+
Sunday, February 4th 2007 +
Sunday of the Prodigal Son
& Sunday after the Presentation of our
Lord into the Temple
Tone:
1 + Eothinion: 1
*******************************************************************************************************
+ In the
Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“Our way, O brethren, is to know the
power of this mystery; for when the Prodigal Son ran away from sin, hastening
to that fatherly refuge, his all-good father welcomed him and kissed him,
granting him signs of glory. He celebrated the mystical joy to the celestial
ones when he killed the fatted calf, that we might conduct ourselves becomingly
towards the Sacrificer, the Father and Lover of mankind, and to the Sacrificed
One, the glorious Savior of our souls. Amen.”
+ The
Epistle +
Verse: Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us.
Rejoice in the Lord, O
ye righteous.
The Reading is from
the First Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians.
(Chapter
6:12-20)
Brethern, all things are lawful for me, but
all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be
brought under the power of any. Foods for the stomach and the stomach for
foods, but God will destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for sexual
immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God both raised up
the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. Do you not know that your
bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make
them members of a harlot? Certainly not! Or do you not know that he who is
joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become
one flesh.” But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Flee
sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who
commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that
your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from
God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore
glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
+ The
Holy Gospel +
(Chapter 15:11-32)
The Lord spoke this parable: “A certain
man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me
the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood.
And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a
far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he
had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in
want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent
him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach
with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. “But when he
came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread
enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my
father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before
you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your
hired servants.”’ “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a
great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his
neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ “But
the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him,
and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf
here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is
alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. “Now his
older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard
music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked what these things
meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received
him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’ “But he was angry
and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. So he
answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you;
I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a
young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. But as soon as this son of
yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the
fatted calf for him.’ “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and
all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad,
for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”
Meditation
– Sunday of the Prodigal Son
Through the Parable of today’s Gospel, our
Savior has set forth 3 things for us: the condition of the sinner, the rule of
repentance, and the greatness of God’s compassion. The Holy Fathers have put
this reading the week after the Parable of the Pharisee and the Publican so
that, seeing in the person of the Prodigal Son our own wretched condition –
inasmuch as we are sunken in sin, far from God and His Mysteries – we might at
last come to our senses and make haste to return to Him by repentance during
these holy days of the Great Fast. St. Symeon the New Theologian compares the
teachings of Jesus to a treasure chest of jewels, diamonds, rubies and other
precious stones which, when opened, gleams with rays of light. One of the most
brilliant jewels in this treasure chest is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. It
has been said that if we had lost all of the teachings of Jesus and had in our
possession only this single parable, we would still know the heart of Jesus’
message. Why did the son want to leave his father’s house? Why did the father
let him go so easily and give him a substantial portion of the property that he
knew would be wasted? Why couldn’t the older brother share in the father’s joy
when his younger brother returned alive and well? There’s so much to think
about here! The Parable of the Prodigal Son concentrates on a runaway who comes
to his senses and returns home. The central and most attractive figure in the
parable is the father. The son returns home not because of selfless love or
because of a courageous decision to make things right, but because of a
personal need. But the love of the father for both of his sons, difficult as
they are for different reasons, shines through the parable. He loves his sons
unconditionally with a love that seeks not its own. He loves each son because
each is his son, a part of him, not just in a physical but also in a personal
and spiritual way. If he were to lose the one, he would lose part of himself.
If the other were to stay angry and resentful, the father would be unhappy. In
his love the father reaches out to do everything in his power for their benefit
without violating their personal freedom. There is nothing the sons could do
that would make him stop loving them. What an image we have here of God’s love
for each of us! Jesus wants to teach us that God is love and His burning
concern, His supreme joy, is to have us live near Him as His sons and
daughters.
* Announcements,
Activities & Upcoming Services *
“It is good to be Zealous in a Good Thing
Always…” (Galatians 4:18)
v
Every Saturday at 6:00 p.m. - Great Vespers
v
Saturday of the Souls – Saturday, February 10th
2007. Matins at 8:45 a.m. & Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m. All names for
commemoration are to be delivered to the Altar on Saturday morning before the
Divine Liturgy. No names are to be given by telephone, please join us to
pray for your loved ones together.
v
Next Sunday, February 11th 2007, is Meatfare Sunday, meaning that we are not
permitted to eat meat products after that Sunday if you are planning on fasting
this year. Please take a copy of the 2007 Lenten Calendar from the Candle Stand
next Sunday. Have a Blessed Fast!
