Saint Joseph Melkite Greek Catholic Church

130 North Saint Francis Cabrini Avenue Scranton, PA 18504

Rev. Protodeacon Michael Jolly
Administrator pro tempore
570-213-9344

Reader Michael Simon Parish Office 570-343-6092

E-Mail: scrantonmelkite@yahoo.com Web: http://sites.google.com/site/scrantonmelkite Webmasters: Elizabeth Dessoye, Sal Zaydon

October 15, 2011 Tone 1 and Orthros Gospel 7 Liturgy Schedule: Saturday Vespers 5pm Compline Weds 8:30PM

Sunday of the Fathers of the 7th Ecumenical Council Sunday Orthros 8:55 am Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 am

Liturgy Intentions:
October 16, 2011
Benefactors and Helpers of Bryan Patchoski's Scout project Frank and Anna Bolus By Karen Murray

Parish Notes:
Welcome back Father John Wysochansky who serves liturgy today . The Annual Ladies Society Spaghetti Dinner will held on October 26th. Sign up sheets are in the back of the church if you would like to make a donation. Work has begun on our steeple repair, please pardon our dust! Parish Coffee/Hourafter Divine Liturgy October 30th. All are welcome.

October 23, 2011

Elizabeth Walsh By Jim and Betsy Zaydon

THE BISHOPS APPEAL BEGINS: Today, all the parishes in our Melkite Eparchy throughout the U.S. kick off the annual Bishops Appeal. Your contributions to the Appeal are essential for meeting the critical needs of our Melkite Church in America and assuring its future growth. Your participation and generous support is vital. When you receive your personal letter from Bishop Nicholas in the mail please respond as generously as you possibly can, for as todays Epistle tells us, God loves a cheerful giver!

The Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom

Antiphons:
First Antiphon Through the prayers of the Mother of God Second Antiphon O Son of God, Who are risen from the dead Hymn of incarnation Third Antiphon Tone 2 Tone 2 Tone 4 Tone 1 Tone 1 Tone 8

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Hymns:
Resurrectional Troparion Troparion of the Fathers
O Christ our God, You are infinitely glorified for You established our fathers as radiant stars on earth. Through them you led us to the true faith, O Most Merciful One, glory to You!

Zaydon

Troparion of St. Joseph Kontakion O Never Failing

Tone 2

Prokiemenon

(Tone 1) Ps.32: 22, 1

May your kindness, O Lord, be upon us, for we have hoped in You. Stichon: Exult, you just, in the Lord; praise from the upright is fitting.

Reading from Second the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians 6:16-7:
BRETHREN, he who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Let everyone give as much as he has decided in his heart, not grudgingly or out of compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (Prv.22: 8) And God is able to make all grace abound in you, so that always having ample means, you may abound in every good work, as it is written, He has scattered abroad and has given to the poor: his righteousness remains forever. (Ps. 111: 9) Now, he who provides the sower with seed will both give you bread to eat and multiply your seed, and will increase the growth of the fruits of your justification that being enriched in all things, you may contribute with simplicity of purpose, and thus through us evoke thanksgiving to God.

Alleluia (Tone 1) Ps.17: 48, 50

O God, You granted me retribution and made peoples subject to me and saved me from my raging enemies. Stichon: Therefore I will proclaim You, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing praise to Your name.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

7:11-16

THE Lord told this parable: The sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some seed fell by the wayside and was trodden under foot, and the birds of the air ate it up. And other seed fell upon the rock, and as soon as it had sprung up it withered away, because it had no moisture. And other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. And other seed fell upon good ground, and sprang up and yielded fruit a hundred-fold. As He said these things He cried out, He who has ears to hear, let him hear! But His disciples then began to ask Him what this parable meant. He said to them, To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables, that Seeing, they may not see, and hearing they may not understand. Now the parable is this: the seed is the word of God. And those by the wayside are they who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved. Now those upon the rock are they who, when they have heard, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, but believe for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among the thorns, these are they who have heard, and as they go their way are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not ripen. But that upon good ground, these are they who, with a right and good heart, having heard the word, hold it fast, and bear fruit in patience. When H had said this, He cried out He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Christ is among us! He is and always will be! My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, It is my great joy to greet you, as I begin my ministry as Father and Shepherd of our Melkite Greek Catholic Church in America. I am very grateful for the support of so many of you, our Melkite faithful across the country, as I take up my new ministry of service to our Church. I give thanks to God for the abundant blessings He has showered upon our Eparchy since its founding, and I pray for His guidance as I meet the challenges our Eparchy now faces. Above all, however, I am confident that the Holy Spirit is living and active in our Melkite Church leading us ever deeper into communion with the Divine Trinity and with one another.

