The Messenger June 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 June 2 8 14 16 16
Pete Steggerda Tina Finch Chris Ellington Chris Ameen Marie Steggerda
17 17 21 22 28 28 Fred Courey 2
De Bottei John Hagberg Lisa Antonovich Matthew Ameen Sadie Engel
On the Sunday of Pentecost A sermon by the Very Rev. Fr. Antony Hughes, 3 June 2012 In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen. Pentecost is a theophany, a revelation of God I think best compared to other famous theophanies like Moses on Mt. Sinai or the Transfiguration on Mt. Tabor. Witnesses of these events try hard to describe them, but words fail, so there is a special type of dramatic, stylized language used in Holy Scripture using symbols. Wind and divine fire are common because both are symbols of wild, uncontrollable power. In the great biblical theophanies we see God as He is, unbounded, wild, uncontrollable, and free. The experience leaves witnesses staggering and confused like the apostles and disciples who were accused on this day of being drunk. Theophanies are sensory-overload events for God is greater than the senses. In them God is revealed as He is, not as we want or believe him to be. At such times what we think, our theologies, myths, legends, holy traditions become irrelevant. All of it burns away like the empty chaff that it is. Everything we hold dear melts away as what really is reveals itself and that includes our view of ourselves. The great holocaust survivor and psychologist Victor Frankl described it like this. “What is to give light must endure burning.” If we are to become as Jesus says we are, “the light of the world,” then all that is false and all that is true in us must submit to the flame. Of course, the spiritual life cannot always be a grand theophany. We could not possibly bear it. Pentecost is like a surge of 10,000 volts of electricity. We are not built to contain that much power for long. We run pretty well on 110 volts most of the time. Therefore, it comes to us in stages, as we are able to handle it. That is the meaning of the verse, “God will not give us more than we can bear.” But the corollary of that statement is that God will also not give us less than we can bear. Receiving the fullness of the Spirit is beyond us; it would be like pouring the seven oceans into a teacup. The teacup could not handle it. Neither could we. When the teacup breaks, it must be replaced by something larger. More space must be made for more tea. So as we become more and more empty more space becomes available for God. But since God is infinite, we must always be expanding and becoming empty. The heart must break to grow. The space we create by letting go will always prove inadequate for deification because God is infinite. Thus, the progress of deification never ends. Jesus once told his disciples a strange thing. “Before now you have asked nothing in my name.” I have always wondered what that meant and have never been satisfied with the usual answers. But the psychologist John Sanford offers a great explanation. Before we can ask anything “in the name of Jesus” we must give up our own name; our ego must be dissolved. Without that dissolution we are only able to pray in our own names because we will always be asking for what we want, desire, and expect even, perhaps especially, when we cloak ourselves in
conspicuous piety. To pray “in the name of Jesus” implies that we have given up our own name for his. “It is no longer I, but Christ who lives in me.” What comes after Jesus says these words is the Great Example of total dissolution: the Cross. Of the Cross we must all have our own personal experience. Dean Alan Jones suggests it comes in the form of three crises: the crisis of meaning where all we hold dear comes into question; the crisis of betrayal, of being untethered, forgotten, alone; and, finally, the crisis of utter emptiness, of dereliction, the Crucifixion. Through these stages the ego is dissolved and we begin to live as little “christs”. As we grow we discover that our personality formations and ego structures are too small, inadequate to contain the growth in knowledge and enlightenment. The new wine bursts the old wine skins. The coming of the Spirit points us to this essential work, to our hearts, where the truth about ourselves and God is revealed. It is here that the necessary work is done and why it was better that Jesus go away. If he had not ascended, then we would have been tempted to cling to him, as Mary Magdalene did in the Garden. It was not the Lord’s desire that we make an idol of him. That is to hold on to old inadequate ways of perceiving Him. Instead he ascended and sent the Holy Spirit so that we would not be tempted to cling to exterior forms that must pass away as they all do, but rather turn to the Christ who lives within the heart, where the Holy Trinity dwells. “Christ in you,” St. Paul exclaimed, “the hope of glory.” In the coming of the Holy Spirit the prophecy of our Lord to the Samaritan Woman comes true, “There is a time coming when worshippers will no longer worship in Jerusalem or on this mountain, but rather in spirit and in truth.” Here is a beautiful and cogent quote from the great psychologist Carl Jung. “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakens.” The fire of the Holy Spirit is a cleansing and purifying fire. To open our hearts to receive it is to accept the martyric death of the false self, a death to all that we have built and called “ourselves” or rather, a transformation so great that we must endure the periodic shedding of our egoic exoskeletons to make way for more and more of the Truth. It is in the heart that Christ dwells and it is within that the Holy Spirit directs us. Fr. Antony is the pastor of St. Mary Antiochian Orthodox Church, Cambridge, MA.
