Parish Council - 2012 ■
THEODORE DEMETRIOU, PRESIDENT
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We are well into the year—every organization is humming with activity—youth: volley ball and basketball, sights & sounds; Joy/Hope and TOTS programs. Plenty of cultural events and even the ordination of a priest—Deacon Gregory became Reverend Father Gregory Rubis. Father Peter became Protopresbyter and the community gave him a Pectoral Cross in recognition of this honor. On May 31st we will hold our Greek Fest running through June 3rd, under the leadership of Peter Ladas and Michael Savva. I urge ALL parishioners to volunteer their time,
talent and treasure. This is an opportunity for you to work alongside your neighbors and to meet and make new friends. A major area of concern is the stewardship program. Traditionally we have sought to have our stewardship collection cover our entire normal operating expenses. Based on the pledge card totals received, to date, we are not reaching those levels. We are addressing this matter of concern at this time. Nevertheless, we are confident that we will meet this challenge. On behalf of the Parish Council I wish all of you a blessed Easter season, for this is the highlight of our ecclesiastical year. ^
Pag.1 THE GREAT AND HOLY PASCHA communion with God. Rather, we move from death to life; from this fallen world to God’s reign. For those on either side of death, Christ has become, to those that believe, Life. The miracle of Pascha, with its promise and gift of eternity and plenitude, is always accessible to everyone. Christ’s Resurrection discloses the condition and quality of this Resurrectional Life. In the age to come, the faithful will not be restored simply to his present state. The person of faith will be brought into a new mode of existence, into something better and more perfect. “So also is the Resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.” – 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. Through His exemplary life on earth Christ revealed the value of our earthly life for the achievement of salvation. Through His Resurrection He disclosed the ultimate worth and value of creation and affi rmed its fundamental goodness. We are not saved from the material world but with it. The whole body of creation rises by anticipation in Christ’s body. Christ’s body was not merely resuscitated. At the Resurrection it was radically transformed and freed from all limitation. It was exalted and glorified. Thus, the Resurrection constitutes the token of the glorious transfiguration of the world, and not it negation. The age to come will reveal the comprehensive renovation and glorification of the whole of creation, and not its annihilation. The universe was created by Christ. It belongs to Him. It is His gift of life to us. Therefore, it belongs to us as well as coheirs of Christ. – Fr. Alkiviadis C. Calivas, Great Week and Pascha in the Orthodox Church. ^ The Promise ^ April 2012 ^ Volume 36, Issue 4
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