ALL SAINTS-- NOTICES: THE HEALING OF THE CRIPPLED WOMAN ON THE SABBATH, 2025
LUKE 13:10-17
In today’s holy Gospel we hear of the healing of the crippled woman on the Sabbath day. This is one of many times in the Gospels when the Spirit of God opposes the pride of man.
We see that CHRIST CARES, His grace overcomes all prejudices and obstacles. We should note that we are crippled and in need of Christ's love.
AVOIDING HYPOCRISY
Pharisees forget that the Sabbath day, the holy day, is made for man and not man for the Sabbath.
Restrictions and structure without faith and love lead to a mindless attention to detail, to the mechanical keeping of the letter of the law but not to the spirit of the law. Where strict and heartless legalism rules there is hypocrisy.
We should note that we, legalistic and judgmental hypocrites, are in need of Christ's love.
GRACE IS NECESSARY The letter of the law becomes activated only when it is energised by the Spirit. Every day let us pray ‘O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, Who is everywhere and fills all things; Treasury of Blessings and Giver of Life - come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.’ Through such a prayer, God willing, we may truly come to know Christ by the Spirit. Only then, with genuine repentance, we can pray from our deepest heart, ‘Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me the sinner’.
CARING FOR OTHERS
A Christian is the one who is called to love God and to love her/his neighbour. We should help others whenever we can. We should give in terms of time, alms, effort, compassion, finances... Above all, we should pray.
Prayer is investment in the spiritual care of the other.
All priests have a Diptychon (Δίπτυχον) or Pomyannik (Πомянник), a book in which there are many names of the living and the departed for whom the priest prays daily; in particular, orthodox Christians whom he memorialises during the Proskomedi (Προσκομιδή), the 'preparation' of the Gifts. (This preparation takes place before the Divine Liturgy.)
WHAT CAN I DO?
Pray! Pray for your loved ones, especially those outside the Church, pray for the sick, pray for the departed, pray for your enemies.
Submit names to the priest (denoting which persons are living, departed, unwell, not orthodox), so that he, too, might pray for them. Do this every time you attend Divine Liturgy, every time you visit another parish, every time you visit a monastery.
A CHALLENGE...?
A Christian must pray for others...so, why not create your own Diptychon / Pomyannik? Take sheets of paper or an exercise book, fill with the names of those whom you should pray for. Use this list as an aide-mémoire. Pray for the people listed. Pray daily. Pray continually!
ANOTHER CHALLENGE...HELPING TED
Our beloved brother-in-Christ, Edward, has an awful lot on his plate. His wife, Elizabeth, is gravely ill. Ted is no longer a young man and he has so much to do- far more than many of us!
If you have even a little spare time, please contact Ted (or via Father or Presbytera), ask if you can help bear his burden. Please.
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ORTHODOX CALENDAR-LECTIONARY FOR 2026. FINAL CALL!
Includes daily scripture readings, saints commemorated, fasting instructions. OFSJB publication.
Daniel C. will be placing an order. Please contact him TODAY if you'd like a copy.
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ALL GLORY TO GOD!
Those who answered Presbytera's call, came early, erected and decorated the tree.
Those who bring food & drink to share, and who serve others.
Laura (Lorraine)- returned home!
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YOUR HOLY PRAYERS
Orthodox Christians in Kosovo, Ukraine, and in the middle-east.
Reader Aaron - soon to be sitting before the ordination panel (AXIOS Committee).
Reader Aaron and Emily Catherine - may God give strength.
Ted - may God bring strength.
Susannah & James - unwell.
Fred - enrolled, today, as a katechumen.
Adam (katechumen) - unwell.
Hayley and baby Florence (non Christian) - unwell.
Elizabeth (Ted's wife, non-orth.) - gravely ill.
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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 & friends
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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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