In Memoriam Remembering those who reposed in the month of June Shaheeny Boutrous, Paul Bitsos, Michael Abdouch, Catherine Butrous, Michael Ness, Mabel Bitsos, Sadie G. Koury, Mary David, Henry Sorgovetz, Angelene Boutrous, Richard E. Yanney, Albert Haberer, Katherine Ann Jacobs, Rose C. Yanney, Stella M. Nassif, Rodney Dean Counter, Angeline Lockwood, Ruth M. Corey, Catherine A. Ferris, Nora Bell Hayes
Ladies Club We have not been able to meet. In these times, all we can do is put our faith in God to protect us, and to keep each other in our prayers. It has been a time of adjustments; we pray we can get together soon. Christ is Risen! Indeed, He is Risen!
SOYO No report.
Sunday School No report.
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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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Editorial Pete Steggerda Tithing
God asks us to give Him 10% of our increase in acknowledgement of the fact that 100% comes from His Fatherly hand. Here’s what He says about it. “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings”. Malachi 3:8-10. I had a conversation with one of my sons about this when he was in his early 20’s and newly married. He said they weren’t tithing because they were just meeting their obligations. I suggested he tithe anyway. A few months later he told me they had begun tithing and were still able to meet their obligations. Tithing is not optional for a Christian, but God will honor our obedience. 6
Meditation Ask Anything John 16:23-33 In the old story of Aladdin, as well as other stories where genies grant wishes, people are ruined when they receive everything they want. How can we ask God for what is best rather than what’s comfortable or selfish? St. James hits the nail on the head when he writes, “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:1-3). The key to successful asking can be found in this phrase: “Whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you” (v. 23). Learning how to ask the Father in the name of the Son requires a mature perspective that presupposes love, humility, and courage. Praying in the Lord’s name means that because you love Christ more than your own ego, you’ve gained discernment, and you don’t ask selfishly. God cannot be reduced to some kind of cosmic sugar daddy – He grants what is best for us eternally. If our requests are selfless and centered around what will further God’s will and God’s plan, that’s another matter. This kind of spiritual maturity and authentic Christian character produced apostles who could be trusted with the message of the faith. Today: Are you willing to become that Orthodox Christian who can ask anything? If you are, the path to that place of spiritual maturity and peace and joy is through the wise disciplines of the Faith laid out for us for centuries. Let’s resist the urge to treat God as our own personal genie. Fr. Barnabas Powell
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How You Can Support the Ministry of The Order of St. Ignatius of Antioch
Let no man's place, or dignity, or riches, puff him up; and let no man's low condition or poverty abase him. For the chief points are faith towards God, hope towards Christ, the enjoyment of those good things for which we look, and love towards God and our neighbor. - Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Your Unconditional Gift Changes People’s Lives Knight & Dame • $500 Annually • $41.67 Monthly • $1.37 Daily
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Life and Metropolitan gifts are invested in an endowment and only the earnings are spent each year making it a gift that will live on into perpetuity. *Life Upgrade: The Order of St. Ignatius Loyalty Program: Any Knight/Dame, who has been a member for more than 10 years (active/good Standing members); or any Commander, who has been a member for more than 10 years (active/good Standing members) can upgrade to Life Member for $10,000 paid over a two-year period. **Metropolitan Upgrade: The Order of St. Ignatius Loyalty Program: Any Knight/Dame, who has been a member for more than 10 years (active/good Standing members); or any Commander, who has been a member for more than 10 years (active/good Standing members) can upgrade to Metropolitan Member for $20,000 paid over a three-year period. Life members who have fulfilled their initial Life member gift may upgrade to the Metropolitan level for $10,000 paid over a 2-year period.
