Archimandrite Vasilios' Message

TO ALL THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED IN THIS YEAR'S GREEK INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE UP 5TH AVENUE THANK YOU FOR MAKING IT A WONDERFUL DAY FOR ST. JOHN'S.

IF YOU HAVE NOT AS OF YET SENT IN YOUR 2017 STEWARDSHIP PLEASE DO THAT TODAY!

I HAVE BEEN ASKED BY HIS EMINENCE ARCHBISHOP DEMETRIOS TO REACH OUT TO OUR PARISHIONERS IN HOPES OF RAISING AN OFFERING FOR THE REBUILDING OF ST. NICHOLAS. PLEASE BE AS GENEROUS AS YOU CAN IN YOUR OFFERING FOR THIS VERY IMPORTANT REBUILDING EFFORT OF OUR GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE AND OUR FAITH.

I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR HELPING US REBUILD ST. NICHOLAS WITH YOUR MORE THEN GENEROUS DONATIONS. WE HAVE REACHED OUR GOAL OF $10,000.

WE HAVE SENT OUT THE TAX DONATION LETTERS TO EVERYONE WHO HAVE SO GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED ST. JOHN'S THIS PAST YEAR. PLEASE CONTINUE TO HELP US TO MOVE FORWARD WITH OUR PLANS TO REMODEL OUR BELOVED CHURCH. I THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.

After Great Pain, Where Is God?

It seems there are never-ending questions that arises when tragedy strikes. The questions are always focused on the absence of God and the need for God to intervene so that the tragedy could have been avoided. This mantra always phrased to reflect the pain that one feels in the face of such great pain or tragedy. I wish I could personally take away the pain that we feel when it strikes, but only God can do that with the help of those who love us.

In a March 25^th New York Times Op-Ed article entitled “After Great Pain, Where Is God,” Peter Wehner tries to answer this perplexing question. I think all of us have asked this question ourselves when tragedy befalls us, but we still manage to go on another day. Griped by pain over a death or injury can distort and cause our faith to be shaken to the bone. In Mr. Wehner article he writes, “During 1940 C. S. Lewis wrote ‘The Problem of Pain.’ Lewis’s answer to why an all-good and all-powerful God would allow his creatures to suffer pain was a bit too neat and tidy. Among other things, he wrote, ‘God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”’

Mr. Wehner continues, “Now flash forward two decades to the publication of ‘A Grief Observed,’ which Lewis wrote after his wife’s death. God’s megaphone didn’t just rouse Lewis, it nearly shattered him. In writing about his bereavement, Lewis described what it was like to go to God ‘when your need is desperate, when all other help is vain, and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double bolting on the inside. After that, silence.’” He added: “Not that I am (I think) in much danger of ceasing to believe in God. The real danger is of coming to believe such dreadful things about Him. The conclusion I dread is not ‘So there’s no God after all,’ but ‘So this is what God’s really like. Deceive yourself no longer.’”

Moreover, Mr. Wehner quotes Jesus Himself when He is on the Cross and says, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” Many use this quote and manage to distort and to misunderstand its significance. In order for Jesus to be 100% human He must feel everything we do. That goes for pain, suffering, and death, which is all foreign to His Divine Nature. God let His own Son suffer for hours on the Cross so that we may have hope knowing that He was just like us. God permits our Fallen Nature to feel what is the result of the fall, and to redeem us from the curse of death by the death of Christ on the Cross.

However, even with all this suffering, pain, sorrow, and death we can live in the grace of God by acting and striving for what is best for us in the here and now. It is only through faith in the Lord that we can overcome the pain we feel during times of hardship and even death. As Origen, one of the early Church Fathers states very clearly: “Some things happen because of God’s direct will, but some happen merely with his permissive consent.” We can never know why God saves others from disaster and why He allows others to suffer. We can never know the internal workings of God, but we can feel His love through His divine energy.

