His Eminence Metropolitan SABA Archbishop of New York and Metropolitan of All North America, His Grace Bishop Alexander
Pastor: Fr John Vazquez | (518) 462-0579 | fatherjohnvazquez@gmail.com | stgeorgealbany.org | 1 St George's Pl Albany, NY
Office Hours: Mon/Fri 10am-5pm | Confessions: After weekly services (Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun) or by appointment
Monday, December 9th—8:15—Coffee with the Fathers at Alias Coffee on North Pearl St in Albany
Wednesday, December 11th—8am—Divine Liturgy
Wednesday, December 11th—6pm—Daily Vespers
Friday, December 13th—8am—Orthros
Saturday, December 14th—5pm—Great Vespers with Bible Study to follow
Sunday, December 15th—9am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy (St Lucia Celebration, Nativity Play rehearsal and PARISH COUNCIL MEETING TO FOLLOW Liturgy)
Sunday, December 22: Orthros and Divine Liturgy (Christmas Pageant and Potluck)
Tuesday, December 24th—9am—Royal Hours
Tuesday, December 24th—3pm—Vesperal Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great
Wednesday, December 25th—8am—Orthros and Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom (POTLUCK TO FOLLOW)
Beloved,
It has been a tremendous blessing for me and my family to host Fr Matthew and Kh Kelly this past weekend. From what I have heard from many of you it was a blessing to our community as well.
From my own personal conversations with Fr Matthew this weekend and in listening to his retreat sessions on Saturday and homily on Sunday, I am inspired to be fervent in prayer, bold in prayer and still.
Fr Matthew shared with us that when we pray we have the ability to stand face to face with God—for Him to see us and for us to see Him. This encounter with the God of love heals us. We should then be fervent in prayer so that we can find this healing.
This encounter with God may be uncomfortable—like when we need to remove a splinter that is small and very difficult to access. And yet, if we do not remove the splinter it may cause us great harm and even death. So we need a certain kind of boldness before God in prayer.
Lastly, the encounter with God can only happen if there is stillness in our lives. We need to take time to be still every day but also to be still while we are around others. Why?
Well, it is through our own slowing down, our own processing of what another person says, our own ability to hear them and see them that we can also encounter God through our neighbor.
Lord teach us to be fervent, bold and still so that we can encounter You. Amen.
With Love in Christ,
Fr John