ü
Are You Registered?
Many people are attending Church every Sunday
and are not yet registered into the Church Directory. If you are not
registered, the Office does not have your phone number and address and
therefore you do not receive any mail from us nor are we able to contact you to
annually bless your home, nor do you have your own set of registered Church
donation envelopes for any offerings given to the Church in order to receive
your annual tax receipt. Therefore, please register at the Cathedral Office,
and allow us to get to know you better.
ü
Altar Boys 12th
Reunion – Today!
Attention all Altar Boys, who are serving now
and have served in the past. You are all invited to participate in the
celebration of the 12th Reunion of the Altar Boys of St. Elias
Cathedral today. You are welcome to come and serve in the Altar and join us for
a small lunch after the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral Hall downstairs.
Tickets (Donations) are $10.00 for adults & $7.00 for children.
ü
Thank You!
We would like to thank the following
parishioners who generously donated the lunch today for the Altar Boy’s 12th
Reunion. Thank you: Joe Ayoub, Dimitri Zeidan, Charles Saikaley, George &
Michel hanna, and Saloma Tannis.
ü
Online Calendar of
Events
St. Elias Cathedral now has an online calendar
of events for all of our Church Organizations (Fellowship of St. John the
Divine; Teen SOYO; Church School; Choir Practices; Antiochian Women) and
upcoming Liturgical Services. Visit our website (www.steliascathedral.com) and
click on ‘New Calendar’ to keep up to date with what is happening.
ü
2007 Church Calendar
We have limited copies remaining of the 2007
Church Calendar with two selections of beautiful Icons for your homes and offices,
please take a copy from the Vestibule today while they are still available, we
are asking for a generous $5.00 donation. God bless you!
ü
Antiochian Women
Scholarships
Scholarships are available from the Antiochian
Women for women who choose to continue their education in order to improve
their own situation and that of their families. Scholarships are awarded yearly
in July. The qualifications for the scholarship are as follows. Applicant must:
be a female over 25 years of age; be a member in good standing of a parish of
the Antiochian Archdiocese; be actively involved in her parish; be applying
for, or registered in, an academic or trade program of study; demonstrate
financial need. For further information or to recommend a possible candidate
for a scholarship, please speak to Mrs. Susane Zeidan (President of the
Antiochian Women) or to Fr. Ghattas.
ü
Fellowship of St. John
the Divine
Weekly Meeting every Tuesday from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. SHARP! Please be on time. A Bible Study/Religious Discussion will take
place in the Church School Building (1st Floor). Please give us your
email address if you are not receiving our weekly online newsletter &
calendar.
ü
Teen SOYO
Weekly Meeting every Wednesday from 7:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. SHARP! in the Cathedral Hall downstairs. Please be on time.
* Attention
Parents: We are responsible for
your children when they are inside the Church Building attending the Teen SOYO
activity, which is under the supervision of the Clergy and Youth Workers. Please be sure to bring and pick them up
from the meeting on time, as we are not responsible for them after 8:30 p.m.
when the meeting is over. If your teen(s) are not attending (or do not know about) the meetings
and would like to attend, please call the Office and let us know so that we can
welcome your children when they come. We have a mix of activities: Sports,
Games, Activities, Fundraising, Religious Discussions, Bible Studies, etc.
Please give us your email address if you are not receiving our weekly online
newsletter & calendar. Also, if you would like to know and make sure that
your teens are attending the meetings, we do take attendance each time, please call the Office and speak with
Fr. Mark.
ü
Summer Pilgrimage to
Greece (June 3rd
-15th)
Have you thought about joining us on our
pilgrimage to Greece this summer? We will be visiting lots of beautiful
Churches & Monasteries; along with many Historic Ruins, Old Markets,
Beautiful Beaches, Land Marks & Awe-inspiring Scenery!
