God’s Mouthpiece

God’s Mouthpiece

The full title for John the Forerunner (feast of his beheading is August 29th) is “The Holy Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist John”. (Not to be confused with John the Theologian also called the Apostle, Evangelist and/or “Beloved.”)  We call him “Prophet” because of the various ways that he carried out his vocation to be God’s “spokesman” or “mouthpiece” (“Prophet”- from Greek prophētēs ‘spokesman’, from pro ‘before’ + phētēs ‘speaker’).

Here are a few of the times/ways that John manifested his role as prophet.

Malachi, another prophet, foretold that Elijah would return just before God sent a savior. (Mal 3:24).  This prophecy was fulfilled in at least two ways.  Elijah appeared, along with Moses when Christ was transfigured on Mt. Tabor (Matthew 17:3). But Jesus also identifies John the Forerunner with Elijah when he says “If you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who was to come” (Matthew 11:14). 

The 1st century Jews were getting quite anxious because God had not sent them a public prophet in about 400 years.  Their ancestors had killed all of the prophets that God sent, so they were likely, and understandably, worried that God had given up on them.  This is one of the reasons that they were so excited when John appeared in the desert, and why so many were going out to him to be baptized (Matthew 3:5).  Like John’s prophetic predecessors though, he was misunderstood (Matthew 11:7 ff.), and eventually killed for challenging the behaviors of those in power (Matthew 14:1-6).  One of John’s more important prophecies was taken up by the perfect mouthpiece of God, God Himself, when Jesus continued John’s message of “repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). 

Finally, after his death, John the Forerunner prophesied to death and resurrection of the Messiah to those he joined in Hades.*  He had shared his joy at arrival of the Messiah in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:41), while he was baptizing in the desert (John 1:29), and now again to those souls awaiting access to the Kingdom of God. 

We call John the Forerunner the last prophet of the Old Covenant and in one sense the first of the New.  Since Christ’s death and resurrection, we have been invited to participate in His very Life through our baptism.  This means that we participate in Christ’s perfect prophecy (although we certainly do not carry it out perfectly) and so we are all prophets, we all channel God’s voice to those whom He asks us to evangelize (share the “good news”).      

*https://melkite.org/faith/sunday-scriptures/the-forerunner-in-hades.

A prayer from the Akathist to the Holy Prophet Forerunner and Baptist John

You who were to go before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah were filled with the Holy Spirit while in your mother’s womb, appearing as a marvelous prophet. You leapt with rejoicing at the coming of the Mother of the Lord, for you recognized God born in the womb of her who is full of grace, and by your mother’s voice did preach Him. Saint John, it was proper for the beginning of divine things to be most glorious. Humbly marveling at this, it is right that we cheerfully cry to you:  Rejoice, for while in your mother’s womb you proclaimed with miraculous gladness the Lord who glorified you.   

Sunday Bulletin 08/16/20

WEEKLY LITURGICAL SCHEDULE

Sunday, August 16 – 11th Sunday after Pentecost 

8:30 AM          Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy 

Sunday, August 23 – 12th Sunday after Pentecost      

8:30 AM          Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy 

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please remember the following people in your prayers: Estella Biedenbender,  Ken Bosak, Julie Carlin, Fletes Family: Alicia, Frankie, Layla, Lupita & Veronica, Victoria Flores, Larry Goodwin, Holly Garlow,  Michelle Grana, Virginia Harrington, Jeanne Hart, Michael Hefferon, Rob Hooper, Chris Johnson, Patricia Kurczak,  Irene Lehman, Elizabeth & John Mallas, Dylan Mancia, Toni Martin, Marg Mauro, Juan Gabriel Martinez, Pedro Medina, Mina family: Mila, Diana, Rev. John & Mike,  Shannon O’Neill, Tanya Petach, Casandra Porch, Diane Romano, Paul Saucedo, Kathleen Savko, Robert Stamer, Leanne Steuer, Mary Washko, Dina & Matthew Wiggins,  Carmen Zambrano, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Fr. Chris Zugger and all those who serve in the Armed Forces

WEEKLY DEPOSIT

Collection: $1,728.00; Candles: $55.54; Online: $110.51; Church Improvements: $160.00; Holydays: $130.00; Peter’s Pence: $20.00; Property Rental: $205.00; Gift Shop: $130.00

Total: $2,539.05 / Attendance 62

New Parish Website and Emails

Our old parish website has become obsolete and we have been unable to update it in the way that contemporary parish life demands. 

