Holy Apostles Newsletter. Pentecost

Transcription

1 Holy Apostles Newsletter Pentecost May 2018 A sermon by Archbishop Dmitri Royster (of blessed memory) Holy Apostles Orthodox Mission Fr. Dimitri Perez, Priest 3214 N St. Vancouver, WA (503) fr.dimitri@gmail.com Diocese of the WesT Coming this Month Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, Mosaic, asilica di San Marco, Venice And there appeared to them cloven tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:3-4) Following His Ascension, when the Savior fulfilled His promise and sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter appeared to Christ s followers as tongues of fire. As a result of the Spirit s operation the disciples spoke in languages foreign to them and were guided as to what to say. It is extremely significant that on the day of Pentecost the manifestation of the Holy Spirit should take the form of tongues, and that the first results of the disciples baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the ability to speak in languages other than their own. First, it affirms the universal character of Christ s mission, one which was wrought for all nations, resulting in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, the Divine Services sing of Pentecost in terms of being a reversal of that which took place at the Tower of abel (Genesis, chapter 11). Of old the tongues were confounded because of the audacity in the building of the tower, but now the tongues are made wise because of the glory of Divine knowledge. There God condemned the impious because of their offence, and here Christ hath enlightened the fishermen by the Spirit. At that time the confusion of tongues was wrought for punishment, but now the concord of tongues hath been inaugurated for the salvation of our souls. ( Glory now and ever, verse for the Aposticha at Pentecost Vigil) Once, when He descended and confounded the tongues, the Most High divided the nations; and when He divided the tongues of fire, He called all men into unity; and with one accord we glorify the All-holy Spirit. (Kontakion for the Feast) At abel a false unity established out of Continued On Page 3 May 2 - Mid-Pentecost May 6 - Fifth Sunday of Pascha The Samaritan Woman -St. George the Great-martyr May 13 - Sixth Sunday of Pascha: The lind Man -Happy Mother s Day! May 15 - St. Athanasius the Great, archbishop of Alexandria May 16 - The Apodosis of Pascha - 6pm Vespers May 17 - The Ascension of our Lord - 9am Divine Liturgy and festal potluck May 19 - Righteous Job the Long-suffering May 20 - Seventh Sunday of Pascha: The Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. -Last Day of Sunday School May 21 - Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian May 23 - The Holy Apostle Simon the Zealot May 27 - Pentecost Trinity Sunday with Kneeling vespers after fellowship

