Pastor: Fr John Vazquez | (518) 462-0579 |
fatherjohnvazquez@gmail.com
Beloved,
And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead Whose kingdom shall have no end
In chapter 10 of the book of Acts we hear Peter sharing the good news of the resurrection with a Roman Centurion named Cornelius. In the midst of sharing that good news with Cornelius Peter says that Jesus will judge the living and the dead (10.42).
If we think about everything that has come before this line in the creed it makes sense that —the Creator, the one begotten of the Father, who became man, died on the cross and rose from the dead for our salvation—would be the judge of the living of and the dead.
The first coming of our Lord was in humility—so as not to overwhelm His creation and thereby still give us an opportunity to freely choose Him. The second coming will be in His glory and splendor as the risen Christ—He-Who-defeated-death. This One who is all-powerful, all-knowing and all-mighty will judge us and either admit us to or reject us from the kingdom that will never end—a very sobering thought.
On the other hand, remembering our Lord’s impending judgment on all those who have ever lived, can be a source of consolation. If we think about all the injustice, and sin, and sadness that has afflicted the world since The Fall, we can find consolation in the fact that those injustices will be made right, sins wiped away and sadness turned to joy—a great consolation indeed for when we see suffering in the world.
How often do we think about standing in judgment before our Lord? At the beginning of the Orthros (or Matins) service that we do every Friday morning and every Sunday morning before the Divine Liturgy, we say what are called—the Six Psalms (Psalms 3, 37, 62, 87, 102, 142). While we say these psalms we are to stand still and not move (not even make the sign of the cross) until they are done. The purpose is to place ourselves at our future judgment before God when we will not be able to defend ourselves with any excuses. Do we use our time here on earth to repent?
Repentance begins with becoming aware of our need to repent—the last thought that the devil wants to enter into our minds. The remembrance of our death and judgment should therefore be something we think about every day. Even if we don’t have the opportunity to come to Orthros, we can still pray the six psalms (or at least one of them every day) and remember our judgement before God. While some may think this is rather morbid—to remember our coming death and judgment—the Church encourages us in this practice so as to nudge us to live a life of repentance. Repentance is that truly blessed life that helps open up the gates of that never-ending paradise—to all who choose it.
With love in the risen Lord,
Fr John
Services and Events
Friday, October 18th—8am—Orthros
Saturday, October 19th—Great Vespers with Bible Study to follow (FOOD PREP FOR THE F.O.N. WILL JUST BE NEXT WEEK)
Sunday, October 20th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—JOIN US FOR A PARISH BREAKFAST AFTER LITURGY. FREEWILL OFFERINGS ACCEPTED BUT NOT REQUIRED.
Monday, October 21st—8:15am—Coffee with the Fathers at Alias Coffee on North Pearl St in Albany.
Wednesday, October 23rd—8am—Divine Liturgy
Wednesday, October 23rd—6pm—Paraklesis of St George
Friday, October 25th—8am—NO ORTHROS—Fall Retreat in Ottawa
Saturday, October 26th—PREP FOOD FOR FESTIVAL OF NATIONS (SPEAK WITH RANYA PALMER, MICHELLA RIZK OR MARIE BARBERA FOR DETAILS)
Saturday, October 26th—NO VESPERS OR BIBLE STUDY—Fall Retreat in Ottawa
Sunday, October 27th—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—FESTIVAL OF NATIONS AT EMPIRE STATE PLAZA (PURCHASE DISCOUNTED TICKETS FROM THE CHRUCH)
Sunday, November 3rd—ALL PARISH MEETING AFTER DIVINE LITURGY
Sunday, November 10th—POTLUCK AND PIES AFTER DIVINE LITURGY (FEAST WITH US AND JOIN IN A PIE CONTEST BEFORE THE NATIVITY FAST BEGINS)
Education
But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 2 Pet 3.18
READ METROPOLITAN SABA'S WEEKLY TEACHING—THE MOTHER OF ALL VICES PART II HERE
Get some caffeine for the soul with Coffee with the Fathers. Join us at ALIAS COFFEE on N. Pearl St in Albany as we study Hymns on Paradise by St Ephraim the Syrian.
Study the Scriptures with us—Bible Study Saturday evenings at 6pm after vespers as we continue to study the Gospel of Matthew.
Sunday Education—learn with us about a topic for the week after the dismissal. Talk with me if you are interested in teaching a lesson.
Click HERE for some resources for learning about our Faith
Click HERE for a great article on advice for mothers.
Did You Know...that Christ is Risen!...and...
*DURING THE MONTH OF OCTOBER WE WILL BE COLLECTING SOCKS AGAIN FOR THOSE IN NEED. PLEASE HELP US AS WE ENTER INTO ANOTHER SOCTOBER.
*DECEMBER 7TH WE WILL HOST OUR SECOND ANNUAL NATIVITY FAST RETREAT ON PRAYER AND OUR LIFE IN CHRIST. COST IS $20. LUNCH DINNER AND CHILDCARE WILL BE PROVIDED. SIGN UP HERE
*We are participating in the festival of nations this year. It is Sunday October 27th at the Empire State Plaza. We are selling tickets for the event. Talk to Fr John or Ranya Palmer if you are interested in helping out.
*Our church is need of some smaller items—speak with Fr John if you are interested in helping meet a need of the Church.
Parish Prayer List
"Remember Me O Lord When You Come Into Your Kingdom." Lk 23.42
Please include in your daily prayers the following. Contact me to have someone added to the list. These are the names that will be remembered during the Divine Liturgy.
Living:
Bishop Alexander, Fr Gregory Potter, Fr Joseph, Dn Jorge, Dn Horia, Leila, Helen, Lew, Marsha, Mary, Anastasia, Hassib, Nefnafe, Georgette, Jess.
