{"id":5438,"date":"2021-01-31T07:51:59","date_gmt":"2021-01-31T14:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=5438"},"modified":"2021-01-31T07:52:01","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T14:52:01","slug":"pastoral-letter-november-26-2017-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/?p=5438","title":{"rendered":"Pastoral Message January 31, 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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By Thy nativity, Thou didst sanctify the Virgin\u2019s womb. And didst bless Simeon\u2019s hands, O Christ our God. Now Thou hast come and saved us through love. Grant peace to all Orthodox Christians, O only Lover of man<\/p>Kontakion of the Feast of our Lord’s Presentation to the Temple<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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

It is hard to believe that this coming Tuesday, we will celebrate the one year anniversary of our moving into our new church. May the Lord continue to bless, inspire, strengthen and guide us as we continue to serve and honor Him. Thankfully, we will always have the Feast of our Lord’s Presentation in the Temple to coincide with our landmark day, as we moved into our building on the 2nd of February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Forty days after Christ was born He was presented to God in the Jerusalem Temple according to the Mosaic Law. At this time as well His mother Mary underwent the ritual purification and offered the sacrifices as prescribed in the Law. Thus, forty days after Christmas, on the second of February, the Church celebrates the feast of the presentation called the Meeting (or Presentation or Reception) of the Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The meeting of Christ by the elder Simeon and the prophetess Anna (Lk 2.22\u201336) is the main event of the feast of Christ\u2019s presentation in the Temple. It was \u201crevealed to Simeon by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord\u2019s Christ\u201d (Lk 2.26) and, inspired by the same Spirit, he came to the Temple where he met the new-born Messiah, took Him in his arms and said the words which are now chanted each evening at the end of the Orthodox Vespers service:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, now let Your servant depart in peace, according to Your word; for mine eyes have seen You salvation which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for the revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to Your people Israel.<\/p>Luke 2:29\u201332<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At this time as well Simeon predicted that Jesus would be the \u201csign which is spoken against\u201d and that He would cause \u201cthe fall and the rising of many in Israel.\u201d He also foretold Mary\u2019s sufferings because of her son (Luke 22.34\u201335). Anna also was present and, giving thanks to God \u201cshe spoke of Jesus to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem\u201d (Lk 2.38).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the service of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord, the fact emphasized is that Christ, the Son and Word of God through Whom the world was created, now is held as an infant in Simeon\u2019s hands; this same Son of God, the Giver of the Law, now Himself fulfills the Law, carried in arms as a human child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Receive him, O Simeon, whom Moses on Mount Sinai beheld in the darkness as the Giver of the Law. Receive him as a babe now obeying the Law. For he it is of whom the Law and the Prophets have spoken, incarnate for our sake and saving mankind. Come let us adore him!<\/p>

Let the door of heaven open today, for the Eternal Word of the Father, without giving up his divinity, has been incarnate of the Virgin in time. And as a babe of forty days he is voluntarily brought by his mother to the Temple, according to the Law. And the elder Simeon takes him in his arms and cries out: Lord now let Your servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen Your\u00a0 salvation, O Lord, who has come to save the human race\u2014glory to You!<\/p>Vespers Verses of the Feast<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The Vespers and Matins of the feast of the Meeting of the Lord are filled with hymns on this theme. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated with the lines from the canticle of Mary forming the prokeimenon and the words of Simeon being the verses for the Alleluia. The gospel readings tell of the meeting, while the Old Testament readings at Vespers refer to the Law of the purification in Leviticus, the vision of Isaiah in the Temple of the Thrice-Holy Lord, and the gift of faith to the Egyptians prophesied by Isaiah when the light of the Lord shall be a \u201crevelation to the Gentiles\u201d (Lk 2.32).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The celebration of the Meeting of the Lord in the church is not merely a historical commemoration. Inspired by the same Holy Spirit as Simeon, and led by the same Spirit into the Church of the Messiah, the members of the Church also can claim their own \u201cmeeting\u201d with the Lord, and so also can witness that they too can \u201cdepart in peace\u201d since their eyes have seen the salvation of God in the person of his Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is my fervent prayer that by next year, we will be able to come together and properly commemorate this Feast and celebrate our Anniversary together in fellowship. Please be aware that as the Feast is celebrated this Tuesday, the services will be open to all parishioners, not only our senior population. We will also begin the day with Orthros at 8:00 am, followed by the Divine Liturgy at 9:00 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With Much Love in XC,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Anthony Savas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Thy nativity, Thou didst sanctify the Virgin\u2019s womb. And didst bless Simeon\u2019s hands, O Christ our God. Now Thou hast come and saved us through love. Grant peace to all Orthodox Christians, O only Lover of man Kontakion of the Feast of our Lord’s Presentation to the Temple Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, […]<\/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-5438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pastoral-letter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5438","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=5438"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5438\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5439,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5438\/revisions\/5439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stannagocutah.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}