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Sunday After the Nativity

Posted on by Fr. Peter

Galatians 1:11-19
Matthew 2:13-23

We deal with many things in the Gospel passage appointed for this Sunday after the Nativity. We first find the Holy Family still in Bethlehem. The Wise Men have come and gone, left their gifts and I am sure Joseph was trying to figure out what to do with his new family. The he has a dream to take the child and his mother and flee. He is to go to Egypt and remain there until the Lord sends for him to let him know it is safe to come back. You see Herod is out to get the child as he perceives that he is a threat to him and his kingdom. The Gospel says he arose and took the child and his mother and left.
What kind of faith must Joseph have had to be able to do this. Think about it. Your an old man (well old in those days) and you are engaged to this young beautiful girl from your village. You go away for a few days, and when you come back she has this fantastic story about how she got “in the family way”. You don’t believe her. Would you? This is an amazing tale and you are trying to deal with it all. So you are going to do the right thing and quietly send her away when in dream an angel comes to you and says not so fast this is all part of the plan. Mary is carrying a child of the Holy Spirit. Okay so that makes life better right. All cleared up we can get back to normal now. Now the Scriptures do not say what happened in the house of Joseph but I can only imagine. I mean God choose these two for a reason, but they still must have had a few good moments of discussion. To bad Dr. Phil was not around in those days!
Now you have to shlep your little family miles away to be counted and while there your wife goes into labor, or as much labor as Mary had anyway (read previous post on Mary’s labor pains) and you try and find her a place but the place is packed. So you find a cave and lay he down in the hay and she gives birth to a son. Okay pretty normal so far right? Then some strange guys show up and gives you gifts. Sorry to say at this moment I have the movie Life of Brian running in my head.
So they leave their gifts and you think this is pretty good after all it is Christmas! Then just when you think all is going to be okay, you have this dream and you have to move to a place you have never been and where you know no one. What does Joseph do? He takes his family and moves on. What faith this man must have had.
He had no reason to believe Mary. No one would have blamed him if he sent her away. Joseph gets short changed in the Scriptures but I think there is much we can learn from him. Joseph like any step parent, takes on a responsibility that is not his to begin with. He takes the child and makes him his own. Teaches him a trade, takes him to the temple, and teaches him how to be a man.
Tradition tells us that St. Joseph died when Jesus still young. Scripture does not mention this fact and after the finding of Jesus in the Temple we never hear of Joseph again. He fades into the background and does his job of raising Jesus to be the man he was. We owe a great debt of gratitude to St. Joseph, and for that matter all step parents, for doing the job that they do in some of the most difficult situations.
Faith is the moral of this story. The faith of St. Joseph. Let us pray that we have that kind of faith.
Happy New Year!

Saddam

Posted on by Fr. Peter
All over the news today have been reports of the pending execution of Saddam. I have very mixed feels about his execution. What good will it serve to execute him? How will his execution make the life of Iraqi’s better? Will it make things worse for our troops there? Will it make things worse for us here at home? Is there a way that we could just keep him in prison for the rest of his life and not execute him? As Christians should we not look to forgive him and preserve his life. Do we not believe in the sanctity of life from conception to it’s natural end?

Many things to think and pray about.

Romanians Celebrate St. Stephen’s Day

Posted on by Fr. Peter

From Nine O’clock thanks to Floyd Frantz for the link.

In the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia there have been as many as 17 rulers with this name, the most famous of whom is Stephen the Great.

BUCHAREST – The first major celebration dedicated to a religious personality after the Nativity is, in Christian Orthodox calendars, Saint Stephen’s Day. The information we have on him originates in the New Testament, the book titled the Acts of the Apostles. St. Stephen is known as one of the first seven deacons, probably a Hellenistic Jew. The mission he had received from the Twelve Apostles consisted in social activities, such as taking care of the old, the poor, or widows, and preaching the acts and teachings of Jesus. He was seen as more educated than most fellow citizens and with very strong faith, which triggered the envy of Jewish religious leaders.Because of a famous sermon in which he defended Christianity and accused the Jews of having murdered Jesus, Saint Stephen is seized by Jewish authorities and stoned to death, to thus become the first Christian Martyr. One of the most important witnesses of this murder was none other than Saint Apostle Paul, who was one of St. Stephen’s accusers, as the event took place before Paul’s conversion to Christianity.The cult of Saint Stephen developed spectacularly only in the 5th Century, when his grave was found by priest Lucian in Caphar Gamala, in 415. His remains were taken to Constantinople and then to Rome, along with the stones by which he had reportedly been killed. In UK alone, 46 very old churches are dedicated to St. Stephen, and are seen as historic monuments of inestimable value. In art, Saint Stephen has been a favourite subject, with perhaps the most important representation by Jean Fouquet, dating since the early Renaissance, currently kept in Berlin. The Vatican can also boast an extraordinary collection of religious paintings by Fra Angelico.In the West, Saint Stephen is celebrated one day earlier, on December 26, while in UK the feast of Stephen is held on August 3, when the holy remains were found.Over the centuries, numerous sovereigns and personalities were given this name. The Serbs have had as many as four kings named Stephen, the first of them, Stefan Dusan, seen as the founder of the Serbian feudal state. The most important historic personality of Hungary is King Stephen (975-1038), celebrated as a national hero. He is one of the series of five Hungarian kings with this name. In the Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia there have been as many as 17 rulers with this name, the most famous of whom is Stephen the Great, venerated and acknowledged as a saint by the Romanian Orthodox Church.

by George Grigoriu

Gerald Ford RIP

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Word has reached us here in the village of the passing of former President Gerald Ford at the age of 93. Much will be written in the coming days of him and his presidency I would like to share some thoughts of this great man.
I was in grade school when Ford ran against Carter in the 1976 presidential election. I remember us having a mock election in the class room and I was the only one that voted for Ford in that election. There was just something about this man, who kept falling down, that I liked even at that tender age. Okay, so he pardoned Nixon. Is there anyone alive today that thinks that was a mistake? I also was reminded today that he was the only president that was never elected. He became Vice President with the resignation of Spiro Agnew and then president with Nixon’s resignation.
So Memory Eternal for Gerald Ford, and it will be interesting to see how history will treat him.

