The Messenger May 2020 _______________________________________________________________________
St. Thomas Orthodox Church 1100 Jones St. - PO Box 1042 – Sioux City, Iowa 51102 (712) 258-7166 – info@stthomassiouxcity.org www.stthomassiouxcity.org
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Our Mission St. Thomas Orthodox Church is a community of Christians who proclaim the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as handed down by the Apostles. We are committed to bringing the Light of Christ to all of Siouxland in thought, word, and deed. At St. Thomas Orthodox Church, you will find Holy Orthodoxy—ancient and alive. ___________________________________________________________________________________ Weekly Schedule Orthros and Divine Liturgy Sundays at 9:00 a.m. Vespers Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. Great Vespers Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Birthdays May 2 3 3 5
Ashley Yanney Paul Lammers Fr. Peter Cox Gerald Stevens
20 David Suhr 21 Mark Lockwood 22 John Corey
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C. S. Lewis’ Advice To Students During A Pandemic Will Do All Our Souls Good Right Now by Joseph Griffith In the autumn of 1939, as Nazi Germany invaded Poland and ignited the fuse of World War II, the great British theologian C. S. Lewis preached a sermon called “Learning in War-Time.” Although written 81 years ago, his advice is perhaps more relevant today than ever. Lewis identifies three enemies facing students during crises such as ours and mental exercises to defend against each. His thought are also helpful to those who are not students. The first enemy is “excitement”—or, I might say, distraction. The news can overwhelm our thoughts and feelings with excitement or anxiety, paralyzing our studies. It’s hard to focus with so much going on. If this was a problem in 1939, it seems even more so today as ubiquitous smart tech offers easy access to a 24-hour news cycle about a rapidly evolving, global pandemic. Watching events unfold in the past weeks has been like watching a slow-motion car wreck. It’s been difficult to look away, to do anything else but watch. Lewis’ advice is to look to history: at a minimum, it will help restrain “your nerves and emotions” from leading you to think that “your present predicament is more abnormal than it really is.” “Human life has always been lived on the edge of a precipice,” says Lewis. Even seemingly “normal” eras are “full of cries, alarms, difficulties, emergencies.” More importantly, history reveals generation after generation of human beings searching for knowledge and beauty under the shadow of imminent danger. Says Lewis: “Men propound mathematical theorems in beleaguered cities, conduct metaphysical arguments in condemned cells, make jokes on scaffold, discuss the last new poem while advancing to the walls of Quebec, and comb their hair at Thermopylæ. This is not panache; it is our nature.” Draw courage from these men and women; because, says Lewis, if we postpone our search for knowledge and beauty until we are secure, our search will never begin. 3
The second enemy is “frustration” about the future. What if I don’t have time to finish my work? What will life look like once this is all over? When will the economy recover? What if—fill in the blank. Lewis doesn’t dismiss these worries as baseless; rather, he urges students to live in the moment and leave the future to God. Lewis’ advice: first, remember that worrying about the future will not solve a thing. “You may as well” leave the future to God, Lewis writes, “for God will certainly retain it whether we leave it to Him or not.” Second, pray for your daily bread. What do you need before the sun goes down? Focus on that. Finally, devote your time and energy to your vocation. “Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment as to the Lord,” Lewis writes. How do you know your vocation? It’s the task in front of you. If your name is on the class roster, your vocation is to be a student. (This doesn’t make you better than welders or accountants or anyone else, by the way; it just means that being a student is your vocation). If anxiously worrying about the future is keeping you from the work at your fingertips, try to turn the tables: use the work at your fingertips to keep you from constantly worrying about the future. The last enemy is “fear” about death. What if the virus comes for me or my loved ones? Rather than resort to the extremes of either “stoic indifference” or being carried away by “the illusions of imagination,” Lewis asks his students to realize that war—or, in this case, COVID-19—does not increase the probability of death but “makes death real to us.” It forces us to reckon with our own mortality. It seems odd, but, as Lewis adds, “most of the great Christians of the past” would consider this a blessing. “Teach us to number our days,” says the Psalmist, “that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” When we realize that time is our scarcest resource, we turn to what’s most important. As bioethicist Leon Kass explains, “To number our days is the condition for making them count.” Finitude is a spur to use our time wisely. Perhaps this is what the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard means when he writes that the thought of death is a good dancing partner; it keeps us on our toes and focused on beautiful, worthy things. In a word, Lewis exhorts you to be courageous during these trying times. Remember that you’re not the first to live through a global crisis. Remember to diligently do the work in front of you. And remember that life is precious, so use it wisely. Many of the students at Oxford University in 1939 were called to war. We, for the time being, are being called to stay home. Take this opportunity to study, sharpen your minds, and pursue truth, beauty, and goodness. All we have is this moment. “The present,” says Lewis, “is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received.” Dr. Joseph Griffith is an assistant professor of politics at The King’s College (NYC). 4
St. Thomas on the Internet Until now, the main presence of the parish on the Internet has been our Web site at http://stthomassiouxcity.org but, over the next few weeks, you’ll see some major changes happening there as we overhaul the site. While it’s being renovated, you can still stay updated by visiting our various social media pages: Our Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/St.ThomasOrthodoxChurchSC/
Our new Siouxland Orthodox https://www.facebook.com/groups/689850188457371/ Group: Our Instagram page:
https://www.instagram.com/sathorch/
Our SoundCloud page:
https://soundcloud.com/sathorch
Our Twitter feed:
https://twitter.com/sathorch
Our YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIkvjWIH3zMELHkelZ36kRA
Your personalized parish Web site can be found at https://stthomassiouxcity.churchtrac.com/
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Parish Council Thank you for your continued, generous, support of St. Thomas. Our obligations go on, but thanks to you we’re keeping up with everything. You can send your offerings to: St. Thomas Orthodox Church P. O. Box 1042 Sioux City, IA 51102-1042 or give online on your Churchtrac Page. The repairs to the ramp on the front of the Church will be completed soon. We’re purchasing a camera and necessary accessories to give us the capability of live-streaming not only our services but other events that take place, including the fellowship hall, or even outdoors.