In the words of the Parable of the Sower in todays Gospel, as Melkites, we are called to sow the seed of Gods Word in our homes and families, in our places of work, and in our society and culture. But in order to sow the seeds of Gods Word, we must first allow the Word of God to be sown and take root in our own hearts. We must make sure that our hearts are not hard as rock, or so filled with the cares and riches and pleasures of lifethose thorns of which todays Gospel speaks. Instead, we must cultivate our hearts by prayer and repentance as the good and fertile ground ready to receive the Word, and hold fast to it, and so bear fruit in patience. For only when the Word of God takes deep root in us can we become bearers of the Word to others. This is why, as your Bishop, I am committed to promoting spiritual renewal and faith formation in all the parishes of our Eparchy, and among all of our faithful both young and old alike. The seed of Gods Word must be deeply rooted in us, and it will bear fruit a hundredfold! And who is it who sows the Word of God in our hearts? It is the Lord Jesus Himself, Who is both the sower and the seed. Through the mystical life of our Church, through prayer and the Holy Mysteries, our hearts are softened and cultivated by the energy of the Holy Spirit, so that Christ, the Word, might find the fertile soil in which to grow and bear fruit. And it is our beloved priests who, representing Christ, are given the awesome duty of bringing these Holy Mysteries to us. We are indebted to them, for it is through their priestly ministry that we all share in the Eucharistic banquet of Gods Kingdom.

I wish to take this special opportunity to speak with you about our Melkite Church in Americaits mission, its challenges, and its future. After the announcement by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, of my appointment as Eparchial Bishop of Newton, I have been asked frequently: What is your vision for the future of our Church in this country? In answering to this question, I draw my inspiration from the venerable Founder of our Eparchy, Archbishop Joseph Tawil of blessed memory, whose inspired vision set the course upon which our Church in America embarked over forty years ago. In his landmark pastoral letter, The Courage to be Ourselves, Archbishop Joseph described the mission of our Church in these words: Without doubt, he wrote, we must be totally devoted to our American national cultureWe must be fully American in all things and, at the same time, we must preserve this authentic form of My Melkite brothers and sisters, this brings me [Eastern] Christianity which is ours capable of to one of the most pressing needs in our Eparchy: we enriching American lifeWe must know that we have urgently need priests! Right now, as I write this letter, something to give, otherwise we have no reason to be. seven of our parishes are without priests to serve them. I have assigned deacons to administer these parishes. Some Now, as the Shepherd of our Eparchy, I have rely on local Latin priests when available to help us. become the steward and advocate of this dynamic vision Others celebrate a prayer service with the distribution of of evangelizing our American culture. It is my firm pre-sanctified Eucharist, if no priest is available. In conviction that, as Melkites, we are not curators of a addition, so many of our Melkite brothers and sisters museum of ancient liturgy or members of an ethnic social around the country still live in areas where there are no club. Rather, we are all entrusted with a vibrant mission Melkite churches and are unable to worship in their own of evangelization to which the Holy Spirit calls our tradition. Eparchy in this time and place. We are stewards of the living Mysteries of Christcalled to bring to our brothers I ask you, please to pray fervently that the Lord and sisters in this great country the saving truth of Christ, of the Harvest may send laborers into His vineyard, and expressed in the awesome beauty of our Liturgy and to please do all you can to encourage vocations to the tradition, and lived out daily in our lives of prayer and Priesthood among our boys and young men. We, who faith. partake of the fruits of the priestly ministry in our spiritual lives, have the obligation to actively promote

