1 Timothy 1:15-17; Luke 18:35-43 (Readings of the 31st Sunday after Pentecost)

We must learn how to read Scripture. It is not lessons of the past, but the reality of God’s presence among us today, in the here and now. One of the most frequent ways that Jesus steps into our lives is by his works of healing. In Matthew 11:5 Jesus tells us, “the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.” Today we hear this good news, today the blind see. Jesus often gave sight to the blind, telling them, “Your faith has saved you.” This is what he says to the blind man of Jericho. He cannot see who Jesus is, but when those around him say, “Jesus is passing by,” he immediately shouts as loud as he can, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” For Jesus, though he is the Word of God, has become one of us, of the family of David. We might think that the gospel is about physical sight, but it is more than that, it is why faith is necessary.

All of us, whether physically blind or spiritually blind, need Jesus who said, “I am the light of the world.” This is why we call baptism “enlightenment.” This is why we must confess that Jesus came to save sinners, “of whom we are the first.” We can say this sincerely, because we know the power of sin in our own hearts, and not in the hearts of others. We will say this today here in this church as we approach Holy Communion, as we approach the light and life of the world today: you are Christ, the Son of the living God, who came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the first.” We say this not to crush ourselves down, but as St. Paul tells us to today’s Epistle, but that we might be “mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life.” Only in faith, then, do we see the true “light and life.”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST * SLAVA ISUSU XRYSTU!

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Sun., January 15, 2017     35th Sunday after Pentecost
10:30 a.m.     Pro Populo * Za Parafin

Epistle: Col. 3:12-16
Gospel: Mt. 18:18-27 Tone 2

Mon., January 16, 2017     Veneration of the Chains of Peter
8:00 a.m.     no intention for the Liturgy

Tue., January 17, 2017     Our Venerable Father Anthony the Great
9:00 a.m.     +Halyna Choma (40 days, Pan.), requested by the Family

Wed., January 18, 2017     Our Venerable Father Athanasius & Cyril
8:00 a.m.     no intention for the Liturgy

Thu., January 19, 2017     Our Venerable Father Macarius
8:00 a.m.     no intention for the Liturgy

Fri., January 20, 2017     Our Venerable Father Euthemius the Great
8:00 a.m.     no intention for the Liturgy

Sat., January 21, 2017     Our Venerable Father Maximus
8:00 a.m.     no intention for the Liturgy

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Sun., January 22, 2017     36th Sunday after Pentecost
9:00 a.m.     +Nicholas Muryn, requested by Mary and Michael Muryn
10:30 a.m.     Pro Populo * Za Parafin

Epistle: 1 Tim. 1:15-17
Gospel: Lk. 18:35-43 Tone 3

When we began the Feasts of Light on the second Sunday before Christmas, the first words of Scripture were: “When Christ our life appears, then you will also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4). Today, the last words from Scripture for this feast are: “The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned. (Matthew 12:16)” St. Paul in his epistle writes about Jesus descending and ascending: “He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things (Ephesians 4:10)”

Christmas and Theophany, are called feasts of light. They celebrate the coming into the world of Light: Jesus our Lord. Being God, he descended to live among us (his birth, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) and to take our sins upon his shoulders (baptism, the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke) to lift us into light and glory. It is the feast of beginnings, and a model for our lives, which on this earth are all just beginnings, in which we descend (living life and laying it down in death), and ascend (in love of God and neighbor to divine glory). This feast is our beginning, as we now turn to the fulfillment of Jesus’ glory in his crucifixion and resurrection into life and glory. The Gospel tells us to make a good beginning: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)”

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST * SLAVA ISUSU XRYSTU!

