St. John the Baptist Orthodox Church Sunday February 4, 2018 Sunday of the Prodigal Son Apostle Timothy; Anastasius of Persia Sunday, February 4 9:00AM Divine Liturgy Epistle: Jenna Greenhill 10:30AM Church School Coffee: Karaffa Family Monday, February 5 7:00PM Choir Rehearsal Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Tuesday, February 6 12:00PM St. John's Seniors Friday, February 9 7:00PM R Club Meeting Saturday, February 10 9:00AM Soul Saturday Sunday, February 11 9:00AM Divine Liturgy Epistle: Greg Morrison + Suchyak (2nd Sunday) Annual Meeting 10:30AM Church School Rescue Mission Gospel: Luke 15:11-32 Weekly Schedule of Services/Events Service Schedule Divine Liturgy 9am Weekday Eve Service 7pm General Information www.stjohnsmillhill.com Street Address: 384 Mill Hill Ave., Bridgeport, CT 06610 Mailing Address 40 Beaver Dam Road Stratford, CT 06614 Contact Information Fr. David Cochran H: 203-385-1020 C: 203-339-1913 pauldcochran@gmail.com Carol Feduik, President carolcfeduik@yahoo.com John Galpin, Choir Dir. choir@stjohnsmillhill.com Peter Adzima, Editor newsletter@snet.net Diocesan Online Resources Diocesan Website: http:// www.acrod.org Camp Nazareth: http:// www.campnazareth.org Facebook: https:// www.facebook.com/ acroddiocese Twitter: https://twitter.com/ acrodnews You Tube: https:// youtube.com/ acroddiocese
Weekly Announcements ANNUAL CHURCH MEETING: This is the second of three announcements for the upcoming annual meeting of our Church. It will take place on February 11, following Divine Liturgy. All members in good standing are encouraged to attend. FEBRUARY FOOD BANK: Will take place on February 25. Please be as generous as possible. Thank you. PRESENTATION: St. Dimitrie in Easton is offering a presentation by Dr. Albert Rossi of St. Vladimir s Seminary entitles Keeping the Faith in Turbulent Time on February 10. It begins with a light luncheon at Noon and the presentation at 12:30. DIOCESAN LENTEN RETREAT: The Diocese is holding its annual Eastern Lenten Retreat on Saturday, March 24th, from 9am to 6:30 at St. Francis Center for Renewal in Bethlehem, PA. Please see flyer for info and the Church office for registration forms. DONATION CORRECTIONS: Please note the following corrections to the donation page last week: Two hearts lit November 26, 2017 in memory of Parents Marge & Harry Peterson and Mary & William Dakun from Tom & Mary Ann Peterson. Two hearts and two crosses lit November 7 in memory of Peter Chip Molnar from parents, Peter and Joan Molnar Scripture Readings for Sunday Epistle Reading The reading is from St. Paul's Second Letter to 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Brethren, "all things are lawful for me," but not all things are helpful. "All things are lawful for me," but I will not be enslaved by anything. "Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food" -- and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I therefore take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! Do you not know that he who joins himself to a prostitute becomes one body with her? For, as it is written, "The two shall become one flesh." But he who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun immorality. Every other sin which a man commits is outside the body; but the immoral man sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body and in your spirit which belong to God.
Gospel Reading The Reading is from Luke 18:10-14 The Lord said this parable: "There was a man who had two sons; and the younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that falls to me.' And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in loose living. And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his belly with the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.' And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his servants, 'Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.' And they began to make merry. Now his elder son was in the field; and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what this meant. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has received him safe and sound.' But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, 'Lo, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command; yet you never gave me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you killed for him the fatted calf!' And he said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to make merry and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.'"
