The disciples faced many fears—fear of rejection by their own for following the Messiah, fear of arrest, persecution, of losing all their temporal attachments, forsaking their families, suffering prison, torture, martyrdom. To all of these fears, Jesus reminds them that He and HE ALONE is “the one thing needful.” He is Life itself, and as such, as the Creator of the wind and the tempest, the waters, and all that teems therein (Ps. 103), He commands them in today’s Gospel to cease, to be calmed… and they obey. Peter tries to come to the Lord on the water, walking on the water. At first he actually succeeds, but then, unsettled, he takes his focus off Christ and sees the fearsome winds and waves, the temporal and material things he fears… and he sinks. Jesus, Christ God, saves him, and He can save us too when we lose faith and begin to sink as well when we call out to Him. The Lord teaches us today to entrust our fears, our lives, to Him, the God who has power over that which we fear, over all that is temporal. He calls on us to avail ourselves of all the tools He’s entrusted to us through His Church for our salvation:. “Put not you trust in princes and sons of men in whom there is no salvation,” (Ps. 145) as we sing in the Liturgy, but in Christ God, to whom even the fearsome winds and the waves we encounter on the sea of life are obedient. Nothing we fear in our pride and self-focus: no sin, no passion, no past, and certainly not the winds of false doctrine whirling about us, are too great for God to overcome!
In Christ’s love, Fr. Robert+
THIS WEEK AT HOLY ARCHANGELS:
- v Friday, Aug. 15, 12 Noon (Meet at St. John’s Gym lot at 11 a.m.), Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Holy Dormition, USNA. Email Fr. Robert with RSVP (Fr.RobertMiclean@gmail.com) no later than Wed, Aug. 13! Transportation to the Academy Chapel will be provided.
- v Saturday, August 16, 3 p.m., Baby Shower and Pool Party held at Cristina’s House in Clarksville, MD Confession following
- Saturday, August 16, 6 p.m., Great Vespers held at Cristina’s House in Clarksville, MD with Confession and Dinner following
- v Sunday, August 17, 9:30 a.m., Hours, 10 am Divine Liturgy, Sunday School, Trapeza following Liturgy. Some Orthodox Plebes will join us at Holy Archangels for Divine Liturgy
Save the Date!
- Saturday, Aug. 23, Great Vespers and Potluck at the St. John’s Boathouse: outreach and welcome to new (and returning) St. John’s students after College Fair.
- Sunday, Aug. 24, Blessing of new Vehicles!
- Sunday, Aug 31, Iacob Miclean’s 2nd Birthday party during Trapeza
6-Month Financial Report: Holy Archangels has received a total of $12,385 in offerings from January thru June 2014. The budgeted amount based on pledges is $15,000. This leaves us a gap of 2,614 to make up between now and Dec. to meet our expenses. Please stay current with your pledges/offerings, and consider increasing your offering or making a special one-time offering to help meet this deficit. Thank God for His provision for this Mission and thank you for your faithful contributions! The Holy Archangels Mission Council
Prayer Requests:
- That God may grow our Mission “in spirit and in numbers…”
- For God’s financial provision for our Mission and ACM (Annapolis College Ministry);
- For our Mission that we may find a Choir Director;
- Archpriest George, Priest John, Dcn. Basil, Rdr. John, Rdr. Zenon and family, Benedict, Colette, Mary, Carol, Katherine, James, Daniel, Sarah, Seraphim, George, Anne, Ed, Johnson and Family, Bede, Kent and Nancy, the Church in Georgia and Romania as they address the relativism of the West, speaking the truth in love, our suffering, persecuted Orthodox brethren in Syria and Iraq, a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ukraine.
Troparion (Resurrection) Tone 8
You descended from on high, O Merciful One!
You accepted the three day burial to free us from our sufferings!//
O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to You!
Troparion (Holy Transfiguration) Tone 7
You were transfigured on the mountain, O Christ God,
revealing Your glory to Your Disciples as far as they could bear it.
Let Your everlasting Light also shine upon us sinners,
through the prayers of the Theotokos!// O Giver of Light, glory to You!
Troparion (Martyr and Archdeacon Lawrence) Tone 4
Victorious martyr of Christ our God,
by the sign of the Cross you gave sight to the blind;
you distributed the riches of the Church to the poor;
you were tried by fire, and no evil was found in you.
As you endured burning, may your prayers extinguish the flames of our many sins,//
blessed Archdeacon Lawrence!
Kontakion (Resurrection) Tone 8
By rising from the tomb, You raised the dead and resurrected Adam.
Eve exults in Your Resurrection,
and the world celebrates Your rising from the dead, O greatly Merciful One!
Kontakion (Martyr and Archdeacon Lawrence) Tone 2
Your heart burned with divine fire, as the flames of the passions died within you.
God-bearing martyr Lawrence, the pillar of those who struggle,
you cried out in the midst of your contest:// “Nothing can separate me from the love of Christ!”
Kontakion (Holy Transfiguration) Tone 7
On the mountain You were transfigured, O Christ God, and Your Disciples beheld Your glory as far as they could see it; so that when they would behold You crucified,
they would understand that Your suffering was voluntary, and would proclaim to the world//
that You are truly the Radiance of the Father.
