+
Sunday, October 15th 2006 +
18th Sunday after Pentecost
& Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th
Ecumenical Council
Tone:
1 + Eothinion: 7
*******************************************************************************************************
+ In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“O Lord Jesus Christ, the Sower of Life, Thou
who didst teach us the essence of Faith, and through Thy Parable, revealed
Thyself, the Word of God, as the seed, which Thou didst sow into the world.
Help us to hear Thee, and may we be as the good soil, enabling the Word to grow
in us, and by holding it in an honest and good heart, may we bring forth
abundant fruit with much patience, through Thy love and compassion for mankind,
O Saviour glory to Thee. Amen.”
+ The
Epistle +
Verse: “Blessed art Thou, the
God of our Fathers,
For
Thou are just in all Thou has done”.
The Reading is from
the Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to Titus.
(Chapter
3:8-15)
Titus, my son, this is a faithful saying, and
these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in
God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and
profitable to men. But avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and
strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless. Reject a
divisive man after the first and second admonition, knowing that such a person
is warped and sinning, being self-condemned. When I send Artemas to you, or
Tychicus, be diligent to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend
the winter there. Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey with
haste, that they may lack nothing. And let our people also learn to maintain
good works, to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful. All who are
with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Amen.
+ The
Holy Gospel +
(Chapter 8:5-15)
The Lord spoke this parable: “A sower went out
to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled
down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as
it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among
thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good
ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these
things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Then His disciples
asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” And He said, “To you it has
been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is
given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not
understand.’ “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by
the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word
out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the
rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have
no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the
ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are
choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to
maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard
the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience. As
Jesus said this, He called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”
Meditation:
“Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council”
“Sir, whose image is this?” “It is mine,”
answered the emperor. Then Stephen, a monk, threw the coin on the ground and
stepped on it. He was seized by imperial guards and taken away to be punished. “Remember
this!” cried Stephen as he was being led away. “If I am punished for
dishonoring the image of an earthly king, what punishment do they deserve who
burn the Icon of Christ!” Such was one of many scenes during the controversy
over the use of Icons in the Church during the seventh and eighth centuries. “Icon-smashers”
or Iconoclasts – that’s what they were called. They unsuccessfully tried for
almost two centuries to destroy Holy Icons as forms of spirituality and
Christian education. They contended that Christ being divine could not be
depicted through art and that icons smacked of idolatry – indeed there were
some abuses of Icons from time to time. But the great Church Fathers were
convinced that the Christian faith can validly be expressed through art forms.
They taught that Holy Icons are not to be worshipped but venerated or revered –
the respect being given not to the wood and paint but to the person being
depicted on the Icon. Christ took on human flesh, a part of earth’s matter; so
it was possible to depict Him through material symbols. The Gospels are verbal
images portraying through words the divinity and ministry of Jesus. So also Holy
Icons portray the divine sonship and actions of Jesus by means of paints and
colors. Just as we remember Christ and experience His presence when we
prayerfully read the Gospels, so also we remember Him and experience His
presence when we prayerfully behold Him in Icons. Two victories over the Iconoclasts
are commemorated in the Orthodox Church. One is the final restoration of the Holy
Icons under the Empress Theodora (843 A.D.), known as the Triumph of Orthodoxy,
and celebrated on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, which is the first Sunday of Great
Lent. The other is the affirmation of Icon veneration at the Seventh Ecumenical
Council (787 A.D.), an event celebrated on the second or third Sunday of
October – the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council. The
latter feast day is set for October 11 if it falls on a Sunday, or if it does
not, for the first Sunday after October 11.
* Announcements
& Activities *
“It is good to be Zealous in a Good Thing
Always…” (Galatians 4:18)
Ø
Every Saturday at 6:00 p.m. - Great Vespers
ü
Fellowship of St. John
the Divine (New Time)
There has been a Time Change for our weekly
meetings – we are now meeting every Tuesday
from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. A Bible Study/Religious Discussion will take
place in the Conference Room, and once in a while there will be an outing for
dinner, etc. Please give us your email address if you are not receiving our
weekly online newsletter & calendar. All members of the Fellowship of St.
John the Divine are still asked to attend the Great Vespers Service every
Saturday at 6:00 p.m. in preparation for Sunday’s Divine Liturgy.
ü
Teen SOYO (New Time)
*** October is Teen SOYO Month! ***
There has been a Time Change for our weekly
meetings – we are now meeting every Wednesday
from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. All members of the Teen SOYO are asked to attend
the weekly Teen Night Meetings no matter what the topic or activities are!
We have a mix of activities: Sports, Games, Discussions, Bible Studies, etc.
Please come on time, we begin every Teen Night Meeting with the Little Compline
Service at 7:00 p.m. sharp. Because October is Teen SOYO Month, we are
encouraging all members of the Teen SOYO to be especially more active this
month by reading the Sunday Epistle (English or Arabic), Serving at Coffee
Hour, or Collecting the Donation Trays. If you are interested in serving on
Sundays, please contact Abraham Wehbi at: abrahamwehbi@hotmail.com - God
bless you for your good works!
