+
Sunday, October 29th 2006 +
20th Sunday after Pentecost
Tone:
3 + Eothinion: 9
*******************************************************************************************************
+ In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“We thank You, O Christ our God, Physician of
our souls and bodies, who has borne our infirmities and by whose stripes we
have been healed, who healed the paralytic and forgave the tax collector, who
has taken away the sins of the world and was nailed to the Cross; and we pray
to You: forgive us our sins and trespasses both voluntary and involuntary,
known and unknown, and heal our ailments and sicknesses both physical and
spiritual. For You are the fountain of forgiveness and healing, Christ our
Savior, and to You we give glory, together with Your eternal Father and Your
life-giving Spirit, now and forever. Amen.”
+ The
Epistle +
Verse: “Sing praises to our
God, sing praises,
O
clap your hands, all ye nations”.
The Reading is from
the Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians.
(Chapter
1:11-19)
Brethern,
I make known to you that the gospel which was preached by me is not
according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but
it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former
conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried
to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my
own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me
through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to
Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and
returned again to Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to
see Peter, and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other
apostles except James, the Lord’s brother.
+ The
Holy Gospel +
(Chapter 8:41-56)
At that time, there came a man named Jairus,
and he was a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus’ feet and begged
Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of
age, and she was dying. But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. Now a
woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her
livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and
touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
And Jesus said, “Who touched Me?” When all denied it, Peter and those with him
said, “Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, ‘Who touched
Me?’” But Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out
from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling;
and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the
people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately. And
He said to her, “Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well. Go
in peace.” While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the
synagogue’s house, saying to him, “Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble the
Teacher.” But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, “Do not be afraid;
only believe, and she will be made well.” When He came into the house, He
permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and
mother of the girl. Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, “Do not
weep; she is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she
was dead. But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying,
“Little girl, arise.” Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And
He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were
astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.
Meditation
The essence of the Bible’s exhortation is: “Believe and you
will live! Seek the Lord and you will find your true life!” Yet many people do
not turn to God, or do not go to Church, because they think that they are not
good enough. They feel they must reach a certain standard of spirituality or a
plateau of visible piety before they can honestly go to Church and direct
themselves to God. No one is “good enough” to stand before God and make claims
of self-worth. But everyone is precious to God and can come before Him in Faith
– Faith in His word that He loves us and that He is ready to fulfill our needs as
a caring Father. By the power of faith we can seek the Lord and find true life
in Him. St. Symeon the New Theologian teaches that there is no obstacle to
faith but as soon as we wish it and decide in our heart straightway we believe.
Everyone can exercise the gift of faith. When we do this, then the gift of
faith through God’s grace becomes an amazing power that strengthens and renews
our life and the lives of those around us!
“Blessed is he who gives without remembering”
Blessed is he who gives without
remembering and he who receives without forgetting
It is with much thankfulness and
gratitude that I would like to take this opportunity to thank my brother
bishops, the clergy, esteemed members of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees,
members of the Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch, the Antiochian Women,
Fellowship of St. John the Divine, SOYO and the parishes and laity of this
God-protected Archdiocese for your wonderful generosity on the occasion of my
40th anniversary as your Metropolitan. It is hard to believe that 40 years have
passed since my election, consecration and enthronement.
Words cannot express the joy I
felt this past weekend in Detroit as I, or rather we, celebrated 40 years of
working together to build what we have today for the glory of God and His Holy
Church! The warmth of the entire weekend culminated in the gift of love
presented to me by all of you at the banquet on Saturday evening. This gift, a check
in the amount of $250,000 from all of your generous donations, was too much for
any one man. Therefore, I felt compelled to do as I did on my 25th anniversary
in 1991 when I established the endowment for the Antiochian Village with my
monetary gift on that occasion. This endowment has grown to over one million
dollars and is currently being used to fund various projects for the Antiochian
Village.
This time, I am donating the
$250,000 I received into a fund I have started that will become part of the
Clergy Retirement Fund of the Archdiocese in the future. This fund, which I
also hope will grow to one million dollars, is made up of the many gifts and
honoraria I have received over the years from the generous people of this
Archdiocese. It is my fervent prayer that our clergy who serve this archdiocese
faithfully all of their priestly lives will be able to retire with dignity and
I hope to do everything I can to make this a reality.
Finally, I would like to thank
Archpriest Joseph Antypas and the entire community of St. George of Troy, MI,
especially the members of our Archdiocese Board of Trustees in Detroit, Mr.
