The Orthodox Messenger

Vol. III, No. 35 – Sunday, September 5, 2004

Ecumenical Patriarchate + Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America + Metropolis of Atlanta

13460 Olympic Village Lane, Brooksville, FL -  (352) 796-8482

Website: http://orthodoxhernandocountyfl.org

RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION FREQUENTLY

   Holy Communion is the sacramental Body and Blood of Christ and the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is the sign of the Christian's actual membership in the Church. Christians in the early Church received Holy Communion regularly and frequently.

   Nevertheless, the Bible and Church rules may prohibit an Orthodox Christian from receiving Holy Communion. This happens when some kind of conflict between us and the Sacramental presence of Christ occurs. St. Paul, says, "Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:27). And he adds, "For any one who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29). But what exactly did this mean?

   The Church clarified this teaching. On the one hand, Communion is a gift of Christ to us, not something we can demand as a right.  Thus, we are all "unworthy."  Yet, we are called to receive Holy Communion at every Divine Liturgy! The Priest says to the whole congregation, "With the fear of God, with faith and with love, draw near.” So, receiving Holy Communion regularly is the standard. Communion is "for the forgiveness of sins."

   Nevertheless there are sins that are severe enough to make us “unworthy” of receiving Holy Communion until we repent and confess them. Such sins are the denial of the Faith (Apostasy) or the acceptance of false-teachings regarding the Faith (Heresy), or separation from the body of the Church (Schism). Serious moral sins should be confessed and forgiven before approaching the Chalice. When Orthodox Christians do not marry in the Orthodox Church, they "self-excommunicate" themselves until they are Sacramentally married in the Church. Under the normal circumstances we pray together for forgiveness before Holy Communion at our Christ the Savior Church. Confessing our sins, we prepare ourselves to “worthily” receive the Holy Sacrament.

   So, we should receive Holy Communion as frequently as possible, for it is a tremendous privilege given to us by the Lord, so that we can be in constant communion with Him, and His Church, by receiving His Body and Blood.

          Service hours: Sundays and Feast days: Orthros at 9:30 am; Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am.

14^th SUNDAY OF MATTHEW

Dismissal Hymn of the Resurrection - Plagal 1st  Tone

   (Sing in Greek before the Entrance) "Ton synanarchon logon "  Hymnal, 85-86.

   (Sing in English after the Entrance) "The Eternal Word" (Same).

Dismissal Hymn of Zacharias

    (Read) As a priest / according to the Law of God / you offered up whole-burnt offerings / and they were most acceptable to Him, / dressed in the vestments of the priesthood, / O Zacharias. / And you became a light, / and you beheld mysteries; / and clearly you displayed / the signs and symbols of grace / within yourself. / And you were assassinated with a sword / in the temple of God. / O all-wise Prophet of Christ, / with the Forerunner, / intercede that our souls be saved.

Dismissal Hymn of the Presentation of Christ - (Sing) From the sheet in the pew.

   (Text): “Hail, O Mother of God, Virgin full of Grace. Through you did arise the Sun of righteousness, Christ our God, enlightening those in darkness. And you made glad righteous Elder Simeon, receiving and embracing the liberation of our souls; also giving to us the resurrection.”

Kontakion of the Nativity of the Theotokos

   (Read) By your holy birth-giving, O pure one, / Joachim and Anne were delivered / from the reproach of barrenness; / and Adam and Eve were delivered / from the corruption of death; / Your people do celebrate it, / have been saved from the stain of iniquity, / crying to you, / The barren gives birth to the Theotokos, / who nourishes our life.

Return to a page 26 for “Holy God”and for the Epistle and Gospel Readings

   EPISTLE – 2 Corinthians 1:21-2:4 (14^th Matthew) +  Brethren, it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; he has put his seal upon us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee. But I call God to witness against me. It was to spare you that I refrained from coming to Corinth. Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, for you stand firm in your faith. For I made up my mind not to make you another painful visit. For if I cause you pain, who is there to make me glad but the one whom I have pained? And I wrote as I did, so that when I came I might not suffer pain from those who should have made me rejoice, for I felt sure of all of you, that my joy would be the joy of you all. For I wrote you out of much affliction and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to cause you pain but to let you know the abundant love that I have for you.

