Ukrainian Catholic Church

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1 No (635) Ukrainian Catholic Church Parish of St. John the Baptist - Perth Parish Priest: Fr Ihor Holovko 20 Ferguson St, Maylands WA 6051 T/F (08) office Home address now 16 Ferguson St, Maylands WA 6051 Fr Deacon Richard mbl Sr Nicodema Zemliak SSMI Unit 4, 26 Sherwood St, Maylands Tel 08) PARISH WEEKLY NEWS 27th Mar 3rd April 2016 Parish Postal Address: PO Box 230, Dianella WA 6059 Editor: Luba Valega T: (08) M: E: luba_valega@hotmail.com This is a weekly Parish newsletter for all to read, to inform you of what is happening in our Parish and share with you some interesting readings. Please feel free to share it around! This Week s Readings Epistle: Heb 1:10-2:3 Gospel: Mark 2:3-12 2nd Sunday of Lent Tone 2 ============================================================================== Epistle Hebrews 1:10-2:3 1:10 You, Lord, in the beginning, laid the foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of your hands. 1:11 They will perish, but you continue. They all will grow old like a garment does. 1:12 As a mantle, you will roll them up, and they will be changed; but you are the same. Your years will not fail. * 1:13 But which of the angels has he told at any time, Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet? * 1:14 Aren t they all serving spirits, sent out to do service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation? 2:1 Therefore we ought to pay greater attention to the things that were heard, lest perhaps we drift away. 2:2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense; 2:3 how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation which at the first having been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard. Gospel Mark 2:1-12 :1 When he entered again into Capernaum after some days, it was heard that he was in the house. 2:2 Immediately many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even around the door; and he spoke the word to them. 2:3 Four people came, carrying a paralytic to him. 2:4 When they could not come near to him for the crowd, they removed the roof where he was. When they had broken it up, they let down the mat that the paralytic was lying on. 2:5 Jesus, seeing their faith, said to the paralytic, Son, your sins are forgiven you. 2:6 But there were some of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, 2:7 Why does this man speak blasphemies like that? Who can forgive sins but God alone? 2:8 Immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, said to them, Why do you reason these things in your hearts? 2:9 Which is easier, to tell the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven; or to say, Arise, and take up your bed, and walk? 2:10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins he said to the paralytic 2:11 I tell you, arise, take up your mat, and go to your house. 2:12 He arose, and immediately took up the mat, and went out in front of them all; so that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw anything like this! =============================================================================== The second Sunday of Great Lent is the commemoration of St. Gregory Palamas. It was St. Gregory who died in 1359, his theme was that people can become Divine through the Grace of God in the Holy Spirit; and that even in this life, by prayer and fasting, human beings can become participants of the uncreated Light of God s Divine Glory. Page 1

