St. John Orthodox Church A Parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America 1663 Tutwiler Ave. Memphis, TN 38107 www.stjohnmemphis.org 901.274.4119 “…the Disciples were called Christian first in Antioch!” Acts 11:26

His Eminence Metropolitan JOSEPH V. Rev. Fr. Philip Rogers, Pastor Archbishop of New York & V. Rev. Fr. John Troy Mashburn, Jr., Metropolitan of all North America Pastor Emeritus

His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman, Associate Pastor Auxiliary Bishop of the Diocese of Miami V. Rev. Fr. Don Berge, Attached and the Southeast

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The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke Nineteenth Sunday after ~ October 18, 2020 ~

Epistle: Colossians 4:5-11, 14-18 : Luke 10:16-21

Welcome to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church. We are honored by your presence. It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine Liturgy will draw you closer to and His Church.

If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may see new things such as icons, incense, the sign of the cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing. These can be perplexing to the uninitiated eye. Rest assured that everything we do has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people. Please feel free to participate where you feel comfortable and feel equally as free only to observe when you prefer.

The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of Christian unity. While it is our deepest hope that Christendom will one day fulfill Christ’s desire for true unity among all those who claim His name (John 17:21), the unfortunate reality of our day is that the various segments of Christendom are not unified with the historic Orthodox faith. Since participation in the Eucharist expresses a unity with all the dogma and practice of the Orthodox Church, non-Orthodox guests do not receive Holy Communion. The Holy Eucharist is reserved for those members of the Orthodox Church who have prepared themselves by prayer, fasting, and recent confession. All visitors and unprepared Orthodox are invited to partake of the blessed bread as they come forward to venerate the cross at the end of the Liturgy. Thank you for your understanding.

ST. JOHN CALENDAR Oct. 18 - 25 (Fast: Wed. & Fri.)

Sunday -Teen Group, 1pm -PreTeen, 1pm Monday -First Hour, 6:45am MEMORIALS Tuesday -Third Hour, 9am October 18: Wednesday -Third Hour, 9am Oberbillig (40 days), Urania Alissandratos (10/6) -Youth Group, 6pm

Thursday -Third Hour, 9am November 1: Friday -First Hour, 6:45am Helen Lutrell (10/29), Margaret -Third Hour, 9am Layman (11/2) -Sixth Hour, 12pm Saturday -Ninth Hour and Great Vespers, 6pm Sunday -Atrium Prayer Table, 9:30am -Orthros, 9am -Divine Liturgy, 10am

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DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS Birthdays, Anniversaries, Namedays Sunday Colossians 4:5-11, 14-18 Luke 10:16-21 Sunday, 10/18 Thursday, 10/22 Monday Acts 2:14-21 Luke, the Evangelist: Margie Yarbro Luke 9:18-22 Luke Heisig Tuesday 2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Friday, 10/23 Luke 7:1-10 Monday, 10/19 Zachary A. White

Wednesday 2 Corinthians 9:6-11 St. John of Kronstadt: Saturday, 10/24 Luke 9:44-50 John Cameron St. Sebastiane: Thursday Philippians 3:1-8 Prophet Joel: Judy Terry Luke 9:49-56 Joel Finley Friday Galatians 1:11-19 Matthew 13:54-58 Tuesday, 10/20

Saturday 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 Wednesday, 10/21 Luke 7:1-10 Judy Terry, Sunday Galatians 1:11-19 Nancy Ingram Luke 8:26-39

Remember in Your Prayers Our catechumen: Page Walley; Austin Brown; Rhy Williams; Fabio Martin; Joel Gulledge; Travis, Maggie, Sophie, Kenneth, Nate, & Bella Harms; Carole Sneed Prayer Requests: Nicholas Hill, Ernestine Pruitt (Nicholas Hill’s mother), Chris Hodges, Mickey Hodges, Elizabeth Allie (Buddy Bowick’s mother/Lawson’s grandmother), Brenda Thomas (Tupelo), Shukurat Nasanga Kisakye, Jay Brownlow, Bill Thomas (Kathryn McWhorter’s father), St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, victims of the wildfires in CA, those suffering in the Middle East, most especially the . Expecting: Sophia Garrison, Chelsea Yadron, Sarah Ortwein, Sally Boyle, Irene Hodges Kelley

ST. JOHN COMMUNITY

Fr. Philip Out of the Office – Fr. Philip will be out of the office for the entirety of the week.

