Chronicle of St. George Serbian Orthodox Church
Diocesan Bishop - His Grace Bishop Dr. MITROPHAN
Parish Priest - Fr. Rodney Torbic
296 Old Route 21
Carmichaels, Pennsylvania 15320
September 21 / October 4, 2009
Apodasis of the Elevation of the Cross
No. 559
Remember to listen to the parish radio broadcast each Sunday afternoon at 12:15
on WMBS, 590 AM, Uniontown.
Matthew 15:28
Then Jesus answer and said to her,
"O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire."
Services Recently
- September 26
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were served at St. George Church.
- Eight people came for Divine Liturgy served at Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church
in Fairmont, W.Va.
- Two people came to St. George Church for Ninth Hour and Great Vespers with Litya.
- September 27
- Midnight Office, Matins, and First Hour were read.
- Third and Sixth Hour were read followed by the Divine Liturgy.
- Thirty-Six people came for Divine Liturgy. Four communicants.
- Pomen held at funeral home for +Eli M.Zorich.
- September 28
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- Ninth Hour and Vespers were read.
- Funeral service held for +Eli M.Zorich with burial at Greene County Memorial Cemetery.
- September 29
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- Two people were present for the Akathist to the Holy Cross.
- September 30
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- Ninth Hour and Vespers were read.
- October 1
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
- One person came to read the Akathist to Jesus Christ, Akathist to the Mother of God
and Akathist to the All-holy Theotokos, in Honor of Her Miraculous Icon,
"She Who Healeth."
- Ninth Hour and Vespers were read.
- October 2
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour were read.
Services This Coming Week - Always Call to Confirm Weekday Schedule
- Today
- Midnight Office, Matins and First Hour.Third and Sixth Hours followed by Divine Liturgy.
- Mornings
- 5:30 AM on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.
- Afternoons
- 4:00 PM on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
- Tuesday
- 6:30 PM followed by Adult Class
Remember Monastery Marcha with Prayers and Contributions
Important Dates
October 10 - Memorial Saturday
October 14 - Protection of the Mother of God
October 19 - Holy Apostle Thomas
October 27 - Venerable Mother Parasceva of Serbia, St.Petka
October 31 - St. Luke
November 1 - Parish Anniversary Dinner
November 8 - St. Demetrius
November 16 - Translation of the Relics of the Greatmartyr George.
If you are too busy to pray...you are too busy!
Remember the Serbian People Who Are Suffering and All Suffering People.
Parish Life
- · Sonia Janson, Mildred Bezjak and Dave Radovsky faithfully come to Adult Class.
- · Adult Class this Tuesday continuing with the theme of the Divine Liturgy.
- · The regular reading of the Third and Sixth Hours before the Divine Liturgy by
Paulette Radock each Sunday morning is an important addition to the parish.
- · Rich and Linda Porter frequently come to do the responses for Ninth Hour
and Vespers on Saturday evenings enabling the services to be more complete.
- · Melissa Miciotto was a welcome addition joining Sonia Janson, Melva Hunchuck
and Anna Mae Knezeovich in making rolls this past Tuesday.
- · Dorothy McCloy always remembers the St. George Church.
- · Melanie Vunjak always remembers the St. George Church.
- · Niko and Rose Illich always remember the St. George Church.
- · Maria Djonovich continues to log many miles from French Creek, W.Va.
- · Remember the sick, the suffering, the imprisoned, those in rehab centers,
the homebound, the mentally ill, their caretakers and the institution staffs.
- · Remember the men and women serving in the military and their families.
- · Remember the workers in mines, law-enforcement, corrections, probation and
parole and firefighters, all working in dangerous occupations.
- · If you have a question about the services or the Church, ask Father Rodney.
- · Dr. Sinisha and Doina Zikich are strong sources of support
for West Virginia University students.
A Thought from His Grace Bishop Dr. MITROPHAN
Many Old Testament questions, prophesies, enigmatic passages, can be explained only with the
aid of the New Testament. Similarly, many questions in the New Testament can only be explained
with the aid of the Old Testament….These Testaments fulfill one another co-operatively.
(Introduction to the New Testament
)
Remember the Students at St. Sava School of Theology, Libertyville, Illinois
To Consider
· The amount of attention the Church places on the Cross of Christ.
· The need for believers to consider the Cross of Christ in daily life.
