Divine Liturgy for the coming week

Glory to Jesus Christ

Sunday, 2/6, Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee
9:00 a.m. +Olga Pospolita requested by Luba Dubno
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:10-15
Gospel: Luke 18:10-14, Tone 4

Monday, 2/07, Our Venerable Father Parthenius
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Tuesday, 2/08, Holy Great Martyr Theodore
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Wednesday, 2/09, Holy Martyr Nicephorus
9:00 a.m. +Volodynyra Harkava (Pan.) requested by the Faryna Family

Thursday, 2/10, Holy Martyr Charalampias
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Friday, 2/11, Holy Priest Martyr Blaise
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Saturday, 2/12, Our Holy Father Meletius
9:00 a.m. No scheduled intention for the Liturgy

Sunday, 2/13, Sunday of the Prodigal Son
9:00 a.m. Special Intention
10:30 a.m. For the people of the parish

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: Luke 15:11-32, Tone 5

Parish announcements

Christ is in our midst!

This week vigil light is offered by Mary Ann Mikosky in memory of Eugenia Kozak Harvey.

There will be frozen PYROHY for sale in the church hall for as long as supplies last.

SOROKOUSTY will be celebrated during Lent in All Souls’ Saturdays, February 19, March 12, 19, 26 and June 4. Please take a book found in the entrance of the church, fill it out, place it in envelope, and drop it in the collection basket. Let us remember all our loved ones who have gone to their heavenly reward. Eternal Memory!

If you would like to have a Confession, Holy Communion or prayer of the sick at your house or nursing home, please call the rectory at (203) 865-0388.

A container is in our church vestibule for non-perishable food. This collection will be taken every week or twice per month. Father Iura will distribute the food to those in need. Thank you for your generosity.

The Ukrainian School of New Haven

If you have any questions:
Elementary School: Halia Lodynsky at 203-494-6278
Middle School: Volodymyr Dumalskyy at 203-988-2923
Nataliia Dankevych (203) 901-7168.

A nursery school program for children 2-5 years old is currently ongoing.

Instruction will be primarily in Ukrainian language with accommodations for English. Connecticut Covid guidelines will be followed.

In Zacchaeus there is simplicity and honesty

Having just finished the Nativity Cycle we start moving toward the Lenten Cycle and Zacchaeus is our man. In fact, he’s the model of Christian conversion: turning toward the Lord.

“Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”(Luke 19:5) Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” (19:9)

Jesus is passing through the town of Jericho and there is a crowd of people gathering to catch sight of the Lord passing by. Zacchaeus is one such person who had heard of Jesus’ talks (sermons) and miraculous deeds. However, Zaccheus has a disadvantage, an impediment: he is of small stature. So what does Zaccheus do? He climbs up a sycamore tree and this way he’d be able to catch a glimpse of the Lord passing by. This does not go unnoticed. Our Lord sees Zaccheus and says: “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, for today I must stay at your house.”

A reaction from the crowd follows. They had begun to grumble, saying, “He has gone to stay at the house of a sinner.” Zaccheus was a tax collector who worked for the Roman government. And thus Zaccheus was not well-liked and looked down upon. Besides that, the crowd is judgmental over the Lord’s decision to become a guest at a sinner’s home, namely Zaccheus.

Nonetheless, Zaccheus holds his ground, defending his integrity: “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I shall give to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone I shall repay it four times over.” (19:8) Repayment or restitution fourfold is indeed a great amount. For according to today’s Catholic moral teaching, restitution or repayment is to be made as close to the value or worth of what was wrongfully taken.

There is a simplicity and honesty in the dialogue between Zaccheus and Our Lord. Zaccheus was not hard-hearted, but rather had an openness of heart by which God finds a path to enter. Yes, He can even enter the heart of any and every sinner, no matter how great a sinner he or she is. To Zaccheus, Jesus had become the source of true joy and happiness here on earth, but more importantly for all eternity.

Our Lord then addresses Zaccheus with these words: “Today salvation has come to this house because this man too is a descendant of Abraham.” (19:9) The repentance of the sinner and his conversion or change of heart is his salvation. The Lord then holds up Zaccheus as an example of what a true or sincere son of Abraham is to be.

The Lord then addresses words on his own defense and as a correction to the judgmental attitude of the others who objected to his visit: For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save what was lost.” (19:10)

May we have the ardent and persistent desire to encounter the Lord. And when an obstacle comes our way, may we have the ingenuity of Zaccheus. And when others are overly judgmental and question our honesty and sincerity, may we have the fortitude, the courage to stand our ground, to even stand out from the crowd. May we seek more to please the Lord God than to seek merely the favor of men. Let’s remember, the God Who knows and sees all will not let such go unnoticed and will be remembered on the day of Just Judgment at the Lord’s Second and Glorious Coming.