All those suffering from illness, violence and want in this country and throughout the world and especially those in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza, Lebanon and the middle east
Departed:
Fr Gregory DesMarais, Fr Alvian, Selena, Sayid, Hanna those who have lost their lives and who have no one to pray for them, those who have passed in the conflicts in Ukraine and the middle east.
Divine Liturgy Variables on Sunday, October 20, 2024
Tone 8 / Eothinon 6; Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost & Sixth Sunday of Luke
Great-martyr Artemius at Antioch; Venerable Gerasimos the New Ascetic of Kephallenia; Venerable Matrona of Chios
During the Little Entrance, chant the Resurrectional Apolytikion. The Eisodikon (Entrance Hymn) is “O come, let us worship… save us, O Son of God, Who art risen from the dead…” After the Little Entrance, chant these hymns in the following order:
RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION IN TONE EIGHT
From the heights Thou didst descend, O compassionate One, and Thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that Thou might deliver us from passion; Thou art our life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to Thee.
APOLYTIKION OF ST. ARTEMIUS THE GREAT-MARTYR IN TONE FOUR
(**Be quick to anticipate**)
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee * received as the prize the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. * For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants * and wholly destroyed the demons’ strengthless presumption. * O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
Now sing the apolytikion of the patron saint or feast of the temple.
ORDINARY KONTAKION IN TONE TWO
O protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, mediation unto the Creator most constant, O despise not the suppliant voices of those who have sinned; but be thou quick, O good one, to come unto our aid, who in faith cry unto thee: Hasten to intercession, and speed thou to make supplication, thou who dost ever protect, O Theotokos, them that honor thee.
THE EPISTLE
(For the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost)
Make your vows to the Lord our God and perform them. God is known in Judah; His Name is great in Israel.
The Reading from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (6:16-7:1)
Brethren, we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from them, and be separate from them,” says the Lord, “and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, and make holiness perfect in the fear of God.
THE GOSPEL
(For the Sixth Sunday of Luke)
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke. (8:26-39)
At that time, Jesus arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. And as He stepped out on land, there met Him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, “What hast Thou to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech Thee, do not torment me.” For Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. [For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.] Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. And they begged Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged Jesus to let them enter these. So He gave them leave. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed with demons was healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gadarenes asked Jesus to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so He got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with Jesus; but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare all that God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city all that Jesus had done for him.
The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom continues as usual.
THE DISMISSAL
Priest: May He Who rose from the dead, Christ our true God, through the intercessions of His all-immaculate and all-blameless holy Mother; by the might of the Precious and Life-giving Cross; by the protection of the honorable Bodiless Powers of Heaven; at the supplication of the honorable, glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John; of the holy, glorious and all-laudable apostles; of our father among the saints, John Chrysostom, archbishop of Constantinople, whose Divine Liturgy we have now celebrated; of the holy, glorious and right-victorious Martyrs; of our venerable and God-bearing Fathers; of Saint N., the patron and protector of this holy community; of the holy and righteous ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; of the Great-martyr Artemius at Antioch, whose memory we celebrate today, and of all the saints: have mercy on us and save us, forasmuch as He is good and loveth mankind.
Parish Giving Summary—Fiscal Year 2023/24
*BELOW IS OUR GIVING SUMMARY FO THE FISCAL YEAR OF 23 AND 24. WE DID A GREAT JOB AS A COMMUNITY IN INCREASING OUR GIVING AND ALTHOUGH WE DID NOT REACH OUR GOAL OF 120,000, WE BROUGHT IN MORE THAN DOUBLE WHAT WE BROUGHT IN LAST YEAR!
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF ST GEORGE!
Total Giving for fiscal year to date (October 23–September 24)—$85679.05
Families who have contributed for fiscal year to date (October 23–September 24)—87
Families who have contributed over $5,000 for fiscal year to date (October 23–September 24)—3
Families who have contributed over $1,000 for fiscal year to date (October 23–September 24)—24
Check out our parish financial report by clicking HERE.
*You can set up a recurring monthly donation to the Church by clicking HERE
A Note to our Visitors
WELCOME!
We are blessed by your presence! Join us for fellowship after. Please note, in the Orthodox Church only baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christians who have properly prepared can partake of the Holy Eucharist. All others may come forward for a blessing with the chalice held over their head and receive a piece of blessed bread from the altar servers.
From a Father of the Church
St Cyril of Alexandria
Sermon on the Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac
The herd then of impure spirits asked for a herd - worthy of and like itself - of swine! And Christ purposely gave them leave, though He well knew what they would do. And I can imagine some one saying, Why did He grant their request? To which we answer, That He gave them the power, in order that this, like all His other conduct, might be a means of benefit to us, and inspire us with the hope of safety. But perhaps thou wilt say, How, and in what manner? Listen therefore. They ask for power over swine: plainly as something which they do not possess. For what possible doubt can there be, that they would not have asked it, if it had been in their power to take it without hindrance? But those who have no power over things thus trifling and valueless, how can they injure any one of those whom Christ has scaled, and who place their hope on Him? Comfort therefore thy heart: for perhaps thou wast terrified at hearing that a crowd of wicked spirits dwelt in one man, and made him wander among the graves of the dead in shame and nakedness, and bereft of mind and understanding. Inasmuch as thou too art a man exposed to temptations, thou fearedst a misery thus bitter and unendurable, should Satan attack thee. Rouse therefore thy heart to confidence: do not suppose that any such thing can happen while Christ surrounds us with protection and love. It is certain that they possess no power even over swine. So great is the providence which the Almighty Governor of our affairs deigns to bestow on human things.
