Greeting: Christ is in our midst! Response: He is and shall be!

Tone: 6   Eothinon: 6

Sunday of the Holy, Life-Giving Cross. The Hieromartyrs of Cherson: Basil, Ephraim, Eugene, Kapiton, Elpidios, Agathodoros and Aetherios; Venerable Laurence; Venerable Paul the Simple, disciple of Venerable Anthony the Great. 

These are now found published in the monthly newsletter and are also available in each issue of WORD magazine. If you are NOT receiving WORD magazine, please contact the church office to make sure your name and address are on their mailing list. Subscription to this publication is available to you as part of your Diocese membership. The Word magazine can also be viewed on line by clicking on "The Word" on the home page of this site.

This is the love that makes our Lord Jesus Christ our worthy King; this is a Kingship which makes every knee to bow before Him.

And it is because He is such that He can also be the High Priest of all Creation. The high priests of the pagan world as well as the High Priests of Israel brought forth as a sacrifice victims with which they identified only metaphorically, symbolically, ritually.

The Lord Jesus Christ brought as a victim His own Self, although there was nothing in Him that condemned Him to the death He has taken upon Himself. Doesn’t He say in His High-priestly prayer, talking to His disciples that the adversary is coming near, but there is nothing in Him – in Christ – that belongs to him. There is nothing in Christ which belongs in the realm of death and of sin.

And to His Father He says: I sanctify Myself for them, I bring Myself as a holy offering for My people. The High Priest who brings Himself frees thereby all other creatures from the horror of blood-offering, but confronts us with an immensity, a depth of love divine which otherwise we could not even fathom: life accepting to be quenched, light accepting to go out, eternity accepting to die the mortality of a fallen world.

And that is why the Word of God can speak to us as a Prophet. A prophet is not one who foretells the future; a prophet is one who speaks for God.

One of the prophets of old says that a prophet is one with whom God shares His thoughts. Christ, the Word of God, Christ, the perfect image of Love divine, Christ who not only speaks for God, but who acts, enacts in His life and in His death the Love of God, sacrificial, total, perfect, given …

And this is why the Feast of the Cross is such a wonder in the experience of the Church. We will never be able to experience what it meant for Him to die upon the Cross, even our own death cannot disclose to us what His death was: how can Immortality die? But what we can learn, what we can discover by communing ever more deeply, ever more perfectly through a daring, wholehearted endeavor with the life, and the teaching, and the ways of Christ – what we can learn is to love in a way that approximates more and more to that love divine, and discover in this love the quality which unites death as forgetfulness of self, ultimate and perfect, with the victory of love, Resurrection and eternal life. Amen.

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His Eminence Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (1914 – August 4, 2003) was bishop of the Diocese of Sourozh, the Russian Orthodox Church in Great Britain and Ireland. He wrote masterfully about Christian prayer, and many Orthodox Christians in Great Britain and throughout the world consider him to be a saint.  

OFFERED...

...by Laura Nicholas in memory of ISAAC Nicholas, parents MOSES and MARIAN Nicholas and SAMUEL and ALMA Smith, JAMES and DOLORES Albert, HENRY Joseph, Father GEORGE, all departed brothers and sisters; and for the health of her family and the parishioners of St. Michael's.

(call hospital patients before visiting --- they may have been discharged): 

 INA Abraham (Shadyside), BARBARA Preli (Diana Lammert’s mother), ALEXANDRA (Hopko) Sedor, GIANNA Smith (Dolores and Bill Asa’s great-granddaughter - infection). 

Bishop THOMAS will be with us for the Presanctified Divine Liturgy for Wednesday, March 10. His Grace will join us for soup and bread following the service.

…Happy Birthday to: NICHOLAS Pistentis (3/7), BETTY Joseph (3/7), CLAIRE Rakvic (3/8), ANDREW Nassur (3/9), THEODORE Mermigas (3/10), SAMUEL Pomposelli (3/10), JOSEPH Harding (3/11), ANASTASIA Garrett (3/12), NIDAL Saba (3/12), RYAN Carson (3/13).