2 H. A. Newsletter May 2018 welcome Community Announcements Please continue to pray for and support those with needs: Pres. Vicki, Mat. Priscilla, Kh. Judy, Nektaria, Silouani, Joanna, Katherine and Dionysious, Dn. Mark Story, Stephanie Anne, Liesl, rendan, Olga and Pete, John Harvest, Irene Gielen s family, Photini, Ludmila, and all those with unspoken needs. Last day of Sunday School is May 20th. Have a great summer! We warmly welcome you to join us in our worship at Holy Apostles Orthodox Church. Whether you are an Orthodox Christian or if this will be your first visit to an Orthodox Church, we are pleased to have you with us. We are very comfortable with new comers, inquirers, and visitors. Anyone who wishes to discover ancient Orthodox Christianity is welcome. If you have questions, I will be happy to answer them, so don t be afraid to ask questions about what we do and why. In planning your visit, please me: fr.dimitri@gmail.com or call me directly at (503) Following the Sunday Divine Liturgy, you are invited to join us for a coffee hour which is a good time for us to get to know you and for you to get to know our parish members. In Christ, Fr. Dimitri Not being separated from the bosom of the Father, O most sweet Jesus, and having lived on earth as a man, Thou wast taken up in glory today from the Mount of Olives. And having raised our fallen nature by Thy compassion, Thou didst seat it together with the Father. Wherefore, the heavenly orders of the bodiless were amazed at the wonder and stood in awe and astonishment. They were seized with trembling and magnified Thy love for mankind. With them we on earth also glorify Thy condescension toward us, and Thine Ascension from us, entreating and saying: O Thou Who by Thine Ascension didst fill with infinite joy Thy disciples and the Theotokos who bare Thee, by their prayers deem us also worthy of the joy of Thy chosen ones, for Thy great mercy s sake. -A Hymn for the Feast of The Ascension of Our Lord A teacher s meeting is scheduled for June 3rd after fellowship to discuss the coming school year. We could use a few more volunteer teachers who are interested in taking on this wonderful and rewarding ministry to children. If you are interested in becoming a church school teacher, please inquire with Sbd. Alex Ivkin. Thank you! Festal services this month: Wed. May 16th, Fr. Dimitri will serve vespers at 6pm to commemorate the leave-taking of Pascha and the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thurs. May 17th he will serve Divine Liturgy for the Feast of Ascension at 9am followed by potluck. Thank you for your patience as we are remodeling the bathrooms and the kitchen. It is a blessing to have new floors, kitchen cabinets, and counter-tops, with a redesigned kitchen! There is still a bit more that needs to be done but we are getting close to completion! Thanks to all who ve been working so hard to make this dream come true! Joanna Donnor has a new business venture called Crafty JND and has begun hosting Crafternoon crafting classes at her home this month. The 1st Crafternoon with Joanna Donnor is on Saturday May 12, 1-4 at her house. She will gather a list of interests and projects with the first project being sketchbook journals. asic ookbinding with a Coptic Stitch. Please let Joanna know if you are interested in participating in future events. jndonnor@gmail.com. Please visit Joanna s Etsy site to see the wonderful touches she adds to organizational supplies. Registration is now open for St. John s Family Camp, August 510. Join us for the 2018 St. John Pan-Orthodox Family Camp near Eugene, OR, as we explore themes on family preservation and the social mission of the Church. OrthodoxChristianFamilyCamp?orglink=camps-registration#/ selectsessions/ Attention Sunday School Teachers and Homeschool Parents: Church of the Annunciation will sponsor training in Level 1 Part 1 of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd course this summer from June 25 through June 30. Tuition is $ Space is limited so early registration is encouraged. A deposit of $100 with registration will hold your spot. For more information, contact Matushka Molly Shaw mollyshw@gmail.com or Matushka Connie Shank cshank33@gmail.com Registration is OPEN for the Agia Sophia Academy 2018 Greek Open Golf Tournament with rewfest, Dinner & Auction. When: Tuesday, September 18th / Where: Langdon Farms Golf Club / Cost: $125 per golfer, $50 per dinner (non-golfers) Learn More: Registration is open for the first ever Ancient Faith Women s Retreat scheduled for November 15-18, Antiochian Village Conference Center Church Camp Trail, olivar, PA

