Categories
Homilies

Services for Sunday, May 28, 2017

Categories
Pastoral Letters

Pastoral Letter May 28, 2017

“For You are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your servants, O Christ our God, and to You we give the glory, as to Your Father Who is from Everlasting, and Your all-holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.”

Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

This coming Monday is Memorial Day. Last year, I was most grateful to stand with many of you as we commemorated our loved ones who have passed on from this world.

Once again and in continuing with the long-standing Salt Lake City tradition, I will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Memorial Day so that we can pray the Trisagion prayers for our departed in Christ.

If your family members are buried at a different cemetery, please feel free to contact me at franthony@stannagocutah.org or 801-824-3987 to schedule a time when I can accommodate you as well.

I pray that you enjoy a most blessed and safe Memorial Day Weekend. I remain,

With Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony

Categories
Bulletins

Weekly Bulletin for May 28, 2017

Weekly Bulletin for May 28, 2017

Categories
Homilies

Services for Sunday, May 21, 2017

Categories
Pastoral Letters

Pastoral Letter May 21, 2017

“Therefore whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” – Matthew 7:24-27

Dearly Beloved in the Lord,

Christ is Risen!
Truly He is Risen!

In the church office, still waiting to be hung with my other artwork, is a framed print of a beautiful lighthouse, inscribed with a portion of the above scriptural text. It was given to me many years ago, by my godmother, Sylvia Petrulakis, as a cherished gift when I was ordained a deacon. The lighthouse stands firmly embedded on the rocky coast as the waves crash violently against the jagged stones. Nothing, seemingly could possibly prevail against this fortified beacon…or frustrate its ultimate purpose…for its foundation had been properly established and sturdily built.

You see, this parable is not so much about houses, storms, rain, or even challenges and tribulations. But the primary lesson our Lord imparts…is about foundations. Buildings can be designed as whimsically or pragmatically as the architect’s talent, ability or imagination might allow. But the foundation, never lauded…or even particularly noticed for its aesthetic value or beauty, must simply perform its function – that is to keep the home…the building… the skyscraper…the bridge; standing upright and steadfast.

This Sunday, we will end our third year of Sunday School at St. Anna’s. I’ve written it before, and I’ve heard it said many times: “Has it really been three years?!?” Three years of hard work. Three years of joy. Three years of steady growth. Three years of Orthodox witness. And three years of tending to the emerging Faith of our precious youth. Yes. It’s been three years.

I remind our advancing students and our one graduate, that your parents, families, parish, priest, deacon, and Sunday School teachers did not work earnestly and faithfully to develop your intellect, character, spirit and judgment upon the weak and transitory properties of sand.

Your foundational roots are deep…they are powerful and complex. And they were nurtured here in the nurturing environment of St. Anna’s. The hours spent in class listening to teachers, engaged in dialogue, participating in creative role-plays, making crafts, and even coloring in the obligatory pictures of icons, have given you step-by-step, week-to-week, Sunday-to-Sunday building blocks that form the strong fortification of your Christian experience.

I remind our parents that in Sunday School, and throughout the spectrum of our Youth Ministry activities, we are striving solely for the building of foundations.

The Foundation that is Christ.

Our prayer is to equip our children for storms that we hope will never come. We stand as your partners in Faith and our Orthodox Christian values & traditions. Thank you for recognizing the importance of Sunday School in your children’s lives and for making sure they were there.

I gratefully remind our teachers, that for a few years, before attending Seminary, I enthusiastically held your position. As a Sunday School teacher at Holy Trinity Cathedral, I enjoyed the preparations, research, readings and prayers before each class. I especially cherished the interaction and discussions with the kids. Of course, I owe a great debt of gratitude to my own teachers who dedicated themselves to my spiritual education. I think they did a pretty good job!

So, in the spirit of offering thanks and gratitude to our teachers, please pray for the continued strength and inspiration of:

Heidi Varechok
Elaina Simos
Rebecca Shand
Cindy Johnson
Barbara Hillas
Jamie Cayias
Tanya Holbeck
Bob Varechok
Harry Hillas
Brandee Mau
Georgette Lowe
Elaine Peterson

and, especially, though she does not like to be singled out,
and since I’m already in trouble anyway for mentioning her…

Kim Mallas, our ever-dedicated Sunday School & Youth Director.

The good news: there were 78 students registered in our Sunday School Program this year.
The better news: we are losing only one student to graduation (Congratulations, Alexia Savas!) So the program should be more vibrant than ever, next year!

