+ Sunday, January 6, 2008
Feast of Divine Epiphany of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ
+
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+ In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
“The Lord, incarnate of the Virgin, having clothed material flesh with the immaterial fire of His divinity, wraps Himself in the waters of Jordan, for He has been glorified!”
+ The Epistle +
Verse: Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord.
Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good
The reading is from St. Paul’s Letter to the Titus
Chapter 2.11-14; 3.4-7
TITUS, my son, the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce irreligion and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds. Declare these things; exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of deeds done by us in righteousness, but in virtue of His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit, which he poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that we might be justified by His grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
+ The Holy Gospel +
The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew
Chapter 3:13-17
At that time, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now; for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and alighting on Him; and lo, a voice from heaven, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
* Announcements *
ü Welcome!
We would like to extend a very warm welcome to His Grace Bishop ALEXANDER, who is blessing us with his presence and presiding over the Divine Liturgy today and celebrating with us the Feast of Epiphany. God grant you many years, O Master!
ü Happy Birthday! “Fr. Ghattas & Fr. Daniel”
We would like to wish both Fr. Ghattas & Fr. Daniel a very Happy Birthday! God grant you both many more years in His service.
ü Church Annual Dues 2007
Dear Parishioners,
Please remember to pay your Annual Dues for the year 2007 ($350.00) as soon as possible. Your generous contributions are directed towards the reduction of the debt and the general operation of the Church. Dead line to pay your 2007 dues is January 15, 2008.
ü 2008 Church Calendar
We have received the 2008 Church Calendar with two beautiful Icons for your homes and offices, please take a copy from the Vestibule today, we are asking for a generous $5.00 donation. God bless you!
ü God-Parents Sunday January 13, 2008
This year and for the first time in Ottawa we would like to designate the First Sunday after the Holy Epiphany as the God-Parents Sunday.
God-Parents play a very important role in the raising up of their God-Children to become good Christians.
This Sunday is to remind the God-Parents of their responsibility, and remind the God-Children to remember their God-Parents and pray for their good health and prosperity.
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.
ü Teen SOYO
Weekly Meeting every Friday from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 pm. Please give us your email address if you are not receiving our weekly online newsletter & calendar.
ü Blessing Homes
Fr. Ghattas will start his annual Blessing of Homes after the Holy Feast of Epiphany. Our office will contact you and let you know when Fr. Ghattas will be in your area. If you work, and you have no answering machine, it would be impossible for us to contact you. You have to call us.
For those parishioners whose names and addresses are not on our parish list, you are kindly requested to call the office @ 738-2222 and register your name, address, phone number, and names of your family members living with you.
Explanation of the Nicene Creed – Part 28
(Taken from: Orthodox Faith - Volume 1 - Doctrine)
… Kingdom of God …
.. And of his kingdom there
will be no end ...
Jesus is the royal Son of David, of whom it was prophesied by the angel at his
birth:
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end (Lk 1:32-33).
Through his sufferings as the Christ, Jesus achieved everlasting kingship and lordship over all creation. He has become "King of kings and Lord of lords," sharing this title with God the Father Himself (Deut 10:17; Dan 2:47; Rev 19:16). As a man, Jesus Christ is King of the Kingdom of God.
Christ came for no other reason than to bring God's kingdom to men. His very
first public words are exactly those of his forerunner, John the Baptist:
"Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Mt 3:2, 4:17).
All through his life Jesus spoke of the kingdom. In the sermons such as the Sermon on the Mount and the many parables, he told of the everlasting kingdom.
Blessed are the poor in
spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven ...
Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.
He who does these commandments and teaches them shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven.
But seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness, and all things
will be yours as well.
Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of
heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Mt 5-7).
The mustard seed, the leaven, the pearl of great price, the lost coin, the treasure in the field, the fishing net, the wedding feast, the banquet, the house of the Father, the vineyard ... all are signs of the kingdom which Jesus has come to bring. And on the night of His last supper with the disciples He tells the apostles openly:
You are those who have continued with me in my trials; as my Father appointed a kingdom for me, so do I appoint for you that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Lk 22: 28-30; Reading of the Vigil of Holy Thursday).
Christ's kingdom is "not of this world" (Jn 18:31). He says this to Pontius Pilate when being mocked as king, revealing in this humiliation His genuine divine kingship. The Kingdom of God, which Christ will rule, will come with power at the end of time when the Lord will fill all creation and will be truly "all, and in all" (Col 3:11). The Church, which in popular Orthodox doctrine is called the Kingdom of God on earth, has already mysteriously been given this experience. In the Church, Christ is already acknowledged, glorified, and served, as the only king and lord; and His Holy Spirit, whom the saints of the Church have identified with the Kingdom of God, is already given to the world in the Church with full graciousness and power.
The Kingdom of God, therefore, is a Divine Reality. It is the reality of God's
presence among men through Christ and the Holy Spirit. "For the Kingdom of God ... means ... peace and joy and righteousness in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14:17). The Kingdom of God as a spiritual, divine reality is given to men by Christ in the
Church. It is celebrated and participated in the sacramental mysteries of the
faith. It is witnessed to in the scriptures, the councils, the canons, and the
saints. It will become the universal, final cosmic reality for the whole of
creation at the end of the ages when Christ comes in glory to fill all things
with Himself by the Holy Spirit, that God might be "all and in all"
(1 Cor 15:28).
(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 Most Rev. Metropolitan PHILIP
Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of all North America
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