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Sun., January 8, 2017      Sunday after Theophany
9:00 a.m.    + Mychajlo Kuchnij, requested by Jaroslaw Paluha
10:30 a.m.    PRO POPULO*ZA PARAFI|N

Epistle: Ephesians 4:7-13
Gospel: Matthew 8:11-21, Tone 1

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Mon.  January 9, 2017      Holy Martyr Polyeuctus
8:00 a.m.    no intention for the Liturgy

Tue. , January 10, 2017      Father Gregory, Venerable Dometian
8:00 a.m.    +Halyna Choma (40 days, Pan.), requested by the Family

Wed., January 11, 2017      Venerable Father Theodosius
8:00 a.m.    no intention for the Liturgy

Thu.  January 12, 2017      Holy Martyr Tatiana
8:00 a.m.    no intention for the Liturgy

Fri.,  January 13, 2017      Holy Martyrs Hermylus & Stratonicus
8:00 a.m.    no intention for the Liturgy

Sat., January 14, 2017      Our Venerable Fathers massacred in Sinai
8:00 a.m.    no intention for the Liturgy

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Sun., January 15, 2017      35th Sunday after Pentecost
ONLY ONE (1) Divine Liturgy today –in English and Ukrainian
10:30 a.m.    PRO POPULO*ZA PARAFI|N

Epistle: Colossians 3:12-16
Gospel: Luke 18:18-27, Tone 2

Today, the Byzantine Church keeps two feasts: the Circumcision of the Lord, the 8th day since Christmas (new calendar) and Saint Basil (see the blog post below).

“I will keep my love for him always, with him my covenant will last” (Psalm 88:29)
Having taken the human nature in his birth, our Lord fulfills the covenant God made with his people by circumcision on the eighth day. The covenant between God and his people is therefore perfected by God himself becoming both God who initiates the covenant and man who submits to God’s will. This is confirmed in the second part of today’s Gospel: Jesus goes to the Temple to fulfill the will of the Father by his teaching. When Mary and Joseph find him, he fulfills the Law, “He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. (Luke 2:51)”

Jesus taught, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17)” St. Paul teaches that he restored the spirit of the Law, “for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6)”

For Christians, baptism replaces circumcision as the entry into the covenant. At baptism, we submit to the law of Christ: “Do you renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his angels and all his service, and all his pride?” “I do renounce him.” “Do you commit yourself to Christ?” “Yes, I commit myself to Him.”

By his death on the Cross, our Lord established a new covenant, and fulfills the will of the Father, “Not my will, but yours be done. (Luke 22:42)” He tells us to pray, “Our Father who art in heaven .. Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The feast of Christmas and Circumcision celebrates the birth of the Lord according to the flesh and his birth among his people by circumcision. It foreshadows and sheds light on our birth according to the flesh and our rebirth in Christ in baptism.

Meditation by Archpriest David Petras

Meditation by Very Rev. Dr. David Petras

“Behold, Christ comes among his own. We are made his through grace and holy virtues. (Troparion, Ode 6, Canon of December 22)” “You wishes to bear the robe of a slave in order to snatch me from slavery to evil, O Word coeternal to the Father. (Troparion, Ode 3, Canon of December 23)

St. Gregory the Theologian begins his homily for the Feast of Lights by saying, “Christ is on earth, let us welcome him.” His loving-kindness is to turn us from sin to virtue, but only through the power of his grace. Sin is a spiritual death, in Jesus, the living God, who comes into physical life today, frees us from sin and makes us God-like. His coming into human nature is compared to slavery, and we must welcome him as slaves. This is really what we are saying when we receive Holy Communion, when we welcome Christ into our bodies, making them temples of the Spirit: “The servant (that is, the slave) of God receives the Holy Body and Precious Blood.” We become God’s own, but it must be according to his will. Do we not pray, “Thy will be done, (now) on earth as it is in heaven.” How do we receive Christmas, however, is it on our terms or on God’s terms. It is clear what motive is life-bearing, but this is not done to keep us in slavery, for in his last discourse in the Gospel of John, he calls us friends (John 15:15), and so we are able to sing, if we are willing, “I sing of your love: glory to your work of salvation.” (Troparion, Ode 3, Canon of December 23)