   GOSPEL – Matthew 22:2-14 (14^th Matthew) + The Lord said this parable, "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a marriage feast for his son, and sent his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast; but they would not come. Again he sent other servants, saying, 'Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have made ready my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves are killed, and everything is ready; come to the marriage feast.' But they made light of it and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them. The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the thoroughfares, and invite to the marriage feast as many as you find.' And those servants went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good; so the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment; and he said to him, 'Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?' And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, 'Bind him hand and foot, and cast him into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.' For many are called, but few are chosen."
 

Letter of Patriarch Barthomew of Constantinople The Feast of the Indictus - September 1- The New Church Year “On the Protection of the Environment”

Beloved Brothers and Children in the Lord,
     Fifteen years ago, our venerable predecessor, the late Patriarch Demetrios issued the first official decree for the preservation of the natural environment, an encyclical letter to the pleroma of the Church, formally establishing September 1st as a day of prayer for the protection of the environment. That historical proclamation emphasized the significance of the eucharistic and the ascetic ethos  of our  tradition, which  provide a  corrective  for a  consumer  lifestyle and an alternative to the prevailing philosophy of our age.

     The Church Fathers have always insisted on the critical importance of self-examination as a pre-condition for spiritual growth. Echoing the classical oracle of Delphi, Clement of Alexandria exhorts: "Know yourself! If you know yourself, you will know all things." Evagrius of Pontus states: "He who knows himself knows God." And Isaac the Syrian claims: "To know oneself is to know one's failures, which leads to the resurrection of the dead." Therefore, let us consider what we have learned as a Church over the last fifteen years. What knowledge have we gained? What

failures have we experienced? And what direction should we now assume?

     In the five summer seminars that were held annually from 1994-1998 at the Theological School on the Island of Halki, we learned about the close connections between environmental issues and education, ethics, communication, justice, and poverty. And in the five international symposia held biannually from 1995 to date, we have explored the impact of our wasteful lifestyle on the waters of the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Danube River, the Adriatic Sea, and the Baltic Sea. Together with theologians, scientists, politicians and journalists, we recognized in a tangible manner the responsibility that we all bear - before one another, before our world, and before our God - for the destruction of our world's natural beauty,  for the depletion of the earth's resources, and for the devastation of our planet's diversity.

     More especially, we have appreciated how the preservation of the natural environment is intimately related to the cessation of warfare, to the restoration of social justice and to the management of world poverty. We have learned how the way that we treat human beings is directly reflected in the way that we relate to the natural environment, as well as to the worship that we exclusively reserve for God. It should come as no surprise to us that we are able to misuse the natural and material creation when we are able to abuse our fellow-human beings. The Mother Church has been at the forefront of significant gatherings and agreements of world peace and welfare, of economic and social reform, of human rights and religious tolerance.
     None should doubt that our Orthodox Church has a great deal to contribute to the contemporary debate concerning ecology. We are able to draw upon the depth and wealth of our Scriptural and Patristic heritage in order to contribute positively and constructively to the critical issues of our time.  Where,  however,  as Orthodox  Christians we  reveal  the  greatest  vulnerability  is in  the practice of our theory.
    It is always the easier approach to lay blame on Western development and technological progress for the ills that we confront in our world. And it is always a temptation to believe that we hold the solution to problems that we all face today or else to ignore the imminent danger that we face globally. What is more difficult - and yet at the same time more noble – is to discern the degree to which we constitute part of the problem itself. Just how many of us examine the foods that we consume, the goods that we purchase, the energy that we waste, or the consequences of our privileged living? How often do we take the time to scrutinize the choices that we make on a daily basis, whether as individuals, as institutions,  as parishes, as communities, as societies, and even as nations?
    More importantly, just how many of our Orthodox clergy are prepared to assume leadership on issues concerning  the environment?   How many of our  Orthodox  parishes and communities are prepared  to materialize the knowledge that  we have  accumulated in  recent years  by   practicing ecologically-sensitive  principles in their  own communities?    How do the  decisions of any local community and parish reflect on a practical and tangible level the experience that we have gained on a theoretical level?
        In an age when the information is readily available to us, there is surely no excuse for ignorance or indifference. To overlook is to shut our eyes to a reality that is ever-present and ever-increasing. Former generations and cultures may have been unaware of the implications of their actions. Nevertheless, today, more perhaps than any other time or age, we are in a unique position. Today, we stand at a crossroads, namely at a point of choosing the cross that we have to bear. For, today,  we know  fully well  the ecological  and  global  impact  of  our  decisions  and  actions,  irrespective of how minimal or insignificant these may be.
     It is our sincere hope and fervent prayer that in the years ahead, more and more of our Orthodox faithful will recognize the importance of a crusade for our environment, which we have so selfishly ignored.    This vision,  we are  convinced,  will  only  benefit   future generation  by  leaving  behind  a cleaner, better world. We owe it to our Creator. And we owe it to our children.
     May we be  strengthened  by  God to  make the  right  decisions  and may t he grace  and infinite mercy of our Lord and God Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