vocations to the Priesthood. Let us speak to our children in a way that promotes service to Christ and to His Church and that honors the sublime dignity of the call to Priesthood, instead of teaching our children greed for material goods and self-indulgence. Make no mistake: God has not stopped calling men to the Priesthood! I have no doubt that He continues to call many young men in our own Eparchyeven some of you who are listening today! Yet, when our hearts and homes are filled only with the riches and pleasures of this world and when our minds are filled only with the endless noise and glaring images of our pop-culture, we cannot hear the sweet voice of Jesus calling us to serve Him and His Church. In our Epistle reading today, St. Paul reminds us that it is not how much we get or what we possess in this life that matters; rather, it is what we give that brings happiness, peace, and an eternal reward. When we give freely and cheerfully of ourselves and of the blessings God has given us, we open the floodgates of Gods grace and bounty in our lives. As St. Paul says: He who sows bountifully, not grudgingly or from compulsion, will also reap bountifully. For God loves a cheerful giver. But St. Paul also warns us: Mark this: he who sows sparingly, will also reap sparingly. If we are selfish with the talents and treasures God has given us, clinging to them as if they are part of us, we leave no room for God and His grace in our lives. Let us learn Gods way of giving and let us become cheerful givers for Christ.

situation may be, it is my firm conviction that God is only able to give to us according to the measure in which we open our hearts in generosity to Him. When you receive my letter, I ask you to reflect prayerfully on what the Lord is calling you to give. Christ needs you and so do I! Brothers and sisters, I am most grateful for this opportunity today to make you aware of the great needs of our Church, and I have every confidence in your response to my call. In concluding my first letter to you as your new Bishop, I ask you now to join with me in praying for the renewal of our Melkite Church in America: O Jesus, Good Shepherd of Your sheep, look with compassion upon the faithful flock of Your Melkite Church in America. As once You poured out Your Divine Spirit in tongues of fire upon the Apostles, so now, inflame the hearts of all the faithful with the fervor of Your Holy Spirit. O Lord of the Harvest, bless this vineyard which Your right hand has planted that it may bear abundant fruit: raise up among us holy and faithful men to serve Your Church as priests, deacons and bishops; inspire devout men and women to offer their lives to You as monks and nuns; and guide those now preparing for holy ordination and religious vows in the ways of virtue and holiness. O Christ our God, Bridegroom of the Church, preserve and sanctify our marriages; strengthen our families; guard our children; and rouse our young people to heed Your voice and follow You who are the Way, the Truth and the Life. And upon us, O Lord, Your unworthy servants, look with favor as we offer these prayers to You, through the intercessions of Your All-pure Mother, Our Lady, the Theotokos and Ever-virgin Mary, and of all Your Saints, for You are blessed forever and ever. Amen.

My dear friends in Christ, as I begin my ministry as your Shepherd, I call upon each of you to join me with renewed vigor in taking up once again the founding mission of our Melkite Church in America and in meeting the present challenges our Eparchy faces. I need your help! Seeking and fostering vocations to the Priesthood, educating our seminarians, publishing SOPHIA magazine, promoting spiritual renewal throughout our Church, caring for our aging and ailing May Christ the Good Shepherd, Who calls each clergy, and preparing our young people for church leadershipall require tremendous financial resources. of us by name and Who always seeks the ones who are Only with your generous financial help, by the grace of lost, bless you and our Melkite Church with the bounty of God, can all this be accomplished. Christ relies on your His goodness. generosity to accomplish His great work! With my affection and blessing, I am In the days ahead, you will receive in the mail a personal letter from me asking you to give the most Your Father and Shepherd, generous contribution you have ever given to the Bishops Appeal. I realize that for many in our country Most Reverend Nicholas J. Samra these economic times are difficult; yet, I also know that Bishop of Newton many of our fellow Melkites have been very blessed by God. But, no matter what your particular financial

Among Todays Saints

.The Hieromartyr Lucian, Presbyter of Antioch, was born in the Syrian city of Samosata. At twelve years of age he was left orphaned. Lucian distributed his possessions to the poor, and went to the city of Edessa to the confessor Macarius, under the guidance of whom he diligently read Holy Scripture and learned the ascetic life. For his pious and zealous spreading of Christianity among the Jews and pagans, Lucian was made a presbyter. In Antioch St Lucian opened a school where many students gathered. He taught them how to understand the Holy Scriptures, and how to live a virtuous life. St Lucian occupied himself with teaching, and he corrected the Greek text of the Septuagint, which had been corrupted in many places by copyists and by heretics who deliberately distorted it in order to support their false teachings. The entire Greek text of the Bible which he corrected was hidden in a wall at the time of his confession of Christ, and it was found during the lifetime of St Constantine the Great.

