+ Sunday, October 21, 2007 +

21^st Sunday after Pentecost

Tone: 4 + Eothinion: 10

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+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +

“Do not cease encamping round about my soul, daily guarding me from every affliction; but do thou check the wild raging of demons, and end their bestial assaults roused against my soul, O my

Guardian Angel, good protector sent by God, for in thee do I have a fervent help.”

Next Sunday’s Readings:

Epistle: Galatians. (6:11-18) Holy Gospel: St. Luke. (8:41-56)

+ The Epistle +

Verse: “O Lord, how magnificent are Thy works, Thou has made all things in wisdom,

Bless the Lord, O my soul”.

The Reading is from the Letter of St. Paul the Apostle to the Galatians.

(Chapter 2:16-20)

Brethren, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. “But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not! For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

+ The Holy Gospel +

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Chapter (8:26-39)

At that time, Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And as He stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What hast Thou to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech Thee, do not torment me.” For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. [For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.] Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. And they begged Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged Jesus to let them enter these. So He gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so He got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with Jesus; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare all that God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city all that Jesus had done for him.

* Announcements *

v Every Saturday – Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.

v Every Sunday – Matins at 8:45 a.m. & Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.

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 area over the Choir Loft with a beautiful new set of icons. Some icons left for selection are:

v The Holy Hymnographers & Antiochian Saints (For Example: St. Joseph of Damascus, St. Isaac the Syrian, Sts. Sergios & Bachos the Unmercenary Healers. OR any other Orthodox Saint you would like to honor and have depicted on the walls of our Cathedral.

If you are interested in donating any icons, please contact Fr. Ghattas in the office or speak to him after the Divine Liturgy.

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 (1^st Floor). Please give us your email address if you are not receiving our weekly online newsletter.

ü Fall Delegate Meetings October 26-27, 2007

Reservation: Best Western Country Squire Resort, Gananoque @ 1800-267-9415

For more information, please contact the Cathedral’s Office @ 738-2222

ü Harvest Luncheon this Sunday

Please join us today after the Divine Liturgy for a delicious Harvest Luncheon in the St. Elias Banquet Center. Tickets will be on Sale at the door.

Adult: $15.00 Children under 12: $10.00

ü Teen SOYO

October is Youth Month! This month the teens will be reading the epistle and collecting the trays.

ü Second Tray

Today, there will be a second tray collection to help support the Teen Special Olympics, please be generous.

+ + + + + + + + + +

Explanation of the Nicene Creed – Part 19

(Taken from: Orthodox Faith - Volume 1 - Doctrine)

… Redemption… (2)

The sufferings and death of Christ in obedience to the Father reveals the super-abundant divine love of God for his creation. For when all was sinful, cursed, and dead, Christ became sin, a curse, and dead for us -- though he himself never ceased to be the righteousness and blessedness and life of God Himself. It is to this depth, of which lower and more base cannot be discovered or imagined, that Christ has humiliated himself "for us men and for our salvation." For being God, he became man; and being man, he became a slave; and being a slave, he became dead and not only dead, but dead on a cross. From this deepest degradation of God flows the eternal exaltation of man. This is the pivotal doctrine of the Orthodox Christian faith, expressed over and again in many ways throughout the history of the Orthodox Church. It is the doctrine of the atonement -- for we are made to be "at one" with God. It is the doctrine of redemption -- for we are redeemed, i.e., "bought with a price," the great price of the blood of God (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor 6:20).

Have this mind among yourselves which you have in Christ Jesus who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant [slave], being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Phil 2:5-11).

In contemplating the saving and redeeming action of Christ, it has become traditional to emphasize three aspects which in reality are not divided, and cannot be; but which in theory (i.e., in the vision of Christ's being. and activity as the Saviour of the world) may be distinguished. The first of these three aspects of the redeeming work of Christ is the fact that Jesus saves mankind by providing the perfect image and example of human life as filled with the grace and power of God.

Jesus, the Perfect Image of Human Life

Christ is the incarnate Word of God. He is the Teacher and Master sent by God to the world. He is the embodiment of God Himself in human form. He is "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15). In Him "the fullness of divinity dwells bodily" (Col 2:9). The person who sees Jesus sees God the Father (Jn 14:9). He is the "reflection of the glory of God and the express image of His person" (Heb 1:3). He is the "light of the world" who "enlightens every man...coming into the world" (Jn 8:12, 1:9). To be saved by Jesus Christ is first of all to be enlightened by Him; to see Him as the Light, and to see all things in the light of Him. It is to know Him as "the Truth" (Jn 14:6); and to know the truth in Him.

And you will know the truth and the truth will make you free (Jn 8:31).

When one is saved by God in Christ one comes to the knowledge of the truth, fulfilling God's desire for His creatures, for "God our Saviour ... desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim 2:4). In saving God's world, Jesus Christ enlightens God's creatures by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father and is sent into the world through Christ.

If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; you know Him, for He dwells with you, and will be in you (Jn 14:15-17).

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you ... (Jn 15:26).

When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth ... (Jn 16:13).

The first aspect of salvation in Christ, therefore, is to be enlightened by Him and to know the truth about God and man by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, which God gives through Him to those who believe. This is witnessed to in the apostolic writings of Saints John and Paul:

Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who possess the Spirit. [...] For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:13-16).

For [God] has made known to us in all wisdom and insight the mystery of His will, according to His purpose which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and things on earth. [...] To me ... this grace was given ... to make all men see what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God ... that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known ... (Eph 1:8-10; 3:9).

For I want ... that their hearts may be encouraged as they are knit together in love, to have all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery in Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col 2:1-3).

But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you know all things I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and know that no lie is of the truth. [...] but the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that any one should teach you; as His anointing teaches you about everything, and is true and is no lie, just as it has taught you, abide in Him. [...] And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit which He has given to us (1 Jn 2:20-27; 3:24).

(To be continued…)

+ 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

The Very Rev. Father Daniel Matheson – Emeritus

Rev. Dn. Dimitri Choueiri