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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Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost Commemoration of the Holy Martyrs and Confessors Shamuna, Guria, & Habib the Deacon ~ November 15, 2020 ~

Epistle: Ephesians 2:14-22 Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

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 Christ 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 , 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 Nov. 15 - 22 (Nativity Fast)

Sunday Nativity Fast begins -Teen Group, 1pm -PreTeen, 1pm Monday -First Hour, 6:45am BAPTISM -Advent Paraklesis, 6pm Dec. 13: Tuesday -Third Hour, 9am Caroline Vanlandingham Wednesday -Third Hour, 9am -AWSJ Teaching, 10am CHRISMATION -Youth Group, 6pm Nov. 29: -Bible Study, 7pm Fabio Martin Thursday -Third Hour, 9am Friday -First Hour, 6:45am -Third Hour, 9am -Sixth Hour, 12pm Saturday -Divine Liturgy, 9am -Ninth Hour and Great Vespers, 6pm Sunday -Atrium Prayer Table, 9:30am -Orthros, 9am -Divine Liturgy, 10am

DAILY SCRIPTURE READINGS Birthdays, Anniversaries, Namedays

Sunday Ephesians 2:4-10 Sunday, 11/15 Thursday, 11/19 Luke 10:25-37 Michael Elliott St. John the Merciful Monday Romans 10:11-21; John Curry Monday, 11/16 11:1-2 Friday, 11/20 Apostle Matthew: Matthew 9:9-13 Lynda Spinolo Tuesday 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 Matthew Spinolo Karen Bell Luke 14:25-35 Matthew Yadron St. Edmund: Wednesday 1 Thess. 4:1-12 Luke 15:1-10 Edmund Knight Tuesday, 11/17 Thursday 1 Thess. 4:18-5:10 Andrew Sanderlin Saturday, 11/21 Luke 16:1-9 Tina McKelvey Friday 1 Thess. 5:9-13; 5:24-28 Luke 16:15-18; Wednesday, 11/18 17:1-4 Cash Wallace Saturday Hebrews 9:1-7

Luke 10:38-42, 11:27-28 Sunday Ephesians 2:4-10 Luke 10:25-37

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), Mikael Santana, Michael Redmond, Jamie Escue and family, Charles Cameron, 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 ST. JOHN COMMUNITY

NATIVITY FAST The Nativity fast begins today and is divided into two periods. The 1st period is November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and oil) is observed with katalysis for wine and oil on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for fish, wine and oil on Saturdays and Sundays. The 2nd period is December 20th through 24th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine and oil) is observed with katalysis for wine and oil only on Saturday and Sunday.

Thanksgiving Baskets – Thanks to the generosity of our community, all needed items have been filled for this year’s baskets. If you signed up, you may leave your donations on the tables set up in the library/teaching room. If your items need to be refrigerated, please label them “Thanksgiving baskets” and leave them in the refrigerator or freezer in the kitchen. The teens will be assembling the baskets on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 22nd, so please have all contributions dropped off at the church by that morning. Thank you again for assisting our families in need!

Stay Vigilant – Thank you for your continued respect and love and adhering to all of the current guidelines for attendance. Please continue be mindful of those around you. In particular, please be mindful of congregating on or around the stairs after the services as people leave the building. Thank you!

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: As was announced in our weekly email, we are beginning our pledge drive for the year. This is later than usual, but it is still important to prayerfully return your pledge card so that the council can have all of the information necessary to make a responsible budget for the next year. May the Lord continue to bless and multiply your generosity to Christ and His Holy Church! ______

Youth Calendar

HIGH SCHOOL: Sunday, 1:00 discussion MIDDLE SCHOOL: Sunday, 1:00 discussion ALL YOUTH UPCOMING: Sunday 11/22 - We will be gathering together at the Church from 1-3pm with masks and proper precautions to organize this year's Thanksgiving baskets for families in need! Lunch will be provided so please rsvp that we may plan accordingly.

Women of St. John Calendar Young Adult Calendar

11/18 (Wed.) Teaching, 10am We will be Sun., Dec. 6: Doctrine on Draft 5pm continuing All is Well by Dr. Al Rossi.

