Bulletin Inserts
Sunday to Sunday with the DCE
Saint John Chrysostom and Frozen River Current Edition
On Friday of this week we remember Saint John Chrysostom, who urged Christians to treat the poor as brothers and sisters who not only need but are entitled to their love and care. He would certainly be appalled at seeing people sleeping on cardboard on the sidewalks of our cities.
Upcoming
The Apostle and Evangelist Matthew
If someone were to compose a list of people whose jobs made them unpopular, the local tax collector would probably be high on the list. If the tax collector was someone who gathered revenue from his own people for the oppressive foreign government that had given him his job, his name would rise higher. If everyone assumed that this particular tax collector, like all of them, stole and kept some of the tax money, his name would shoot up to the top.
Archives
Saint and Patriarch Paul the Confessor
On Friday of this week we remember a fourth-century Patriarch of Constantinople, Paul the Confessor. He was never to have a peaceful time as Patriarch, having been marked as an enemy by powerful people--those who followed the Arian heresy.
Paul and his beloved Philippians
On Monday of this week we read the final verses of Saint Paul's letter to the Christians of Philippi (4: 10-23). Paul felt special affection for these people, whose church was the first he established in Europe, and who generously supported his ministry. He wrote the letter while awaiting trial in a Roman prison, yet joy and gratitude shine through his words.
Saint Hilarion the Great
On Wednesday of this week we remember a saint who began life possessing many of the delights the world can offer, and willingly gave them all up. He is Saint Hilarion, who became one of the foremost ascetics of Palestine.
Paul and his beloved Philippians
On Monday of this week we read the final verses of Saint Paul's letter to the Christians of Philippi (4: 10-23). Paul felt special affection for these people, whose church was the first he established in Europe, and who generously supported his ministry. He wrote the letter while awaiting trial in a Roman prison, yet joy and gratitude shine through his words.
Paul and his beloved Philippians
On Monday of this week we read the final verses of Saint Paul's letter to the Christians of Philippi (4: 10-23). Paul felt special affection for these people, whose church was the first he established in Europe, and who generously supported his ministry. He wrote the letter while awaiting trial in a Roman prison, yet joy and gratitude shine through his words.
Longinus the Centurion
On Friday of this week we remember the martyred saint Longinus the Centurion, who stood at the foot of the cross and pierced the side of Our Lord with a spear. He was moved, as he stood there, to make a powerful confession of faith. He declared, "Truly this man was the Son of God!"
SHALL WE LOOK FOR ANOTHER?
Disciples of John the Baptist approached Jesus one day with this question from John: "Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?"
Mothers of Saints
On Monday of this week, we remember a saint who lived in the 14th century but who was glorified very recently, in 1992. She is Maria, the mother of Saint Sergius of Radonezh.
Jesus Goes Home to Teach
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week, we read the account of Jesus preaching in His hometown, at the synagogue in Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30.)
Exalting the Cross
The readings for the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross on Monday of this week give us many insights into the meaning of the cross.
To Hear the Word and Keep It
On Tuesday of this week we celebrate the Nativity of the Theotokos, and we read one of Jesus Christ's most meaningful statements about who His true followers are.
Simeon the Stylite
Some years ago, the Chilean writer Isabel Allende included, in one of her books, a reference to the pillar-dwelling saints known as stylites. She described them as squandering their lives, never speaking, and sitting always in the same position, unbathed and covered with sores. She added that credulous believers admired this "spectacle" which "supposedly" pleased God.
Choosing Martyrdom
On Wednesday of this week we remember Saints Adrian and Natalia, a young married couple living in Nicomedia, part of the Roman Empire, in the early fourth century. Natalia was a Christian; her husband was not.
Two Icons Full of Love
The icon of the Dormition of the Theotokos, celebrated yesterday, shows the Mother of God lying on her deathbed. Jesus Christ, surrounded by angels, tenderly holds her luminous soul which in His glory He has taken to Himself. Her face is serene, and she is surrounded by the apostles.
The Memorable Words of Micah
This Friday we remember the prophet Micah, who was a younger contemporary of Isaiah but came from a very different background. While Isaiah was an aristocrat, Micah was a working-class man, and it shows in his writing.
WAIT ON THE LORD
Some popular stand-up comedians have recently taken to upbraiding the God of the Old Testament. He is, they complain in their routines, ruthless. He is unpredictable. He is—especially in the case of Moses--distinctly unfair. One comic recently declared, as he strode across the stage with his microphone and cigarette, that it wasn't right that Moses should be kept from entering the Promised Land. After all, he had done many good and courageous things for God.
Different Centuries and Continents but the Same Goal
This week the church celebrates two saints with different life circumstances but a shared determination to serve God's people in a particular way. On Sunday we remember Saint Jacob, Enlightener of the Alaskan Peoples. Saint Clement of Ochrid is remembered on Monday. A thousand years earlier, he helped people in Eastern Europe understand their faith by doing some of the same things Saint Jacob would do in North America in the nineteenth century.