Finally, on the other hand we do know: “At times God brings a creative disunity to our earthly lives in order to break an evil unity.” God allows us all the freedom that He Himself has to do what we think is profitable or not for our soul. Humanity is not some program that God created running in a computer directed by Him who is a capricious God dictating our every move. He allows us to see that His way is far superior to the earthy fallen way through free will. St. Augustine put it very well when he said, “The Body is dead without the soul, and the soul is dead without God.” This is something we must never forget. The soul is alive because of God’s grace, and it cannot be killed, only through sin do we allow it to wither, because all the physical suffering in the world cannot hurt or destroy the soul since it is eternal! God HELP us in our suffering! AMEN

New and Events at St. John's

Sunday, April 2

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

9:15 a.m. Orthros/10:15 a.m. Divine Liturgy

Wednesday, April 5

6:30 p.m. Presanctified Liturgy

Thursday, April 6

6:30 p.m. Bible Study

Last Bible Study Before Holy Week

Will resume on April 27th.

Saturday, April 8

Lazarus Saturday

9:15 a.m. Orthros/10:15 a.m. Divine Liturgy

Making of Palms after Liturgy

Sunday, April 9

Palm Sunday

9:00 a.m. Orthros/10:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy

7:00 p.m. Service of the Bridegroom (Nymphios)

GREAT & HOLY WEEK BEGINS

Holy Monday, April 10

7:00 p.m. Service of the Bridegroom (Nymphios)

Holy Tuesday, April 11

Good and Holy Tuesday

7:00 p.m. Service of the Bridegroom (Nymphios)

Hymn of Kassiani

Holy Wednesday, April 12

7:00 p.m. Sacrament of Holy Unction

Holy Thursday, April 13

9:00 a.m. Vesperial Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

7:00 p.m. Service of the Holy Passion of our Lord (Twelve Gospels)

No Bible Study

Holy and Good Friday, April 14

3:30 p.m. Apokathelosis

7:00 p.m. Lamentations (Epitaphion)

Holy Saturday, April 15

9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great

11:00 p.m. Holy Resurrection Matins

Service of the Triumphant Resurrection

Midnight Divine Liturgy of the Resurrection

Great and Holy Pascha Sunday, April 16

12 noon - Agape Vesper of Easter

BRIGHT WEEK NO FASTING

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Sunday of Thomas

St. George the Great Martyr

9:15 a.m. Orthros/10:15 a.m. Divine Liturgy

Thursday, April 27, 2017

6:30 p.m. Bible Study

Sunday, April 30, 2017

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers

9:15 a.m. Orthros/10:15 a.m. Divine Liturgy

NGTV has posted Fr. Vasilios’ weekly programs on YOUTUBE. You may view the programs using keywords: “vasilios spiritual” Enjoy!

If you would like to sponsor a Coffee Hour, please see the Parish Council after Liturgy.

Gospel and Epistle Readings

Matins Gospel Reading

Eighth Orthros Gospel
The Reading is from John 20:11-18

At that time, Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." Saying this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom do you seek?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Mary Magdalene went and said to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that He had said these things to her.

Eighth Orthros Gospel
Κατὰ Ἰωάννην 20:11-18

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, Μαρία δὲ εἱστήκει πρὸς τῷ μνημείῳ κλαίουσα ἔξω. ὡς οὖν ἔκλαιε, παρέκυψεν εἰς τὸ μνημεῖον καὶ θεωρεῖ δύο ἀγγέλους ἐν λευκοῖς καθεζομένους, ἕνα πρὸς τῇ κεφαλῇ καὶ ἕνα πρὸς τοῖς ποσίν, ὅπου ἔκειτο τὸ σῶμα τοῦ ᾿Ιησοῦ. καὶ λέγουσιν αὐτῇ ἐκεῖνοι· γύναι, τί κλαίεις; λέγει αὐτοῖς· ὅτι ἦραν τὸν Κύριόν μου, καὶ οὐκ οἶδα ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν. καὶ ταῦτα εἰποῦσα ἐστράφη εἰς τὰ ὀπίσω, καὶ θεωρεῖ τὸν ᾿Ιησοῦν ἑστῶτα, καὶ οὐκ ᾔδει ὅτι ᾿Ιησοῦς ἐστι. λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· γύναι, τί κλαίεις; τίνα ζητεῖς; ἐκείνη δοκοῦσα ὅτι ὁ κηπουρός ἐστι, λέγει αὐτῷ· κύριε, εἰ σὺ ἐβάστασας αὐτόν, εἰπέ μοι ποῦ ἔθηκας αὐτόν, κἀγὼ αὐτὸν ἀρῶ. λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· Μαρία. στραφεῖσα ἐκείνη λέγει αὐτῷ· ῥαββουνί, ὃ λέγεται, διδάσκαλε. λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ ᾿Ιησοῦς· μή μου ἅπτου· οὔπω γὰρ ἀναβέβηκα πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου· πορεύου δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφούς μου καὶ εἰπὲ αὐτοῖς· ἀναβαίνω πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου καὶ πατέρα ὑμῶν, καὶ Θεόν μου καὶ Θεὸν ὑμῶν. ἔρχεται Μαρία ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ ἀπαγγέλλουσα τοῖς μαθηταῖς ὅτι ἑώρακε τὸν Κύριον, καὶ ταῦτα εἶπεν αὐτῇ.

