Parish Bulletin – October 7, 2012

18TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

TONE 1

MARTYRS SERGIUS AND BACCHUS IN SYRIA

2 Corinthians 9:6-11
Luke 7:11-16

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 V

O much-suffering Sergius and all-glorious Bacchus, ye adornment of Christian athletes and eye of Christ’s Church, enlighten the eyes of our souls. Entreat the Lord, that we may escape the darkness of sin and may be shown to share in the never-waning light, through your supplications, O saints.

Kontakion – Tone II

Manfully arming your mind against the enemy, O most lauded martyrs, ye destroyed all their falsehood, receiving the trophy of victory from on high, and crying out with oneness of mind: How good and joyous it is to be with God!

Opportunities to give:

➢ Food donations to the Ashland Food Project

➢ Please consider giving a donation toward the legal process of Tatsiana seeking asylum as a refugee in the US. She is in need of our support and prayer.

Announcements:

• Please sign up for coffee fellowship/kitchen cleanup.
• Adult Education Class Wednesday, following Vespers. Please try to come to Confession before Vespers if possible.
• Choir practice on Saturday, 4.30 pm. Notice the new time!
• Ss. Mary and Martha Fellowship on Thursday, 7.00 pm.
• No Ss. Peter and Paul Fellowship this week.  New time for Men’s Fellowship.
• Books for men’s and women’s group available. Talk to Stavroula or Fr. Andreas to purchase a copy.
• Annual Parish Meeting will take place on November 11^th, with a pre-fasting “Thanksgiving meal.” (Nativity Fast starting November 14^th)

Service Schedule this Week:

Wednesday – 6.00 pm, 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:

• Wednesday, 5.00 PM – Confession
• Wednesday, following Vespers – Adult Education Class
• Thursday, 7.00 PM – Mary and Martha Women’s Fellowship
• Saturday, 4.30 PM – Choir practice

Bulletin Insert (OCA Department of Education):

On October 8 we read Luke 7: 36-50, a well-known story that the Gospel writer Luke may partially have borrowed from a similar one in Mark’s Gospel.

These verses first tell us that Jesus has come as a dinner guest to the home of a Pharisee named Simon. We know from the accounts of His visits with friends Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and His attendance at the wedding in Cana, that Jesus enjoyed social occasions. Luke is describing here another time when Jesus socializes.

But the invitation is odd—the host, we will learn in the following verses, has neglected some of the attentions usually accorded an honored guest, such as having a servant wash the guest’s feet, offering a hospitable kiss, and anointing the guest’s head with oil. Has the Pharisee invited Jesus with the intention of figuring Him out, rather than courteously offering Him a pleasant meal?

This dinner was apparently a somewhat public event, and the house in which it took place was quite open. A prostitute with an alabaster jar of oil, intending to anoint Jesus, gets in easily. She may have planned to anoint Jesus’ hair, but then becomes too self-conscious to do something so familiar with Him, so she begins to anoint and kiss His feet.

Jesus accepts her gesture as an appropriate one, but Simon does not: “When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw it, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.’ “

What Simon doesn’t realize is that Jesus knows exactly who and what sort she is. This is why Jesus asks him, “Do you see this woman?” Jesus is aware of what Simon has been thinking, and He also understands that the Pharisee believes he knows the woman, when in fact all he knows is “what sort” she is. Jesus is the One who knows her as a person and loves her.

Jesus tells Simon a story about a creditor who forgives two debtors, one who owes a large debt and one whose debt is small. He asks Simon which of the two will love the creditor more, and Simon replies that he “supposes” it will be the one who has been forgiven more.

Jesus compares the woman to that debtor, because she had many sins which have been forgiven. She knows what it means to be forgiven; that is why she is showing such signs of deep, humble love to her Lord, the forgiving One.

What about the Pharisee? Jesus implies that Simon doesn’t know how sinful he is and how much he, too, needs God’s forgiveness. The danger is that he thinks he knows, believing he has far fewer sins than the woman and doesn’t need much in the way of forgiveness.

How much do we know? How much do we only think we know? It’s still a good question.