Today’s Readings:
Epistle: Ephesians 2:14-22
Gospel: Luke 12:16-21
Schedule of Services:
Tuesday, November 21st, Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos at 10am.
Thursday, November 23rd, Akathist of Thanksgiving at 10am.
Saturday, November 25th, Great Vespers at 4pm.
Sunday, November 26th, Divine Liturgy at 10am. Hours begin at 9:40am.
Announcements:
-Memory eternal to Emmanuel, Valli Murphy’s father, who fell asleep in the Lord 25 years ago.
-Thank you to Stephanie V. for hosting coffee hour last week. And many thanks to Valli for hosting coffee hour today.
-Once again, our parish is sponsoring a seminarian family. Please see the wish list poster located downstairs and have all gifts wrapped and labeled by November 26. Thank you for your contributions!!
-Please text Robert Fisher at (609) 306-4714 if you would like to visit or are able to bring him to church. His address is 47 Lincoln Ave., Lambertville, NJ.
-This year we will hold a short prayer service on Thanksgiving Day at 10am. We will pray the Akathist of Thanksgiving in which we give “Glory to God for All Things.” This is a beloved Akathist in the Orthodox Church, traditionally written by one who was suffering in a Soviet concentration camp—we pray this Akathist for the strength to be thankful even in the midst of suffering and trials. One is always surely moved by the beauty of this prayer, as we note that in the Orthodox tradition, absolutely no circumstance, calling, individual, is overlooked. Indeed, we pray for everyone and everything—and give thanks for it.
-A special thanks to all those who helped out downstairs clearing things out, as we get our floor remodeled, especially Bill, Pam, Larry, and Brendan. So much was done in the last week or so in Fr. Tristan’s absence—for which he is thankful for all the help. Thank you again, Pam, for coordinating the flooring and installation of the new door.
-On Tuesday, November 21st, we will have Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos at 10am.
-Please be reminded that the Nativity Fast has begun. For those of us who prepare coffee hour, please note that we will abstain from meat and dairy products.
Prayers for:
Departed: Paul, Sonya, Walter, Emmanuel
Living: Janis, David, Robert, Karen, Steven, Archpriest Paul, Melissa, Stephen, Michele, Janet, Teresa, Irina, Victor; Nicole, Rachel, and Alexa, 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:
A humble man who lives a spiritual life, when he reads the Holy Scriptures, while relate all things to himself and not to others.
(St. Mark the Ascetic, Sermon, 1.6)
If someone wants to be protected from tricks and remain healthy in the faith, he must confine his faith first to the authority of the Holy Scriptures, and secondly to the Tradition of the Church. But someone may ask, is not the canon of Scripture sufficient for everything, and why should we add thereto the authority of Tradition? This is because not everyone understands the Scriptures in the same way, but one explains them this way and another that way, so that it is possible to get therefrom as many thoughts as there are heads. Therefore it is necessary to be guided by the understanding of the Church ... What is tradition? It is that which has been understood by everyone, everywhere and at all times ... that which you have received, and not that which you have thought up ... So then, our job is not to lead religion where we wish it to go, but to follow it where it leads, and not to give that which is our own to our heirs, but to guard that which has been given to us.
(St. Vincent of Lerina, Notes of a Pilgrim)
Next Week’s Readings:
Epistle: Ephesians 4:1-6. Brethren, I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
Gospel: Luke 13:10-17. At that time, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had had a disabling spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your disability.” And he laid his hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and she glorified God. But the ruler of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the people, “There are six days in which work ought to be done. Come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day.” Then the Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger and lead it away to water it? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day?” As he said these things, all his adversaries were put to shame, and all the people rejoiced at all the glorious things that were done by him.