Archpriest
David Brum, Rector
Protodeacon
Alexis Washington
Regular Services
Saturday:
5:00 PM Great Vespers
Sunday:
9:00 AM Divine Liturgy
© 2009 - Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church 602-253-9515 All rights reserved.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
At the very beginning of this month, June 7th, we celebrate the Great Feast of Holy Pentecost. Having celebrated the Lord’s Paschal Mystery and His triumph over sin and death on Pascha, we continue the liturgical year’s commemoration of the history of salvation and now recall that day on which the Holy Spirit was sent to the Apostles and Disciples. In commemorating the event that took place almost two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, we also commemorate the moment in which the Holy Spirit was given to us personally, that moment we were anointed with Holy Chrism. At our Chrismation we were sealed with the Gift of the Holy Spirit and we experienced our own personal Pentecost.
In the Scripture reading from the Acts of the Holy Apostles proclaimed at the Divine Liturgy of the Feast, we hear Saint Luke’s account of what transpired on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). On that day the Apostles and Disciples were transformed. Formerly they had lived in fear for their lives. While they remained together in prayer, they were still fearful, afraid of being identified as followers of the Crucified One. However, once they had received the Promised Spirit, they immediately began to publicly profess their faith in them. Having received the Holy Spirit, the Holy Apostle Peter preached his sermon to those gathered in Jerusalem, outlining for them the history of salvation and all that God had accomplished for them in and through His Son, Jesus Christ (Acts 2:14-39). We are told that about three thousand souls were baptized and added to the number of those who were being saved.
As we reflect upon the scriptural account of Pentecost and the transformation of the Apostles and Disciples from people who were afraid into bold and fearless preachers of the Gospel, we can also reflect upon our own “story.” Our personal story if also one of transformation—we who were dead through sin are now alive in Christ Jesus. We who one our own are all too often be timid or even afraid to share our faith proclaim of the Gospel are, by virtue of our Baptism and Chrismation, called to follow the example of Saint Peter and the other Apostles who, on the day of Pentecost, were emboldened by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Gospel message of salvation.
May the Holy Spirit, the Comforter and Spirit of Truth, fill us with a burning zeal to share the Good News of all that God has done for us in and through His Son. May each one of us, in our own way and according to our own gifts and calling, also share the fullness of the Gospel with the world in which we live, for we, too “are all witnesses” of Jesus the Risen Lord.
With love in the Lord,
Father David
|
|
|
Click Photos to view Mother’s Day Pictures |
Explaining Your Enthusiasm
Written by the Very Rev. Vladimir Berzonsky
"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander" (I Peter 3:15)
This beautiful admonition from the epistle of St. Peter has a few presuppositions: A. that you have such a gift of hope motivating your behavior others notice and will ask you why; B. that you understand the cause of your positive attitude towards the world and yourself; C. that you are ready, willing and capable of explaining it, or using scriptural language, of witnessing to your faith in Jesus Christ.
Assuming [A] that you have a sunny disposition and a healthy attitude towards your life, putting into perspective even the shadows and dark moments that come in your way, and even [B] you know why you are full of vigor, with the ability to tell about it to others, do you really want to "give an account of the hope that is in you"? Isn't it odd that the Orthodox Christians who have so much to share with the people of our time and nation rarely do so? Living in a culture with so many who are lost and searching for values, who seem to be shifting from one religious fad to another, now reading some celebrity's book about how after several marriages she or he found the door to eternal wisdom, now discovering how [exercise, dieting, meditation, whatever] turned grief into ecstasy -- the Orthodox Christians with our overabundance of prescriptions for spiritual growth and joy of life in Christ are either reluctant to share or haven't found a way to communicate what it is that gives life meaning.
Some would say, "Come and see," the very verbs that our Lord Jesus told to Andrew and John (John 1:39). Just attend the Divine Liturgy and all will be revealed to you. Do what the ambassadors did who were sent by Prince Vladimir to Constantinople and reported back that they didn't know if they were standing on the earth or had been caught up into heaven. I question that conviction, because it isn't always, or maybe often, successful. It may capture the heart of somebody whom the Holy Spirit has prepared for the gift of inspiration to unite a seeking soul with the presence of Christ -- as St. Gregory of Nyssa put it: "The One who knows, in search of the one who wants to know."
For more ordinary modern persons, however, the wealth of riches we Orthodox hold in very earthen vessels must be described, explained and exemplified before those who in our culture will comprehend. This is not a simple matter. Orthodox Christianity in traditional cultures permeated all aspects of life from birth to burial. There was little need to explain or describe faith, or even hope and love -- it was just the way things were. If a fish could speak and were asked to define water, the question would confuse it. Our faith, as lovely and wonderful as it is to us, is curious to typical Americans -- not what they think of when they consider Christianity. Like Americans in general, our laity leave the Divine Liturgy as spectators, not as evangelists with the duty to share the faith with outsiders. Even now with the miracles of technology, those who explain the Orthodox faith on CDs, DVDs, radio programs or in written form are nearly all professionals: priests, theologians, professors, or journalists. True Orthodox, on the other hand, know the ancient axiom: The one who prays is a theologian, and the theologian is the one who prays."
Reprinted from
The Orthodox Church in America Website