…Happy Anniversary to: EDWARD and MARY Bliven (3/13).

…Happy Baptism/Chrismation to: ALECSANDER Varsamis (3/9), SUZANNE Krisner (3/12), MIA Shaffer (3/13).

...in memory of Archimandrites GEORGE M. Corry and JOHN Namie, Archpriests JOHN Chromiak, PETER Felenchak and ANTHONY Bell, and Priest JOHN PAUL Pro.

...in memory of STEPHEN Shuster by Dolly Maruschock.

...in memory of ANTHONY Flizanes by Rich and Harriet Mirilovich.

...in memory of VERONICA Waugaman by Don and Betty Kushner.

...in memory of ANTOIN Munirji by Ruwaidah Munirji. 

 ...for the one-year memorial of the falling asleep in the Lord, the servant of God, DONALD Chedrick, offered by Joanne Chedrick, children and grandchildren.

...in memory of the falling asleep in the Lord, the servants of God, GEORGE and MILDRED Pilipovich, offered by granddaughter, Carolyn Hill.

Shadyside Hospital a couple weeks ago, turned into a complicated and painful ordeal that eventually took her back to Shadyside. Thank God, the last report from husband TOM shows indications that Ina is almost ready to be back on a normal rehabilitation plan. Continue to keep her in your prayers. (She’s still in Shadyside as of Thursday, 3 PM.

There is a sign-up sheet near the Fellowship Hall calendar for those willing to prepare soup for Pre-Sanctified Wednesdays. Share your culinary talents as we break the fast together. 

In observance of Antiochian Women’s 

 Month, we welcome women of the church 

 who will assist in today’s service —-

 Collection:   Michelle Gajewski, Veronica Fennell,

     Carolyn Hill & Beth Keller

 Epistle Reader: Rose Ann Barbato

We’re going to Nancy’s Fancy Tea Room in Connellsville, PA. on Saturday, April 17. Seating is limited (36) so reserve your seat early!. We’ll carpool from the church at 11:15 AM for arrival at the Tea Room by noon.. See or call Irene Papas at 724-850-7458 for more information. 

The Antiochian Women will be selling various Lenten soups on Wednesday, March 10. $5 for a quart of soup. Syrian bread for $3.

The Antiochian Women will sponsor a Lenten luncheon following Divine Liturgy on March 28 (Palm Sunday). Prices are: Adults, $6; Children, $4.

Bread - Laura Nicholas   

Ushers - Dee Asa, Dave Waugaman, Ron Hasnauer, Don Kushner

Greeters - Sara Armanious and Lisa Tereshko

What is the meaning of this rite? Why is it that the Church wants us to begin the Lenten season with forgiveness and reconciliation? These questions are in order because for too many people Lent means primarily, and almost exclusively, a change of diet, the compliance with ecclesiastical regulations concerning fasting. They understand fasting as an end in itself, as a “good deed” required by God and carrying in itself its merit and its reward. But, the Church spares no effort in revealing to us that fasting is but a means, one among many, towards a higher goal: the spiritual renewal of man, his return to God, true repentance and, therefore, true reconciliation. The Church spares no effort in warning us against a hypocritical and pharisaic fasting, against the reduction of religion to mere external obligations. As a Lenten hymn says: “In vain do you rejoice in no eating, O soul! For you abstain from food, but from passions you are not purified. If you persevere in sin, you will perform a useless fast.”

 Now, forgiveness stands at the very center of Christian faith and of Christian life because Christianity itself is, above all, the religion of forgiveness. God forgives us, and His forgiveness is in Christ, His Son, Whom He sends to us, so that by sharing in His humanity, we may share in His love and be truly reconciled with God. Indeed, Christianity has no other content but love. And it is primarily the renewal of that love, a return to it, a growth in it, that we seek in Great Lent, in fasting and prayer, in the entire spirit and the entire effort of that season. Thus, truly forgiveness is both the beginning of, and the proper condition for the Lenten season.