We
extended
the deadline for you
to make your reservations and submit your downpayments. The New Deadline is now
Friday, February 23rd 2007. For more details please call the
Cathedral Office.
ü Church Beautification
“Blessed are those who love the beauty of Thy House, O Lord”
Our Iconographer may unfortunately
be retiring in the near future and we are looking to finish (while we still
can) the empty areas over the Altar and over the Choir Loft with a beautiful
new set of icons. Some icons are already donated by some parishioners and they
will be delivered and installed in the near future. Other icons left for
selection are: Thomas Sunday; The Mystical/Last Supper; The Holy Hymnographers;
Myrrh Bearers at the Tomb; Christ appearing at Tiberias; Christ appearing at
Emmaus and the Breaking of the Bread; and many more! If you are
interested in donating any icons, please contact Fr. Ghattas in the office or
speak to him after the Divine Liturgy.
Message
from the Pastors
Sunday, February 4th
2007
“In
Peace let us Pray to the Lord”
Dear Beloved
Parishioners,
Greetings
in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
At
the beginning of almost every service in the Holy Orthodox Church, we begin our
petitions to God (on behalf of the whole congregation) by proclaiming “In Peace
let us Pray to the Lord”. This is because we cannot pray and sustain a
prayerful atmosphere without first having peace.
The
Church is the House of God, and as the Lord said to the Holy Prophet Isaiah:
“My House shall be called a House of Prayer” (Isaiah 56:7), we must also uphold this Divine Order, by confirming
first of all the peace in His House.
Peace
is upheld in the Church the same way it is in any other place, including our
own homes, by having a set of orderly rules. These rules are there to guarantee
the safety of all who are attending the service; to assure them that it is a
peaceful place to bring their children to worship God; to assure them that they
are attending a prayerful meeting and not a wild riot or a violent street-fight,
where a mockery becomes of God’s House! When the Clergy are slandered and
threatened, the Church is damaged and unsafe, and those who cause mischief and
have evil in their hearts work tirelessly to tear apart the Parish by causing a
havoc, and thus attempting to demolish the Peace and forbidding everyone from
praying freely. This is not Christianity! This is not honoring God’s House!
Christianity
is love and forgiveness; humility and repentance; faith, hope and prayer; peace
and tranquility; stillness and harmony; mercy and absolution; modesty and
meekness; obedience and patience. All of these things help bring us closer to
God. This is why we say: “In Peace let us Pray to the Lord”. The House of the
Lord is a house of prayer and peace, not a house of problems and hate. Our God
is a God of peace, not of confusion and disorder. Those who hate His Church and
dishonor His House and scheme against those who serve Him faithfully are
nothing but dead branches! Bad trees bearing bad fruit, and by their fruits you
will know them (St. Matthew 7:18-20).
However,
we are still called to pray for them, because we as Christians are to love all
people; and we forgive all who truly repent and seek forgiveness. But this does
not mean that proper discipline is excused, and order is not brought to the
Church. When the peace is disturbed in the Church due to a problem which caused
all control to be lost, and chaos to take over instead, the proper process of
correction and penance must occur to assure this does not happen again.
We
want to remind everyone that our Cathedral is part of the Antiochian
Archdiocese and it is ruled by Canonical Hierarchs such as His Eminence
Metropolitan PHILIP, who consecrated our Cathedral. And His Grace Bishop
ALEXANDER, who is Bishop of the Diocese of Ottawa, Eastern Canada and Upstate
New York, and this is his Cathedral. St. Elias Cathedral belongs to all
Orthodox Christians who attend to pray faithfully and peacefully. We all belong
to the Church, the Church does not belong to us. Those who gave monetary
donations for building the Church gave ‘donations’, which are gifts, they are
no longer in possession and ownership of the donors, therefore they are not
used as a reason to claim ownership of the Church in any way! The Priests are
not employees controlled by the parishioners, nor is the Parish Council the
employers of the Church. The Priest (or Pastor) is appointed by the
Metropolitan to be the Shepherd and Spiritual Leader of the entire Parish, and
the Parish Council is the elected body of parishioners present to assist the
Pastor in properly maintaining the Church in an orderly fashion.
