This selection from the end of the First Letter of St John the Theologian, the “Apostle of Love” contains many important passages, and we discuss some of them in detail: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?”, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.”, “We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not;” St John teaches that the becoming “born of God” is a process, and is only completed when we reach perfection, that is when we no longer sin. He also teaches us the way to learn to love God – love our neighbor. He also teaches the Christian understanding of the commandments of God, which is not well known, or understood: we follow the commandments out of love for God, and not because of fear of punishment.
Month: February 2012
Electronic Newsletter January 30/ February 12 Prodigal Son / Holy Three Hierarchs
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKinney, Texas Electronic Newsletter January 30/ February 12 Prodigal Son / Holy Three Hierarchs Announcements "Mighty Mites" Collection Prayer Requests Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week Fasting in the Coming week Announcements The Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America Youth Committee is hosting a Lenten Retreat on the weekend… Continue reading Electronic Newsletter January 30/ February 12 Prodigal Son / Holy Three Hierarchs
Pastor’s report at the annual meeting. The Purpose of a parish. 2012
Pastor’s address at annual meeting, 2012. This is part homily, part sharing from the heart, part progress report, and part exhortation and thanksgiving. The most important part is at the beginning – the “Purpose of a parish”
The Parable of the Prodigal Son teaches us 2 very important things in the process of repentance.
The Parable of the Prodigal Son is part of a 4 week preparation period for Great Lent. We discuss the purpose and main teaching of the 4 Sundays, and then do a somewhat quick survey of the parable, mentioning all the lush symbolism and metaphor, and concentrating on the most important part – the core of the parable – that we must learn. It consists of two things. We must “come our ourselves” – this is not a one time epiphany as described in the parable, but a daily process, that changes over time, and as we are in the process of “arising and going”, we must be ever aware of how our Father is always with us and will help us, even when we feel abandoned, fruitless, or our resolve to change falters. We also look briefly at the older son, who teaches us a very important lesson regarding self-knowledge. This is important stuff!
The simple meaning of the parable of the Publican and Pharisee and the Jesus prayer.
This is really two homilies. The first is about the simple meaning of the parable of the Publican and Pharisee. It is that we will not be saved if we are proud and judge others. We discuss some of its nuances. We also discuss the prayer of the publican “God be mercy to be a sinner”, and the Jesus prayer. There is a lot of practical detail. This is really important stuff.
Electronic Newsletter January 23/ February 5 Publican and Pharisee / New Martyrs of Russia
Announcements
“Mighty Mites” Collection
Prayer Requests
Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week
Fasting in the Coming week
Our choir sings 3 stichera from the Triodion for the Publican and Pharisee
Our choir sings the 3 stichera from the Triodion for the Publican & Pharisee (and an infant occasionally provides a little commentary!) The refrains are intoned by an 8 year old child. We do this often, for those children who want to learn to sing. We are learing to use our new Zoom recorder.
Teaching of Vespers on the Publican and Pharisee, exegesis of Timothy
The first 3 hymns of Vespers from the Triodion teach us the meaning of the Publican & Pharisee parable. We also examine the epistle for this day, and tremble regarding our example to others. We look at the expectation of persecution that a Christian must have and example from the current news of how “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” is being fulfilled in our day. Also the power of scripture and the necessity of reading it.