The Serbian Church and the Serbian people experienced much trouble and suffering in
their long history but they persevered in those times. They survived owing to St. Sava
(Svetosavlje) and the memory of Kosovo. They survived the troubles of the older and more
recent history believing in and expecting freedom when they were not free, because they
always believed that freedom is sacred, a gift of God. The Serbian people
the choice made at Kosovo as their own history and their life. They measured the
centuries-long consequences and lived in that eternal life. That is why they survived
all the suffering until this day. Such faith, spirit and life will continue further
into the future, into eternity.
(Introduction to Serbian Orthodox Church History,
Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Reprinted 2003, p. 75
)
To Consider
· Care required of the soul.
· Nourishment for the soul.
· Cleansing of the soul.
Recent Activities of Parish Priest
May 19 - Went to Uniontown Hospital while patient received medical care.
May 23 - Went to Shadyside-Heritage in Pittsburgh to visit patient.
May 24 - Stopped at Mon General Hospital in Morgantown to visit patient.
May 24 - Served Divine Liturgy in Fairmont, West Virginia.
May 24 - Went to Choir Festival in Aliquippa.
Wisdom of Sirach 7:1-3
Do no evil, and evil will never befall you. Stay away from wrong,
and it will turn away from you. My son, do not sow the furrows of injustice,
and you will not reap a sevenfold crop.
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
John 4:5-42
So he came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied
from His journey sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria
came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away
into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him. "How is it that You,
being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with
Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it
is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have
you living water.' The woman said to Him, 'Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our
Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his
livestock?' Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst
again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life. The woman said to Him, "Sir give me this water, that I may not
thirst, nor come here to draw." Jesus said to her, "Go, call you husband, and come here."
The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, 'You have well said,
'I have no husband, for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not
your husband; in that you spoke truly." The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that
You are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in
Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe
Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship
the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is
of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to
Him, "I know the Messiah is coming(who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell
us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He." And at this point His
disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What
do You seek?" or "Why are You talking with her?" The woman then left her waterpot, went
her way into the city, and said to the men, "Come, see a Man who told me all things that
I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them,
"I have food to eat of which you do not know." Therefore the disciples said to one another,
"Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will
of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, 'There are still four months
and then come the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields,
for they are already white for harvest. And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit
for eternal life, that both may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, 'One
sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored: others
have labored, and you have entered into their labors .And many of the Samaritans of that
city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified ,"He told me all
that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay away
with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word.
Then they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for ourselves
have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
The celebration of Pascha continues in the Holy Orthodox Church. The celebration
continues until the Leave-taking of Pascha and the arrival of the Feast of the Ascension.
The Lord Jesus Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection changed the world
Hope reigns for believers putting their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Nothing can deter the power of the Resurrected Christ.
When the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus told her that whoever
drinks of the water He provides will never thirst.
(Jn. 4:14) Individuals turning to Jesus satisfy the thirst of the soul.
The soul deserves constant attention. The Resurrection of Christ holds forth joy
for believers immersing their lives in Christ and seeking the salvation of the soul.
All human endeavors pale in comparison to the life in Christ.
The Holy Apostle Paul placed full confidence the Lord Jesus Christ and told the Romans:
"neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else will able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Rom. 8:38-39)
Contemporary believers decide daily whether to love Christ completely and put full
confidence in Christ. Contemporary believers make decisions daily that directly affects
their relationship with Jesus Christ.
The Samaritan woman at the well was blessed to have a direct personal experience with
the Lord Jesus Christ. Each believer has the opportunity for a direct personal relationship
with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Each time a believer chooses to pray with complete and total heart, mind and soul,
the believer enters into a direct personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Each time a person prepares for Holy Confession and Holy Communion with complete
and total seriousness, the believer enters into a direct personal relationship with
the Lord Jesus Christ.
God's Holy Church provides believers with the opportunity to have a direct personal
relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Individuals determine whether to drink from Christ
and to partake of His Precious Body and Blood.
The Living Resurrected Christ is not contained or limited by the passing of centuries.
The Living Resurrected Christ is ever powerful, ever present with those having ears to hear
and eyes to see.
Experiencing the Living Resurrected Christ comes through faith and love, through
discipline and interest. The ways of the world will call and detract from the path to
eternal life.
Temptations and worldly interests will sap energy better suited for being nourished
by the Holy Gospel. Christ is timeless. The life in Christ provides for eternal life.
Drink from Him offering the water that satisfies the thirst of the soul.
Partake of His Precious Body and Blood, taste the fountain of immortality.
St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
May 12 / May 25, 2008
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman.
St. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople.
Fr. Rodney Torbic
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