So…our new website is www.ByzantineLA.com!  Check it out!  Parts are still under construction, but it is up and running.  Give us any feedback you may have so that we can make sure it is relevant to our lives and faith.  Thank you to Steve Scott for all of his work in setting it up, and to Anne Seabright for helping to maintain it!  Father Michael will keep his personal email address, but please update the following parish email addresses:

Administration (Currently Anne Seabright):  admin@byzantinela.com

Pastor (Currently Father Michael):  pastor@byzantinela.com

Why is Sept. 1st the Church New Year?

The ecclesiastical year begins on September 1. This is an ancient Constantinopolitan custom. In ancient times, the year in Constantinople began on September 23. This date marked, from it institution by the Emperor Constantine (in 313), the beginning of the indiction, i.e., the establishment of the annual land tax. This date was chosen because it commemorated the birth of Augustus which, already before Constantine, marked the beginning of the year in a large part of the Orient. With the adoption of the Roman calendar in Constantinople and the suppression of the cult of Augustus, September 23 was stripped of all civil significance. As a result, the beginning of the indiction was shifted to a more convenient date, September 1. It is estimated that this change was made on September 1, 1462.         (From The Typikon Decoded by Archimandrite Job Getcha)

When Sept. was the civil new year as well, the year was numbered not by the years since Christ’s birth (B.C./A.D.) but by the number of years since the creation of the world (based on a literal reading of time referenced in the scriptures.  10/1/2020 will begin year 7529 since the beginning of creation).  Since the New Year directly referenced the creation of the world, the New Year has become a commemoration of our responsibility to “tend and care for” (Genesis 2:15) the world in which we live.  Both and Catholic and Orthodox Churches use this season as a time of recollection and conviction to better care for the creation we have received and for which we are responsible.

The Byzantine Year is guided by the life of the Theotokos (Mother of God).  We commemorate the birth of the Theotokos on Sept. 8th, and her death on August 15th, so the year begins just before her birth and ends just after her death.  In this way, the Theotokos is revealed as a guide.  In many icons, she is seen pointing at her Son, Our Lord in a gesture of guidance.  Since liturgical time is also guided by her life, we trust her to be a worthy guide to and within the life of faith in our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Why is September 1st the Byzantine Church New Year?

Historical:

The ecclesiastical year begins on September 1. This is an ancient Constantinopolitan custom. In ancient times, the year in Constantinople began on September 23. This date marked, from its institution by the Emperor Constantine (in 313), the beginning of the indiction, i.e., the establishment of the annual land tax. This date was chosen because it commemorated the birth of Augustus which, already before Constantine, marked the beginning of the year in a large part of the Orient. With the adoption of the Roman calendar in Constantinople and the suppression of the cult of Augustus, September 23 was stripped of all civil significance. As a result, the beginning of the indiction was shifted to a more convenient date, September 1. It is estimated that this change was made on September 1, 1462.  (From The Typikon Decoded by Archimandrite Job Getcha)

Liturgical:

The Byzantine Year is guided by the life of the Theotokos (Mother of God).  We commemorate the birth of the Theotokos on Sept. 8th, and her death on August 15th, so the year begins just before her birth and ends just after her death.  In this way, the Theotokos is revealed as a guide.  In many icons she is seen pointing at her Son, Our Lord in a gesture of guidance.  Since liturgical time is also guided by her life, we trust her to be a worthy guide to and within the life of faith in our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ecological:

When Sept. was the civil new year as well, the year was numbered not by the years since Christ’s birth (B.C./A.D.) but by the number of years since the creation of the world (based on a literal reading of time referenced in the scriptures.  10/1/2020 will begin year 7529 since the beginning of creation).  Since the New Year directly referenced the creation of the world, the New Year has become a commemoration of our responsibility to “tend and care for” (Genesis 2:15) the world in which we live.  Both and Catholic and Orthodox Churches use this season as a time of recollection and conviction to better care for the creation we have received and for which we are responsible.