The Order of St. Ignatius Of Antioch
140 Church Camp Trail
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Ph: (724) 238-3677, xt 410
OLD TESTAMENT
DAY 167
Lk 4:1–30
Ps 75
Pr 15:27–32
Lk 4:31–44
Ps 76:1–10
Pr 15:33–38
Lk 5:1–16
Ps 76:11–21
Pr 16:1–5
Lk 5:17–39
Ps 77:1–17
Pr 16:6–10
Lk 6:1–26
Ps 77:18–37
Pr 16:11–15
Lk 6:27–49
Ps 77:38–55
Pr 16:16–20
Lk 7:1–17
Ps 77:56–72
Pr 16:21–25
Lk 7:18–50
Ps 78
Pr 16:26–31
Lk 8:1–25
Ps 79
Pr 17:1–5
Lk 8:26–56
Ps 80
Pr 17:6–10
Lk 9:1–17
1Kg 8:1—10:16
DAY 194 DAY 195
Pr 15:21–26
1Kg 5—7
DAY 192 DAY 193
Ps 74
1Kg 2:18—4:22
DAY 190 DAY 191
Lk 3:21–38
1Kg 1:1—2:17
DAY 188 DAY 189
Pr 15:16–20
Ru 1—4
DAY 186 DAY 187
Ps 73:12–23
Jdg 20; 21
DAY 184 DAY 185
Lk 3:1–20
Jdg 18; 19
DAY 182 DAY 183
Pr 15:11–15
Jdg 15—17
DAY 180 DAY 181
Ps 73:1–11
Jdg 12—14
DAY 178 DAY 179
Lk 2:25–52
Jdg 10; 11
DAY 176 DAY 177
Pr 15:6–10
Jdg 8; 9
DAY 174 DAY 175
Ps 72:15–28
Jdg 6:11—7:25
DAY 172 DAY 173
NEW TESTAMENT
Jdg 5:1—6:10
DAY 170 DAY 171
PROVERBS
Jdg 3; 4
DAY 168 DAY 169
PSALMS
1Kg 10:17—13:22
The Orthodox Study Bible: Two-Year Reading Plan
Page 7 of 26
OLD TESTAMENT
DAY 196 DAY 197
DAY 224
Pr 17:26–30
Lk 10:25–42
Ps 85
Pr 18:1–5
Lk 11:1–28
Ps 86
Pr 18:6–11
Lk 11:29–54
Ps 87
Pr 18:11–17
Lk 12:1–34
Ps 88:1–19
Pr 18:18–23
Lk 12:35–59
Ps 88:20–38
Pr 19:1–6
Lk 13:1–21
Ps 88:39–53
Pr 19:7–12
Lk 13:22–35
Ps 89
Pr 19:13–18
Lk 14:1–24
Ps 90
Pr 19:19–24
Lk 14:25–35
Ps 91
Pr 19:25–29
Lk 15:1–10
Ps 92
Pr 20:1–5
Lk 15:11–32
Ps 93:1–15
Pr 20:6–10
Lk 16
2Kg 14; 15
DAY 222 DAY 223
Ps 84
2Kg 12; 13
DAY 220 DAY 221
Lk 10:1–24
2Kg 8—11
DAY 218 DAY 219
Pr 17:21–25
2Kg 5—7
DAY 216 DAY 217
Ps 83
2Kg 3; 4
DAY 214 DAY 215
Lk 9:37–62
2Kg 1; 2
DAY 212 DAY 213
Pr 17:16–20
1Kg 29—31
DAY 210 DAY 211
Ps 82
1Kg 26—28
DAY 208 DAY 209
Lk 9:18–36
1Kg 24; 25
DAY 206 DAY 207
Pr 17:11–15
1Kg 21:2—23:28
DAY 204 DAY 205
Ps 81
1Kg 18—21:1
DAY 202 DAY 203
NEW TESTAMENT
1Kg 15:10—17:30
DAY 200 DAY 201
PROVERBS
1Kg 14:1—15:9
DAY 198 DAY 199
PSALMS
2Kg 16—18:18
The Orthodox Study Bible: Two-Year Reading Plan
Page 8 of 26