The Lighthouse June 2018

Transcription

1 The Lighthouse June 2018 I will build you a lighthouse from which the light of Christ can shine. Christ the Savior Orthodox Church, 1070 Roxbury Road, Southbury, CT Archpriest Vladimir Aleandro, Pastor (203) ANNOUNCEMENTS Every day and hour, the church is a sacred place. It is a house of prayer at all times. Please respect it by the way you dress and reverent silence at all times. Your faithful Tithe to the Lord is most important during the summer months. The life and needs of the parish never take a vacation. Please be mindful and faithful to your pledge to The Lord. CONFIRMED: In a recent conversation with His Eminence, Archbishop NIKON, Sunday November 11 was confirmed as the date for the annual Pilgrimage in honor of St. Nektarios. The Archbishop will be here for Vespers, procession and anointing at 4:00 PM. Mark your calendar and invite friends and relatives to come and be blessed by the feast. 1

2 From Fr. John Kreta: I am again inviting all of you and your parishioners to join us on the Feast of All Saints of America, to pray before and to venerate the relics of Saints of America. Hoping you are able to be with us on this glorious day. The beautiful poster on the bulletin board gives details for this celebration on Sunday June 10 at 4:00 PM. MORTGAGE CHALLENGE UPDATE: Thank you for all your prayers and contributions. Our goal has been met. We set out to bring our mortgage down to $250,000 and have been successful in exceeding that amount. Therefore, we are in the process of refinancing the mortgage in the amount of $245,000. We have identified the bank and have started the refinance process as approved by the Stewards and entire Church body during the week of May 21st. In a continuing effort to keep our closing costs to a minimum, I have reached out to several attorneys and have been unsuccessful in an attempt to see if they would donate their time to represent us in the refinance process. If you know of an attorney who you feel might be willing to donate their services in our endeavor, please reach out to them. If you receive a positive response, please provide them my name and in turn give me the contact information for the attorney so I can then reach out to them. Blessed and sincerest thanks to all. Paul Filipowich, Treasurer, Christ the Savior Orthodox Church Library Cleanup Day: On Saturday June 16 at 2:30, we will have another library cleanup day. No library experience is necessary, just a desire to help us get the library in top form. To volunteer please contact Brigid Solek at (203) or vsolek50@gmail.com Scholarship Awards: In our tradition, we will again this year honor our graduates and those continuing their college studies. We award $50 to our 8 th grade graduate and $200 gifts toward books for our high school graduates and those continuing their undergraduate studies for four years. This will take place Sunday, June 10. We will honor Alana Brockett, who is graduating from 8 th grade and Gregory Brockett and Anastasia Slastushinskiy our high school graduates; as well as James Brockett, Sasha Bondarev, Thomas Halverson and Timothy Halvorsen, who are continuing their undergraduate studies. Get ready for Jeopardy on Sunday, June 3, our Live Wires and Teens will participate in this game of knowledge about the Orthodox faith. The Alpha Team will challenge the Omega Team on their knowledge of the The Beatitudes and the Parables, our curriculum theme this year. The June meeting for Gifted Hands will be Friday, June 22nd, 6:30 p.m. at the home of Renate Sica. Food will be provided; all are welcome. Contact Renate or Pattie for further information. Coming Soon: We will be participating in the FOCUS back to school Back Pack Project. The back packs have arrived. We will be given a local school contact person who will send us the list of items needed for each pack. Our project will be up and running soon. Stay tuned for more information. Finding Soul Food: Where? Christ the Savior Church, When? Saturday, June 9 at 9:00 AM. Bring a hungry spirit and it will be fed by The Word of God, Fellowship with other women and sharing of good food. Sign up on the board, bring a friend (they don t have to be Orthodox). Just come and enjoy the morning. We are go for Youth Rally! Praise be! Alleluia! These were the words of Fr. John Hopko as he announced this week that Youth Rally is rolling for August Application is available at ch.org/files YouthRallyApplicationPacket2018.pdf 2