 

 

 

 

Sunday Bulletin 08/09/20

WEEKLY LITURGICAL SCHEDULE

Sunday, August 8 – 10th Sunday after Pentecost       

8:30 AM          Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy: 

Friday, August 14      

7:30pm            Vespers for the Dormition

Saturday, August 15  – Dormition of the Theotokos  

7:30am                        Matins for the Dormition

8:30am            Divine Liturgy for +Joseph Parrot, from Jerome Parrot

7:30 PM          Vespers

Sunday, August 16 – 11th Sunday after Pentecost      

8:30 AM          Matins

9:30 AM          Divine Liturgy: 

 

PRAYER REQUESTS

Please remember the following people in your prayers: Estella Biedenbender,  Ken Bosak, Julie Carlin, Fletes Family: Alicia, Frankie, Layla, Lupita & Veronica, Victoria Flores, Larry Goodwin, Holly Garlow,  Michelle Grana, Virginia Harrington, Jeanne Hart, Michael Hefferon, Rob Hooper, Chris Johnson, Patricia Kurczak,  Irene Lehman, Elizabeth & John Mallas, Dylan Mancia, Toni Martin, Marg Mauro, Juan Gabriel Martinez, Pedro Medina, Mina family: Mila, Diana, Rev. John & Mike,  Shannon O’Neill, Tanya Petach, Casandra Porch, Diane Romano, Paul Saucedo, Kathleen Savko, Robert Stamer, Leanne Steuer, Mary Washko, Dina & Matthew Wiggins,  Carmen Zambrano, Lana Zimmerman, Patrick Zimmerman, Fr. Chris Zugger and all those who serve in the Armed Forces

 

WEEKLY DEPOSIT

Collection: $3645.00; Candles: $25.00; Online: $100.00; Church Improvements: $225.00

Total: $3,895.00 / Attendance 56

 

Eparchial Appeal 2020

St. Mary’s has donated $20,567.00 of our $16,388.20 goal from 26 families. Our goal is to have 100% participation! It’s not too late to donate! Please donate any amount that you can. Donate online: http://ephx.org/giving  Thank you all the families who have contributed so far!

Upcoming Feast- Dormition of the Theotokos

The origin of the feast of the Dormition of theTheotokos is closely connected with her public veneration since the beginning of the fourth century. It developed from the early celebration of Christmas in which the Theotokos, the Mother of God our Savior, played an important role. The solemn proclamation of Mary as “the  Theotokos” at the Council of Ephesus (431) greatly enhanced her public veneration as the “Mother of God.” This is evidenced by the fact that a few years later her divine maternity was celebrated in Jerusalem as the Feast of Mary, the Mother of God, on August 15.

At the beginning of the sixth century, a magnificent basilica was erected over the tomb of Mary in Gethsemane. With this, the feast of Mary celebrated on August 15 took on a new meaning and became the solemn celebration of Mary’s death and assumption into heaven under the name of the Feast of the Dormition. In some liturgical calendars of the East, the feast was referred to as the Journey of the Theotokos into Heaven, or the Deposition of Mary, i.e. the internment of Mary into her grave.

 In Constantinople, the Empress St. Pulcheria asked St. Juvenal of Jerusalem (d. 458) for some relics of the Blessed Mother to be enshrined in St. Mary’s Church at Blachernae, near Constantinople. The saintly Bishop replied: “We have received from ancient and the most reliable tradition that at the time of the glorious dormition (falling asleep) of the Mother of God, the whole company of the Apostles were brought together in Jerusalem. So, amid divine and heavenly praises, they commended her holy soul to the hands of God and, taking her God-conceiving body, they carried it in procession to Gethsemani and there placed it in a little tomb.

“For three days a choir of Angels continued to sing above Her tomb. After the third day, when finally St. Thomas arrived, (he had been absent and desired to venerate the body that had borne Christ God), they (the Apostles) opened the tomb and found no trace of her blessed body. Thus, taking the winding sheets, which were filled with fragrance, the Apostles closed the tomb. Wondering at this mystery, they could only think that He, Whom it had pleased to be born of her in the flesh, the Lord of Glory, desired that after her departure from this life, her immaculate and all-pure body would be honored by incorruptibility, being translated (to heaven) before the universal resurrection of the dead.”

According to an old custom, flowers and medicinal herbs are blessed after the Divine Liturgy on the Feast of the Dormition. This custom most probably originated from the traditional belief that after Mary’s glorious assumption into heaven, her holy tomb was filled with a “heavenly fragrance” and flowers..) The herbs, used by our people as natural medicine, are blessed in commemoration of the numerous healings and extraordinary graces bestowed on the pilgrims at Mary’s tomb.

(Full article at https://www.archpitt.org/category/byzantine-catholic-faith/)