{"id":4260,"date":"2019-09-06T08:33:34","date_gmt":"2019-09-06T14:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=4260"},"modified":"2019-09-06T08:33:34","modified_gmt":"2019-09-06T14:33:34","slug":"pastoral-letter-november-26-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=4260","title":{"rendered":"Pastoral Letter September 8, 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Not Every Quiet Man is Humble, but Every Humble Man is Quiet.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p> St. Isaac the Syrian <\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, this message is mostly intended for my Dear “Brothers” in Christ. But Ladies, feel free to read on as well…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Less than a week ago, very quietly and unceremoniously, our parish reached a significant milestone, in that we came upon our Fifth Anniversary. On August 31, 2014, Fr. Jimi Foreso (of blessed memory) celebrated our newly-created Mission’s first Divine Liturgy at the Woods on Ninth Reception Center in Murray, Utah. What began as a hopeful dream, a prayerful desire, a spiritual cause, a healing measure, an unhindered work of the Spirit, and an answer to God’s calling has come to be known as our home. Our parish. Our church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve written it numerous times, and I’ve said it just as often: praise be to God for the bravery, foresight, faith, trust and vision of our founding families. The Lord has blessed you. And all of us who have come after your initial and commencing efforts, have been blessed by the work of your hands, hearts, souls and minds. I thank you and I bless you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, just as quietly, I celebrated a bit of an anniversary, myself. One year and one day after the founding of our parish, I showed up with my family, looking forward to rolling our sleeves and joining you in the effort of serving and growing this God-protected parish. In my four years in service to St. Anna’s, I have witnessed remarkable miracles that have taken place. Doors seem to keep opening for us, unto the glory of God and for the benefit of His children. I have marveled at the work of many individuals who continuously take up the mantle of responsibility and exhibit the traits of sincere servant-leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our founders, and those who continue their work and legacy, after half a decade, still pull in the same direction and labor for the sake of the Kingdom. We are one in purpose, consistent in our message, true to our love of the Lord and His precious Orthodox Church. You have demonstrated this for the past five years. I have experienced this for the last four years. The elderly, our youth and everyone in between have prayerfully willed our existence into being. Through God’s grace, our prayers have been answered. In His mercy, we hope He will continue to listen, respond, direct and inspire us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt, if there has been a single group or official “ministry” that has embraced all of these platitudes with enthusiasm and systematic skill, it is our Women’s Ministry Team. The ladies of St. Anna’s are focused, generous, faithful and committed to the well-being of our community. Our Matron Saint Anna is the inspiration behind their continued, sacrificial acts. Thank you, ladies for the work you perform on our behalf and for the generous contributions you have made to our greater community & beyond.\u00a0
Now, gentlemen, its time to continue our efforts to step it up and emulate the fervor of our wives, mothers, sisters and aunts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seriously, guys. it’s time. We’ve come close. We’ve shown flashes of brilliance. We’ve started. Now is the time to commit whole-heartedly. Our Women’s Ministry Team has shown no signs of slowing down. Now is the time for us to show signs of speeding up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have attached a flyer to this week’s message that is an invitation to all St. Anna men to join us for our Second Annual End of Summer Get Together. Our Men’s Ministry chairmen, Phill Floor and Joe Varanakis are inviting us to learn how we can serve our parish and our God as we enter into our new building. There is work to be done. Not just construction work or handy work, but God’s work. It is my prayerful hope that we will set our sights on the needs of our people, before the needs of our facilities.\u00a0
We strive for the acquiring of a building not for its own sake, but so that we can have a place that will physically enable us to put our worship into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Men, this is your call to be people of action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next Sunday, September 15th, the day after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we will gather together as Orthodox Christian men; men of prayer, men of action, men of St. Anna’s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please join us. Read the flyer, pray about how you see yourself in service to your community, and come with a lion’s heart; dedicated to God’s glory and witness in this world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Love in Christ,
Fr. Anthony Savas<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May His Memory be Eternal.<\/em><\/strong>Last Sunday, we prayed the Three-Year Memorial of Fr. Matthew Gilbert. This Saturday, September 7th at the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church in Price, Utah, the Very Rev. Chrysostom Gilbert will celebrate the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am, followed by a Memorial Service in honor of his father on the anniversary of his passing. If you are unable to join Fr. Gilbert in person, please join him in prayer. Please lift up His servant, Matthew the priest, and pray for the comfort of Presbytera Denise and her children.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please remember that Sunday School begins this Sunday. Realizing that it is also the weekend of the Salt Lake Greek Festival, I pray and trust that our Festival participation will take place after the celebration of the Divine Liturgy and the Blessing of our New School Year. God, first. Spiritual Education, second. Souvlaki, third.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not Every Quiet Man is Humble, but Every Humble Man is Quiet.\u00a0 \u00a0 St. Isaac the Syrian Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Actually, this message is mostly intended for my Dear “Brothers” in Christ. But Ladies, feel free to read on as well… Less than a week ago, very quietly and unceremoniously, our parish […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoral-letter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4261,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4260\/revisions\/4261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}