AWSJ “Surviving 2020” Virtual Fall Retreat - November 14 The Women of St. John are invited to a virtual retreat featuring speaker Dr. Nicole Roccas and special guest Kh. Susan Cushman. We hope that this time shared will be profitable and fun for all who attend. Registration information has been emailed out and the deadline for registration is October 31. A link for information and registration can also be found on the AWSJ FB page.

Small Groups – All of us need some type of social interaction. While we cannot have large group gatherings at the church at this time, you are encouraged to form small groups. Perhaps invite a family or two for an outdoor visit with coffee following the Divine Liturgy. As we send out our educational videos with discussion questions you may want to form a small group to watch the video and discuss it together. This can also be done over zoom or some other virtual platform. It is good for all of us to have our “bubble” of people that we are comfortable interacting with. May God provide us with the relationships that we need!

Confessions – Fr. Philip has returned to hearing confessions following the services. If you would like to have your confession heard, please make a line outside the door on the west side of the nave. This will allow for privacy for each person making their confession. If you are not staying for confession, please venerate the icons and exit the nave to allow for the confessions to be heard.

Parish Council Update: Thank God, we’ve officially refinanced the mortgage on the St. Raphael Hall. Lord willing, this will put us in a position to pay off the loan on a better schedule. There are lots of little repairs that the church is working on as well as beginning to once again look at the possibility of replacing the HVAC unit for the Church building. May the Lord continue to provide for our community!

Women of St. John Calendar

10/21 (Wed.) Teaching, 10am We will be continuing All is Well by Dr. Al Rossi. Youth Calendar

Teens: Sun., 10/18 – Teaching, 1pm 10/24 (Sat.) Knitting Circle, 1pm, Meribeth Harvey’s backyard. As always, you can bring Oct. 31 – Costume Party, 6pm knitting, cross stitch, artwork, or nothing but your conversation! Socially distant seating is PreTeen: Sun., 10/18 – Teaching, 1pm available and we do ask that you bring masks Oct. 25 – Zoo Boo, 6pm and your own snacks & beverages. ALL YOUTH 11/2 (Mon.) AWSJ Book Club, 7pm Wednesday Night, 6pm Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover Saturday, Oct 31, 10am – YES Orientation

11/14 (Sat.) Virtual Retreat, “Surviving 2020” 10:30am – 3:30 pm Speaker: Nicole Roccas Writing Facilitator: Kh. Susan

LIBRARY LINES St. Luke (10/18) is a well-known and much-loved apostle. He shows us the Beauty of our Church in words and in images. However, few may realize that He was one of the Seventy. He wrote two books of the , accompanied St. Paul on his journeys, and painted the first icons of the Mother of God. St. John Library owns five books on his works: Commentary of the Gospel of Luke (REF PAT CYR), Exposition of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke (PAT AMB), Explanation of the Holy Gospel According to St. Luke (REF PAT THE), Acts (SCR COM CRO), and Commentary on the (REF PAT BED). See Meet the Evangelists (KID STS KHO), The Lives of the Holy Apostles (REF HAG - - - HOL) and Notes on the Holy Apostles (REF HAG - - - MAS) for details about his life. Who is a constant source of comfort when our non-Orthodox relatives die? St. Varus (10/19) is a much loved and prayed-to saint in our parish. He was a Roman soldier in Egypt and a secret Christian. He joined a band of martyrs being encouraged by them, much like the 40 martyrs of Sebaste. His relics were rescued by a pious widow, and St. Varus appeared to her at her son’s death. He is a saint who intercedes for the souls of our relatives outside the Church. Asleep for 200 years! Our Holy Tradition passes down accounts of events that defy the natural order of the world. The seven sleepers of Ephesus (10/22 and 8/4) retreated in a cave to pray and fast in preparation for martyrdom. The pagan emperor had the cave sealed, and God preserved the youths, asleep for over 200 years. The Mystery of the Resurrection was shown to all when their cave was discovered and the sleepers were found alive at a period in history when heretics denied the physical resurrection. Is the St. James (10/23) we honor Wednesday the author of the of St. James? Is he related to ? Is he an Apostle? No, yes and yes. He was a son of St. Joseph the Betrothed. Like Jesus, he was a Nazarene. When his “brother” began his ministry, he believed in Him. St. James was the first bishop of and was martyred in 63 A.D. by being thrown from a roof and then stoned. See The Lives of the Holy Apostles (REF HAG - - - HOL), The Disciples of Christ (KID STS SPR), and Notes on the Holy Apostles (REF HAG - - - MAS) for information about his life. Saturday we honor the Joy of All Who Sorrow icon of the Theotokos (10/24). In it, she is surrounded by flowers and scenes in which the faithful are traveling, suffering in sickness and old age, and enduring other storms of life. Many icons of the Theotokos have feast days. Read about them in Icons of the Most Holy Theotokos and Ever Virgin Mary and Prayers for her Intercessions (ART ICO KHO).