3 H. A. Newsletter May Pentecost Continued from page 1 pride led to a scattering of all men, confusion among the citizens of the earth. Diverse tongues, in this case, became indicative of divisions, man s inability to understand God, his fellow man and environment. On Pentecost, however, the many tongues of the Divine Spirit became a sign and source for unity, a profound unity established through love for Christ that can only be granted by God Himself. Of great significance as well is the fact that the fruits of the disciples labors on Pentecost was the addition to the Church of about three thousand souls. (Acts 2:41) Here we begin to understand what our Lord meant when He told His chosen ones that they would henceforth be fishers of men. Hearing about such a large number of individuals brought into the Church by Peter and the eleven, we recall that during Christ s earthly ministry it was only when the disciples obeyed His will that they caught such an enormous catch of fish that their net brake. (Luke 5:4) lessed art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. O efriender of man, glory be to Thee. (Troparion for the Feast). What happened on that fiftieth day after our Lord s resurrection was the filling of the disciples with the Holy Spirit, their transformation into the Church. Pentecost is the day of the Church s founding. From this point in time the disciples were empowered to do what our Lord told them: As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. (John 20:21) The record of what the disciples did from the day of their empowerment is clearly a matter of history. We know that even in St. Paul s time the Gospel had gone as far as Spain in the West and we are told as far as India in the East. y the beginning of the fourth century the Emperor Constantine not only stopped the persecution of Christians but gave the Church an official status. Christians to some measure, by this time, occupied every city and town. And there were still those who were willing, if necessary, to give their lives for Christ. From that time as well, the Church never lost its conviction that Jesus had given it the strict mandate to catch the entire world, to bring all men into His net. The disciples and those who came after them were convinced that their message, committed to them by Christ, was vital, a matter of life or death. This is why they were able to convince so many, because they themselves were convinced. Speaking of our contemporary situation, it can be said that somewhere along the line, many Church members have lost this sense of urgency with regard to the Faith. Orthodox Christianity has become, for not a few of its adherents, simply the national religion of certain people, part of their culture, their ethos. The very thought of Orthodoxy being of vital importance because the world s salvation depends on it, is utterly alien to numerous individuals. ut, thanks to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, many in the Church have come to understand the profound implications of Christ s words to His disciples on a particular occasion, when they could do nothing for a man who needed healing: ring him to me. The Church in our own time is regaining its deep commitment to this command relative to the entire world: ring him to me. We must bring those in need of healing and who is not in need of the healing that Christ brings? to our Lord, the only true Physician of souls and bodies. Let us take time then and analyze to what extent we have been able to comply with Jesus command. If the truth be told, given the number of Orthodox in this country and the resources now available, we have not lived up to our potential in terms of making new disciples. At least one reason for any apparent failures lies in our own lack of conviction. We must ask ourselves, therefore, are we convinced, each of us individually, that our Orthodox Christian Faith is the most precious thing that we possess, that it is absolutely essential for those with whom we come in contact to know about it? y and large, according to how we live day to day, many of us would have to answer no to the above questions. And yet for the ody of Christ to grow the answer must be yes. We cannot impart to others what we ourselves do not have. Christianity is so maximalistic in terms of what is expected of man we speak of being crucified with Christ and losing our lives for His sake and the Gospel s that for anyone to believe the claims of its adherents, the Faith must be seen lived out by those who preach it. Thus, relative to the Feast of Pentecost, our own mission in the United States begins with an appreciation for what has already been given: the seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. At our Chrismation, which is our personal Pentecost, the same Spirit was bestowed for our enlightenment and transformation, so as to empower us to be invincible warriors and witnesses for the Faith as were Christ s disciples 2000 years ago. (Festal hymns taken from The Pentecostarion published by Holy Transfiguration Monastery, oston, MA.) Pentecost, Troparion, Tone VIII lessed art Thou, Christ our God, Who didst make the fishermen wise by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. Lover of men, glory to Thee. Koniakion, Tone VIII When the Most High came down and confused the tongues, He divided the nations, but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He called all to unity. And with one accord we glorify the All- Holy Spirit. День Святой Троицы, Пятидесятница. Тропарь, глас 8. Благослове н еси, Христе Бо же наш,/ И же прему дры ловцы явле й,/ низпосла в им Ду ха Святаѓо,/ и те ми уловле й вселе нную,/ Человеколю бче, сла ва Тебе. Кондак, глас 8. Егда снизше д языќи слия,/ разделя ше языќи Вы шний,/ егда же оѓненныя языќи раздая ше,/ в соедине ние вся призва ;/ и согла сно сла вим Всесвятаѓо Ду ха.