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In Memoriam Remembering those who reposed in the month of May Stephen Michael Stevens, Selma Bashara, Mena Risk, Jennie Marie Abdouch, Bernice George, Edith Ellis, Ferris Nicholas, Mary Saide, Jeanine Melham, Joseph Butrous, Bess Headid Skaff, Nick Gosen, Abe J. Skaff, Fred A. Ness, Wadia Bouziane Headid, Gladys H. Dawdy, Mary Hanna Haberer, Fred F. Alberts, Carla J. Bryce, Gerald V. Border, Maheeba Mabel Ellis, Solomon Murad, Donna R. Brienzo, Maria “Mary” Stevens, Katharine Hanna, Leo “Louie” Bitsos. ___________________________________________________________________________
Sunday School For the next few weeks while we are still unable to attend Church in person, I will be emailing lessons to families., I will also post the lessons in the Siouxland Orthodox Group on Facebook. Due to everything being cancelled, the Creative Arts competition for this year has also been cancelled. The theme for this year will carry over to next year, so we will be able to dig in a little deeper and make more projects or add more to our existing projects. _____________________________________________________________________________
SOYO The biggest news for SOYO is camp for this summer is officially cancelled. The monies that have already been paid to camp will be returned and we will use it for camp next year. We have had a couple of Zoom meetings to check in with each other. We missed having our annual lockin for the Vigil on Holy Friday. The DOWAMA Teen SOYO put together a virtual vigil via Zoom. Sadie kicked it off and took turns reading for the first hour. We will continue to do check-ins and a meeting with Zoom until we are able to be together in person again. ______________________________________________________________________________
Ladies Club We did not have our meeting in April and are not sure when we will be able to meet. I just pray that God will keep us all safe and healthy.
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Meditation When the Counselor Comes In the world, but not of the world God has created us for mature and life-affirming communion with Him and each other. This kind of mutual love, knowledge, and understanding creates peace, safety, honesty, and even confrontation without shame or lack of dignity. All this is so because God made us in His image to be made into His likeness, and He knows Himself as Persons in communion. In today’s Gospel reading (John 15:17-27; 16:1-2),our Lord Jesus gives His disciples good direction concerning how the world will treat them after He’s ascended into heaven. In many ways, our world doesn’t know God, so Christians are a people without a country. And the greatest consequence of this lack of knowing God is a profound confusion about communion versus unhealthy codependency. Without clarity, that confusion will ripple through every relationship we have, blinding us and reducing all our relationships to selfish ends. This is counterfeit communion, but thank God that our Counselor, the Holy Spirit, has been sent by the Lord to teach, lead, and shape us so that we recognize authentic communion. Let’s not, however, delude ourselves into thinking that authentic communion is usually easy, comfortable, or pleasant. Jesus promises that this world, divorced from Him as it is, is so dysfunctional that it will hate those who are living in communion, precisely because this healing and wholeness reveals the brokenness of this world. Today: Make your relationship with God your top priority, as the indispensable first step in having a good relationship with your spouse, your children, your family, friends, and co-workers. The good news is that God has sent the Counselor to the new community of the Church to make all this possible in your life. Fr. Barnabas Powell ______________________________________________________________________________ “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts can find no rest, until they rest in You”. St. Augustine 7
The Order of St. Ignatius Supports College Conference SOYO Leadership Training Camping Scholarship Program
Understanding what your gifts fund through The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch is important but the better question is why we do it. Be a part of the why.
What
Why
Clergy Retired Clergy Housing Allowance Married Seminarian Assistance Clergy Symposium & Convention Assistance
$315,155 $270,000 $4,500 $40,655
Archdiocese Youth Summer Camp Scholarships Youth Ministry SOYO Special Olympics SOYO Leadership & Youth Worker Training Christian Education College Conference
$391,970 $190,000 $120,000 $8,000 $18,974 $39,996 $15,000
Archdiocese Development & Growth Missions & Evangelism
$254,988 $129,996
Parish Development / Mission Grants Internet Ministry
$24,996 $99,996
Other Grants Balamand Theological Academy
$85,000 $10,000
Syrian Relief
$55,000
So our children can pray, sing, laugh and even cry with one another as they grow stronger in their Orthodox Faith and closer to our Lord … together. - Summer Camp Scholarships
To help build the foundation and provide the essential tools of knowledge, relationships and memories that help our children remain steadfast in their Orthodox faith. - SOYO Leadership & Youth Worker Training & Youth Ministry
To make sure orphaned children feel loved and safe, and promise them that everything is going to be alright and that they are not alone. - Project Mexico
To provide guidance, reassurance and compassion, to unwed mothers who choose life rather than abortion. - Treehouse Ministries
To help give comfort and financial assurance to our retired clergy and their families. But even more, express our gratitude to our spiritual leader and friend who’s been with us during all of our times of joy and sorrow. Retired Clergy Housing Allowance
To help plant the seeds of Orthodoxy throughout North America revealing the “True Faith” and ensuring the Church’s growth for generations - Department of Missions & Evangelism
Figures represent part of the actual expenses for Fiscal Year 2018
The Order Of St. Ignatius Of Antioch
P.O. Box 5238 Englewood, NJ
07631-5238
Email: theorder@antiochian.org