sign in sign up
<<
Home , Brigid of Kildare, Gregory of Nazianzus

the Orthodox 146 Third Avenue, Rankin, PA 15104 Pastor: Very Reverend Nicholas Ferencz, PhD Cantor: Professor Jerry Jumba Parish President : Carole Bushak

Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever! Slava Isusu Christu! Slava vo v’iki!

Rectory Phone: 412 271-2725. E-mail: [email protected] Hall Phone: 412-294-7952 WEB: www.stmichaelsrankin.org

FEBRUARY 7, 2021 35TH SUNDAY OF PENTECOST

Sun., Feb. 7 35th Sunday after Pentecost. of , called the Theologion 9:00 AM . Tone 2, pp 99–102. Readings from 31st Sunday of Pentecost: Epistle 1Tim 1: 15–17; Gospel 14th Sunday of Luke Annual Parish Meeting Fri., Feb 12 Three Holy Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologion and 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy Sun., Feb. 14 Sunday of Zacchaeus. Martyr Tryphon. of 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy. Panachida: George Ferencz, Jr. (32 yrs) and Paul Kovac (26 yrs) by Fr. Nik and Paòi Joanna Oath of Office of the Newly Elected Parish Council

Holy Mystery of Confession: I will be available for Confessions after the Divine Liturgy, when the church is more private. Or, you can make an appointment and we will arrange an appropriate time. Please just contact me.

PEOPLE STUFF Prayer List: Deceased: Merlo. Kathy Bonnano Living: Father Joe Cervo. Father George Livanos. Father Patrick. Mother Christophora and the of Holy Transfiguration Monastery. Kristina Anatakis. Dana Andrade. Gloria Andrade. Gregory Michael Aurilio. Georgia B. Chastity and Jeff Bache. Banosky. Brandon. Walter Bolbat. Donald Bodnar. John Bonnano, Rob & Carol Bonnano. Jaime Budesa. Barbara Bournios. Nicholas Burkhart. Barbara Chappie. Rebecca, David & Bradley Cozad. Mary Ann Crouse. Delores Cubakovic. Martha Danchak. Glenn Davies. Christina Duranko. Nicholas Duranko. Margaret Dorogy. Breanne Glass. Dorothy Glass. Eddie Gombos. Jennifer Hartrick. Joseph Hlavac. George Hrabchak. Raymond Hrabchak. Shirley Hrubic. Zhensan Huang. Kevin and Karen Ianni. Gary Ingelido. Andrea Kerkentzes. Jeanne Lesko and family. Bobby Malackany. Marina. Joan Martell. Sharon Mascilak. Ed McCreanor. Jake McLaughlin. Zoe Mehalik. Helen Mihalik. Teresa Onuska. Frank Palmieri. Bob Perevuznik, Jr. Millie Phillips. Robert Petro. Anna Senich. Bernice Siudak. Terry Slezak. Milton and Thelma Supak. Diana Terezis. Bobby and Dee Triffanoff. Carol and Ernie Vallozzi. Josh Walendziewicz. Paul & Valerie Yednak. Edward Yoon. Jeanne and Jim Zajac. Bakers: Trudy Trifanoff. Delores Cubakovic and their intentions. Also: Chase Vlad, Gianna Vlad, Laura, Sharita, all who have contracted the virus, all who care for them, and all First-Responders, and all who are working in the Health and Medical Fields during this time of crisis.

Page 1 of 4 F(E)ASTING Three Holy Bishops Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologion and Our Gifts to God and our John Chrysostom, Friday, February 12. Divine Liturgy at 9 AM. Church ENCOUNTER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST WITH AND ANNA Sunday, January 31, 2021 IN THE TEMPLE, Monday, February 15. Divine Liturgy and Blessing Attendance 6 of Candles at 9 AM. Communions 2

PARISH STUFF Collections Reminder! Upcoming Stuff: Events that are happening around here Monthly 55.00 that you may want to make sure are on your calendar: Sunday 705.00 All Souls Saturdays. The 1st All Souls Saturday is on March 6. Christmas 250.00 We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy and read the Lists of the All Votive Candles 94.00 Deceased (Hramoty) as we pray for our deceased loved ones. I Blding Maintenance 5.00 encourage you to turn in your list as soon as you can, to make Dioc Membership 82.00 sure that your loved ones are remembered at all 5 of the All Souls Spec Dona: Memory of Saturdays. George Dorogy 50.00 Sandwiches for the Homeless: Our first date this year for Total Offerings: 1241.00 making lunches for the Homeless, the program sponsored by the Update: Building and Repairs Pittsburgh Brotherhood will be on Friday, March 12, Donations which are available for starting at 6 PM. The lunches are then delivered on Saturday, upcoming repairs to date are $4266! March 13. More about this in future bulletins. God bless your generosity! Building and Repairs Donations which are available for upcoming repairs to date are $4266! Update! The Annual Parish Meeting today: There are still some copies of the Agenda, Minutes, and Auditor’s report in the vestibule.

A PRAYER OFFERED ON BEHALF OF GOVERNMENT Editor’s Note: I received this in 2003 from a friend, and just ran across it again this week. The more things change, the more. . . This is a rather interesting prayer given in Kansas at the opening session of their 2003Senate. It seems prayer still upsets some people. When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard: "Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good," but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that we have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it Pluralism. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our ! unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.

Page 2 of 4 Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will and to openly ask these things in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen!" The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India, Africa, and Korea. Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.

