Month: January 2017

Good Evening, Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

I thank you for your prayers and well wishes this past, almost two weeks. Your positive energy and love have helped me more than you will ever know. I look forward to resuming my pastoral duties very soon. God willing, I will be with you this Sunday for the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and the swearing in of our 2017 Parish Council. Please be aware that our JOY Ministry will meet after Sunday School and the participants of the St. John Chrysostom Oratorical Festival will meet with their coaches, exchange ideas and begin their creative process, also this Sunday. For those of you who have submitted your House Blessing Forms, please know that I will be contacting you within the next few weeks to continue this sacred Tradition.

As we continue into a very busy time of the year, with our many ministries in full swing, I pray that the good Lord blesses all of your homes with abundant joy, continued health and fervor in faith.

I so look forward to seeing you at Liturgy! And again, thank you! Your cards, texts, emails, calls and posts were much appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed.

With Love in Christ,
Fr. Anthony

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:16
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we continue to celebrate the blessings of a New Year and remain, steadfastly in the days of Holy Theophany, I come to you, my dearly beloved in the Lord, asking for your prayers.

As you may have noticed for the past few month, I have seemingly suffered with cold symptoms, congestion and headaches. Pretty much non-stop since October. Many of you have been kind enough to offer your remedies, solutions, special tricks and formulas for improved health. Believe me, I tried them all. And I was always grateful for your prayers and concern.

As it turns out, a CT scan revealed what has been bothering me for all this time, and that is severely blocked and infected sinus’, especially in the left side of my head which is 100% affected. In order to gain some much-needed relief and to begin breathing again, surgery is required. That said, I need to offer some changes to the very Bulletin which is attached to this message. Therefore, please be advised that:

I will be having surgery on Tuesday, January 17th and will be out of the office until January 25th.

There will be no Divine Liturgies celebrated on Tuesday, January 17th (St. Anthony) and Wednesday, January 18th (St. Athanasios). I am sorry about this.

We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy in honor of both Saints Anthony and Athanasios on Monday Evening, January 16th at 6:00 pm.

There will be no Bible Study or Spirituality Classes next week. Again, I am sorry for this.

All other meetings/ministries will continue for the week, or so that I am recovering.

On Sunday, January 22nd, we will be blessed with Fr. Seraphim Johns from Pocatello, ID as our visiting priest.

Fr. Seraphim is a dynamic, young priest who has been assigned to the historic and lovely Greek Orthodox Community of Price, Utah, beginning February 1st. This will be St. Anna’s first opportunity to welcome him to Utah and to pray for his success and his ministry to the Orthodox faithful in Carbon County.

I thank you for your prayers and for your patience, these past many weeks, with me sounding much less than inspiring during the celebration of our divine services. God willing, I look forward to being healthy for the continuation of our House Blessings and into the precious time of Great Lent. I remain,

With Love in XC,
Fr. Anthony

“Israel treaded on the sea’s swelling billow, which had been rendered once again into dry land. Then the dark waters concealed all the Egyptian riders together, as a tomb laid in water, by the mighty strength of the right (hand) of the Master.” – Matins Hymn of Theophany

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This morning, as I trotted ever so slowly and cautiously in to the church office, I received a phone call from my Koumbaro and one of my best friends, Fr. Andrew Scordalakis, the pastor of St. Spyridon Greek Orthodox Church in San Diego, California. He called to say “Happy Birthday to Alexia,” who unbelievably turned 18 today! Indeed, this is my gratuitous shout-out for our daughter’s significant mile stone. Please forgive.
He was telling me about his plans for their annual Epiphany Cross Dive, where the warm waters of San Diego’s Mission Bay are blessed, followed by a beautiful cross tossed into the water, to be retrieved by a fortunate youth who will have an abundance of blessings and bragging rights for a solid year. So think about that lovely scenario, as you just shoveled yourselves out of your driveways this morning.
Kids in swimsuits will dive into the ocean and compete to retrieve a cross that has been thrown into the warm water.
In January.
That’s the San Diego version of Blessing the Waters.
I just bought a new pair of snow boots for Blessing the Waters, Sugar-House-Style.
Now, before you think I am jealous of my friend’s sunny circumstance (because I actually did miss Utah winters while away), we must not covet Fr. Andrew’s January weather because he deserves it. He is from near Buffalo, New York. Where he grew up and spent most of his adult life, there are no outdoor Blessing of the Waters services, only “Blessing of the Ice” ceremonies. Brrrrr.
It’s all relative. It’s all beautiful. It’s all cathartic and holy. No matter the temperature, its Theophany!
The Holy Trinity, in the wisdom of the Father, is revealed to us over the Waters of the Jordan River. The Lord could have chosen a high mountain to witness His Triune glory. He could have exposed His great mystery in the desert or the wilderness. Perhaps in a lush garden. But no, the light of God, the Persons of God, the definition of God and the reality of God were given to us over the flowing rush of living water.
Water is the source of life. At least in a balance it is. In over-abundance, it is dangerous and even deadly, like what happened to the Egyptian riders as referenced in the above hymn. Equally so, in scarcity, we parish without safe, clean and adequate water supplies.
In water, we are cleansed. In water, we are Baptized. In Water, our Lord Jesus Christ illustrated, through His divine humility, that to be “born of water and the Spirit” is the way to salvation and ever-lasting life.
We celebrate, through the Baptism of Christ, the redemption of the world, the sanctification of created matter and the ever-powerful bond between the Creator and the created.
I look forward to the opportunity to take the blessed Waters from our fount, and bring them into your homes and businesses. Please do not hesitate in sending in your House Blessing Form. What this does is transform Theology and Tradition into relevance and practice in our practical and daily lives. The abundant grace which flows within the banks of the Jordan is not found in a distant place, but rather in our living rooms and kitchens!
Look outside. Appreciate the unsoiled, pristine nature of newly-fallen snow. It is pure, elegant and lovely. Others may look outside their windows to see the calm and inviting waves of the Pacific Ocean.
Either way, cross yourselves and jump in. For the Lord has hallowed the Waters…gas, liquid or solid. Blue or grey. Fresh or salty. Wash yourselves and become clean. It is Holy Theophany. God is revealed and we are immortalized.
With Love in Christ Who Condescended to be Baptized,
Fr. Anthony