· The joy of the Resurrection following Christ's Crucifixion.
Recent Activities of Parish Priest
September 27 - Pomen for +Eli Zorich at the funeral home.
September 28 - Funeral service, burial service and attendance at dacha for +Eli Zorich.
September 29 - Attended non-profit management class on working with Boards of Directors
recruitment, fundraising and training conducted by the Division of
Social Work, West Virginia University, in Morgantown.
September 30 - Visited a patient at the hospital in Waynesburg.
October 1, 2009 - Went to Hatfield Ferry Power Plant.
Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped;
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.
The Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
Matthew 15:21-28
Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold
a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, "Have mercy on me,
O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon possessed." But He answered her not a word.
And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, "Send her away, for she cries out after us."
But He answered and said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Then she came and worshipped Him, saying. "Lord, help me!" But He answered and said,
"It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said,
"Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table."
Then Jesus answered and said to her, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you
desire." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
Mark 8:34-9:1
When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples, also, He said to them,
"Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake
and the gospels, will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world,
and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is
ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man
also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels."
And He said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will
not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power.
The mother from Canaan with the demon-possessed daughter is a shining example of what
a mother can do when they having great faith and appealing fervently to the Lord Jesus Christ.
(Mt. 15:21-28)
When this mother appealed to Jesus initially, Jesus' disciples wanted to send her away.
Jesus did not immediately help the woman. He was silent initially and then eventually made
two statements in responses to His disciples and the woman. The mother persisted with great
faith. She wanted Jesus to heal her daughter.
Being the parent of a demon-possessed son or daughter will test a person's faith.
This mother was not going to give up on her daughter. She was not going to give up on
getting help from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many parents have sons and daughters with problems that test their faith to the extreme.
The mother in the present Gospel is an example for parents of every generation not to give
upon on sons and daughters exhibiting difficult problems.
Demon-possessed sons and daughters can cause great consternation. Demon-possessed sons
and daughters can cause husbands and wives to search their hearts and minds extensively as
to the cause of the behavior.
Demon-possessed sons and daughters can cause husbands and wives to question their
relationship and to second-guess what they have done and are doing.
The present Gospel about the mother with the demon-possessed daughter shows the wisdom
of turning to Christ with great faith. Turning to Christ with great faith makes problems
manageable.
Turning to Christ with faith equal in magnitude to the problem makes a difference.
Jesus did not turn a deaf ear to the pleading and persistent mother. Jesus never turns
a deaf ear to the faithful.
Being a Christian does not mean having a problem-free life. Being a Christian means
facing problems with Christ as the primary source of strength, interest and goal of life.
Jesus made it clear by personal example that the pain of the Cross precedes the joy of
the Resurrection. Jesus made it clear by personal example that He was willing to suffer for
the benefit of others.
Jesus made the nature of the Christian life clear when he said: "Whoever desires to come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me."
(Mk. 8:34)
Christians are challenged to make the best of the problems encountered in daily life.
Christian parents are challenged to remain faithful to Christ.
The demon-possessed daughter healed by Christ due to the faith of her mother received a
lasting lesson in faith from her mother. Mothers and fathers need to be the foremost Christian
role models for their sons and daughters.
The Holy Scriptures provide nourishment, strength and direction for parents beset with
problems their sons and daughters are experiencing. The Divine services of the Church provide
solace, peace and direction for parents challenged by the problem behavior of sons and daughters.
The Holy Gospel attests to the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ. The personal
experience of Christians through the centuries attests to the healing power of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
The mother of the demon-possessed daughter had great faith in Christ before her daughter
was healed. After her daughter was healed, the mother had cause for even greater faith and
gratitude.
The best way to experience and learn about the Lord Jesus Christ is to turn to Him in
complete faith. The mother with the demon-possessed daughter demonstrated convincingly that
faith in Christ has value beyond measure.
Mothers and fathers having great faith in Christ provide their sons and daughters with
lessons of everlasting value. The world keeps changing. "The Lord Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday, today and forever."
(Heb. 13:8)
Sons and daughters with mothers and fathers of great faith are secure in a rapidly
changing world. The demon-possessed daughter in the present Gospel personally learned
from her mother that "with God all things are possible."
(Mt. 19:26)
St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Carmichaels, Pennsylvania.
September 21 / October 4, 2009
Apodasis of the Exaltation of the Cross.
Fr. Rodney Torbic
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