“Remind
them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every
good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceful, gentle, showing all
humility to all men”. (Titus 3:1-2)
“Let
the Elders who rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those
who labor in the word and doctrine” (1
Timothy 5:17)
We
would like to bring your attention to the following statute from “The Priest’s
Guide of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America”, Page
18, Section X, #3, that “No layman is
permitted to make a speech or preach a eulogy or sing songs for the departed in
the Church”.
It
has been the practice of the Church from the earliest times until now that only
Bishops and Priests are permitted to speak in Church. This rule has been
re-iterated by all the Patriarchs of the Middle East and remains in effect
today. Thus it is not a new rule. The prayers of the Church and the sermon of
the Clergy are directed to console the family and friends. No other speeches
are appropriate at this occasion. Members of the family who would like to make
a speech may do so at the Funeral Home, the cemetery, or at the mercy meal. So
many times when speeches are read in the Funeral Homes (where it is permitted),
the Priests hear unimaginable blasphemies and improper material, which is
definitely not suitable for Church.
With
this rule being made known prior to the funeral service, a very disgraceful
disruption was still made and it even became violent, the Police were called,
and certain legal actions had to immediately take place in order to protect the
safety of our faithful parishioners and their families and assure a lasting
peace in our Church. The Pastors and the Parish Council, with the guidance of
our Legal Advisor and blessing of our Bishop, took the appropriate steps that
were in the best interest of the peace and safety of the Church. From the
beginning of this issue, all of our Church Organizations have been in full
support of the Parish Council and you can read some of their messages following
this letter.
We
pray that those who have suffered unjustly over this issue will be comforted;
and that those who take pleasure in the suffering of others will be humbled and
seek true forgiveness.
In
Christ,
Very Rev. Fr. Ghattas Hajal Rev. Fr. Mark Arsenios Wyatt
Dean Assistant Pastor
Excerpts from the Letters
of Concern and Support of the Parish Council
From the Officers of the Church
Organizations
“I
would like to state that I am in complete agreement with and will support the
Parish Council in any plan of action they pursue to prevent this discreditable
conduct from happening again! The safety and welfare of our children is
foremost in my mind. We must ensure that they are not exposed to a hostile
environment in their own Church! Such disgraceful and unholy conduct cannot be
allowed to continue! We will support any necessary action taken by the Parish
Council on the Church’s behalf, with (hopefully) the end result being the
cessation of such dangerous and blasphemous outbursts in our beloved Church!
These volatile situations pose a danger to both our Clergy and our parishioners!
The Sanctity of our Church must be maintained!”
“We
are always concerned for the safety of our fellow parishioners and children,
and feel the Holy sanctity of our Cathedral has been breeched. We come to the
House of the Lord to pray and find peace. A disruption of this magnitude has
upset us deeply. We trust the Parish Council to deal with this firmly, and
respectfully. And we fully stand behind the Parish Council in the resolution of
this matter, and pray for all concerned.”
“I
am concerned of the safety of all of us parishioners at our beloved Cathedral
and I urge you to take the appropriate measures to resolve this matter as soon
as possible. I pledge my support to you in resolving this issue and in keeping
our Cathedral a safe haven as it always was. I would be more than glad to
assist you if required.”
“I
would like to express our full support of our Parish Council’s stand to take
the necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of all our
parishioners. It is sad and unimaginable that our safety be potentially
jeopardized as we come into a Holy House of the Lord to worship Him. This being
the most unfortunate case, we have full confidence that our Parish Council will
act in our best interest to preserve our safety.”
“I
wish and pray that the current situation cools down and that things don’t get
out of hand. I pray that we can worship in peace, and that these individuals
recant their threats and hostility, and seek forgiveness. I hope and pray that
they do seek forgiveness and they are forgiven and can return to Church to
worship and pray with us in peace. However, until it is made clear that they
will remain peaceful in Church, I do not think it is wise to risk exposing the
youth of our Church to such un-Christ-like behaviour. Thank you all again for
your hard work and for making such very difficult decision.”
+ 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, Eastern
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