   FOR THE RECORD: :  August 29, 2004: Attendance-39; Offering-$75; Candles-$31; Hospitality-$52; Pave It!-$75. Thank you!

   SEPTEMBER BIRTHDAY AND ANNIVERSARY BLESSINGS will be offered today after Divine Liturgy. We pray “Many Years!”

   SYMPATHY: We extend deepest sympathy to Stewards George and Marian Maniates upon the death at age 90 of Marian’s father Edwin Ford this past week. May God grant comfort to the family. Kaye, his widow, and the family request memorial donations for our Christ the Savior Church or to Hernando/Pasco Hospice. May his memory be eternal!

  DINNER CRUISE: The Homosassa Dinner/Cruise was a beautiful and enjoyable success! Twenty four people in our group enjoyed the hour or so trip on the river and we had our choice of three tasty meals in a sun-drenched dining room facing the water on three sides. A cake was offered as dessert, honoring Fr. & Presbytera Harakas’ 49^th Wedding Anniversary. Thanks to Betty Roussos who organized this beautiful event.

  CONGRATULATIONS! Achilles & Evangelia Thomas became the proud parents on Sunday, August 29, 2004 of Evangelos Curtis Thomas at Spring Hill Regional. Congratulations to Grand-parents Curt & Emily Thomas and Great-Grand-parents Achilleas & Filio Koulovaris of our church. We pray “Many Years!”

   FUTURE CHURCH PREPARATION: Our Mission Council is looking into obtaining an iconostasis for the renovation of the Fellowship Hall. Bill, Ruby and Demeti Hazivasilis are going to build the “bema” or platform for the altar area. Please contact Paul Cosmadelis or George Nikas to help in other projects. Thanks!

   FR. STANLEY & PRESBYTERA EMILY thank Fr. Gerasimos Murphy for his Anniversary blessings, this past Sunday after Liturgy, and the membership for the 49th Wedding Anniversary Cake at the Coffee Hour. We thank you all for your kind prayers.

   HOSPTALIZED: Tampa General: Presbytera Mary Liadis. Rapid Recovery!

   PUBLIC RELATIONS: We are happy to announce that Elaine Underwood has become our Public Relations Chairperson. If you have newspaper and other media notices for parish events, work with Elaine who will coordinate all Mission P.R. efforts. Contact her at: 597-9544 or elainedunderwood@bellsouth.net.

   PROSFORON BAKERS: Fran Triantafilon 9/5; George Nikas 9/12; Connie Mourgides 9/14 (Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross). Gloria Vardakis 9/19; Presbytera Emily Harakas 9/26; Argyris & Carol Gymnaos 10/3; Patricia Lilore 10/10; Fran Mather 10/17; Many thanks to all for this special ministry of service.

Come to Church On Sunday!

 

CHRIST THE SAVIOR

GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

P.O. BOX 5566

SPRING HILL, FL 34611

“A Pan-Orthodox Christian Community”

         

                                  I Say  “ PAVE IT!”

 FUND DRIVE

 

    Cost:                         $7,618

     08/22/04 Donated:   $4,827

     Still Needed:     $2,791

 

Send Your Contribution Today!

 

 

   

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Ecumenical Patriarchate + Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America + Diocese of Atlanta