ü
2006 Orthodox
Institute for Christian Education – Antiochian Village
The
2006 Orthodox Institute for Christian Education will be taking place at the
Antiochian Village from November 2nd until November 5th
2006. The Institute offers courses (with certificates) for Teachers, Church
School Directors, and those wanting to learn more about Orthodoxy. The keynote
speaker will be His Grace Bishop MARK. A copy of the Schedule of Events and
Course Offerings is available at www.antiochian.org/christianeducation, or a
printed copy can be obtained at the Cathedral Office. Any of our teachers (and anybody interested in becoming a teacher) that
are interested in attending the Orthodox Institute for Christian Education and
teaching next year are asked to speak with Fr. Ghattas.
ü Antiochian Women
Tickets are on sale today in the
Cathedral Hall downstairs for the annual Harvest Luncheon, which will take
place on Sunday, October 22nd. Please plan on attending. Our first
Bible Study on the Gospel of St. Luke, which is the topic for the 2007 Bible
Bowl, will take place on Tuesday, October 24th at 7:00 p.m. in the
Church School area. All interested ladies are encouraged to attend. If you have
any questions, please call Mrs. Faye Thomas at (613) 521-5693 for details.
ü St. Elias Orthodox Cathedral Choir
St. Elias Orthodox Cathedral Choir
welcomes all members of our congregation to sing with us each Sunday morning.
Men and women of all ages who can sing and enjoy listening to the Choir
upstairs are welcome to join. We cannot stress this enough. The future of our
Choir needs everyone’s support. Please contact the Choir Director Grant Shaker
(613-733-9118; leave a message) or join us Sunday morning upstairs in the Choir
Loft at 9:45 a.m. Rehearsals are every Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m.
ü
The Department of
Sacred Music
Effective February1, 2006 Metropolitan PHILIP
announced the appointment of Mr. Christopher Howley as the new director of the
Department of Sacred Music. The mission of the Department of Sacred Music is to
provide leadership to the parishes of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Archdiocese, drawing from the talents of the faithful in order to serve as a
resource for the publication of music, to organize workshops and seminars, to
build strong ties of communication throughout the Archdiocese, to support the
work of missions, and to be a positive influence in the creation of new works
of liturgical music for the glory of God and the Holy Orthodox faith.
Specifically, though, we hope to continue computerizing the music needed by our
choirs, such as music for the Holy Week and Pascha, more of the Feast Days
Series, the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy for all three possibilities (‘Holy God’,
‘As many as have been baptized’, & ‘Before Thy Cross’) the Convention Music
(which also needs to be reprinted before 2007), and possibly music for the
Wedding Service. The music for Holy Unction has already been computerized and
would be a nice adjunct to the new Holy Week book awaiting publication, done by
the Department of Liturgics and Translations. Even the Akathist book, newly
computerized with music, is a possibility for publication, as is the Matins
Service done by Father John Winfrey, which would include the new computerized
music for that service done by our department. We also hope to increase our
time in each Diocese with workshops for various churches and deaneries, and
push our Mentor program to help new missions obtain training and music books to
get stared. Of course, our Sacred Music Institute - held each year at the
Village – provides our chanters and choir directors a great opportunity to grow
in the knowledge of our faith and in the area of Liturgical Music, so as to
make each of the services in our parishes a prayerful, divine, and uplifting
experience for all. We are also here to encourage others to be more creative in
their ability to compose new music that “seems to be a little different, and
yet is somewhat similar” (Fr. Sergei Glagolev) to our current styles and
traditions being used in this country. We will also be participating in the
pan-Orthodox group PSALM (Pan-Orthodox Society for the Advancement of
Liturgical Music) by allowing our music to be put up on the web site for all
Orthodox to use and download from around the world. This was an agreement made
by Jim Meena and PSALM last year, to begin uploading our music this year. We
will still be able to maintain and improve upon our own web site for our
department in this Archdiocese, for information and music download purposes for
our people; but we will also become a part of something much larger that will
unite us with other Orthodox musicians around the world. In the future, we also
hope to initiate a children’s music book; a collection of paraliturgical music
to be used in Church School, School, Camp, or after Services; and a collection
of 365 Troparia for the Saints of the year.
+ St. Elias Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral +
(2975 Riverside Drive – Ottawa)
Cathedral Office: 700 Ridgewood Ave
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1V 6N1
Telephone: (613) 738-2222, Fax: (613) 737-4392
Email: info@steliascathedral.com, Website:
www.steliascathedral.com
The Rt. Rev. Bishop ALEXANDER
Bishop of Ottawa, East
Canada and Upstate New York
The Very Rev. Father Ghattas Hajal – Dean
Rev. Father Mark Arsenios Wyatt – Assistant Priest
The Very
Rev. Father Daniel Matheson – Emeritus