4 H. A. Newsletter May 2018 Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Introduction The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on the fortieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Since the date of Pascha changes each year, the date of the Feast of the Ascension changes. The Feast is always celebrated on a Thursday. The Feast itself commemorates when, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and after blessing them and asking them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ascended into heaven. design which is almond-shaped or round. Inside the mandorla is the figure of a holy person. Christ blesses the assembly with His right hand. In His left is a scroll. The scroll is a symbol of teaching. This icon shows that the Lord in heaven is the source of blessing. In addition, Jesus is the source of knowledge. The icon reminds us that Christ continues to be the source of the teaching and message of the Church, blessing and guiding those to whom He has entrusted his work. iblical story The story of the Ascension of our Lord, celebrated as one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Church, is found in the book of the Acts of the Apostles 1:3-11. It is also mentioned in the Gospels of Mark (16:19) and Luke (24:50-53). The moment of the Ascension is told in one sentence: He was lifted up before their eyes in a cloud which took Him from their sight (Acts 1:9). Christ made His last appearance on earth, forty days after His Resurrection from the dead. The Acts of the Apostles states that the disciples were in Jerusalem. Jesus appeared before them and commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father. He stated, You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:5). After Jesus gave these instructions, He led the disciples to the Mount of Olives. Here, He commissioned them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). It is also at this time that the disciples were directed by Christ to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). Jesus also told them that He would be with them always, even to the end of the world (Matthew 28:20). As the disciples watched, Jesus lifted up His hands, blessed them, and then was taken up out of their sight (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9). Two angels appeared to them and asked them why they were gazing into heaven. Then one of the angels said, This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him going into heaven (Acts 1:11). Icon of the Feast The icon of The Ascension of Our Lord is a joyous icon. It is painted with bright colors. Christ is shown ascending in His glory in a mandorla. A mandorla is a The Theotokos occupies a very special place in this icon. She is in the center of the icon, immediately below the ascending Christ. The gesture of her hands is gesture of prayer. She is clearly outlined by the whiteness of the garments of the angels. The Theotokos is depicted in a very calm pose. This is quite different from the appearance of the Disciples. They are moving about, talking to one another and looking and pointing towards heaven. The entire group, the Theotokos and the disciples represent the Church. The icon of the Ascension includes some who did not witness the Ascension. St. Paul is shown to the left of the Theotokos, but we know that he was not present at the Ascension. At that time, St. Paul did not yet believe in Jesus. ut he became a Christian and one of the greatest Apostles and missionaries of Church. The icon expresses the sovereignty of Christ over His Church; He is its Head, its guide, its source of inspiration and teaching; it receives its commission and ministry from Him, and fulfils it in the power of the Holy Spirit. Source - GOARCH

5 H. A. Newsletter May 2018 The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. -Song of Solomon 2:12 Spring Daisy Submitted by Dave Harvison The eatitudes for Mothers who did without for us, they will be rewarded. who lost sleep when we were sick, they will find rest. who taught us how to pray, they will share God s kingdom. who comforted us, they shall be comforted. who taught us right from wrong, they will know justice. who shared with us the meaning of peace, they shall know peace. who taught us the importance of loving God and each other, they shall see God. -Author Unknown God Grant You Many Years! Многая лета! Feast Days -- Martyr Alexandra the Empress 4/23 (5/6) Aleksandra Kojenova - Great Martyr George the Wonderworker 4/23 (5/6) George Follestad St. Elizabeth the Wonderworker 4/24 (5/7) Evalynn Mendonsa - St. Glaphyra, Virginmartyr 4/26 (5/9) Glaphyra Kojenova - St. Tamara, Queen of Georgia 5/1 (5/14) Tazsa Wells - Great Martyress Irene 5/5 (5/18) Irina Kakorina - St. Emmelia 5/8 (5/21) Emmelia eckel St. John the Theologian 5/8 (5/21) Yann Gorbatov Ioan Johnson - St. Christopher of Lycia 5/9 (5/22) Christopher Kierstead Ryan Wells The Apostle Simon the Zealot 5/10 (5/23) Simon Gorbatov Rdr. Simon eckel St. Germanos, Patriarch of Constantinople 5/12 (5/25) Geran ergodin - St. Junia 5/17 (5/30) Sweetwater Mendonsa irthdays Genevieve Namee - 5/3 Irina Kakorina - 5/5 Aleksandra Kojenova - 5/8 Ryan Wells - 5/9 Marina Namee - 5/17 Geran ergodin - 5/18 Yann Gorbatov- 5/21 Olga Ivkin - 5/23 Simon Gorbatov - 5/26 Rdr. Simon eckel - 5/28 Wedding Anniversaries John & Irene Gielen - 5/22 Matthew & Catherine Namee - 5/28

6 H. A. Newsletter May 2018