Today’s Readings:
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20
Gospel: Luke 15:11-32
Schedule of Services:
Saturday, March 9th, Great Vespers at 4pm.
Sunday, March 10th, Divine Liturgy at 10:00am. Hours begin at 9:40am.
Announcements:
-Many years to Orson John Stone and Kara Stone!
-Thank you to the Stone’s for hosting coffee hour today.
-Next Sunday, March 10th, we will hold memorial prayers for departed parishioners, and any other departed loved ones who fell asleep in the Lord in March. If you have a loved one you would like remembered, please submit his or her name to Fr. Tristan.
-Our parish will be hosting a "baby shower" this March to help mothers and babies in need. Please see the table downstairs next to the door in the coffee hall.
-To update the church directory, a draft copy is located on the window sill next to the coffee counter. Please add names and relevant information on parishioners who you feel should be on the "Friends of St. Gregory's" list.
-Church School for children will be on the Sundays of March 10th and 24th.
-The next Council Meeting will be on Sunday, March 10th.
-Fr. Tristan will be visiting his mother in Pittsburgh this week. He will be back on Friday. Please, if there are any immediate needs or emergencies, let Bill Cordasco know, and if a priest is needed, call our dean, Fr. Gary Breton at 848-333-7055. Thank you.
Some important dates to mark:
-Sunday, March 17th is Forgiveness Vespers at the conclusion of Liturgy. It is important that we all start Great Lent off on the right track and ask forgiveness of one another during this sacred service.
-Saturday to Sunday, March 30th to 31st, Archbishop Michael will be visiting. On Sunday, we will enjoy fellowship with him as we host a special meal during coffee hour for him.
-Please see the March calendar for the first week of Great Lent. Please don’t miss our 1st Pre-sanctified Liturgy on the Wednesday of the first week (March 20th), and the Canon of St. Andrew for most days of the week. This first week is a treasured week in the life of the Church. Let’s start Great Lent off in the Orthodox (Ortho=right/correct, Doxa=glory) spirit!
Prayers for:
Departed: Elena, Richard, Ann Marie
Living: Orson, Kara, Krystyna and her newborn child, Seph, Michael, Janis, David, Robert, Karen, Steven, Archpriest Paul, Melissa, Stephen, Michele, Janet, Teresa, Irina, Victor; Metropolitan Onuphry and the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; the suffering people and innocent victims of the Ukrainian/Russian war and those being persecuted; the suffering people of Yemen, Syria and Turkey; and the suffering victims of the war in Israel and Palestine.
Words for the Day
Do not disdain the commandment to love, for through it you become a son of God, and when you break it, you become a son of Gehenna.
(St. Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love, 4:20)
Love toward God should be higher for us that love toward any human.
(St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite)
Do not say that faith in Christ alone can save you, for this is not possible if you do not attain love for Him, which is demonstrated by deeds. As for mere faith: "The demons also believe and tremble" (James, 2:19). The action of love consists in heartfelt good deeds toward one's neighbor, magnanimity, patience, and sober use of things.
(St. Maximus the Confessor, Chapters on Love, 1.39-40)
Next Week’s Readings:
Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2. Brethren, Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol's temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you, for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus said this parable,“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”