Nativity Services

Posted on by Fr. Peter
Yesterday after Divine Liturgy we did a quick change of the church from Advent to the Nativity season. All of the red was replaced with white and candles were placed around in different places of the church. Then a quick lunch, a little nap, and Great Vespers was served in the church. Although the group of faithful was small it was a very prayerful way to welcome the Christ Child into our midst. This year I kept the baby from the crib out of the way until last night. Funny thing is only one person noticed that he was not there. Hmmmm.
Today we have one liturgy and then I am off to spend time with family. This has been a very quiet season for us here in the village. I am going to try and take some pictures of the church and post them latter in the week.
Cracun Fericite, Merry Christmas to all who honor me by reading my words on this blog. I look forward to blogging this coming year.

Peace!

Great Vespers

Posted on by Fr. Peter
If anyone is in the area tonight, we are having Great Vespers at 5pm here in the church. Fr. Greg is coming down from Worcester so it should be a great service. We are going to try and record it for pod cast purposes so stay tuned.

Merry Christmas
Cracun Fericite
Nollaig Chridheil Dhuibh Uile

Parastas (Paos) Service

Posted on by Fr. Peter
The third part of the Funeral Service is what is called the Parastas or Memorial Service. This service is served on the 40th day after the falling asleep as well as the each year for three years. The service is basically the wake service or the Litany of the Dead from the Divine Liturgy.

The tradition in this Romanian Parish is to use boiled wheat but in some places the tradition is to use bread. It all depends on from where in Romanian your family comes from. As mentioned before the wheat symbolizes the resurrection. In the center of the wheat we place a candle to represent the light of Christ’s teaching. At the end of the service a little red wine is poured over the wheat to remind us the we are purified, cleansed, and made holy by the blood of Christ. In the name of the person who has fallen asleep we pray on their behalf for forgiveness and mercy.

This service is not just an event where we shed tears for the dead, but an active participation in making Christ present in this world and the next.

Pastoral Joys

Posted on by Fr. Peter
This morning I had a great breakfast with Fr. Greg and returned to the church to find the other furnace in the church on the fritz. We have three hot air furnaces that heat the church. One went down earlier in the week and was repaired. We were waiting on the electrician to come and wire the thing up. While waiting for him, the other one went down and will be down until next week. So if you are coming to church here this weekend bring a hat. Ahhh the things they don’t teach in seminary… LOL

Orthodox Funeral Service Part II

Posted on by Fr. Peter
In the last post the pre-funeral liturgies were covered. In this post I would like to look at the actual Funeral Liturgy and some of the symbolism of the things used in the liturgy itself.
After the final litany comes the prayer of forgiveness. This prayer is said by the priest and before the people come up for the final goodbye. A very moving prayer and speaks of the joy that we can all look forward too.

O Most merciful master, Lord Jesus Christ our God, you gave the keys of the kingdom of heaven to your holy disciples and apostles. Then after your third-day resurrection, by your grace, you gave them the power to retain and forgive sins of men, that they be retained in heaven just as they were retained on earth and likewise that they be forgiven in heaven as they were forgiven on earth.

Through your unspeakable love for mankind, you made us worthy, though we are your humble and unworthy servants, to be inheritors of this same your most holy gift and grace. You yourself, most good king, through me your humble and unworthy servant, forgive your servant (N) whatever he has transgressed in this earthly life. Forgive him all which he has done in word deed or thought, releasing him from every form of ban placed on him through his actions of anger or through some other motives or if he is under the ban of a hierarch or some other, due to the envy and though the work of the Devil.

Graciously grant, most good and merciful one, that his soul be established with the saints who from the ages have been pleasing to you and that his body be returned to the elements from which you made it. For you are blessed and glorified to all ages. Amen.

After this prayer, the priest invites the people to come up and say their last goodbye and then the final prayer is said.

The priest holds his hand over the departed and says the following prayer:

May the Lord, Jesus Christ our God, who gave to his holy disciples and apostles the divine command to retain and forgive the sins of those fallen and to us who have received the power to do likewise from them, forgive you all which you have transgressed in this earthly life, voluntarily and involuntarily committed, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
For you are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your servant (N) who has fallen asleep, O Christ God, and we offer glory to you, together with your Father who is without beginning and your all-holy, good and life-creating Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Then the priest pours olive oil and wine, in the sign of the cross, over the body saying:

Purify me with hyssop until I am clean; wash me until I am whiter than snow.

The wine symbolizes the blood which circulates in our veins and the oil, the announcement of the resurrection.

After this the top of the casket is closed and removed the cemetery for burial.
The symbolism of some of the items used at the funeral:
Candles used around the coffin signify the light which Christ has brought into the world through his Gospel which will guide both the living and the dead until the end of the world.
Incense is used as an offering to God in behalf of the soul of the departed.
Earth is scattered over the casket in the sign of the cross and symbolizes that man is earth and will return to earth.
Ashes from the censer are emptied into the grave as a reminder that man is “earth and ashes.”
Boiled Wheat and Loves of Bread as used in the memorial service because wheat symbolizes resurrection. As a grain of wheat must be buried so that it can bring forth fruit, so a man must be buried in order to be resurrected for eternity.
Next up will be the memorial services in another post.
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