2 2nd Sunday Of Lent Today we have a command: Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And that is the another aspect to our answer. The Lord will heal us, but then we have to GET UP, and we have to walk. That s what is really the summation of, the importance of this miracle. The man was healed of his sins and of his physical infirmity, but it would mean nothing if he didn t obey the Lord and GET UP AND WALK. His getting up and walking to his own home signifies obedience to all the commandments. The paralytic was healed of his sins but also of his physical infirmity, because without the healing from his physical infirmity, he would have remained discouraged. He needed both healings. And the most important, of course, is to be healed from your sins, but he needed the healing from his infirmities so that he would have encouragement. If you look through these Sundays of Great Lent, they re all about this, answering the question: Can any good thing come out of Nazareth? I think most people don t think so. My experience is, my personal experience and my experience as a confessor, is that it s hard for us to believe that we can really get better, completely better. Well, Jesus Christ was only human too, right? The human part of Him was only human. And what did He do with His humanity? He perfected it. And that is what we are to do with our humanity. SO Of course we can t do it on our own. BUT! We need help and we do have help. We can see that from the story of the paralytic. He was borne of four. We need the help of the Church, our friends, those who love us because sometimes we re just not strong enough. But no matter what, whether receiving much help or not, it takes a whole lot of work. Look what they did to help this man, certainly with his consent. When the paralytic was carried around, it would certainly be painful. He wouldn t want to go out for no reason. So certainly the paralytic had the desire to be healed. They climbed up on the roof, broke a hole in it and let him down. Imagine the spectacle. Imagine how much that hurt. Imagine how embarrassing it might be. It takes effort to answer this question. And the paralytic s illness is really, in microcosm, our whole life. Most of the healings and most of the parables are like this. They describe a short period of time, perhaps a few minutes, perhaps a few hours. But what they are describing is our life. And our life is, on some levels, by some measures, a short period of time. To us it doesn t always seem so short. Seems like a long time before things change in us. And so WE are that paralytic that is waiting for healing. And it takes time. It takes effort from ourselves, from others, prayer and fasting and belief and expectation that something good can happen. I am absolutely convinced as a pastor that our biggest problem is we don t believe enough in the Resurrection, what the Resurrection can do for us, how much we can be changed. That s why it s so fashionable, it s always been fashionable, really, to redefine Christianity to something more palatable, to something more approachable, but then it s not Christianity. Christianity is: We were made to be perfected; we were made for perfection. And even though we know ourselves very well to be imperfect, and our collective experience shows that there are things that we can t change and they keep going wrong. No matter what our experience tells us, we can be perfected if we continue to answer this question. Really, there is no solution except to struggle and to try with God s grace and to learn to be good. And as you learn to be good, you have confidence that you can become completely good. There s no other solution. There s no fast way. There s no formula. It s just: Believe God and follow Him just like Nathaniel did, and your confidence will happen. Slowly. Sometimes it will be higher; sometimes it will be lower. But if you re continually struggling to follow God, then you will become good. We have to go through the process of living and struggling, and then God will fill us, and we will see, and we will be with Him in Paradise, seeing Him as He is and not be ashamed or afraid. The story in today's Gospel reading is one of forgiveness. Jesus, the healer cures both the spiritual and physical diseases of the paralytic. The only act that the paralytic did was that he had faith. He believed that Jesus could help him. Jesus saw his faith and the faith of his friends that brought him and He healed the man. The paralytic was brought to the Lord for a physical cure and he went away being healed in both body and soul. He was made whole. Amen. Fr Iraneaus ========================================================================== Last Sunday Fr Ihor Holovko blessed the Icons of Mary the Mother of God and St John the Beloved which form part of the Perth Parish Golgotha, in our Church. Deacon Richard assisted at the blessing. He was also the iconographer who painted these icons, so got an extra splash of Holy Water from Father! The Crucifix itself had previously been blessed by His Beatitude Sviatoslav when he was in Perth in September As last Sunday was the Sunday of Orthodoxy - when we celebrate the triumph of the holy icons - Fr Ihor felt it an appropriate time to bless them. A number of Parishioners made donations towards the cost of the icons in memory of their dearly departed. The plaque with the departed names is at left of the Icon. Eternal Memory! A big thank you to all who donated. Page 2

3 On Sunday March 20th the Ukrainian Association of WA celebrated the 202nd anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest sons of Ukraine, the great poet and artist, the apostle of truth and freedom, the unsubdued fighter for freedom in Ukraine - Taras Shevchenko with a luncheon and concert. On a warn autumn day the Parish Hall was full to capacity youngsters, parents, babusi i didusi came, in an unprecedented show of solidarity, to witness a grandiose concert with a variety of acts and the statutory, referat. The concert was started with a prayer led by our new parish priest Fr. Ihor Holovko and concluded with all the performers gathering on stage for the singing of the Ukrainian National Anthem. Afterwards everyone was invited to join in for a group photograph. Fr Ihor had printed up individual letters which were quickly handed out which when held up read - #FREE SAVCHENKO & UA POW s ILLEGALLY JAILED. It was truly a fitting way to conclude our concert in showing solidarity for our contemporary martyrs who are being held in prisons and being tried not in accordance with the Geneva Convention. Thanks go to Natalia Dotsyak (our new school teacher) ; Stephanie Parin and Tayissa Barone (dancing instructors with Zahidny Zirky & Speka Dancers, Vesna Choir and Suzanna Prushynsky (choir master), Diana Teplyj - Referat, Orysia Daws who recited Rozryta Mohyla and all the students and dancers who made this event possible. Also a special thanks to Janenne Marunczyn & Gabby Mowczan and everyone who assisted them in the kitchen.