represented in His eternal nature, because "no man has seen God at any time" (John 1:18). The Byzantine Church, created a new art, new in form and content, which uses images and forms drawn from the material world to transmit the revelation of the divine world, making the divine accessible to human understanding and contemplation. This art developed side by side with the Divine Services and, like the Services, expresses the teaching of the Church in conformity with the word of Holy Scripture. Following the teachings of the 7th Ecumenical Council, the Icon is seen not as simple art, but that there is a complete correspondence of the Icon to Holy Scripture, for if the [Icon] is shown by [Holy Scripture], [Holy Scripture] is made incontestably clear by the [Icon] [Acts of the 7th Ecumenical Council, 6].

As the word of Holy Scripture is an image, so the image is also a word, for, according to St. Basil the Great (f379), what the word transmits through the ear, that painting silently shows through the image [Discourse 19, On the 40 Martyrs]. In other words, the Icon contains and professes the same truth as the During the persecution of Diocletian, St Lucian was arrested Gospels and therefore, like the Gospels, is based on exact data, and was sent to prison in Nicomedia, where for nine years he and is not a human invention, for if it were otherwise, Icons encouraged other Christians with him to remain steadfast in could not explain the Gospels nor correspond to them. their confession of Christ, urging them not to fear tortures or By depicting the divine, we are not making ourselves similar death. to idolaters; for it is not the material symbol that we are St Lucian died in prison from many terrible tortures and from worshipping, but the Creator, Who became corporeal for our hunger. Before his death, he wished to partake of the Holy sake and assumed our body in order that through it He might Mysteries of Christ on the Feast of Theophany. Certain save mankind. We also venerate the material objects through Christians who visited him brought bread and wine for the which our salvation is effected the blessed wood of the Cross, Eucharist. The hieromartyr, bound by chains and lying on a the Holy Gospel, and, above all, the Most-Pure Body and bed of sharp potsherds, was compelled to offer the Bloodless Precious Blood of Christ, which have grace-bestowing Sacrifice upon his chest, and all the Christians there in prison properties and Divine Power. received Communion. The next day the emperor sent people to As St. John Damascene asserts: I do not worship matter but I see if the saint was still alive. St Lucian said three times, "I am worship the Creator of matter, Who for my sake became a Christian," then surrendered his soul to God. The body of the material and deigned to dwell in matter, Who through matter holy martyr was thrown into the sea, but after thirty days effected my salvation. I will not cease from worshipping the dolphins brought it to shore. Believers reverently buried the matter through which my salvation has been effected [On body of the much-suffering St Lucian. Icons, 1,16]. Following his teachings, we, as Orthodox

Today the Church remembers the 350 holy Fathers of the Seventh Ecumenical Council
under the holy Patriarch Tarasius (February 25).

Christians, do not venerate an Icon of Christ because of the nature of the wood or the paint, but rather we venerate the inanimate image of Christ with the intention of worshipping Christ Himself as God Incarnate through it.

The Synod of 787, the second to meet at Nicea, refuted the We kiss an Icon of the Blessed Virgin as the Mother of the Son Iconoclast heresy during the reign of Empress Irene and her of God, just as we kiss the Icons of the Saints as God's friends son Constantine Porphyrogenitos.\ who fought against sin, imitated Christ by shedding their blood The Council decreed that the veneration of icons was not for Him and followed in His footsteps. Saints are venerated as idolatry (Exodus 20:4-5), because the honor shown to them is those who were glorified by God and who became, with God's not directed to the wood or paint, but passes to the prototype help, terrible to the Enemy, and benefactors to those advancing (the person depicted). It also upheld the possibility of in the faith but not as gods and benefactors themselves; rather depicting Christ, Who became man and took flesh at His they were the slaves and servants of God who were given Incarnation. The Father, on the other hand, cannot be boldness of spirit in return for their love of Him. We gaze on the depiction of their exploits and sufferings so as to sanctify