The Sunday of the Prodigal Son Through the parable of today's Gospel, our Savior has set forth three things for us: the condition of the sinner, the rule of repentance, and the greatness of God's compassion. The divine Fathers have put this reading the week after the parable of the Publican and Pharisee so that, seeing in the person of the Prodigal Son our own wretched condition -- inasmuch as we are sunken in sin, far from God and His Mysteries -- we might at last come to our senses and make haste to return to Him by repentance during these holy days of the Fast. Furthermore, those who have wrought many great iniquities, and have persisted in them for a long time, oftentimes fall into despair, thinking that there can no longer be any forgiveness for them; and so being without hope, they fall every day into the same and even worse iniquities. Therefore, the divine Fathers, that they might root out the passion of despair from the hearts of such people, and rouse them to the deeds of virtue, have set the present parable at the forecourts of the Fast, to show them the surpassing goodness of God's compassion, and to teach them that there is no sin -- no matter how great it may be -- that can overcome at any time His love for man. From the Church Fathers... But if he had despaired of his life, and,... had remained in the foreign land, he would not have obtained what he did obtain, but would have been consumed with hunger, and so have undergone the most pitiable death St. John Chrysostom AN EXHORTATION TO THEODORE AFTER HIS FALL, 4th Century Saint of the Day - The Apostle Timothy The Apostle Timothy, who was from Lystra of Lycaonia, was born of a Greek (that is, pagan) father and a Jewish mother. His mother's name was Eunice, and his grandmother's name was Lois (II Tim. 1:5). He became the disciple of the Apostle Paul when the latter first preached there, and he followed St. Paul during the whole period of the Apostle's preaching. Afterwards, Timothy was consecrated by him as first Bishop of the church in Ephesus. Under the supervision of John the Evangelist, who governed all the churches in Asia, he completed his life as a martyr in the year 97. He was stoned to death by the heathens, because, as some surmise, he opposed the festival held in honor of Artemis (Diana). The Apostle Paul's First and Second Epistles to Timothy were written to him.
From the Choir Loft... Every year on Christmas Day, January 7 th, and sometimes a day or two following, members of St. John s Choir and sometimes altar boys, Christmas carol at the homes of parishioners and clergy that request us. We also carol at local convalescent homes for our parishioners. The carolers volunteer to do this and they love doing it year after year. We sing our traditional carols in English and Slavonic ad sometimes American carols t patients. It is such a rewarding experience for both them and us! God works in mysterious easy. We were at Lord Chamberlain and while getting the room number for Ed Lovanio, the receptionist was hinting for us to carol for her, so of course we did. While we were singing, a young woman was listening. After we sang a few carols, she asked if we would sing for her aunt. I asked the young woman what Church does her aunt belong to and she said St. John s on Mill Hill Ave. in Bridgeport. I asked who her aunt was and she said Pauline Nosal. I told her Pauline was my Sunday School teacher when I was around 11, so of course we caroled for Pauline. He niece cried because she was touched that our members still kept this wonderful tradition of Christmas caroling and Pauline was very happy too. Pauline s niece is also Orthodox. Our Church is one of the few Churches that still maintain this blessed and wonderful tradition, thanks to our dedicated carolers. Thank you, St. John s carolers, for keeping this tradition alive and making so many people happy for so many years. If you would like the carolers to come to your home or carol for a loved one, please leave a note in the Church office for Christmas 2019. If you like, we could try something new and do some Easter caroling this year. Thank you John Galpin
On Stewardship - Part 69 Acceptable Offering Part 2 Moses said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, This is the thing which the LORD has commanded. Take from among you an offering to the LORD; whoever is of a generous heart, let him bring the Lord's offering (Exodus 35: 4-5) God had commanded Moses to build a tabernacle (tent-church) in the wilderness for Him. God had laid out all the plans: the size, the contents, everything the tabernacle would need. He laid out the plan and called on Moses to simply get it done. The plan of Moses in the wilderness to raise what was needed to build the tabernacle was highly successful. There was no pressure put on the people of Israel. Moses made no grand banquet. He did not invite to people to a dance or a festival or any other kind of pleasurable event. Nor did Moses use a lottery or raffle to obtain the means he needed to accomplish God s plan. Very simply, God commanded Moses to tell the people to bring offerings. Moses was to accept every gift brought to him willingly from the heart. These freewill offerings came in such an abundance, Moses had to put a stop to it: They still kept bringing him freewill offerings every morning, so that all the able men who were doing every sort of task on the sanctuary came, each from the task that he was doing, and said to Moses, The people bring much more than enough for doing the work which the Lord has commanded us to do. So Moses gave command, and word was proclaimed throughout the camp, Let neither man nor woman do anything more for the offering for the sanctuary. So the people were restrained from bringing; for the stuff they had was sufficient to do all the work, and more (Exodus 36:4-7 RSV). In fact, the amount of offering that came in far exceeded the need. Here are people who have fled from their homes in Egypt. They own only what they can carry or have carried for them by their animals. They are years wandering in the desert. But when the call came to make their offering to God and His place of worship, the offerings came in far in abundance. We find no mention in Scripture or the traditions of Holy Church that anything other than freewill offerings made from the heart and for the direct need of the church and with no promise of return are acceptable to God. Our personal culture today is a culture of self-centeredness and pleasure. Our society s culture is one of entertainment, monetary gain, and what s in it for me? Devising all sorts of means to fund our churches that are not based on the love for God and for all God has done for us push the limits of acceptability. (To be continued) This weekly series of brief thoughts on stewardship and Orthodox life is brought to you by your Diocesan Stewardship Commission.