LIBRARY LINES Monday we commemorate St. Matthew (11/16), one of the Twelve and the writer of the first book in the New Testament. Although hated by his fellow Jews because he was a tax collector, he obeyed the call of Christ and generously repaid those he had cheated. His writing shows us Jesus as the Messiah, Lord of the universe, and the High Priestly Sacrifice. He tells of the Kingdom of God in Jesus's own words. After Pentecost, the apostle Matthew preached in Palestine for several years. At the request of the Jewish converts, he wrote his Gospel before leaving for Ethopia where he was martyred. He found the country inhabited by cannibals who worshipped idols. While asking God for the salvation of the Ethiopians, Christ appeared to him in the form of a youth and gave him a staff. He told him to plant it at the doors of a church he had founded. There Matthew was met by relatives of the ruler Fulvian. He healed them, but Flavian accused Matthew of sorcery and gave orders for his execution. His body remained unharmed, and he gave his soul to the Lord. Although Fulvian repented, he still had doubts and ordered Matthew’s body to be placed in an iron coffin and thrown into the sea. The waves carried the coffin to the shores by the church. Fulvian begged the apostle’s forgiveness, was baptized and given the name Matthew. Read more about his life in The Notes on the Holy Apostles (REF HAG MAS) and Meet the Evangelists (KID STS KHO). The prophet Obadiah (11/19), a faithful servant of the Most High God, was a steward in the house of the idolatrous King Ahab. Obadiah healed one of three groups of soldiers sent by Queen Jezebel to arrest the Prophet Elias. Heavenly fire consumed two of the detachments, but Obadiah and his men were spared through the intercession of Elias. Thereupon, Obadiah resigned his position and became a disciple of the Holy Prophet. His life is recounted in the first and second books of Kings, and his prophecy is included in the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament. Saturday we commemorate the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple (11/21). Many of us came from backgrounds in which this feast was not only entirely unknown but also unimaginable. The High Priest, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, led her into the Holy of Holies, much to the astonishment of all. After her Presentation in the Temple, the Theotokos lived there until her adulthood. She, along with others who were dedicated to the service of the Lord, lived in quarters set aside for them. St. Jerome says that how she spent her time is known only to God and the Archangel Gabriel. But, Tradition says she and the other virgins prayed, read Scripture and engaged in needlework. The Church has celebrated this feast since the first centuries A.D. Read more about her and this feast in The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (KID CHU ELA), The Illustrated Life of the Theotokos (KID STS MAR), The Story of Mary, the Mother of God (KID STS MAR), The Life of the Virgin Mary (REF HAG - - - HOL), and the many other books on her life in St. John Library. Also take a look at "The Entry of the Theotokos" in Orthodox America #23 October 1982 on page 9.

COMMEMORATIONS Nov. 15: Martyrs Gourias, Samonas and Habib of Edessa; Thomas the New, of ; Venerable Paisios Velichkovsky. Nov. 16: Apostle Mathew the Evangelist; Martyr Ephygenia. Nov. 17: Gregory the wonder-worker, bishop of New-Ceesarea; Gennadios, archbishop of Constantinople; Venerable Nikon, disciple of Sergios of Radonezh. Nov. 18: Martyrs Platon of Ancyra, Ramanos, Zacchaeos the deacon and Anastasios of Caesarea in Palestine. Nov. 19: Prophet Obadiah; Martyrs Agapios, Azi of Isauria, Barlaam of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Heliodoros of Thessalonika and Euphemia; Venerable Barlaam and Joasaph; Venerable Barlaam of the Kiev Caves. Nov. 20: Gregory of Decapolis; Proclos, Maximos and Anatolios, patriarchs of Constantinople; Venerable Sozomen the wonder-worker. Nov. 21: The Entrance of the Theotokos into the temple. Venerable Columban of Ireland. Nov. 22: Apostles Philemon, Apphia, Archippos and Onesimos of the Seventy; Clement, bishop of Ochrid and enlightener of Bulgaria; Hieromartyr Sisinios; Venerable Kallistos Xanthopoulos of Athos; Martyr Michael, prince of Tver.

From the Fathers: The Lord loves all people, but He loves those who seek Him even more. To his chosen ones the Lord gives such great grace that for love they forsake the whole earth, the whole world, and their souls burn with desire that all people might be saved and see the glory of the Lord. -St. Silouan the Athonite

Every man on earth is sick with the fever of sin, with the blindness of sin and is overcome with its fury. As sins consist mostly of malice and pride, it is necessary to treat everyone who suffers from the malady of sin with kindness and love. This is an important truth, which we often forget. Very often we act in the opposite manner: we add malice to malice by our anger, we oppose pride with pride. Thus, evil grows within us and does not decrease; it is not cured – rather it spreads. - John of Kronstadt

With God, there is no past evil, where there is a good present. When God forgave you, it means He forgave you for eternity. God keeps us not that we are worthy, but because He is very merciful. -Elder Arsenie

And he [Abba Epiphanius] said also, 'Know yourself, and you will never fall. Give your soul work, that is to say, constant prayer, and love of God, before another can give it evil [and filthy] thoughts; and pray you that the spirit of error may be remote from you.'

It seems that we do not understand one thing: It is not good when we return the love of those who love us, yet hate those who hate us. We are not on the right path if we do this. We are the sons of light and love, the sons of God, His children. As such we must have His qualities and His attributes of love, peace, and kindness toward all. -Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

The unholy doubt, not because they are ostensibly more rational, but because they are unholy. The holier man is always the more rational, for in the clear mirror of his heart he sees the truth. -St. Nicholai of Zica

Do not be angry with those who show pride, or malice, effeminacy, and impatience in their intercourse with you, or others, but , remembering that you yourself are subject to the same and greater sins (errors) and passions. Pray for them and be meek with them. -St. John of Kronstadt

The saints are like the Lord, but so are all people who keep the commandments of Christ; but those who live according to their own passions and do not repent are like the devil. I think that if this mystery were revealed to the world, then they would stop serving the devil, and everyone would strive to serve the Lord with all his strength, and to be like Him. -St. Silouan the Athonite

The fear of God makes a person wise. What is the fear of God? Not that one should be afraid of God, but to be afraid to sadden someone, to harm someone, to do them no wrong, and to not make accusations. This is wisdom. After all this, God will illumine you as to what to do in your life. -Saint Sophia of Kleisoura