Saturday, April. 18 – John, Venerable
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, April. 19 – Sunday of the Ointment-Bearers
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
Monday, April. 20 – Theodore the Hairshirt Wearer, Venerable
8:30 AM Morning Prayer
Tuesday, April. 21- Januarius and Others, Bishop & Martyrs
6 :30 PM Akathist* for Addictions and Mental Illness
Wednesday, April. 22 – Theodore Sykiot, Venerable
8:30 AM Morning Prayer
6:30 PM Divine Liturgy
7:30 PM Firepit Social
Saturday, April. 25 – Mark, Apostle & Evangelist
5:00 PM Mission Divine Liturgy at St. Raphael’s
Sunday, April. 26 – Sunday of the Paralytic Man
8:00 AM Matins
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
*Add first names to this prayer service by emailing niemirick@gmail.com
St. Mary’s: Sundays 8:45 AM or by appointment St. Raphael’s: Saturdays 4:15 PM or by appointment
(Please resubmit or submit names to admin@ByzantineLA.com)
The Carlin Family, Michael Hefferon, Shirley Kunze, Diana Mina, Michael Mina, Peter Mina, Fr. John Mina, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Shannon O’Neill, Fern Bonowicz, Stephen Petach, Jenny Roman, Nicolese Salazar, and All the sick and suffering of St. Mary’s
Collection: $1,133.00; Online: $6,365.00; Santa Paula: $879.02; Candles: $63.43; Gift Shop; $53.00; Church Improvments: $20.00; Holydays: $50.00; Parish Social: $40.00;
Total: $8,603.45/ Attendance – PSM: 97 SRM: 74
Saint Luke writes that there were “many” women who followed Jesus during His preaching ministry and that they supported Him “out of their own substance,” or from their own money. These were women who came not only from comfortable lives, or even from privileged backgrounds but who also had the courage to break out of the traditional semi-enclosure of Jewish women in that time and publicly follow this rabbi, without their male relatives to chaperone them.
We don’t always realize just how radical Jesus’ preaching and ministry was. Men were never supposed to be alone with women to whom they were not related by marriage or blood. But Jesus defies that barrier, along with other barriers. His family is composed of those who “hear the word of God and act upon it.” The disciples included married and single people, young and elderly, former public sinners, and upright citizens. Those who push for women’s ordination and claim that the early Church had not ordained women because of patriarchal pressures in society forget that the same early Church was a radical community, which kept up Jesus’ other radical practices and gave women a prominent role in the formation of the Body of Christ.
While it was their religious obligation to finish the anointing and wrapping of the body of Jesus, they came at dawn, as early as possible, as a sign of their great love for Christ, and they came in grief. Mary Magdalene’s plaintive conversation with Jesus, when she thinks that He is the gardener, shows us how much she wishes to care for the sacred Body.
“You seek Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen!” In the midst of sadness, the good news comes to us and tells us of the life in Christ. To share this life with vigor, Christ seeks men and women to be like the angel who shared this good news to the myrrh-bearing women. He may be calling you to do this by a life as a monk, a nun, or to holy orders. Contact the Vocations Office at 602-861-9778 or email: vocations@ephx.org
We’ve donated $16,970.40 toward our goal of $24,500. The Bishop’s appeal ends May 31, 2026. You can give to the appeal online by going to the “Donation” page at www.ephx.org. Please make sure you identify the parish or the mission as the recipient of your generosity.
Thank you to the following parishioners who have given this year: Alig, Ariss, Brunet, Clemens, Cook, Healy, Herrera, Kieselhorst, Klein, Kopcho, Martini, Michnya, Mina, Nelson, O’Loughlin, Parrot, Reichert, Weitzel, Zimmerman
During the Great Fast and Paschal Season, we will be reading “Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives” by Elder Thaddeus. We will discuss the book on Sundays during Adult Ed (following the Sunday Social). You do not need to read the book to participate. April 19: Chapters 11,12 April 26: Chapters 13,14 May 3: Chapters 15, 16
Sunday, April 19 –
