Cheesefare Sunday

Christ with Adam and Eve“When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.” (From today’s Gospel, Matthew 6:16)

The reason is not to be hypocritical, in the pattern we’ve seen over the past three Sundays, to think that we are better than others. In this saying, we may see something deeper, the wisdom of what it means to live a godly life. Fasting is the more difficult decision. It’s easier to eat what we want, to be the person we want to be, to follow our own “nature.” It’s a modern mantra, “Be the person that you are! Don’t let others – even God – tell you what to do!” But it’s really not “modern,” it goes back to Adam and Eve, who ate the forbidden fruit so that they would “know” – that is, determine what is good and evil for themselves. We have to discern “easy nature” from “real nature,” for God has created us to surpass “nature” and become “godlike.” The army tells us, “Be all that you can be,” but faith tells us, “Be more than you can be.” To choose for ourselves wraps us up in ourselves, and closes us to the whole universe of others and to God. Fasting is a symbol, of refusing the decision of Adam and Eve, of opening ourselves up to others and to God.

Nicholas Denysenko recently wrote, “Fasting is about changing one’s ways for the sake of the other; one dies to excesses and indulgences in one’s life to become aware of the other and his needs, and to rehearse loving the other.” The gospel tells us that we should be joyful in opening ourselves up to the other, a whole new universe awaits us! Fasting is an “alleluia.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Preparing for Great Lent

Prep for Great LentThe bishops of the U.S. Ukrainian Eparchies have drawn attention to the biblical figure of Zacchaeus, whose gospel narrative we just heard, as the figure we ought to follow in our preparations for Great Lent. One of the key points the bishops raise is really the last sentence of the pastoral letter when Jesus says to Zacchaeus –and He says to us– “Today salvation has come to this house.” Do we know, from personal experience, and not from an abstraction that TODAY the Lord is indeed in our house, that is, in our person???

The bishops of have given us a pastoral letter that opens up the relevant matters in the spiritual life: conversion to Jesus Christ and life in the Body of Christ (the Church). They write, “This is why the Church, in her wisdom, offers us the gift of the holy forty days of Great Lent each year before the celebration of Our Lord’s Passion and Resurrection, as a divine aid in attaining personal conversion.” Our thoughts, words and actions have consequences for ourselves and for the communities (family, social interactions, workplace) in which we spend time.

The bishops remind us:

 During Great Lent the Church presents us with a sure formula for achieving this goal: prayer, alms-giving and fasting.  During the time of Lent we are encouraged to be more devoted to our prayer life, through private meditation and by attending the beautiful and unique Lenten services celebrated in our parish churches.  We are also encouraged to pay special attention to our brothers and sisters around us, who may be suffering physical, emotional, or spiritual distress, and serve them in their needs.  And finally we are encouraged to fast, in order to attain humility through the taming of our physical appetites, our thoughts, our actions and especially our unruly tongue.

The sincere prayer our Shepherds “is that each of us, during this blessed time of Great Lent, may experience an encounter with Jesus and a personal conversion in Him so that we, along with Zacchaeus, would hear the voice of Jesus saying to us: ‘Today salvation has come to this house‘” (Lk. 19:9).

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Senator urges clarity in US position with Russia, responds to Ukrainian humanitarian crisis

Yesterday, Sunday, 19 February 2017, Senator Richard Blumenthal of the U.S. Senate, spoke with parishioners and others at St Michael’s regarding political and humanitarian crisis faced in the Ukraine viz. the aggression of Russia. The Senator has visited St. Michael’s Church before to speak on these matters.

You may read the New Haven Register’s article on the meeting.

Meatfare Sunday — Sunday of the Last Judgement

Last JundgementIn our preparation for the Great Fast, we must notice a theme emerging. In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the Pharisee was not justified because he failed to see the image of God in the tax collector. (“I thank you that I am not like this tax collector,” Luke 18:11). In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, the older son was not justified because he failed to see the image of God in the prodigal returned home. (“But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him,” Luke 15:20). Today, in the final judgment, the Lord says to the condemned goats, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it (show charitable works of mercy) to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.” (Matthew 25:45)” In the popular mind, Lent is a time for self-denial. Stop, that’s it. But why? Because if we do not deny ourselves, we cannot see the image of God in the other, in each and every other human being that he has created.

