Holy Ascension of Christ

December 2023

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Wishing you all a spiritually edifying end to the Advent Fast and a Blessed Feast of The Nativity according to the flesh of our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ!

Sermon from Fr. Nicholas

Sermon for December 10th, 2017

27th Sunday After Pentecost
St. James the Persian

Gospel: Luke 13:10-17(§71)

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

As we study the Scriptures, it soon becomes evident to us that Christ is continuously telling us the same thing: Love God with everything you have and love your neighbor as you love yourself. It is actually, very simple, and yet we can’t grasp it. Our fallen nature wants to be united to its master: the fallen world, and ultimately the devil. Every day from the time we wake up to the time we drift off to sleep we spend the lion’s share serving the world. To serve the world is unquestioned and virtually automatic; to serve God oftentimes needs to be scheduled and frequently it does not seem to fit nicely into the rest of our day. It’s difficult & the temptation is to complain. To be a true follower of Christ is to constantly fight against a vicious current, but to be of the world is to live in the illusion of comfort.

Today’ s Gospel reading presents a contrast between Truth and worldliness masquerading as truth. Our Lord is teaching in a synagogue on the Sabbath when a woman who has been hunched over for eighteen years walks up. When Jesus sees her he calls out and says, “Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity.” Then he lays hands on her and immediately she stands up straight and glorifies God.

Although God is glorified in every miracle, it is at this point that the true lesson of this Gospel reading starts, for it says the ruler of the synagogue answers with indignation and says to the people, “There are six days in which men ought to work: in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the sabbath day.”

It may seem like a contradiction but when the ruler of the synagogue is urging an apparent strict observance of the Sabbath, it is in the spirit of the world. Blessed Augustine says that whereas the woman had been physically hunched over so that she was looking at the ground, those who rule the synagogue are spiritually hunched over, again with their eyes on the ground, that is this world. He writes, “Since they quite failed to understand the very things God had commanded, they regarded them with earthbound hearts. They used to celebrate the sacrament of the Sabbath in a literal, material manner and did not notice its spiritual meaning.”1

My brothers and sisters what is easy is to put the rules on a pedestal. It is much easier than thinking and depending on God when we make the rules king and master. It is equally easy to ignore the rules – since we become God. But it is exceedingly difficult, and yet at the same time quite simple to make God God. God in fact told us who He is in a term which is easily grasped by us as long as we are working with the right definition. *God is love*. And, to be sure, love is sacrifice. Love is placing one’s self second to the object of one’s love which should first be God and then one’s neighbor.

When Christ hears the ruler of the synagogue, He replies, “Hypocrite! Does not each one of you on the Sabbath loose his ox or donkey from the stall, and lead itaway to water?” His adversaries were put to shame; and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by Him.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we also need to be careful about Phariseeism, that is rule-worship, because by this love dies. As demonstrated by the ruler of the synagogue, the rigidity is usually directed at others more than at ourselves. While we must certainly avoid anything that we feel would be spiritually harmful, let us also flee every temptation to apply the laws of the Church in making personal judgments on who is and who is not saved. God forbid that we as individuals should ever presume to be able to sit on the throne of God and make such judgments. Every teaching from our Lord was based on mercy and love. Never did He say, “Verily I say unto you let your judgments be harsher and your application of the Law stricter.” No, He said love and forgive one another. And even if we err, let us err on the side of love and forgiveness for these are of God.

Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us. Amen.

Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple

Christ is born, give ye glory. /

Christ cometh from heavens, /

Meet ye Him./

Christ is on earth, be ye exalted. /

Hymn the Lord all the earth, /

and chant to Him with gladness, O ye people, //

for He is glorified.

Katavasia of Nativity, Ode 1

Making of a Catechumen

Please pray for our new Catechumen, James (Jacob). We pray the Lord will guide and protect him on his journey to Christ's Holy Orthodox Church.

Friday Night Catechism Classes

Each Friday, our parish offers a beautiful Vespers service, chanted by our young men, and a catechism class to any and all who wish to attend. Below are some photos from earlier this month.

Our Newest Choir Member!

From the Parish Council

Glory to God for all things!

Thank you to all who do service work for our parish and church community! Your time and effort are great appreciated. May the Lord bless!

If you are interested in helping with projects and chores (large or small), please reach out to our church warden, Sasha Soubotin (el_cawa@hotmail.com), or our head sisters,, Vicky Selznick (vmselz@icloud.com), and Stephanie Rindell (srindell@yahoo.com).