ALL SAINTS: NOTICES -- APODOSIS OF THE HOLY CROSS, 2025
ESPERINOS (vercenie, vespers)
This Saturday, 27th September, at 4:30 pm.
BELOVED CHRISTIANS...
Today’s Holy Gospel (Mark 8:34-9:1) stresses the demanding nature of the Christian life. Today, Christ Himself issues a stark warning to those who are materialistic and selfish. The man who gains the whole world, loses his own soul; the one who is ashamed of Christ will be shunned by Christ.
As an alternative to selfishness, and an antidote to it, the lives of the saints and of contemporary spiritual elders display the spirit that breathes in them, and which shaped them into PRECIOUS VESSELS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. Their lives bear witness to the transformation of man that is possible when the "so-called Christian" truly and wholly gives himself over to the will of God.
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SERVICE TO CHRIST
Christ Himself came not to be served but to serve. If we love God then we love our fellow man; if to love is to serve, then to withhold service, to refuse to serve, is to hate and to sin. To be truly Christian is to be a disciple of Christ God, it is to be smitten with yearning to be changed by the Divine Love.
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PARISH TRUSTEES: BEARING THE CROSS
At All Saints our Trustees constitute a Parish Council- laity working in concert with clergy. The Trustees are the administrative arm of our parish. Made up of elected members who serve three year terms, our Parish Trustees are responsible for the temporal and physical maintenance of the church. Trustees approve budgets, pay bills, coordinate management of our parish charity, and oversee functions of all aspects of parish life.
And, whilst these administrative responsibilities are not particularly onerous, Parish Trustees are entrusted to demonstrate and promote the Orthodox Christian Faith in both their words and actions. Trustees are striving to uphold the tenets and practices of Orthodoxy, and therefore they must be mature, fully-functioning members of the Orthodox Church. Trustees attend the holy services weekly, confess regularly, partake of the Holy Eucharist regularly, pray, fast, tithe, and joyfully take on responsibility in our parish (helping others, singing, serving in the holy altar, safeguarding & child protection, banking, etc.). Trustees are dedicated to our parish, usually arriving early and leaving late, seldom ever missing the holy services. Our Trustees are accountable to the charity commission, our community, the parish priest, the bishop and archdiocese, and above all, to God.
If you want to serve as a Parish Trustee please contact Father Jakob.
Elections for new Trustees will be held NEXT SUNDAY, 28th September.
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THE GIFT OF THE CROSS
Saint John Klimakos, of Sinai, warns: 'Do not deceive yourself, foolish worker, as if one time can make up for another. For the day is not sufficient to repay in full its own debt to the Lord.' Whilst Saint Ephraïm O Syros is even more emphatic: 'We should not put off repentance, for we know not the hour of our death.' We should seek out ways to work in the Lord's vineyard; it is a privilege of the Christian to offer the gifts bestowed upon us to others, without receiving recognition or earthly prize. Our own Cross is life-giving if we embrace it, understanding it as a gift from God. Glory to God for all things!
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Glory to God for your self sacrifice!
Glory to God for our close and loving parish!
For everyone who brings and shares food and drink.
Otilia - for prosphora (prescura).
Daniel O - for lift home.
Ted - for eggs and veg.
Angel - for fish.
Constantin - for flour and oil.
Nadezhda and family - for the lovely gifts to Father & Presbytera.
Glory to God for all things!
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YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
For peace in the middle east and in Ukraine.
Our Parish Trustees - for strength and wisdom. AGM next Sunday.
Reader Aaron - ongoing work challenges.
Natasha - unwell.
Daniel C - travelling.
For new seekers - Adam, Aris-Dimitri, Aydin, and Jodie.
With love in Christ God,
the sinner and unworthy presbyter,
Father Jakob
Please feel free to post online and share with friends and family
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LOOKING AHEAD -- TWELVE GREAT FEASTS
To help you plan ahead, for those of you who are able to take time off work, etc., here are the dates of GREAT FEASTS for the year ahead.
These are dates upon which we should try to be in Church (sadly, many of us do not always have this choice).
These are days upon which the Divine Liturgy should be served at All Saints. Servers, singers, helpers- please do what you're able.
