WE ARE EXTENDING THE DEADLINE FOR JOURNAL ENTRIES SINCE WE ARE STILL RECEIVING THEM. THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST AND BLESSINGS!
SAVE THE DATE! MAY 18, 2019
ST. JOHN'S IS PREPARING AN 80TH ANNIVERSARY JOURNAL AND AN EVENING GALA AT THALASSA RESTAURANT ON MAY 18, 2019 TO COMMEMORATE THIS GREAT ACHIEVEMENT AND TO HELP DEFRAY SOME OF THE COSTS OF THE RENOVATIONS WE PN TO DO THIS SUMMER. SO PLEASE BE PART OF THIS MONUMENTAL ACHIEVEMENT BY TAKING A PAGE IN OUR JOURNAL AND ATTENDING THE GALA.
THE GREEK DANCE CLASS ON WEDNESDAY AND BIBLE STUDY ON THURSDAY ARE IN SESSION. PLEASE CALL THE CHURCH OR ASK ANYONE AT THE CANDLE STAND FOR INFORMATION.
IF YOU HAVE NOT SENT IN THIS YEAR'S STEWARDSHIP PLEASE DO THAT TODAY.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY!
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DOUBT
Doubt, by definition, is the status between belief and disbelief and involves uncertainty or distrust or the lack of sureness about a fact, an action, a motive, or a decision.
There are many facts we know to be true and do not doubt their veracity. For example, we know the earth is round, but some today doubt that it is and are called “Flat Earthers.” On the other hand, Gravity exists even though we cannot see it, but we can feel its effects. Events like the Armenian Holocaust, the Great Catastrophe, are marked in history and are verified by many governments. However, the Turkish government still denies and doubts it ever happened. The Turkish government today totally denies that there was an Armenian genocide and claims that Armenians were only removed from the "war zone." On the contrary, the Armenian Genocide was condemned at that time by representatives of the British, French, Russian, German, and Austrian governments namely all the major Powers.
Moreover, we have journalists like Hemingway and others who stood on the docks of Smyrna and reported first hand the horrific catastrophe they witnessed and later transmitted this information to their newspapers like the New York Times.
Furthermore, since 1983, Bradley Smith has tried to persuade college students that the Jewish Holocaust never happened. He achieved his greatest notoriety as the director of the now-defunct Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust, whose mission was to disseminate Holocaust denial to students on college campuses. His aim continues to be promoting "revisionism" and anti-Israel propaganda. In April 2004 he spoke at a conference organized by the Institute for Historical Review and the neo-Nazi National Alliance.
Nevertheless, these two events are still in our minds and history and still run the risk of doubters even though we have living proof that these events took place. Whatever their motives for denying or doubting the truth is still out there. Doubt not only cripples but also paralyzes an individual to the truth. Doubt it is the opposite of faith and has the ability to block a person from seeing and acting upon the truth. As a result, events that we know to be true when doubt enters can compel us to believe the opposite of what the facts tell us and draws us into disbelief or uncertainty.
An excellent example of doubt is reflected in Apostle John’s Gospel. We all know the story of Apostle Thomas who was absent when the risen Lord appeared to the apostles in the upper room. Some theologians say that he was called the twin because he was seen as two-minded. Why? Because he was the one who was ready, willing, and able to die with the Lord when He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead a week before His Crucifixion.
It was Thomas on the other hand, who had to see the Lord’s hands and his side in order to believe that He had risen. The Lord could have chosen anytime to reveal himself to the disciples when they were all gathered together, but He chose a time when Thomas was absent. Because of his absence, Thomas is full of grief because he thought he was unworthy to see the Lord Resurrected. Thomas’ grief turns into joy when the Lord appears to all of them a week later, the eight day of the week. Without any hesitation, the Lord tells Thomas to handle Him and see for himself that He was raised from the dead.
Like Thomas, Cyril of Alexandria, says that we too can touch the Lord as Thomas did every time we receive Holy Communion because we eat His flesh and drink His Blood. And because of that, we believe with all our heart and mind that He is as Thomas finally calls Him “My Lord and My God.”
Finally, faith is dynamic and not static and always changing and moving. As a result, with faith, we move closer to God and grow in virtue. So it is because of Thomas’ doubt that we can say with all certainty that the Lord was resurrected from the dead and the curse of Death was taken away from us. Doubt can only be a stumbling block to faith, but it can help us work our way through the maze of uncertainty until we arrive at our own true, justified, belief about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN!