Parish Bulletin – October 14, 2012

19TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

TONE 2

HOLY FATHERS OF THE 7TH ECUMENICAL COUNCIL

2 Corinthians 11:31-12:9
Luke 8:5-15

Choir Director: Veronika

Welcome

We welcome you to the Orthodox Church. Please feel at ease and free to participate in the singing. As a visitor you are welcome to come forward at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy and venerate the Cross offered by the priest. Additionally you may receive the blessed bread (Antidoron) that is offered at that time. If you have questions or would like further information, the priest or one of the members of the parish will be pleased to help.

A word to our visitors on Holy Communion

The Orthodox Church does not practice open Communion. Therefore, only members of Canonical Orthodox Churches exercising jurisdiction in America may approach the Chalice for Holy Communion. The Orthodox do not regard Holy Communion solely as an act of personal piety, but also as an expression of union with the Orthodox Church’s faith, doctrine, and discipline. Orthodox visitors wishing to receive Holy Communion should make their intention known to the priest in advance — ask any member of the parish for help in relaying your intention to the priest. Orthodox Christians should prepare themselves to receive the Sacrament of Holy Communion through recent Confession, prayers of preparation for Holy Communion, and fasting (at minimum, from midnight before receiving).

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” – I Corinthians 11:27

TROPARIA AND KONTAKIA

Troparion – Tone VIII

Most glorious art Thou, O Christ our God, Who hast established our fathers as luminaries upon the earth, and hast thereby guided us all to the true Faith! O greatly Compassionate One, glory be to Thee!

Kontakion – Tone VI

The Son Who ineffably shone forth from the Father hath been born in two natures of a woman, and beholding Him we do not disdain to depict the form thereof. But, tracing it piously, we honor it in faith. Wherefore, the Church, holding to the true Faith, doth venerate the icon of the incarnation of Christ.

Opportunities to give:

➢ Food donations to the Ashland Food Project

Announcements:

• Please sign up for coffee fellowship/kitchen cleanup.
• Ss. Peter & Paul Men’s Fellowship will take place on Tuesday, 6.00 pm at Seraphim’s house.
• No Adult Education Class this week.
• Choir practice on Saturday, 4.30 pm.
• Annual Parish Meeting will take place on November 11^th, with a pre-fasting “Thanksgiving meal.” (Nativity Fast starting November 14^th) Please sign up for making dishes!
• Thank you for your contribution to Tatsiana!

Service Schedule this Week:

Wednesday – 6.00 pm, Great Vespers

Thursday – 6.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy

Saturday – 6.00 pm, Great Vespers

Sunday – 8.40 am, Hours, Divine Liturgy

Confession after Vespers or by appointment!

Other Activities Next Week:

• Tuesday, 6.00 PM – Sts. Peter and Paul Men’s Fellowship
• Saturday, 4.30 PM – Choir practice

Bulletin Insert (OCA Department of Education):

On October 19 we remember the Prophet Joel, who lived in the southern kingdom of Judah.

We know little about this prophet, except that he was the son of Pethuel, as the first verse of his book tells us. Scholars are even divided on the time in which he lived and wrote, though it was sometime during the 8th to 6th centuries BC.

Joel begins his prophecy by describing something that actually occurred—an invasion by hordes of locusts which overran the land. He writes: “What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten” (1:4).

Joel describes these invaders as charging warriors who march without swerving from their paths or jostling each other. They “leap upon the city, they run upon the walls, they climb up into the houses, they enter through the windows like a thief” (2: 7-10a).

The effects of this attack are devastating. Writing in the first person, Joel describes the locusts as a “nation” that has come up against “my land” and with its fangs like those of a lioness it has “laid waste my vines, and splintered my fig trees; it has stripped off their bark and thrown it down; their branches are made white” (1: 7).

Joel views this frightening, destructive event as a judgment from God. As one who must speak God’s word to the people, the prophet can only sorrowfully call on them to repent. He extends his call to the entire community, including the priests and “ministers of the Lord.” He emphasizes that all must repent because all are being harmed, including the animals: “How the beasts groan! The herds of cattle are perplexed because there is no pasture for them; even the flocks of sheep are dismayed” (1: 18).

But like other prophets, Joel also has hopeful and loving words to impart to the people. He records the Lord’s promise that they can return to their God with fasting, mourning and weeping, rending their hearts rather than their garments. In the familiar words of Psalm 86, he reminds them that the Lord is “gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.”

On the day of Pentecost, Peter quotes Joel’s prophecy that God will restore the land and that He will “pour out My spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even upon the menservants and maidservants in those days I will pour out my spirit” (2: 28c-29).

This prophecy is notable in that it includes both women and men as those who will prophesy. Peter alters it in one way, however. He says that it will take place “in the last days” (Acts 2: 17). It has, on Pentecost, become a message not only for the Jews of Joel’s time, but for all those who follow Christ and await the true “day of the Lord.”