Epistle Reading

Prokeimenon. Plagal Fourth Mode. Psalm 75.11,1.
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them.
Verse: God is known in Judah; his name is great in Israel.

The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 9:11-14.

BRETHREN, when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Προκείμενον. Plagal Fourth Mode. ΨΑΛΜΟΙ 75.11,1.
Εὔξασθε καὶ ἀπόδοτε Κυρίῳ τῷ Θεῷ ἡμῶν.
Στίχ. Γνωστὸς ἐν τῇ Ἰουδαίᾳ ὁ Θεός, ἐν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ μέγα τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.

τὸ Ἀνάγνωσμα Πρὸς Ἑβραίους 9:11-14.

Ἀδελφοί, Χριστὸς δὲ παραγενόμενος ἀρχιερεὺς τῶν μελλόντων ἀγαθῶν, διὰ τῆς μείζονος καὶ τελειοτέρας σκηνῆς, οὐ χειροποιήτου, τοῦτʼ ἔστιν, οὐ ταύτης τῆς κτίσεως, οὐδὲ διʼ αἵματος τράγων καὶ μόσχων, διὰ δὲ τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος εἰσῆλθεν ἐφάπαξ εἰς τὰ ἅγια, αἰωνίαν λύτρωσιν εὑράμενος. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ αἷμα ταύρων καὶ τράγων, καὶ σποδὸς δαμάλεως ῥαντίζουσα τοὺς κεκοινωμένους, ἁγιάζει πρὸς τὴν τῆς σαρκὸς καθαρότητα, πόσῳ μᾶλλον τὸ αἷμα τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὃς διὰ πνεύματος αἰωνίου ἑαυτὸν προσήνεγκεν ἄμωμον τῷ θεῷ, καθαριεῖ τὴν συνείδησιν ὑμῶν ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, εἰς τὸ λατρεύειν θεῷ ζῶντι;

Gospel Reading

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt
The Reading is from Mark 10:32-45

At that time, Jesus taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death, and deliver him to the Gentiles; and they will mock him, and spit upon him, and scourge him, and kill him; and after three days he will rise." And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory." But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" And they said to him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you will drink; and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." And when the ten heard it, they began to be indignant of James and John. And Jesus called them to him and said to them, "You know that those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you; but whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For the Son of man also came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt
Κατὰ Μᾶρκον 10:32-45

Τῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, παραλαβάνει ὁ Ἰησοῦς τοὺς δώδεκα μαθητάς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἤρξατο αὐτοῖς λέγειν τὰ μέλλοντα αὐτῷ συμβαίνειν, ὅτι ἰδοὺ ἀναβαίνομεν εἰς ῾Ιεροσόλυμα καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδοθήσεται τοῖς ἀρχιερεῦσι καὶ γραμματεῦσι, καὶ κατακρινοῦσιν αὐτὸν θανάτῳ καὶ παραδώσουσιν αὐτὸν τοῖς ἔθνεσι, καὶ ἐμπαίξουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ μαστιγώσουσιν αὐτὸν καὶ ἐμπτύσουσιν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστήσεται. Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ ᾿Ιάκωβος καὶ ᾿Ιωάννης υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου λέγοντες· διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἵνα ὃ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμεν ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν. ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τί θέλετε ποιῆσαί με ὑμῖν; οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου καὶ εἷς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου καθίσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· οὐκ οἴδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθῆναι; οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· δυνάμεθα. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· τὸ μὲν ποτήριον ὃ ἐγὼ πίνω πίεσθε, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὃ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι βαπτισθήσεσθε· τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, ἀλλ᾿ οἷς ἡτοίμασται. Καὶ ἀκούσαντες οἱ δέκα ἤρξαντο ἀγανακτεῖν περὶ ᾿Ιακώβου καὶ ᾿Ιωάννου. ὁ δὲ ᾿Ιησοῦς προσκαλεσάμενος αὐτοὺς λέγει αὐτοῖς· οἴδατε ὅτι οἱ δοκοῦντες ἄρχειν τῶν ἐθνῶν κατακυριεύουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι αὐτῶν κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν· οὐχ οὕτω δὲ ἔσται ἐν ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ὃς ἐὰν θέλῃ γενέσθαι μέγας ἐν ὑμῖν, ἔσται ὑμῶν διάκονος, καὶ ὃς ἐὰν θέλῃ ὑμῶν γενέσθαι πρῶτος, ἔσται πάντων δοῦλος· καὶ γὰρ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἦλθε διακονηθῆναι, ἀλλὰ διακονῆσαι, καὶ δοῦναι τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ λύτρον ἀντὶ πολλῶν.

