St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, McKinney, Texas
Electronic Newsletter
September 26 / October 9 17th Sunday after Pentecost
Announcements
Prayer Requests
Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week
Fasting in the Coming week
Links related to the coming week
Announcements
There is a ton of stuff this week
1. Fr Seraphim And Deacon Nicholas will be traveling to Des Plaines to the Protection of the Holy Theotokos Cathedral to serve for Pokrov (the Protection of the Theotokos), with Bishop Peter and all the Diocesan clergy. We would appreciate your prayers.
2. Because of 1, above, there will be NO services on Wednesday or Thursday this week. We will have our usual Monday Moleben, where we pray for everyone in the parish, or even associated in a small way with the parish by name.
3. The former "Adrian" is now Hierodeacon Athanasius, in Romania. I am not sure when he was ordained, but just found this out from a parishioner. Axios!
4. "FORTY DAYS for LIFE" is in full swing now. I FULLY SUPPORT our participation in this worthy endeavor, and Fr Nicholas, myself, and Matushka Marina (at least) are participating. ARE YOU? I am asking you to!
We will gather at various hours, from 7 am till 7 pm, October 19th, at the Southwestern Late-term Abortion Facility, 8616 Greenville Ave., Dallas.. If you do not know what to do, not to worry! There will be prayers there for us to use. We will sing akathists, and canons. If you cannto sing, you can just say them!
Abortion is a cancer which kills much more than an unborn child. We must pray not only for mothers who are contemplating abortion, but also those who have had abortions and are suffering in many ways. The world tells them that they have a "right to choose", but the soul tells them something is wrong. Our society is breaking down in almost every way because of immorality, and abortion rights are one of the lynch pins upon which this disintegration devolves. May we in some way contribute to the saving of untold women and men from the "mouth of the lion" because of immorality, which kills the soul.
See https://orthodox.net/redeemingthetime/2011/09/24/orthodox-christians-prayer-for-40-days-for-life-vigil-october-19th-700-a-m-to-700-p-m/ for information on how to sign up and participate in our Orthodox prayer.
5. There will be a "Forty Days for Life" rally and picnic next Saturday, Oct 1, 12 noon – 1:30 p.m., Harry S. Moss Park, 8000 Greenville Ave., Dallas. I am going, and will hear Fr Seraphim Hipsch, of our sister parish of St Sava speak. Are you? I am asking you to! See:
6. Fr Nichoals and Genevieve are gone this weekend for soem well desierved rest at an undisclosed location.
Our new facility brings with it many new maintenance and upkeep tasks. Matushka Marina and Reader David Hawthorne need volunteers to help get all the work done.If you can give a few hours of our time to help care for God's house, please contact Matushka Marina, Reader David or Deacon Nicholas and we'll tell you how you can help.
We have updated our list of things our parish needs. If you or somebody you know wish to supply one of these items, please contact us.
Prayer Requests
For the Health and Salvation.
- Alexandra (4 y/o girl wih brain cancer)
- Priests Jean and Grégoire and all the faithful and suffering of Haiti.
- The suffering people of East Japan.
For a more complete listing, please see our parish prayer list. Anyone can make requests.
Schedule of Divine Services in the Coming week
Monday 10/10
- 7:30PM Moleben
NO OTHER SERVICES DURING THE WEEKDAYS BECAUSE OF CLERGY TRAVEL
Saturday 10/15.
- 4PM Confession
- 5PM Vigil
Sunday 10/16
- 10AM Divine Liturgy
- 12:45PM Church School after Trapeza
Fasting in the Coming week
Normal fasting rules apply.Wednesday and Friday are fast days. On Wednesday, please refrain from animal products, fish, wine and oil. On Friday, because it is the Protection of the Mother of God, we will can have wine and oil (but refrain from animal products.) AS ALWAYS, consult Fr Seraphim if you have any questions, problems, etc.
Links
Orthodox Christians Prayer for 40 Days for Life Vigil: October 19th, 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
40 Days for Life Dallas Rally (Sat, Oct 15) with Priest Seraphim Hipsch speaking
Because of the The Lukan Jump, we read about the Miraculous draught of fish this Sunday. There are a lot of homilies on this subject.
The Miraculous Draught Of Fish 2000 (Word DOC format)
The First Great Catch Of Fish – 2002 (audio)
The great catch of fish at lake Genesaret – Words to live by: 'Nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.' (audio)
You can watch this sermon on the following video platforms: Yahoo, MySpace, Metacafe, Google, DailyMotion, Blip.tv and Veoh
The Great Catch Of Fish – The Greatest Miracle Was Not The Fish – Audio
The First Great Catch Of Fish – We are not saved by works of the law, but by being with Christ. The second great catch of fish illustrates this.
SYNOPSIS:The first Great catch of fish, read in context with the 2nd great catch (which occurred three years later, 8 days after the resurrection) is truly the "Gospel" – the "Good News", because it is a promise to us that we can change and truly become holy – all we need do is be with Jesus Christ throughout our life. We compare the two great catches, and explore what it means to be with Christ. The Epistle reading is from Galatians, them overall theme of which is that we cannot be saved bu . We are not saved by works, but we cannot be saved unless we stay with Christ throughout our life – we examine what this means.
Next week, we read from Luke 6:31-36, about the “Golden Rule”
"As ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." – Audio
The Golden Rule – Ye Shall Be The Children Of The Highest
SYNOPSIS:The "Golden Rule" is explained, including a mention of how the world twists this rule into a sort of magical "law of attraction". The REASON for the golden rule and everything we do is because we are "children of the highest".
Saint John Of Kronstadt, and The Purpose Of The Incarnation, "Ye shall be children of the Highest" Luke 6:31-36
SYNOPSIS:On this Sunday before Nativity, St John of Kronstadt is also commemorated, and the Gospel for him and his life perfectly describes the purpose of the Incarnation. This Gospel contains our Lord's admonishments to love, using concrete examples, and concludes with the promise "And ye shall be children of the highest". This is the purpose of the incarnation, and examining this Gospel along with St John's life, which struggled to fulfill it illuminates this purpose for us, therefore, on this Sunday when we read the "Begats", it is appropriate to delve into what is means to be children of the highest, and how and why we can attain this high calling. We also suggest another way to describe the "Golden Rule" and what should be our inner motivation for loving our fellow man, and doing anything that is good in this life.
That oughta keep you busy!