The sad news: Brandee Mau made an instant and massive impression in our high school students during the one year she taught. She and her lovely family will be moving back to Wyoming this summer, and they will all be greatly missed. It is my humble prayer that we, as a community, will send them with Christ’s love and our appreciation of having known them.

If Sunday School is the building of a foundation, then standing in front of our 10th,11th, and 12th graders is the finishing touch and the final word. Brandee and Harry have done such a wonderful job.

This was truly a blessed year in our Sunday School Program!

Lots of rock.
No sand.

Hardly the ideal setting for a day at the beach. But the perfect environment for Orthodox Christian education!

With Love in our Risen Lord,
Fr. Anthony

AS A REMINDER:
THIS WEEKEND IS SUNDAY SCHOOL GRADUATION, MAY 21ST, 2017, FOLLOWING THE DIVINE LITURGY.
THERE ARE 78 STUDENTS ENROLLED IN SUNDAY SCHOOL.
I WOULD LOVE TO HAND OUT 78 CERTIFICATES TO 78 STUDENTS.
PLEASE SEE TO IT THAT YOUR CHILDREN ARE IN ATTENDANCE, TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS BLESSED MILESTONE OF THEIR SPIRITUAL FORMATION.

Categories
Bulletins

Weekly Bulletin for May 21, 2017

Weekly Bulletin for May 21, 2017

Categories
Uncategorized

2017 Parish Fishing Trip – July 6-9, 2017 – Strawberry Reservoir

This year’s fishing trip to Strawberry Reservoir will take place Thursday, July 6, 2017, through Sunday, July 9, 2017.   Bring your motor home, trailer or tent and join us in the campground, or stay in the Strawberry or Daniel’s Summit Lodges. For room, boat and slip rentals, contact Lodge at 435-548-2500 or www.strawberrybay.com   Group prime rib dinner at the Lodge on Thursday evening, and group dinners on Friday and Saturday nights at the pavilion.   Continental breakfast will be served at the pavilion each morning, including Sunday following Divine Liturgy. Come enjoy fellowship, create some fishing memories or just relax!

Click here to download our complete registration packet:  Fishing Trip 2017 Combined Registration and Release

Please submit completed packets to Craig Stagg at Church or via email to cstagg1234@msn.com. Questions? Contact Chuck Karpakis at 801-265-0900 or chuck@paragonproperties.biz or call Mark Vrontikis at 801-231-5525 or mark@vrontikis.com. This is a great event for the whole family and everyone is welcome!

Categories
Pastoral Letters

Pastoral Letter May 14, 2017

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we approach this weekend, looking forward to the celebration of Mother’s Day, I pray that all of the Moms, Grandmothers, Godmothers, and influential women in our lives will be richly and abundantly blessed. Just this past week, His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver, reflecting on the naming of our parish of St. Anna, told me that without the participation of the Mother of God, the Theotokos, there is no salvation for human kind. She made God’s plan possible through her “yes.” And without St. Anna, there is no Theotokos. No Mary…no “yes,” no salvation. Your parish has such an important Saint.”

We honor the mother of the Theotokos every time we pray to God. We bless her name every time we petition Him with any and all requests, unto salvation. Her name, is in our hearts as His name is on our lips. We honor the Theotokos, and as specific inheritors of St. Anna’s tender ministry of motherhood, we hold her dearly.

Giving thanks to God for the abundant gifts He continues to pour upon us, we must acknowledge, as His Eminence reminds us, that the incredible Mothers in the life of Christ, must be ever-present in our proclamation of God’s incarnation in the flesh. The God Man, Jesus, is Man, only through His birth from a young maiden. Through her sincere piety, unyielding faith, steadfast devotion, and tender love, He came into the world to save us from sin, destruction and death. His mother made this possible.

Her mother made HER possible.

There is no way of skirting the significance of their roles in the lifting up of humankind; returning us to the very Kingdom, from which we were once banished.

A blessed Mother’s Day to all who celebrate. Our very lives are but a witness to your sacrificial love and obedience to your sacred vocation of motherhood.

As I am, myself, the son of an incredible Mother, and the husband of a woman fiercely dedicated, in every way, to the well-being of her children, I remain,

With Love in our Risen Lord,
Fr. Anthony

Categories
Bulletins

Weekly Bulletin for May 14, 2017

Weekly Bulletin for May 14, 2017

Categories
Homilies

Services for Sunday, May 7, 2017