14th SEPTEMBER -- EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS
21st NOVEMBER -- ENTRY OF THE THEOTOKOS INTO THE TEMPLE
25th DECEMBER -- NATIVITY OF CHRIST
6th JANUARY -- HOLY THEOPHANY
2nd FEBRUARY -- PRESENTATION OF OUR LORD IN THE TEMPLE
25th MARCH -- HOLY ANNUNCIATION
13th APRIL -- ENTRY OF OUR LORD INTO IERUSALEM*
20th APRIL -- HOLY PASCHA*
29th MAY -- HOLY ASCENSION*
8th JUNE -- HOLY PENTEKOST*
6th AUGUST -- HOLY TRANSFIGURATION
15th AUGUST -- FALLING-ASLEEP OF THE MOTHER OF GOD
[ * The dates of these feasts vary from year to year. ]
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ORTHODOXY 101 : ATTENDING THE DIVINE LITURGY
Christianity is experiential; it is not just 'read about', it must be lived. The Holy Eucharist is at the centre of our worship, at the centre of our Life in Christ.
We come to the Church, we remain in the Church in order that our souls be saved. That is all. It is our soul's salvation - there is nothing else.
The Holy Services are a store-house of spiritual treasures. To be saved, we need to gain knowledge of ourselves. We do this by discovering our sins and weaknesses, and by fighting against their pull. Our faith is war on personal pride. When our pride is wounded in the course of Church life, we should thank God!
We fight best when we are supported. For support we have the Holy Gospels; the Holy Fathers, their Lives and Teachings; we have God and we have each other.
The Church Community (both living and departed) is our Family in Christ. Our God is LOVE. And we are giving of our best, when we give love to God and to each other.
The Holy Eucharist is the body and Blood of Christ. It is life itself, it is Salvation. It is our treasure: "Where your treasure is there will your heart be also"(Matthew 6:21). We spend time with - we are attentive to - the people, the things we love the most.
Canon LXXX (Sixth Oecumenical Council) reads, "A cleric or layman shall not go three consecutive Sundays without attending church, unless some necessary business requires him to leave his town. The usual penalties apply: deposition for a cleric; excommunication for a layman".
It is not always possible to come to every holy service, but our good practice, and simple good manners, is to notify the priest of our absence, or if we have moved away. Notification demonstrates love and humility, and allows the priest and community to pray for us, for example - when we are sick.
We pray for those who are absent from the divine services for legitimate reasons. The others, who come infrequently or have not attended for long periods, have become prodigal sons, wanderers. They have distanced themselves from Christ and from their Christian family. Their love has become luke-warm. A full and proper return to Church requires a full and proper repentance, taking responsibility for our failings.
Church life is about responsibility. It is about stepping up and being adult. This is done by singing, standing throughout the holy services, fasting, making regular confession, reading in Church, serving, cleaning and tidying, cooking, reading the morning and evening prayers every day, preparing properly for confession and communion. Above all it is about praying.
To be blunt, Church (parish) life is about giving time and money to the glory of God. Church life is about commitment. Without commitment, we will never become deeply Orthodox or even remain Orthodox.
Love of God and love of neighbour are entwined. We cannot love God if we do not love our neighbours, especially our fellow Christians; and we cannot love our neighbours if we do not love God (1 John 4:20).
We spend time with God, we spend time with each other. We do so not because we feel 'obliged' or even because we 'want to' but simply because our heart draws us, and we follow Christ's new commandment (Luke 10:27): "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself".
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AΓAΠH = CARITAS = CHARITY = LOVE
John 4:16: Ὁ Θεὸς ἀγάπη (koine Greek) = Deus caritas est (Latin) = God is Love (English)
GIVING TO OTHERS
All glory to God! Our small parish has been able in little ways to help the poor, offer love to the stranger, to help heal the wounded.
GIFTAID
This past year we received more than £4,000 from the UK government. Our parish trustees have authorised this, and future monies, raised through giftaid to be passed on to our poorer neighbours. If more of us donated by giftaid we could do even more to help the poor, the wounded, and the marginalised who are our neighbours.
'HOW CAN I HELP?'
Every penny helps! Donate to our parish via giftaid. If you pay tax in the UK you can use giftaid. It's free, it's easy, and as you can see above, it helps us to help others. The UK government pays us back for what you give to us via gftaid. This is the only official help that UK charities receive.
Our hope and ambition is that every penny given to us by you comes through giftaid.
LAZAROS, OUR NEIGHBOUR
The dying Lazaros is lying outside our door (Luke 16:20). We Christians have a duty of care (John 21:17), this is a constant in our life (Matthew 26:11), we must not ignore him (1 John 3:17). Let us do all that we are able to help to help our neighbour (John 15:12). May I ask you - please make a start, and donate to the parish by giftaid.
CHRIST IS RISEN!
In the Risen Lord,
Father Jakob
Presbyter, All Saints North Benfleet
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