Possibly the Last Judgment was commemorated on this Sunday, because it is the conclusion of a “Church Year.” Next Sunday, Cheesefare Sunday, we begin again with the story of Adam and Eve and the Fall. The Great Fast is our journey through the Old Testament, which is concluded with the New Covenant: the Mystical Supper, the Crucifixion and the Glorious and Life-giving Resurrection of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ. We then see through the lens of the Resurrection how God’s plan is fulfilled in Christ in the Gospel of John the Theologian (until Pentecost), in the Gospel of Matthew (from Pentecost to the Exaltation of the Cross), and in the Gospel of Luke (from the Exaltation of the Cross until the Sunday of the Prodigal Son). Then tomorrow, we celebrate the last and final and eschatological mystery of the Final Judgment, in which God brings to completion and perfection the whole human story. That may be why, on the day before the Sunday of the Last Judgment, we remember the death of each human being, which is the completion and perfection of our own individual story and our inclusion in God’s ultimate divine plan. Interestingly, the Roman Church read the Gospel of the Final Judgment on the last Sunday before Advent, which began their liturgical year.

Josef Slipyi turns 125

Joseph SlipyiIt was 125 years ago today that Patriarch Josef Slipyi was born in Zazdrist. Many understandably see him as a St John the Baptist figure: “The voice of one crying in the wilderness.” There is also the centenary of his priestly ordination at the hands of his mentor, Metropolitan Andrey Count Sheptytsky.

It is the hope that one day soon Slipyi is named a Confessor of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He spent 18 years in Soviet imprisonment (re-edcation) and was consecrated to the episcopacy by Venerable Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky.

Senator Richard Blumenthal to address Ukrainian Community

Senator BlumenthalSenator Richard Blumenthal will address our Ukrainian Community on Sunday, February 19th,  at 12 noon in St. Michael’s church hall in New Haven. He will provide an update on important legislation that he is sponsoring in the U.S. Senate in support of Ukraine.

The Senator will also discuss the current administration’s as well as Congress’s changing positions  on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. All are invited to participate in the discussion.

All Souls’ Saturdays (SOROKOUSTY)

requiem candlesAll Souls’ Saturdays (SOROKOUSTY), February 18, March 11, 18, April 1, and then in Eastertime on June 3.
The Divine Liturgy is offered at 8:30 a.m.
 
Please give Father Iura the names of your deceased loved one. Place it in envelope.
 
Let us remember all our loved ones who have gone to their heavenly reward. Eternal Memory!
 
Note Well: The word Ukrainian word “Sorokousty” means “forty mouths” (sorok = forty; ust = mouth). Originally, this was a prayer service offered by forty mouths or by forty priests. Historically, families would honor their deceased by holding services for them in the cathedrals on the 3rd, 9th and 40th day after their death —with 40 priests celebrating the services. Today, Sorokousty is the service that honors the deceased and is offered during Lent.
 

Renewed parish kitchen

parish Kitchen DoneOur KofC Grand Knight Hank Lindgren sent this picture of the renewed parish kitchen with this note:
 
Great job by all the volunteers, almost 50% of the council helping out. Next we tackle our basement room project…
 
New Stove, Stainless steel rolling center island, two new SS tables, new utensils, new lighting and wiring, new floor, paint and more! Should be appreciated by all the kitchen help… Great Job done by all!

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

Prodigal SonThe parable read today is usually called “the parable of the Prodigal Son,” who is at the center of the story. It might also be called “the parable of the Merciful Father,” who welcomes back his son, embracing him, restoring him to his position, declaring a joyous celebration without even seeming to hear or listen to his son’s confession or protestation. It might also be called “the parable of the Petulant Son,” who is grumpy and peeved at the father’s merciful loving kindness because he thinks that he himself is so much better than his brother. As we prepare for the Great Fast, do we see a pattern developing? The pharisee thought he was much better than the tax-collector, the older son thought he was so much better than his prodigal brother, but God overflows in love for all his creatures. Perhaps the real main purpose of the Great Fast is to turn from pride to humility, to begin to see others through the eyes of God, to overflow in love for others. Truly, what does it mean to be a Christian?

The return of the prodigal Son was marked by a great banquet given by the Merciful Father. We are all invited to that banquet, celebrated at every Divine Liturgy, where the food is not the “fattened calf” but the body and blood of our Lord, the only-begotten Son of the Father. How do we approach this banquet, in the humility of the son who acknowledges his unworthiness or in the pride of the older son, who objects to the presence of his weaker brother? The answer is what it means to be a Christian.

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“Receive me now, Lord, as you once received the Prodigal. Open to me your fatherly arms, and in thanksgiving I will sing of your glory and goodness” (Sunday of the Prodigal Son Canon, Ode 1, troparion 3)  

The parable of the Prodigal Son is also commemorated on the Second Sunday of the Great Fast, in the Canon of Matins, because the origin of the Triodion is from Palestine, where this Gospel was read on the Second Sunday.