COMMEMORATIONS Oct. 18: Apostle ; Martyr Marinos the Elder at Anazarbos; Venerable Theodore and ; New-martyr of Egypt; Peter of Cetinje. Oct. 19: Prophet Joel; Martyr Varos; Mnason, Bishop of Cyprus; Venerable John of Rila and Prochoros of Pchinja. Oct. 20: Great-martyr Artemios at Antioch; Gerasimos the New Ascetic of Kephallenia; Venerable Matrona of Chios. Oct. 21: Venerable Hilarion the Great; Venerable Christodoulos of Patmos; Hieromartyr Soctrates; Martyr Theodota; Venerable Philotheos, and Hilarion, bishop of Meglin in Bulgaria; New- martyr John of Monemvasia; Venerable-confessors Vissarion and Sophroios of Ciorara and Martyr Oprea of Salistie in Romania. Oct. 22: Averkios the wonder-worker, equal-to-the-Apostles and bishop of Hierapolis; Seven youths (“Seven Sleepers”) martyred in Ephesos; Bishop Eulalios. Oct. 23: Apostle James, brother of the Lord; Ignatios, patriarch of Constantinople; James of Borovichi, wonder-worker of Novgorod. Oct. 24: Great-martyr Arethas (al-Haarith) and those with him in Arabia; Martyr Sebastian. Oct. 25: Martyrs Marcian and Martyrios the notaries; Martyrs Chrisaphos and Chrisanthe; Tabitha the merciful, raised from the dead by the Apostle Peter; translation of the relics of Venerable Sabbas the Sanctified; translation of the relics of Venerable John of Beverly.

From the Fathers: A lie is a delusion of the mind, while evil is a delusion of the will. The sign by which one is distinguished from the other is the judgment of God Himself ... that which he teaches a man: Truth is that which leads a man to will the good. But whatever contradicts this is entirely false, entirely evil. -St. Nicholas Cabasilas

We suffer because we have no humility and we do not love our brother. From love of our brother comes the love of God. People do not learn humility, and because of their pride cannot receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, and therefore the whole world suffers. -St Silouan the Athonite

There are people who desire the destruction, the torment in hell-fire of their enemies, or the enemies of the Church. They think like this because they have not learned divine love from the Holy Spirit, for he who has learned the love of God will shed tears for the whole world. -St. Silouan the Athonite

Every time a person falls, my child, he must arise, and he will be saved. When someone falls and voluntarily does not get up, this is from the demons. Despair is a demonic weapon which has broken down many; hope, however, has saved many from the filthy pit of mire… -Elder Ephraim of Arizona

Don't worry too much about how spiritually poor you are-God sees that, but for you it is expected to trust in God and pray to Him as best you can, never to fall into despair, and to struggle according to your strength. If you ever begin to think you are spiritually "well off"-then you can know for sure that you aren't! True spiritual life, even on the most elementary level, is always accompanied by suffering and difficulties. Therefore you should rejoice in all your difficulties and sorrows. -Fr Seraphim Rose

Humble yourself more in thought before God and men, and in this way you will see the Kingdom of God within yourself, and at that time your face will radiate with fervent peace and a pleasant smile. -St. Anthony of Optina

“The Lord wants us to love each other; this is the essence of freedom — love for God and for your neighbor. This is both freedom and equality. But in earthly titles there can be no equality; this is of no concern to the soul, however. Not everyone can be a king or a prince; not everyone can be a patriarch or an abbot, or a leader, but no matter what your title you can love God and serve Him, and that is all that matters. And whoever loves God more on earth shall be in greater glory in the Kingdom.” -St. Silouan of Mount Athos

“The friends of Christ love all truly, but are not themselves loved by all; the friends of the world neither love all nor are loved by all. The friends of Christ persevere in love to the end; the friends of the world persevere only until they fall out with each other over some worldly thing.” -Saint Maximos the Confessor

Love is the living and active participation in the well being of another person. -Metropolitan Philaret