Fr George Worshchak
Archeparchy of Philadelphia

Day of Prayer for Peace on January 26

Christ is among us!
Two opportunities for prayer for January 26:
1. At the Parish on January 26 at 7pm, we will pray the Moleben to the Holy Mother of God. It is critical that we as a parish community of faith come to the Church to beg for the gift of peace! One’s physical presence is an important witness of Faith. We will try to have the service on Facebook.

 

2. Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly urges brother Knights around the world to join with Pope Francis and the Universal Church in praying for peace in Ukraine, on January 26, at 3 p.m. EST. Learn more: https://bit.ly/35hsxfH

Ukrainian Bishop Paul and Archbishop Blair expect to be in attendance.

Ukrainian Bishops in the USA call to prayer

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” (Mt. 189:20)

For the past eight years, since the invasion of parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation, Ukraine has lived under constant threat. The hybrid war fomented on Ukraine by Russia continues unabated until this day.

Since that time, the Ukrainian people, in Ukraine and throughout the world, have responded to this unprovoked aggression with undaunted determination.  They have countered the Russian disinformation campaign with objective truth, they have morally and financially supported the Ukrainian military and especially the wounded soldiers and citizens displaced by the conflict, and, most importantly, they have prayed to God for peace and an end to the conflict.

As you are aware, the tensions along Ukraine’s eastern border have recently intensified to the point that a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia has become a distinct possibility.

Shaken by the threat of actual armed conflict on the European continent, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, addressed the situation in Ukraine in remarks to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, January 23: “I make a heartfelt appeal to all people of good will to raise prayers to Almighty God that all political actions and initiatives may be at the service of human brotherhood rather than partisan interests.”  The Holy Father then proposed that Wednesday, January 26 be proclaimed a day of prayer for peace in Ukraine in the universal Catholic Church.  We wish to sincerely thank Pope Francis for this gesture of solidarity and his paternal love and care for the people of Ukraine.

Our desire as your bishops is that all our parishes and faithful take up this appeal to prayer of the Holy Father.  In our parish communities, wherever possible, we ask that the parish faithful be gathered on Wednesday, January 26 for prayer vigils, divine liturgies, molebens or akathists.  We also encourage that our families and individual faithful respond to this appeal with their own private devotions, prayer and fasting on that day.  Let an avalanche of prayer from every corner of the world ascend to heaven so that the Lord would make an end to the threat of war, death and destruction in Ukraine and everywhere in the world.

We also encourage our faithful to take part in a “Marathon of Prayer” for peace in Ukraine initiated by the Head and Father of our Church, His Beatitude, Patriarch Sviatoslav. It will take place on Wednesday, January 26 for twelve consecutive hours from 9:00 am to 9:00 (Kyiv time); 2:00 am to 2:00 pm (EST); 1:00 am to 1:00 pm (CST); 12:00 am to 12:00 pm (MST); and 11:00 pm to 11:00 am (PST) and can be accessed on the internet at zhyve.tv

With confidence and faith let us lift our hearts to the Lord who saves, as we pray with the Psalmist: “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears and rescues them from all their troubles.” (Ps. 34:17)

+Borys Gudziak
Archbishop of Philadelphia,
Metropolitan of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States

+Paul Chomnycky, OSBM
Eparch of Stamford

+Benedict Aleksiychuk
Eparch of St. Nicholas in Chicago

+ Bohdan J. Danylo
Eparch of St. Josaphat in Parma

+Andriy Rabiy
Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia

Pope calls for Day of Prayer for Peace

Following the Pope’s Sunday Angelus address (23 January 2022), he called us to a day of prayer for peace:

“I am following with concern the increase of tensions that threaten to inflict a new blow to the peace in Ukraine, and call into question the security of the European continent, with wider repercussions. I make a heartfelt appeal to all people of good will, that they may raise prayers to God Almighty, that every political action and initiative may serve human brotherhood, rather than partisan interests. Those who pursue their own interests, to the detriment of others, disregard their human vocation, as we were all created as brothers and sisters. For this reason, and with concern, given the current tensions, I propose that next Wednesday, 26 January be a day of prayer for peace.“

US Ukrainian Catholic Bishops make peace and justice appeal

In letter to the faithful, the US Ukraine Catholic Bishops speak out against the aggression of Russian toward the people of Ukraine. In part the bishops wrote, “God-given human dignity and freedom threaten rulers who seek to dominate others, build empires, enslave, and colonize. Those with the audacity to resist, who dare to move from the fear of totalitarianism to freedom and dignity are mercilessly punished.”

The bishops ask us to “Pray for peace and justice for Ukraine. Be informed. Support the suffering.” Read the entire episcopal missive:

 Pray for peace and justice for Ukraine