The Invitation from God is Freely Given and Should be Freely Accepted

One of the most difficult things about living the Christian life is free will, not our free will, but the free will of others. It isn’t difficult to exercise our free will. We do that every time we leave the house. But when we are expected to honor the free will of others, it can be incredibly difficult. It could mean, and often does, that people will behave in ways that we do not want. It could mean, and often does, that people will say things we do not want. Nonetheless everyone is free to say and do as they choose. It doesn’t make it any easier, but it is true.

For example, most if not all of us have hosted dinner parties where certain guests that were invited did not attend, and most if not all of us have been invited to dinner parties we have chosen not to attend. I’m sure none of us enjoy attending a dinner party out of obligation and guilt when we would rather be doing something else, and I’m sure all of us would prefer that our guests used their free will and actually wanted to attend.

The same is true when it comes to the Heavenly Banquet. The Lord has invited each of us to join Him at the Heavenly Banquet and is waiting for our response. It is a simple invitation: “Come, for all things are now ready.” (Luke 14.17) The rest is up to us…will we accept the Lord’s invitation?

As we hear in the Gospel, not everyone accepts His invitation. When the servants had called all those invited, “They all with one accord began to make excuses.” (Luke 14.18) In response, the Lord didn’t try to guilt them into accepting, nor did He force them to attend. Rather, He went out and invited others to attend so His “House may be filled.” (Luke 14.23)

Only one question remains; will we accept His invitation or make excuses? He won’t force us to accept and He doesn’t want us to come out of fear or guilt. The invitation is freely given to us and He desires us to freely accept it.

My Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Saturday's Reading from the Gospel of John quoted our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ as having said that "... the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" (John 10:11). In another place the same Gospel also quotes the Lord as having said that, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).

This is who Christ is to us, He is our True Shepherd, who is our True Friend who loved us so much that He was willing even to be crucified on the Cross to save us. The Greek word φιλάνθρωπος, where we get the English word philanthropist, is usually translated, when referring to Christ in the prayers of the Church, as the Lover of Mankind. This is inaccurate as φίλος means friend and άνθρωπος means human. We could translate φιλάνθρωπος as philanthropist, but the English word now includes the connotation that the person is a Financial Benefactor of different causes as such. So it would be best to translate φιλάνθρωπος as Friend of Humankind or mankind. So Christ is our True Friend, our Best Friend and to use a modern expression, Who was willing to "take a bullet for us." What a great example He has given us of True Friendship! There is an expression, and I'm sure you have heard it before, "You know a person by his or her friends."

Without realizing it, close friends influence each other. If Christ is our True Friend, and we become close to Him through the Sacraments and through Prayer, surely we will also start to resemble Him also! We will be influenced by Christ. In fact this is what the Mouthpiece of the Lord, Apostle Paul, urges us to do, to imitate him as he imitated Christ (1 Corinthians 11). So in all things, we should imitate Christ just as the Saints did (Look at where it got them!). This is made easier by yoking ourselves to Christ through the Sacramental life of the Church, as then Christ our True Friend works hand and hand with us and helps us do good in the world.

In Christ,

Fr. Simeon

Memorials

Saturday - December 12

Arete Corcodilos - 40 days

Leoni Nelsen - 1 year

Anthea Mailis Mckinney - 40 days

 Sunday - December 13

Despina Zacharatos - 1 year

Constantina Makris - 4 years

 ST NICHOLAS CATHEDRAL REOPENS FOR PRAYER TUESDAY THRU FRIDAY FROM 11:00 AM TO 1:00 PM

 All ministries wishing to sign up and host the Coffee Hour, please contact Chris Palaidis at 727-808-3895, once the hall reopens.

St. Nicholas Kitchen will continue preparing the Monday meals from 7:30 – 11:00 am. The meals will be delivered to the new Hope Center at the Sheppard center where the meals will be given to those in need by their and our volunteers. We will still need volunteers, food and monetary donations. Meals will be served from 11:00 – 12:00 pm. For further information, please call Chris Palaidis at (727) 808-3895.  

MAKE AN OFFERING OF OIL - Following the ancient tradition of the Temple as commanded by God, Orthodox Christians bring an offering of olive oil to be continually burned in the Church lamps, serving as a reminder of the presence of the Light of God. We invite anyone to make an offering of oil to the Church along with the names of loved ones & friends who are alive in the Lord, or alive with us on Earth, so that we may pray for you, your family and friends.

  *THE DEADLINE IS MONDAY 5PM FOR ALL BULLETIN INFORMATION*

 Memorial & Artoklasia Service Planning