Pastor: Fr John Vazquez | (518) 462-0579 |
fatherjohnvazquez@gmail.com
Beloved,
This week before moving back to speaking about the creed I want to share some of my experience at Camp Transfiguration here in Canada. This camp is put on by our diocese and has two one-week sessions per year. This week there are around 170 campers and 30 staff from around our diocese. The campers are split up into cabins of around 7-10 kids, two counselors and one assistant counselor. It has been a wonderful experience thus far.
A typical day starts with the orthros service at 8am. After orthros there is breakfast followed by morning program, which is some kind of Christian education for the kids. Following the morning program there is a little free time for the kids, lunch and then afternoon program—serval different fun activities that the kids can choose from (sports, arts and crafts, fishing, swimming, tubing etc.). The evening includes dinner, vespers and an evening program that is done all together. Throughout the week the kids have opportunities for "ask Abouna," confession, time with their counselors, who often turn into mentors, and time to nourish new relationships in Christ.
This kind of life cradled in prayer and a shared community offers a precious experience that the campers and staff can carry with them into the rest of the year. These precious experiences of a communal life centered around the Church can serve as an experience of Christ that the participants can recollect and remember when times are difficult or hard in their lives. Even if we don't have the opportunity to go to a camp like Camp Transfiguration it is important that we have these kind of experiences in our lives so that we have an image of what the Christian life can be—a life lived in community with joy and centered around Christ—because this kind of life is the kind of life that each of us are called to. How can we bring this kind of life into our homes?
There are many ways but two very simple ways are beginning and ending our day with prayer and participating in the life of the Church—the services, the activities and the education that the Church offers. Prayer strengthens our relationship with God and shows Him that He we love Him and participating in the life of the Church connects us to our neighbors making Christ present in our lives through communing with Him by way of our neighbor. Not everyone can have this great experience of Camp but everyone has available to them a life in Christ through prayer and participating in the life of the Church.
With love in the risen Lord,
Fr John
Services and Events
Saturday, August 24th—5pm—NO VESPERS
Sunday, August 25th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy
Thursday, August 29th—8am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy for the BEHEADING OF ST JOHN THE BAPTIST
Friday, August 30th—9am—Paraklesis of St George
Saturday, August 31st—5pm—Great Vespers
Sunday, September 1st—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy CHURCH NEW YEAR
Friday, September 6th—8am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy
Saturday, September 7th—5pm—Great Vespers w/Bible Study to follow. Join us as we continue to study the Gospel of Mattew
Sunday, September 8th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—BAPTISM OF MASON GRADY TO FOLLOW LITURGY—all are welcome
Monday, September 9th—8:15am—Coffee with the Fathers at Alias Coffee on N. Pearl St in Albany
Sunday, September 15th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—Memorial for Wahib Barbera to follow Liturgy
Sunday, September 22nd—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—Memorial for Scott and Chris Seavey to follow Liturgy
Sunday, September 29th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy—Memorial for Bassir Rezek to follow Liturgy
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—YOUR GRACE TRANSFORMS THE UNIVERSE PART II HERE
Get some caffeine for the soul with Coffee with the Fathers. WE WILL START BACK UP MONDAY SEPTEMBER 9TH at ALIAS COFFEE on Pearl St in Albany when we plan to begin studying Hymns on Paradise by St Ephraim the Syrian.
Study the Scriptures with us—Bible Study Saturday evenings at 6pm after vespers. WE WILL START BACK UP SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7TH when we plan to continue studying the Gospel of Matthew.
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...
*That our Antiochian Archdiocese celebrated the Translations of the Relics of St Raphael of Brooklyn in July. I was blessed to venerate the skull of St Raphael when I was at the Clergy Symposium. WATCH THIS VIDEO
*We are looking for those who might be interested in learning to or participating a dabke group as we consider having a group participate in the Festival of Nations held in Albany every year. Please contact Father if you are interested. You can learn more about the Festival of Nations HERE.
*Coming soon! The Archdiocese’s new “Antiochian Orthodox Ecclesiastical Online Music School.” With the enthusiastic blessing of Sayidna Saba, the school will offer virtual classes for Byzantine chant and choral singing for church musicians, new or experienced, starting the week of September 9. The school will also offer a course on the Typicon and how to arrange the divine services. Registration begins August 18!
*Our sister parish—St George in Schenectady—is offering online Greek School. You can register HERE
*Our church is need of some smaller items:
1. Paper towels
2. Olive Oil
3. Screen door to office (approx $200)
...and we would eventually like to take care of some larger items:
1. Windows in the Church (approx $15,000)
2. Kitchen Renovation (approx $10,000—15,000)
3. Chanters stand with stasidia chairs (approx $4000)
4. Royal doors. These are the doors to the Sanctuary and Altar. (approx $4000)
5. Prothesis table in altar. This is the place where the priest prepares the bread and wine that will be consecrated during the Divine Liturgy (approx $2,000).
If you are interested in helping contribute, please let me know. Also, please know that we are not in dire need of any of these larger items. The Church can and will still function without them, so short-term, hold over or bargain solutions are not what is needed here. These larger items will help to beautify the Church, enable us to save some money (windows) or make money (functioning kitchen).
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, Marsha, Mary, Stephanie, Hassib, Alex, Raymond, .
All those suffering from illness, violence and want in this country and throughout the world and especially those in Ukraine, Russia, Gaza and the middle east
Departed:
Fr Gregory DesMarais, Fr Alvian, Anastasia (7.25), Anne (7.30), Agnes (8.14) those who have lost their lives and who have no one to pray for them, those who have passed in the conflict in Ukraine and the middle east.
Divine Liturgy Variables on Sunday, August 25, 2024
Tone 8 / Eothinon 9; Ninth Sunday after Pentecost & Ninth Sunday of Matthew
Return of the relics of the Apostle Bartholomew; The Holy Apostle Titus of the Seventy
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 FOR SS. BARTHOLOMEW & TITUS IN TONE THREE
O Holy Apostles, intercede with our merciful God, to grant our souls forgiveness of sins.
Now sing the apolytikion of the patron saint or feast of the temple.
KONTAKION OF THE NATIVITY OF THE THEOTOKOS IN TONE FOUR
By thy holy nativity, O pure one, Joachim and Anna were delivered from the reproach of barrenness; and Adam and Eve were delivered from the corruption of death; thy people do celebrate it, having been saved from the stain of iniquity, crying unto thee: The barren doth give birth to the Theotokos, who nourisheth our life.
THE EPISTLE
Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God. God is known in Judaea; His Name is great in Israel.
The Reading from the First Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians. (3:9-17)
Brethren, we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s husbandry, God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise architect I laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. Let each one take heed how he builds upon it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; everyone’s work will become manifest; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire itself will test each one’s work of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which was built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, yet so as by fire. Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone corrupts the temple of God, God will corrupt him. For the temple of God is holy, whose temple you are.
THE GOSPEL
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew. (14:22-34)
At that time, Jesus made the Disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds. And after He had dismissed the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the Disciples’ boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. But when the Disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately He spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” And Peter answered Him, “Lord, if it is Thee, bid me come to Thee on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “Truly, Thou art the Son of God.” And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret.
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 Apostles Bartholomew and Titus, 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
Help us Meet our Goal of $120,000 for the Year
Sunday Giving for week of August 18th—$978.50
Online Giving for week of August 18th—$0
Total Giving for fiscal year to date (October 23–September 24)—$80626.55
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)—21
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
