Professional Documents
Culture Documents
You were transfigured upon the mount, O Christ our God, and Your disciples, in so far as they could bear,
beheld Your glory. Thus, when they see You crucified, they may understand Your voluntary passion, and
proclaim to the world that You are truly the effulgence of the Father.
Brethren, you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord. This is my defense to those who would examine
me. Do we not have the right to our food and drink? Do we not have the right to be accompanied by a
wife, as the other apostles and the brothers of the Lord and Cephas? Or is it only Barnabas and I who
have no right to refrain from working for a living? Who serves as a soldier at his own expense? Who
plants a vineyard without eating any of its fruit? Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk? Do
I say this on human authority? Does not the law say the same? For it is written in the law of Moses, "You
shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain." Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not
speak entirely for our sake? It was written for our sake, because the plowman should plow in hope and
the thresher thresh in hope of a share in the crop. If we have sown spiritual good among you, is it too
much if we reap your material benefits? If others share this rightful claim upon you, do not we still more?
Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in
the way of the gospel of Christ.
Gospel pericope
Matthew 18:23-35
The Lord said this parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle
accounts with his servants. When he began the reckoning, one was brought to him who owed him ten
thousand talents; and as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and
all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Lord, have
patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' And out of pity for him the lord of that servant released
him and forgave him the debt. But that same servant, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow
servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat he said, 'Pay what you owe.' So
his fellow servant fell down and besought him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' He refused
and went and put him in prison till he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken
place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place.
Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because
you besought me; and should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?'
And in anger his lord delivered him to the jailors, till he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly
Father will do to everyone of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart."
Announcements
Mon. Aug. 13th: Paraklesis, 6:00pm
Wed. Aug. 15th: Dormition of the Holy Theotokos, Orthros/Divine Liturgy/Artoklasia, 8:30am
Sat. Aug. 18th: GOYA canoeing on the Zumbro, 1pm
The divine Maximus, who was from Constantinople, sprang from an illustrious family. He was a lover of wisdom
and an eminent theologian. At first, he was the chief private secretary of the Emperor Heraclius and his grandson
Constans. But when the Monothelite heresy became predominant in the royal court, out of hatred for this error the
Saint departed for the Monastery at Chrysopolis (Scutari), of which he later became the abbot. When Constans tried
to constrain him either to accept the Monothelite teaching, or to stop speaking and writing against it - neither of
which the Saint accepted to do - his tongue was uprooted and his right hand was cut off, and he was sent into exile,
where he reposed in 662. At the time only he and his few disciples were Orthodox in the East.
Sunday School Registration
The purpose of the registration is to ascertain the number of children
in each class to ensure that the proper materials are ordered. Loredana
is in charge of the registration and would like everyone to know that if
you have children between the ages of 3-18 she will be contacting you. If you have
any questions regarding registration please email her at loredanaj@yahoo.com First
day of Sunday School is scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 16th.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
What is the mark of the true Christian?
Some say correct faith and pious works. Jesus, however does not define the
true Christian in these terms. It is possible for one to have faith and good
works, and to be conceited over these and not to be a perfect Christian. A
Christian is a veritable dwelling place of Christ, held together by good
works and pious beliefs. True faith, without works is dead, as are works
without faith. We must, therefore, use every effort to keep ourselves clean
from foul deeds so that it may not be said of us They profess that they know
God, but in works they deny Him (Titus 1:16), wherefore the Lord says If a man loves Me, he will keep My words, and My Father
will love Him, and We will come unto him and make Our home with him (John 14:23). Do we not learn from this that the house
of the soul is built through correct belief and good works, and thus God dwells within us. I will dwell in them, He says, and walk
in them (II Cor. 6:16). The Apostle also points this out when he says Know you not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in
you, except ye be reprobates (II Cor. 13:5)? Will not the devil then know whether or not the Master of the house, Christ, is inside
your mind? When he sees you angry, or shouting, or using oaths, or foul language, or blaming someone, or abusing him, or
finding fault, or reproaching someone, or condemning, or hating, or treating someone unjustly, or being conceited, or boasting, or
laughing a lot, or being elated, or not praying habitually and remembering death, then he knows that God, your protector and
provider is not inside your soul. And so, the evil one enters like a thief, not finding the divine light in your heart, and he loots the
house of your soul, and your last state becomes worse than your first.
Greek fest notes
• A special thanks to all the Fest Committee members for their hard work
and planning this far to ensure another successful festival!
• Our Greek Festival is August 24th, 25th, 26th and we need all parishioners
involved in working towards a successful Festival. A donation list has recently
been sent out to all parishioners and we strongly encourage you to consider a
donation(s) to offset our product cost.
• We will also have important baking dates on Mon-Thurs the week leading
up to Greek Fest, beginning at 10am. All are invited to help out.
“The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but salvation is in the
Lord” (Proverbs 21:31 ).
O Merchant of Christ, practice good trade every day, exchanging the material for the spiritual, the earthly
for the heavenly and mortality for immortality, but know – that “salvation is in the Lord.”
O Plowman of Christ, plow and re-plow your soul, sow the good evangelical seed on it every day, weed
out the field of your soul from weeds, watch over it, but know that “salvation is in the Lord.” A horse did
not help the pharaoh in the Red Sea. Neither did the riches of Babylon help in the day of reckoning with
God. A person can prepare all but, nevertheless, in that decisive moment can lose everything. For
salvation is not in preparation, but in the Lord.
That is why the saints, even though most prepared for the Kingdom of God and, in their hour of death,
sighed not knowing whether they will be received into the Kingdom. O how well they remember the
words of the Lord:
“When you have done everything that was commanded you, say: ‘We are unprofitable servants!’ ” (St.
Luke 17:10 ).
Brethren, let us be prepared for the day of temptation, well girded and armed but let us not hope in our
own preparation, but in the Lord.
With reverence and many lights, and chanting burial hymns, the Apostles took up that God-receiving body and brought it
to the sepulchre, while the Angels from Heaven chanted with them, and sent forth her who is higher than the Cherubim.
But one un believing Hebrew, moved by malice, audaciously stretched forth his hand upon the bed and immediately
received from divine judgment the wages of his audacity. Those daring hands were severed by an invisible blow. But when
he repented and asked forgiveness, his hands were restored. When they had reached the place called Gethsemane, they
buried there with honor the all-immaculate body of the Theotokos, which was the source of Life. But on the third day after
the burial, when they were eating together, and raised up the artos (bread) in Jesus' Name, as was their custom, the
Theotokos appeared in the air, saying "Rejoice" to them. From this they learned concerning the bodily translation of the
Theotokos into the Heavens.