3 2018 Vacation Church School at Three Saints Park: When- July 9-13, Where- Three Saints Park, 112 Miller Road, Bethany, CT Time Daily 9am to 4pm with Family Night on Friday starting at 5pm. Cost- $40 per child. Come join us for our week-long Vacation Church School for youth ages Your child will experience fun, faith, friendship, swimming, games, bible study, religious education, worship and song. This year s theme will be The Living Word the Bible in our lives. Questions? - Call Mary Pagliaro at (203) or Fr. Patrick Burns (203) Children of all faiths are welcome! June is a good month for repairs: During this month of June, you will see several repairs going on at Christ the Savior Church including some construction on the outside and inside of the business office section. This is due to an accident and when completed it will be better than new. At our Monthly Assembly on May 20 it was decided to do some repairs to the sidewalks and parking area. Steward Representative Meeting: Monday June 11 at 6:30. Monthly Assembly: Sunday June 24 during Coffee Hour. All American Council: will be in St. Louis, MO July At our Parish Assembly Deacon Gregory was selected as Lay Delegate and M. Suzanne as Observer/Alternate. On Sunday May 20 Michelle Montague, a parishioner of Sacred Heart Church in Southbury and representative of Safe Families for Children joined us for Liturgy and then during Coffee Hour spoke briefly about the opportunities offered by this church based program. Some parishioners expressed interest, some were not here but would like more information. Please don t hesitate to contact Michelle with any thoughts or questions. Unto the Least of These He will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Matthew 25:45 He caught my eye as I watched him with his little basket walking the aisles of the small rural grocery store. He was old, bent over, disheveled and not well dressed. Suddenly he was beside me and we were both looking at the same items on the shelf in front of us. There were a number of white bags of various products. I found the bag of grits I was looking for but couldn t help but notice him holding a white bag while closely studying it. I put my grits in the cart and started to walk away when he looked up and said, excuse me sir, as he extended the bag towards me. Pointing to the label, he said Does this say sugar. When I said yes, he thanked me profusely. As I drove away, I couldn t get him out of my mind. It was hard to fathom that there was someone shopping alongside me who couldn t read the word sugar. While I thought about all I have, I thought of that little old man who couldn t read. I wondered what kind of house he lived in and what he had done throughout the many years of his life. And, I thought about how God made him and loves him just like he loves and made me. Why was I so blessed with an education? More importantly what defines my responsibility to reach out to people like that, those less fortunate than me? 3 Ways you can get involved: Be a Host Family: Voluntarily host children in your home on a temporary basis Be a Family Friend: Encourage and support host families and families in need Be a Resource Friend: Provide goods & services to families in need Be a Family Coach: Help families in need reach their goals and provide encouragement to host family. (Safe-Families.org safe-families.org, Michelle Montague, SFFC Connecticut, montague@safefamilies.net)

4 Jesus said, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. The Bible makes it clear that our Lord identifies himself in an inextricable way with the poor. Jesus told his disciples that when they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, provide shelter for the homeless, clothe the naked, nurse the sick, and visit the imprisoned, they are actually doing these things for him. There is no debate among Christians about whether we have an obligation to serve God. However, some Christians seem to show less conviction when it comes to our obligation to serve the poor. Scripture, however, eliminates any ambiguity. There are hurting and hungry people right around us. Have you thought lately about the provisions in your pantry, and those people who have none in theirs? Do you really want to be blessed? Try focusing on giving more than getting and especially focus on giving to those who have the least. One who lets slip by the opportunity to serve another misses one of the richest experiences life has to offer. Question: Have there been opportunities to serve others lately that you ve missed? Good news: God is gracious enough to forgive you and offer you more chances to serve! by John Grant On Monday June 4, Orthodox Christians will begin the Apostles Fast or the SS. Peter and Paul Fast To prepare for the feast on June 29. the Following article gives us some help as we enter the fast. It is also a time to make confession and review where we are in our life. Feast of the Holy Apostles, SS. Peter and Paul It is not always so often that we, in our comfortable North American way of living, reflect upon the kind of life that the Apostles lived. We really don t have the consciousness of what life was like for the Apostles. It is true that both the Apostles Peter and Paul sometimes lived in decent quarters, especially in their earlier years. But when it came to the time of the preaching of the Gospel, their witnessing for Christ, they were always living in other peoples houses as they travelled from place to place. That was especially the case with the Apostle Paul. He travelled almost everywhere in the Roman Empire for the sake of speaking about his love for the Lord Jesus Christ, trying to introduce people to Jesus Christ, trying to win them for the Kingdom of God. Both the Apostles, Peter and Paul, suffered misunderstanding and rejection, very often rejection, because people did not want to hear about this love of Jesus Christ. Often enough it was because Jesus Christ did not fit their expectations of the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. And so, they rejected Him. With this rejection, they rejected the Apostles as well. Both of the Apostles suffered a great deal because, as we hear Paul admit, he was shipwrecked many times. This means he was floating around in water, holding on to pieces of wood. Ships in those days were not like the ships these days, with fancy lifeboats. Just broken up pieces of wood was what kept the Apostle Paul from sinking into the Mediterranean. Many times the Apostle Paul was put in prison for the sake of his love of Jesus Christ. And as we hear time and again in the readings of the Epistles, he was beaten, sometimes very severely. Prison life in the Roman Empire days was not like it is now. There were no such things as carpets, beds and televisions. In the days of the Roman Empire there was straw, mess everywhere and often enough, chains holding the prisoner to the wall. And in the course of all of this, beatings and beatings and more beatings. These are the kinds of things that the Apostle Paul suffered for the sake of his love for Jesus Christ. You and I are not likely in Canada to face that kind of suffering, physical suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ, although once in a while it does happen. But we very much will experience with the Apostle Paul, rejection by people who are afraid of the love of Jesus Christ. We can be rejected because we are Orthodox Christians, because we carry the love of Jesus Christ in us and with us everywhere. Because we live and act out of love of Jesus Christ, people who do not understand it can reject us because of their fear of this love. It s funny that people are afraid of love, 4

