ALL SAINTS: NOTICES — THE SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS, 2025
The Sunday of the Holy Forefathers commemorates all the ancestors of Christ according to the flesh, who lived before the Law and under the Law. We especially remember the holy Patriarch Avraham, to whom God said, 'In your seed shall all of the nations of the earth be blessed' (Genesis 12:3, 22:18).
LUKE 14:16-24
Today’s Holy Gospel tells us of the ‘great banquet’ of Christ’s Eucharistic Feast, and of those who make excuses not to attend.
We see that those who are the first to be invited politely ask to be excused; their "good manners" display an apparent humility but their actions show only pride. Instead of the proud attending the banquet, it is ‘the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind’. The proud decline; the poor are chosen, and accept the invitation!
We are, all of us, called to serve God, to become liturgical, loving human beings. We are called to attain purity of heart, humility before God; we are called to UNION WITH CHRIST. In this life, this is attained through prayer and obedience, through continuous prayer, and through the partaking of the most holy Eucharist.
Please note that no one has an automatic "right" to partake of the Holy Eucharist.
The 'poor in spirit' are aware that they are in need of God's healing love. However, all too many of us are casual, coming late, undergoing inadequate preparation or not preparing at all... Such behaviour is dangerous to ourselves and to those around us.
Partaking of the Holy Eucharist must be done always with a sense of our complete unworthiness before God, with fear and faith and love.
We hear in Holy Scripture a great deal about 'fearing God'- this is because fear of God is a prerequisite of our spiritual life. The awesome mystery of the Holy Eucharist is not to be partaken of, let alone even approached, without adequate and necessary preparation. It is spiritually dangerous to encounter almighty God in a casual manner. Therefore...
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CONFESSION BEFORE THE LORD'S NATIVITY
Let us all, who are aged 7-years-and-above, make our confession before the Holy Nativity (25th December) so that we are able to worthily partake of our Lord's Body and Blood on the day of His Birth according to the Flesh.
If you have not confessed for several months, or have never confessed, you still have some little time left to prepare before the Holy Nativity. PLEASE speak to the priest as soon as you are able.
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NATIVITY HOLY SERVICES
Dates and times have been published by email and posted online.
PLEASE NOTE: No food & drink after the holy services on 25th December.
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LOVE LOVE LOVE
'And I, a sinner, have been trying to love God for more than forty years, and cannot say that I perfectly love Him. If we love someone we always remember him and try to please him; day and night our heart is occupied with that object.' - SAINT HERMAN OF ALASKA (feast 13th December, reposed 1837)
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Those who offered help to Presbytera, today (Susannah; our katechumens, Bailey and Adam).
All who are making, or have made, holy confessions during this fast.
All who are submitting prayers, making offerings of thanks, compiling their own diptychion/pomyannik (list of names of people to pray for).
Daniel O.; katechumens, Bailey and Adam- for helping Ted.
Daniel O. - for buying a new analogion for the holy temple.
Reader Aaron, Daniel C., Daniel O., Lucy- Happy name day! Many years!
Natasha - happy birthday! Many years!
James - baptised 10 years ago, yesterday. Many years!
Ted & Savvas - for bread.
Those who bring food & drink to share, and who serve others.
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YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
Orthodox Christians in Kosovo, Ukraine, and throughout the middle-east.
Reader Aaron - soon to be sitting before the ordination panel (AXIOS Committee).
Ted & Elizabeth - may God bring strength.
Florentina & Angel- Exhausted by long hours at work. May God bring strength.
Andreas (young child) - unwell (conjunctivitis).
Susannah, Jeff, James - moving home (possibly this week). May God's will be done.
Natasha - sharing Treasurer duties with her godmother, Susannah.
Adrian, Delia, Andrada, Ecaterina, Constantin, Max, Eric, and all others- travelling.
Our katechumens: especially Samuel (A.J.) - who has sustained a knee injury; Adam - recovering from illness.
Colin - returned after lengthy absence.
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With love, in Christ,
the sinner and unworthy presbyter,
Father Jakob
Please feel free to share this online and with your family & friend
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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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