Saints and Feasts

April 02

Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt

The memory of this Saint is celebrated on April 1, where her life is recorded. Since the end of the holy Forty Days is drawing nigh, it has been appointed for this day also, so that if we think it hard to practice a little abstinence forty days, we might be roused by the heroism of her who fasted in the wilderness forty-seven years; and also that the great loving-kindness of God, and His readiness to receive the repentant, might be demonstrated in very deed.

April 02

Titus the Wonderworker

Little is known of this Saint except that he took up the monastic life from his youth, became the abbot of a monastery, and reposed in peace.

April 02

Theodora the Virgin-martyr of Palestine

April 02

Amphianos & Aedesios the Martyrs of Lycia

Hymns of the Day

Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Plagal Fourth Mode

From on high didst Thou descend, O Compassionate One; to burial of three days hast Thou submitted that Thou mightest free us from our passions. O our Life and Resurrection, Lord, glory be to Thee.

Ἐξ ὕψους κατῆλθες ὁ εὔσπλαγχνος, ταφὴν καταδέξω τριήμερον, ἵνα ἡμᾶς ἐλευθερώσῃς τῶν παθῶν. Ἡ ζωὴ καὶ ἡ Ἀνάστασις ἡμῶν, Κύριε δόξα σοι.

Apolytikion for Sun. of St. Mary of Egypt in the Plagal Fourth Mode

In thee the image was preserved with exactness, O Mother; for taking up thy cross, thou didst follow Christ, and by thy deeds thou didst teach us to overlook the flesh, for it passeth away, but to attend to the soul since it is immortal. Wherefore, O righteous Mary, thy spirit rejoiceth with the Angels.

Εν σοί Μήτερ ακριβώς διεσώθη τό κατ' εικόνα, λαβών γάρ τόν σταυρόν, ηκολούθησας τώ Χριστώ, καί πράττων εδίδασκες, υπεροράν μέν σαρκός, παρέρχεται γάρ επιμελείσθαι δέ ψυχής, πράγματος αθανάτου, διό καί μετά Αγγέλων συναγάλλεται, οσία Μαρία τό πνεύμά σου.

Seasonal Kontakion in the Second Mode

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the creator most constant: O despise not the voices of those who have sinned; but be quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession and speed thou to make supplication, O thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.

Προστασία τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἀκαταίσχυντε, μεσιτεία πρὸς τὸν Ποιητὴν ἀμετάθετε. Μὴ παρίδῃς ἁμαρτωλῶν δεήσεων φωνάς, ἀλλὰ πρόφθασον, ὡς ἀγαθή, εἰς τὴν βοήθειαν ἡμῶν, τῶν πιστῶς κραυγαζόντων σοι· Τάχυνον εἰς πρεσβείαν, καὶ σπεῦσον εἰς ἱκεσίαν, ἡ προστατεύουσα ἀεί, Θεοτόκε, τῶν τιμώντων σε.

Wisdom of the Fathers

But let no man be troubled at the apostles being in such an imperfect state. For not yet was the cross accomplished, not yet the grace of the Spirit given. But if thou wouldest learn their virtue, notice them after these things, and thou wilt see them superior to every passion.

St. John Chrysostom