Nicola Antakli, Mr. George Darany, Mr. Walid Khalife and Mr. Robert Koory for
their generosity and hospitality. May God bless them and their families.
Your Father in Christ,
+Metropolitan PHILIP
* 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 Feasts of St. Demetrios
Today we are celebrating the Feasts
of St. Demetrios. Have a Blessed Feast Day! May he intercede for us always.
ü
Fellowship of St. John
the Divine
There has been a Time Change for our weekly
meetings – we are now meeting every Tuesday
from 7:20 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. A Bible Study/Religious
Discussion will take place in the Cathedral Hall downstairs, 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
*** 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 were
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. God bless you for your good works!
ü Parish Bible Studies &
Catechism in Arabic
Join us every Wednesday from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. in the Church, as there will
be Arabic Bible Studies & Catechism led by Fr. Ghattas. These lessons
are open for the entire parish, especially those who are more comfortable
with Arabic. Please bring your questions about our Faith and your willingness
to learn. Parents who have Teens can bring them to the regular Teen SOYO
meeting in the Cathedral Hall downstairs. If your teens are not yet registered
in Teen SOYO and are not receiving our weekly online newsletter, please
register by calling the Cathedral Office.
ü Job Opportunity
St. Elias Banquet Centre is now
hiring Full & Part time Servers. If interested, please call (613) 737-4997
and leave a message or visit the Centre Office at 750 Ridgewood Ave.
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 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 Special Charities
The Food for Hungry program,
sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, raised and disbursed
$155,000 last year. Since the campaign was started in 1975 and through the
efforts of Robin Nicholas, Coordinator of the program, the Fellowship has
collected over three million dollars for this most worthy cause. In addition,
under the direction of Father George Rados, $75,100 was distributed to children
in the Middle East under Children’s Relief Program. Also $453,700 was collected
for Hurricane Katrina victims.
ü Antiochian Women
The next Bible Study on the
Gospel of St. Luke will be held on Monday, Oct. 30, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. in the
Church School area. All interested ladies are invited to attend.
The Antiochian Women contributed $115,570 towards the Archdiocese
receipts. This was their first payment into their new project of raising
$500,000 for the Clergy Retirement Fund over the next five years. There is no
doubt that the Antiochian Women through their continued dedication and teamwork
will bring to fruition this worthy goal. The Antiochian Women should be
recognized for fulfilling their goal of raising $1,000,000 for the Antiochian
Women and the Katherine Ajar Endowment Fund for Orphans. Last year the interest
from this fund of $50,000 was distributed to needy orphans, particularly the
Saidnaya Monastery in Syria.
ü The Order of St. Ignatius
The Order’s total revenue from all sources increased to $1,381,658
from $1,297,838 the previous year. While there was an increase from membership
dues, the income from Life Membership Investments increased to $196,960 for the
year. This was due to an increase in 26 new Life Members which now totals 264.
Other memberships in the Order increased by 171 to 3,350. Project contributions
increased to $1,339,800 (4.3%). This amount includes $595,000 to support the
various departments at the Archdiocese as well as $108,652 for camp
scholarships. Also $100,000 was contributed to the Antiochian Village Capital
Campaign as well as completing their pledge of $250,000 for the museum at the
Heritage and Learning Center. The Order has pledged $750,000 towards a new
dining hall and to replace many of the older cabins. The Clergy Retirement
Fund, as always, has been one of the most important projects of the Order. The
Order of St. Ignatius along with the Antiochian Women has taken steps to
stabilize the fund to ensure benefits at the current level. To meet this
commitment, the Order increased their annual contribution by $50,000 to
$200,000 per year.
ü The Spirit of
Giving is Here - Annual Food Drive
What do these numbers represent?
v
40,000: The number of Ottawa residents who go to food banks
in a month.
v
16,000:
The number who are children.
v
112:
The number of local agencies feeding the hungry with the help of The Ottawa Food Bank.
Once
again St. Elias Orthodox Cathedral is holding their annual food drive organized
by the St. Elias Church School. PLEASE
GIVE GENEROUSLY!!!! Like previous years we are asking our parishioners to bring
in non-perishables such as canned food, boxes of pasta, rice, etc. Please bring
the food to the Church School’s office located on the main floor of the Church
School. NOTE: The church school students can also give their donations to their
respective teachers. Lets help the Ottawa Food Bank fight Community Hunger!
+ May their Memory be Eternal +
+ 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