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5 Deacon Richard s Ordination Sunday 3rd April, 2016 Divine Liturgy will commence at 9.00am. Please arrive promptly. Parking As there will be an increase in parishioners and guests, parking will be at a premium. You may wish to park at nearby Gibbney Reserve and car pool. Please note that parking immediately behind the Church is reserved for people dropping off and picking up elderly parishioners. Reserved parking will also be available for visiting clergy immediately in front of the Church Hall. Photographs All photographs will be done by the authorised event photographer. Seating A number of pews will be reserved for visiting guests. Mobile phones Please ensure that all mobile phones are turned off or on silent. Shared Plate The Hall will be open in the morning for those bringing a shared plate for the Morning Tea. The Pastoral Council thanks you for your co-operation in these matters. ======================================================= Reflection on Giving (Veronica Ray Sometimes we don t feel we have much to give others. We may be struggling financially. We may feel too tired, physically and emotionally, to add even one more activity to our busy day. But we all have a great deal to give, whatever our circumstances. We can listen when someone needs to talk. We can call someone who may be lonely. We can overlook other people s faults and mistakes. We can forgive people who have hurt us. We can teach a skill or share our knowledge. We can offer a smile or an encouraging word to someone who needs it. We can cheer and applaud for others. We have our thoughts, attitudes and actions to give the world. All we have to do is reach into the best part of ourselves and let it flow outward. EVERY DAY GOD GIVES YOU MANY CHANCES TO GIVE SOMETHING TO OTHERS. ============================================== In memory of late Eugene Kostecki, and on behalf of the Kostecki grandchildren, the family has donated the new Gospel Book with a gold cover which is written in English to our Parish. Many thanks and May Jesus bless you all

6 Day Date Time Feast Special Feast Days - Julian Calendar Sun Tone 2 27th Mar, :00am Divine Liturgy 2nd Sunday of Lent Easter (Gregorian calendar) Mon 28th Mar, :30am MATINS Tues 29th Mar, :30am MATINS Wed 30th Mar, pm Presanctified Gifts and Panahyda (Memorial service) for departed Thurs 31st Mar, :30am MATINS Fri 1st April pm Presanctified Gifts and Panahyda (Memorial service) for departed Sat 2nd April, 2016 No Vespers or Holy Liturgy tonight Sun Tone 3 3rd April, 2016 Choir singing 9:00 am Divine Liturgy Veneration of the Holy Cross 3rd Sunday of Lent and Ordination to Priesthood of Deacon Richard Charlwood Cleaning Church Roster Sat 26th Mar Nataliya Liakishev If anyone can help clean church once a month (pref on Sat morning) please let Luba Valega know. LAWN MOWING Still need volunteers to mow lawns around church and units. Only 2 volunteers so far. See Parish Committee. ========================================================= next Holy Liturgy in Northam, Sun 17th April, 2016 now at 4pm =========================================== CALENDER DATES Sun 27th Mar, Gregorian Easter Sun, 3rd April Ordination to Priesthood of Deacon Richard Charlwood and blessing Holy Doors for Year of Mercy. Divine Liturgy goes back to 9:30am from 10th April Sun 24th April Palm Sun and Fete (Julian calendar) Sun 1st May Easter (Julian calendar) Sat 7th May Blessing Graves at Karrakatta 2pm. Lawn section like last year. A RESTORATION (Maintenance) fund has being organised for our Church renovations. This is separate to the yearly upkeep (podatok) fund. If you wish to donate, please see Luba Valega. The Church building is in need of repairs and so the Parish Council is asking for your support. Church donation. Mrs M Stasiw $100 Flowers donations from Slobodian family $10, S & N Petrowsky $50, W & S Prushynsky $40, Mrs H Kuczma $20, McLean family $5, anon $20, Irka Rosowsky $20. For Newsletter Slobodian family $10, S Prushynsky $10, May Jesus bless you always. =============================== If you wish to make a church donation direct via bank send to Dnister (Ukrainian Catholic church) BSB / acct and Luba for confirmation luba_valega@hotmail.com to confirm Or post cheque to PO Box 230, Dianella 6059 =============================== Re Deacon Richard s ordination 3rd April... If you are planning to come to the hall afterwards for Morning tea, please bring a plate. You can leave at hall before Holy Liturgy.