5 but that is the case. People become very much afraid of this kind of selfless, serving love which is so characteristic of Christians, especially Orthodox Christians. It is that which people run away from. That does not stop you or me from loving the Lord Jesus Christ and it does not stop you or me from serving other people in the way of Jesus Christ. But we have to understand that the Lord said in more than one way and more than one time in the Gospel that if the world is rejecting Him Himself, it will reject you and me. So we have to expect this kind of rejection and carry on loving and praying for and serving people anyway. What happens is that in due course the Lord overcomes the fear of other people and the rejections of other people. When we persist and persevere in loving and serving them, the Lord breaks down the barriers of fear that imprison other people and in due course they are able to come with us to love and serve the Saviour. But it takes our remembering first of all that none of us is here on this earth to be served. Every one of us is here on this earth to serve. Jesus Christ washed the feet of the Apostles. The King of the Universe, Himself, is taking care of you and me down to the numbering of the hairs of our heads. If He is serving you and me in this way, who are we not to serve in the same way always? We are not greater than our Master. That is why it is very characteristic especially of Orthodox Christians that we are hospitable people. We welcome people as guests. We treat people who come to our home as Christ Himself. We are serving people: if they have needs, it is characteristic to look after them. Orthodox literature is full of stories about people who are doing exactly this thing, serving other people, caring for our people. We are being true to the path of our Saviour Jesus Christ when we are behaving like this. The Apostles Peter and Paul also are setting another very good example for us: they gave their lives completely to the Saviour. And so we should do the same. But also note, the Apostles Peter and Paul had some strong differences of opinion as to how to go about preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We can see in the writings of the Apostle Paul how strongly he disagreed with the Apostle Peter on some occasions. The fact of this disagreement does not mean that they were enemies because they disagreed. They had different opinions. The Lord prospered the multiplication and spread of the Gospel just because of these different opinions. These two very different men preached the Gospel in two different ways to different groups of people. They were suited to different evangelical tasks, and as a result of this, many more people were converted to the love of Jesus Christ than if they had gone about doing their preaching and serving in exactly the same way. They had disagreements, yes. The Apostle Paul had disagreements about how to go about things with the Apostle Barnabas and Mark, too. Still, that did not mean division. Even if there was disagreement, there was always among the Apostles, reconciliation and harmony. Differences, yes, but co-operative differences. To illustrate this, we have the death of the two Apostles Peter and Paul expressing their unity and their harmony in Jesus Christ in the same city, the Apostle Peter was crucified upside down as he wished, and the Apostle Paul was beheaded. This characterizes in a very visible way how the Lord Who is the giver of life gives so many gifts to His children, you and me; how He creates all of us uniquely and differently; and how He uses all these uniqueness, these differences, this variety of gifts to give life to this world, to heal the broken-hearted, to heal the sick, to re-unite the separated, to bring home the lost, to give life and light where there is darkness. The Lord uses all of these gifts in us for good, to His glory and for giving life. Let us ask the holy Apostles Peter and Paul to pray for us today that the Lord will give us strength to be faithful to Him until the end as they are, and to serve Him with all of our hearts that we may glorify our Saviour, enter with these Apostles into the Kingdom, and glorify with them this same Saviour Jesus Christ together with the Father, Who is everlasting, and His all-holy good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Retrieved from 5

6 First-enthroned of the apostles, teachers of the universe: Entreat the Master of all to grant peace to the world, and to our souls great mercy! +Troparion, Tone 4 6