ourselves through them and to spur ourselves on to zealous emulation. The Icons of the Saints act as a meeting point between the living members of the Church [Militant] on earth and the Saints who have passed on to the Church [Triumphant] in Heaven. The Saints depicted on the Icons are not remote, legendary figures from the past, but contemporary, personal friends. As meeting points between Heaven and earth, the Icons of Christ, His Mother, the Angels and Saints constantly remind the faithful of the invisible presence of the whole company of Heaven; they visibly express the idea of Heaven on earth. In venerating the Icons, then, the Melkites are championing the basis of Christian faith the Incarnation of God and, consequently, salvation and the very meaning of the Church's existence on earth, since the creation of the Holy Icons goes back to the very origins of Christianity and is an inalienable part of the truth revealed by God, founded as it is on the person of the God-Man Jesus Christ Himself. Holy Images are part of the nature of Christianity and without the Icon Christianity would cease to be Christianity. The Holy Gospel summons us to live in Christ, but it is the Icon that shows us this life. If God became man in order that man might be like God, the Icon, in full accord with divine worship and theology, bears witness to the fruits of the Incarnation and to the sanctity and deification of man. It shows him in the fullness of his earthly nature, purified of sin and partaking of the life of God, testifies to the sanctification of the human body and displays to the world the image of man who is similar to God by grace. The Icon outwardly expresses the sanctity of the depicted Saint, and this sanctity is apparent to bodily vision. Thus, according to St. John Damascene, those who refuse to venerate an Icon also refuse to worship God's Son, Who is the living image and unchanging reflection of God the Invisible.

Harvest Thanksgiving Dinner

Sponsored by St. Vladimir Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church Sunday, October 30, 2011 - 1:00pm St. Vladimir Parish Center - 428 North Seventh Avenue, Scranton PA
Traditional Turkey Dinner - roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, hot vegetables, cranberry sauce, salad, pumpkin and apple pie, seasonal desserts, coffee, tea and soda Door prizes Adults $15.00; Students 6 to 12 years $8.00; no charge for children age 5 and under Advance reservations close Tuesday, October 25 - no tickets sold at the door Take-outs available - must pick up between 11:30am and 12:30pm

For reservations contact Kathleen at 346-2414

Devotions and Readings for this week

Mon 10/17 Tues 10/18 Weds 10/19 Thurs 10/20 Fri 10/21 Sat 10/22 Prophet Hosea Apostle and Evangelist Luke Prophet Joel Great Martyr Artemios Hilarion the Great Anastasia of Rome Phil 1:1-7 Phil 1:8-14 Phil 1:12-19 Phil 1:20-27 Heb 9:1-7 1 Cor 15:58-16:3 Lk 4:38-44 Lk 5:12-16 Lk 5:33-39 Lk 6:12-19 Lk 10:38-42; 11:2728 Lk 5:17-26

Prayer Requests

Parish Calendar
Rev. Father Philip Azoon Rev. Deacon John Karam Rev. Seraphim Michalenko Rev. Basil Samra Rev. Peter Boutros Rev. Deacon Bryan McNiel Rev. Deacon Irenaeous Dionne

October
26 Annual Spaghetti Dinner 30 Coffee Hour after Liturgy Youth Meeting 5PM8PM

Marie Abda Marie Abda Marie Barron Joseph Barron Mary Sue Betress Chris Carey Nikki Boudreaux Dr. Frances Colie John Colie Ann Coury

Margaret Dillenburg Mark Dillman Karen Kane Niko Mayashairo Mary McNeilly Marie Patchoski Joanna Simon William Simon Dr. Thomas Zaydon

Having ... calculated what we have received, what we are to receive, what is required of us, let us show forth all our diligence on the things spiritual. Let us become at length mild and humane, that we may not draw down on ourselves the intolerable punishment Chrysostom

Sacrificial Giving 10/9/2011 Candles Weekly $ 7.00 $ 562.00

All those Serving in our Armed Forces The Christian Community in the Middle East

The Weekly Quiz

Where did the apostles preach to the Jews only and "the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed?" Jerusalem Phillipi Antioch Corinth
Last Weeks Answer Q. How did Joshua and Caleb describe the Land of Canaan when they came back from spying out the land? A. An exceedingly good land. .