If the Lord is God, Follow Him
On Monday of this week we remember the Holy Prophet Elijah. He appears, with no introduction, at the beginning of the seventeenth chapter of First Kings (3 Kingdoms in the Orthodox Study Bible.) We see that Elijah certainly is a prophet by the way he speaks God's word, but we also see that he is both the beneficiary and the performer of miracles.
The Outer Signs are Only to Remind Us of the Inner Things
The words in this article's title were written by the Nun Martyr Grand Duchess Elizabeth. On Saturday of this week we remember her martyrdom and that of her companion, Nun Barbara.
St. Euphemia Gives the Answer
When 630 church leaders gathered at the Council of Chalcedon in the year 451, their meeting place was the cathedral dedicated to Saint Euphemia. When they struggled unsuccessfully to resolve a very serious disagreement they turned to her, in a surprising way, for the solution.
The Icon of the Three Hands
Today we remember this famous icon painted by Saint John of Damascus in thanks to the Theotokos for a miraculous healing.
Giving Your Life for Another
Jesus' words in John 15:13 have been acted on in different ways by different people. He said, "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his for his friend." Some have lived out these words in self-sacrificing service to others. Some have actually given their own lives so that the lives of others might be spared.
The Generous and the Greedy
The Old Testament prophet Elisha, commemorated today, ministered to many people - some generous and unselfish, others greedy and grasping. Their stories are sometimes strikingly similar to those of people we encounter in the New Testament.
The Trinity is not in THE SHACK
Pentecost is the decisive manifestation of the Holy Trinity. At Theophany the Father's voice is heard, telling us that Jesus Christ is His beloved Son who does His will. The Holy Spirit confirms the Father's Word. Now, at Pentecost, all the promises Jesus made are fulfilled. The apostles, armed with the Spirit, are ready to go forth to make Him known and to baptize in the name of the Trinity.
The First Ecumenical Council
Today we remember the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council, convened at Nicaea in 325. The results of the Council were very important, but so was its personal meaning for those who attended, as Father Alexander Schmemann described:
So That Everything Might Be Fulfilled...
Today we read the story of a blind man healed by Jesus Christ. The first words of the passage remind us of a basic Christian teaching: Things do not happen because of "karma" - a word that is thrown around by many people today. They happen in order that God's will may be fulfilled.
Who is Junia?
Today we remember two women who followed Jesus Christ. The first is the Samaritan Woman who met Christ while drawing water at Jacob's Well. She was surprised by His love and concern for her, since she was a Samaritan, with whom the Jews "had no dealings." She was further surprised by His knowledge of her crowded personal life.
PRAYER: The Basis of Our Christian Life
"Would that you were hot or cold!" we read in Revelation 3: 16. Zeal—ardent dedication—is a good quality for Christians to have. We are meant to be zealous and "on fire" for Christ, rather than lukewarm and half-hearted. Today we remember one of the twelve apostles, Simon, called "the Zealot" because he was so dedicated to preaching the Gospel that he traveled to Africa, and later accepted martyrdom.
Finding Courage
On this Sunday we remember the Myrrhbearing Women, and also read about Joseph of Arimathea, who asked for and buried the body of Jesus Christ. Risk and courage are the outstanding elements of their stories.
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas will flee in fear when his Master suffers and dies. But like his fellow apostle Peter, he will find that Jesus' love never fails, even when his own courage fails miserably.
Christ is Risen!
Across the world today, in countless churches and in many languages, Orthodox Christians will proclaim the Paschal greeting and its confident response, "Indeed He is Risen!" This day also marks the beginning of the period during which we will sing joyous words to the Mother of God: "The angel cried to the Lady full of grace, 'Rejoice, O Pure Virgin! Again I say, rejoice. Your Son is risen from His three days in the tomb. With Himself He has raised all the dead. Rejoice, rejoice all ye people!' "
Keep Shouting Hosanna!
Children scrambling up trees to cut branches they will wave, people spreading their garments in the road for the King on and shouting, "Hosanna!" These are the joyful images of welcome we associate with the Entrance of Christ into Jerusalem.
A Desert Meeting
Saint Mary of Egypt immediately recognized the holiness of a man she'd never seen before--the monk Zossimas--when he encountered her in the desert. She had come a long, long way to achieve that recognition of holiness in a man.
Climbing the Ladder Together
"Can the writing of a hermit and monk who lived 1500 years ago say something to us today?"
The Cross and the Throne
"Why would you want to be a Christian?" The verses from Hebrews (4:14-5:6) for this Sunday of the Veneration of the Precious Cross provide a convincing answer. They outline the gifts our Savior bestows. They also tell us precisely who He is.
Captured but Free in Christ
It could be a question for an Orthodox version of Jeopardy: What two saints, both commemorated in this third week of March, were captured by pirates?
Keep Hold of Good Instruction
On Monday of this week remember the Forty Martyrs of Sebastea. They are an appealing group because of their youthful energy and courage, and their unyielding faith.
What is Forgiveness?
This past week, a few days before the Sunday of Forgiveness, the Church celebrated the memory of Saint Polycarp of Smyrna. This man was a student of the Holy Apostles, and can teach us a something important about forgiveness.
