ALL SAINTS: NOTICES -- TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER HOLY PENTEKOST, 2025
BELOVED CHRISTIANS...
In today's Holy Gospel (Luke 16:19-31) we have two principal characters, two men. One man is rich in material things, he surely has all the things that rabid consumerism encourages us to hunger after. The other man is so poor and is so denied his humanity that he is 'cast at the gate' (ἐβέβλητο πρὸς τὸν πυλῶνα) of the rich man; that is, ‘cast’, ‘thrown down’, ‘dropped’ there as if he were a piece of garbage. In Lazaros we discern a similarity with righteous Iov (Job): the sores, the patient endurance, the suffering, the final glory, all other things - momentary pleasures, etc. - as his being 'accounted as dung' [Philippians 3:8].
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RICH AND POOR REVERSED
The irony is that the rich man in today's Holy Gospel enjoys the finest things of this life, but lacking empathy and compassion, and loving only himself, is doomed to annihilation. Even his name is lost. The poor man, on the other hand, has nothing of material value and yet he gains the Kingdom. He is treated like garbage but gains eternal peace. His name - Lazaros - will be known forever.
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LOVING THE POOR, LOVING CHRIST
When we refuse to help the poor and the sick to, when we turn away from helping others to indulge ourselves, we are choosing secularism, selfishness and death. When we love our fellow humans, when we carry the poor in our heart, and on our back, when we tend the sick, then we demonstrate true love for man and love for God. Through bearing the cross of others we too will gain the Kingdom. There is no easy way, no secular approach. The Kingdom can be gained 'only through force' (Matthew 1:12), through loving God and man to the point of exhaustion.
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NEXT SUNDAY, 9th NOVEMBER - HOLY MATRIMONY and DIVINE LITURGY
Holy Matrimony of Florentina and Angel.
Starts at 10:00 sharp.
Divine Liturgy to follow.
Holy Temple opens at 08:30. (There is no Orthros.)
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RECEPTION OF JEREMY (IEREMIAS) BY HOLY CHRISMATION
All glory to God! Received today. Many years!
Our sincere thanks to his godmother, Nataliya, and those who helped, who prayed, and were here to be with Jeremy and to support him.
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
For those who serve Christ in our community; especially the Reader Aaron, our trustees, choir, altar-servers, children's magazine editorial & production-team; all those who help in a multitude of ways, who tithe, bring food & drink to share, and pray for us sinners.
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YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
For peace in the middle-east and in Ukraine.
For young men for ordination.
Andrei - very unwell. Hospitalised, blood infection.
Ted (Edward) - unwell.
Savva (Gareth) - unwell.
All children, teachers, support staff - returning to school after the half-term break.
Florentina and Angel - to be married next Sunday. Also, please pray for their sponsors, Presbytera Susanna and Ted.
With love and prayers, 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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