:21 From Membership to Discipleship. As of January 5 we have: 353 pledges with $874,661 pledged, $918,798 received to date and $910,000 budgeted. Your offering of time, talents, and treasures is greatly appreciated! STEWARDSHIP UPDATE Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as working for the Lord, not for men. Colossians 3:23 - Ordinary people doing extraordinary things. As of December 28 we have 178 pledges with $568,556 pledged and $36,906 received to date If you haven t already, please bring your 2018 cards to church or mail them in at your earliest convenience. If you don t have a stewardship packet, they are available by the reception desk or the Church office. Thank you!

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7 SAINT CATHERINE CARE LINE In the Name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Dear Lord, Jesus Christ, who brought us into this world and knows all of our weaknesses and needs, please visit and heal your servants (or name) from all physical and spiritual maladies, relieve their pain and grant them a quick recovery. If a quick or full recovery is not possible, please be with your servants (or name) helping them to endure whatever pain and suffering they are experiencing until recovery is complete. Dear Lord, help me to be thoughtful and considerate of my brothers and sisters and show me how to recognize and meet their needs, both spoken and unspoken. To You we offer glory, praise and thanksgiving, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. To report the name of someone in need, to request prayers for a beloved one asleep in the Lord, or the let us know that you would like your name to be removed from the Care Line, please call extension 8. Zoi Armatas - Asleep in the Lord Eleni Marie Bardossas - Hospital Bardossas Family - Home Basiliki - Home Mark Boryla - Home (Husband of Gigi Boryla) Mary Brent - Home Mary Bouzis - Life Care (Mother of Chris Craig) Marie Bukuvalas - Home Mary Chachas - Home Jim Chachas - Home Jim Damaskos - Rehabilitation Center Justin Daniel Home (Son of Linda Hughes) Carlos De la Rosa - Home Dan Diamond - Home Michael Dugas - Home Rayn Durso - US Army Lucy Eliopulos - Home (Niece of Charlene Eliopulos) Pat Faires - Home (Brother-in-law of Terry Flagg) Matushka Gloria Fedec - Home Fr. Paul Fedec - Home Todd Fotiades - Home Fr. Jimi Foreso - Home Presbytera Eleni Foreso and Family - Home Val Jean Freehling - Assisted Living (Mother of Trina Bibbero) Peter Gallanis - Home Joy Gallios - Home Stephen George - US Navy (Son of Andrew and Inge George) Cameron Grant - US Marines Maria Hall Home (Mother of Chris Skogen) Isabella Hanke - Home (Goddaughter of Judy Jones) Hariton - Home Kent Holen - Asleep in the Lord (Father of Dr. Jeff Holen) Linda Mariea Hughes - Home Mel Kallas - Asleep in the Lord Mary Kanas - Home (sister of Helen Pappas) Kalomera Keller - Home (Mother of Chris Keller) Sheyenne King Home (Niece of Barb Latsonas) Mark Kiryluk - Home Kristina - Home (Niece of Anthea Christenbury) Bill Lagos - Home Chloe Leach - Home (Niece of Anthea Christenbury) James Legas - Home Tom Long - Home Freida Maniatis Home Alexa Mantas - Home Nick Michas - Home Malakai Morse - Hospital (Nephew of Faith Morse) Alexandria Nash - Home Samia Nash - Home Karen Neal - Home Panangelos Diane Papedo - Home Evelyn Panos Home (Cousin of Missy Katsoulas) Patricia Pantazis - Home Jack Pyle - Father of Valerie Stokes John Peros - Home George Plakorus - Home Mary Plakorus - Home Alex Poulette home Kathryn Prose - US Army Thomas Prose - US Army John Prose - US Navy Reserve Lee Rallis - Home (Brother-in-law of Thalia Rallis) Toula Rallis Extended Care Center (Cousin of Maria Mantas) Florence Regas - Home John and Donna Rosca - Home Jennifer Shaw - Home Dan Skaff - Home George Sourial - Home Dino Terry - Home Ellie Thomas - Home Pagona and Robert Trusk Home (Daughter and son-inlaw of Irene Farfaras) Rouli Tucker - Home Chuck Ullmann - Home Jennifer Voxakis Hospital Roberta Walls - Home Tiffany Yant Home (Daughter of Connie & Tom Stauffer) Sue Youssef Home Joe Youssef - Home

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