TRANSFER OF OF SAINT JOHN CHRYSOSTOM January 27/February 9. From The Menologion Sainted John Chrysostom -- a great ecumenical teacher and hierarch, died in the city of Comene in the year 407 on his way to a place of exile, having been condemned by the intrigues of the empress Eudoxia because of his daring denunciation of the vices ruling over . The transfer of his venerable relics was made in the year 438: after 30 years following the death of the saint during the reign of Eudoxia's son emperor Theodosius II (408-450). Saint John Chrysostom had the warm love and deep respect of the people, and grief over his untimely death lived on in the hearts of Christians. Saint John's student Saint Proclus, of Constantinople (434-447), making Divine-services in the Church of Saint , preached a which in glorifying Saint John he said: "O John! Thy life was filled with difficulties, but thy death was glorious, thy grave is blessed and reward abundant through the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. O graced one, having conquered the bounds of time and place! Love hath conquered space, unforgetting memory hath annihilated the limits, and place doth not hinder the miracles of the saint". Those who were present in church, deeply touched by the words of Saint Proclus, did not allow him even to finish his sermon. With one accord they began to entreat the Patriarch to intercede with the emperor, so that the relics of Saint John might be transferred to Constantinople. The emperor, overwhelmed by Saint Proclus, gave his consent and made the order to transfer the relics of Saint John. But the people dispatched by him were by no means able to lift up the holy relics -- not until that moment when the emperor, realising his oversight that he had not sent the message to Saint John, humbly beseeching of him forgiveness for himself and for his mother Eudoxia. The message was read at the grave of Saint John and after this they easily lifted up the relics, carried them onto a ship and arrived at Constantinople. The reliquary coffin with the relics was placed in the Church of the holy Martyr Irene. The Patriarch opened the coffin: the body of Saint John had remained without decay. The emperor, having approached the coffin with tears, asked forgiveness. All day and night people did not leave the coffin. In the morning the reliquary coffin with its relics was brought to the Church of the Holy Apostles. The people cried out: "Receive back thy throne, father!" Then Patriarch Proclus and the clergy standing at the relics -- saw Saint John open his mouth and pronounce: "Peace be to all".

ON WEALTH AND POVERTY by St. John Chrysostom St. John Chrysostom, the author of the Divine Liturgy we celebrate every Sunday, was a famous preacher and a prolific writer, besides being the Patriarch of Constantinople, itself a more than full-time . Six of his most famous about the meaning of wealth have been collected together and published with the title, On Wealth and Poverty. Here are a few excerpts you may find interesting. Read them all together, or just one at a time, as a topic of conversation, or as a meditation in your own heart. As you read, you should know that John himslef was born into a wealthy family, and knew the value of being rich. He also gave away much in not most of his wealth.

Page 3 of 4 [Adapted from https://blog.acton.org/archives/1788-john-chrysostom-on-wealth-and-poverty-part-1.html, February 5, 2021] ! There is danger in luxury: “In this way luxury often leads to forgetfulness. As for you, my beloved, if you sit at table, remember that from the table you must go to prayer. Fill your belly so moderately that you may not become too heavy to bend your knees and call upon your God (27).” ! Our use of earthly and natural goods must be oriented toward higher and spiritual goods. Another way of saying this is that our desires and consumption must be rightly ordered: “…let us accustom ourselves to eat only enough to live, not enough to be distracted and weighed down. For we were not born, we do not live, in order to eat and drink; but we eat in order to leave. At the beginning life was not made for eating, but eating for life. But we, as if we had come into the world for this purpose, spend everything for eating” (27-28). ! It is a natural and perhaps unavoidable feature of human nature to compare our situation with others: “the sight of another person in good fortune laid on him [Lazarus] an extra burden of anguish, not because he was envious or wicked, but because we all naturally perceive our own misfortunes more acutely by comparison with others’ prosperity” (30). ! We can sin by not-doing as well as by doing. We can act justly in one sense while acting unlovingly, and therefore sinning, in another sense: “Indeed Lazarus suffered no injustice from the rich man; for the rich man did not take Lazarus’ money, but failed to share his own. If he is accused by the man he failed to pity because he did not share his wealth, what pardon will the man receive who has stolen others’ goods, when he is surrounded by those he has wronged?” (49) ! Whence comes the responsibility to share our wealth? I recall that Saint John once said that two of the most dangerous words in our vocabulary are “mine” and “thine.” These words divide more than they unite. They can relieve us of our responsibility toward the neighbor that God points in our direction. In a passage that would have fairly radical social implications if applied consistently, Saint John redefines “theft” based upon his reading of the Scriptures: “I shall bring you testimony from the divine Scriptures, saying that only theft of others’ goods but also the failure to share one’s goods with others is theft and swindle and defraudation….” Here Saint John cites passages such as 3:8-10 and Sirach 4:1. He continues: To deprive is to take what belongs to another; for it is called deprivation when we take and keep what belongs to others. By this we are taught then when we do not show mercy, we will be punished just like those who steal. For our money is the Lord’s, however we may have gathered it. (49). ! How do we manifest responsible stewardship? “Therefore, let us use our goods sparingly, as belonging to others, so that they may become our own. How shall we use them sparingly, as belonging to others? When we do not spend them beyond our needs, and do not spend for our needs only, but give equal shares into the hands of the poor. If you are affluent, but spend less than what you need, you will give an account of the funds which were entrusted to you” (50). ! What duties are incumbent upon us in our giving? Should we be liberal and promiscuous in our charity? Chrysostom argues the affirmative: “For if you wish to show kindness, you must not require an accounting of a person’s life, but merely correct his poverty and fill his need” (52). ! But don’t we have a responsibility to give only to those who deserve it? On the one hand, no, for gracious giving is by its very nature unmerited: “Charity is so called because we give it even to the unworthy” (52). ! But if we must talk of being deserving, Chrysostom urges us to see that “need alone is the poor man’s worthiness; if anyone at all ever comes to us with this recommendation, let us not meddle any further” (53). In this we image the grace of God, to give liberally as his gifts have been given to us, who do not deserve them.

Page 4 of 4