 One may ask, however: Why should I perform this rite when I have no “enemies?” Why should I ask forgiveness from people who have done nothing to me, and whom I hardly know? To ask these questions, is to misunderstand the Orthodox teaching concerning forgiveness. It is true, that open enmity, personal hatred, real animosity may be absent from our life, though if we experience them, it may be easier for us to repent, for these feelings openly contradict Divine commandments. But, the Church reveals to us that there are much subtler ways of offending Divine Love. These are indifference, selfishness, lack of interest in other people, of any real concern for them — in short, that wall which we usually erect around ourselves, thinking that by being “polite” and “friendly” we fulfill God’s commandments. The rite of forgiveness is so important precisely because it makes us realize, be it only for one minute, that our entire relationship to other men is wrong, makes us experience that encounter of one child of God with another, of one person created by God with another, makes us feel that mutual “recognition” which is so terribly lacking in our cold and dehumanized world. On that unique evening of Forgiveness Sunday, listening to the joyful Paschal hymns we are called to make a spiritual discovery: to taste of another mode of life and relationship with people, of life whose essence is love. We can discover that always and everywhere Christ, the Divine Love Himself, stands in the midst of us, transforming our mutual alienation into brotherhood. As l advance towards the other, as the other comes to me, we begin to realize that it is Christ Who brings us together by His love for both of us.

 And because we make this discovery – and because this discovery is that of the Kingdom of God itself: the Kingdom of Peace and Love, of reconciliation with God and, in Him, with all that exists – we hear the hymns of that Feast, which once a year, “opens to us the doors of Paradise.” We know why we shall fast and pray, what we shall seek during the long Lenten pilgrimage. Forgiveness Sunday: the day on which we acquire the power to make our fasting true fasting; our effort true effort; our reconciliation with God true reconciliation. - Father Alexander Schmemann, The Great Lent 

Also beginning on Saturday, February 20, following Vespers, guided meditating on God’s Word (Psalms and Gospels), sitting in blessed silence and the Jesus Prayer will fill 45 minutes to an hour (no more) of our week’s time.

"Lectio Divina" Beginns Saturday, February 20th; 7:00pm

“Lectio Divina” is Latin for a holy and reflective reading of the Word of God.  We call it Lectio Divina to create a context for the Jesus Prayer. The context is the Bible, the written Word of God.

The meditation service will begin at 7:00 PM and last about 45 minutes. A few psalms and a prayer begin the session followed by the reading of one chapter from a gospel. Ten minutes of corporate silence will precede 33 pronouncements of the Jesus Prayer, “Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

Ten more minutes of blessed silence will be completed by 33 more repetitions of a modified Jesus Prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy upon us and upon your world.” Prayers of requesting and giving forgiveness will complete the hour.

“For even the Son of Man did not ----come to be served, but to serve...”- Mark 10:42-47

All of us are given the opportunity to participate in the life of our church by taking care of a coffee hour. Four families each week will be teamed together to produce the weekly fellowship we enjoy following the Sunday Divine Liturgy. Host families are provided a list of suggested refreshments to make their preparations easier.

Today’s hosts:

Today’s hosts: Christian & Kate Sam, Ed & Bonnie Sam,

Joel & Naomi Gazal, Elizabeth Gazal

We are collecting “Labels for Education” and “Box Tops for Education” for the Clairview School, Greensburg. Clairview educates special needs students (autism, spinabifida, cerebral palsy, blindness, mental retardation, etc.). The labels project is ongoing. Collection baskets are set up in the fellowship hall along with lists of eligible products.

More information can be found at: www.boxtops4education.com and www.labelsforeducation.com.

Address questions to Marilyn Elias or Diana Roberts.

...is now underway! Collection boxes are available at the table in front of the Office. Check the gold sheet on the table or the bulletin board in Fellowship Hall for creative aids to help fill your collection boxes.