ALL SAINTS: NOTICES
Today's Holy Gospel (Luke 8:41-56) tells of two important miracles - the Healing of the woman with the issue of blood, and the Resurrection of Iairos’s daughter. In both miracles we see a sincere desire for healing.
We must demonstrate the same need. We approach the Church, always with faith and humility, with the desire to be healed by Christ. 'Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled' (Matthew 5:6); we are called to be 'partakers of the divine nature, escaping the sinful desire and decay of this world' (2 Peter 1:4). We should all of us become aware of our almost-limitless propensity for self-deception and self-management- whether or not we recognise it, we are all sick with sin and far from where God intends us to be.
Service to Christ in the holy temple, daily prayers (both your own and those of others), regular- frequent - confession and partaking of the Holy Eucharist - these wonderful things will help us!
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LAUGHING AT CHRIST
The foolish people laugh scornfully at Christ when He tells them that the daughter of Iairos is only sleeping. This is the laughter of ignorance, of those without ears to hear, of those who are enmeshed in worldly things to such a degree that their God-given faculties are dulled to the point of blindness. This laughter is a symptom of secularism-materialism.
We pray god that we do not get sucked into the same atheist trap!
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Paraskevi and Serafim, married yesterday! Many years of joy!
We thank them for the loving generosity of their gifts to individuals, to clergy and to our parish. For their godparents, Susannah and Subdeacon Aaron, and everyone who took time to prep the holy temple for the wedding, who brought flowers (especially Delia), and carried out repairs, and who sang and served at the wedding (Natasha, Daniel O., James), and to Emily Katherine for photography.
Louis - to be ordained to the holy diaconate. All glory to God!
Susannah - for kindness, and gift to Presbytera.
Ted - for eggs, bread, and veg.
Andrada & Ecaterina - for eggs from their ducks, Pansy & Daisie.
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YOUR PRAYERS
Father Jakob - stressed,unwell, exhausted.
Emily Katherine - May God bring strength.
James - feeling unwell.
Savvas - unwell.
Eileen (non-orth.) - heart surgery tomorrow (Monday).
Patricia (non-orth.) - hip replacement on Tuesday.
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With love in Christ God,
the sinner, Father Jakob
Why not share Notices with your family & friends? Go on, you can do it!
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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.
(2026-2027)
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
25th APRIL -- ENTRY OF OUR LORD INTO IERUSALEM*
2nd MAY-- HOLY PASCHA*
10th JUNE-- HOLY ASCENSION*
20th 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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