O Lord, save Your People and bless Your inheritance! Grant victory to Orthodox Christians over their adversaries, and by Your Cross preserve Your Commonwealth.

Kondak – Tone 4

O Christ God, Who was voluntarily raised up on the Cross, be compassionate to the new Commonwealth which bears Your name. Gladden all Orthodox Christians by Your power, granting them victory over enemies; bestowing on them the invincible trophy, Your weapon of peace.

Before Your Cross we bow down, O Master, and Your Holy Resurrection we glorify.

Epistle Reading: 1 Corinthians 1: 18-24

Gospel Reading: John 19: 6-11, 13-20, 25-28, 30-35

The pagan Roman emperors tried to completely eradicate from human memory the holy places where our Lord Jesus Christ suffered and was resurrected for mankind. The Emperor Hadrian (117-138) gave orders to cover over the ground of Golgotha and the Sepulchre of the Lord, and to build a temple of the pagan goddess Venus and a statue of Jupiter.

Pagans gathered at this place and offered sacrifice to idols there. Eventually after 300 years, by Divine Providence, the great Christian sacred remains, the Sepulchre of the Lord and the Life-Creating Cross were again discovered and opened for veneration. This took place under the Emperor Constantine the Great (306-337) after his victory in the year 312 over Maxentius, ruler of the Western part of the Roman empire, and over Licinius, ruler of its Eastern part. In the year 323 Constantine became the sole ruler of the vast Roman Empire.

In 313 he had issued the Edict of Milan, by which the Christian religion was legalized and the persecutions against Christians in the Western half of the empire were stopped. The ruler Licinius, although he had signed the Edict of Milan to oblige Constantine, still fanatically continued the persecutions against Christians. Only after his conclusive defeat did the 313 Edict of toleration extend also to the Eastern part of the empire. The Holy Equal of the Apostles Emperor Constantine, having gained victory over his enemies in three wars with God’s assistance, had seen in the heavens the Sign of the Cross, and written beneath: “By this you shall conquer.”

Ardently desiring to find the Cross on which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, St Constantine sent his mother, the pious Empress Helen (May 21), to Jerusalem, providing her with a letter to St Macarius, Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Although the holy empress Helen was already in her declining years, she set about completing the task with enthusiasm. The empress gave orders to destroy the pagan temple and the statues in Jerusalem. Searching for the Life-Creating Cross, she made inquiry of Christians and Jews, but for a long time her search remained unsuccessful.

Finally, they directed her to a certain elderly Hebrew by the name of Jude who stated that the Cross was buried where the temple of Venus stood. They demolished the pagan temple and, after praying, they began to excavate the ground. Soon the Tomb of the Lord was uncovered. Not far from it were three crosses, a board with the inscription ordered by Pilate, and four nails which had pierced the Lord’s Body (March 6).

In order to discern on which of the three crosses the Savior was crucified, Patriarch Macarius alternately touched the crosses to a corpse. When the Cross of the Lord touched the dead one, he came to life. Having beheld the raising of the dead man, everyone was convinced that the Life-Creating Cross was found.

Christians came in a huge throng to venerate the Holy Cross, beseeching St Macarius to elevate the Cross, so that even those far off might reverently contemplate it. Then the Patriarch and other spiritual leaders raised up the Holy Cross, and the people, saying “Lord have mercy,” reverently prostrated before the Venerable Wood. This solemn event occurred in the year 326.

During the discovery of the Life-Creating Cross another miracle took place: a grievously sick woman, beneath the shadow of the Holy Cross, was healed instantly. The elder Jude and other Jews there believed in Christ and accepted Holy Baptism. Jude received the name Cyriacus and afterwards was consecrated Bishop of Jerusalem.

During the reign of Julian the Apostate (361-363) he accepted a martyr’s death for Christ (see October 28). The holy empress Helen journeyed to the holy places connected with the earthly life of the Savior, building more than 80 churches, at Bethlehem the birthplace of Christ, and on the Mount of Olives where the Lord ascended to Heaven, and at Gethsemane where the Savior prayed before His sufferings and where the Mother of God was buried after her death.

St Helen took part of the Life-Creating Wood and nails with her to Constantinople. The holy emperor Constantine gave orders to build at Jerusalem a majestic and spacious church in honor of the Resurrection of Christ, also including under its roof the Life-Giving Tomb of the Lord and Golgotha. The temple was constructed in about ten years. St Helen did not survive until the dedication of the temple, she died in the year 327. The church was consecrated on September 13, 335. On the following day, September 14, the festal celebration of the Exaltation of the Venerable and Life-Creating Cross was established.

Another event connected to the Cross of the Lord is remembered also on this day: its return to Jerusalem from Persia after a fourteen year captivity. During the reign of the Byzantine emperor Phocas (602-610) the Persian emperor Khozroes II in a war against the Greeks defeated the Greek army, plundered Jerusalem and captured both the Life-Creating Cross of the Lord and the Holy Patriarch Zachariah (609-633).

The Cross remained in Persia for fourteen years and only under the emperor Heraclius (610-641), who with the help of God defeated Khozroes and concluded peace with his successor and son Syroes, was the Cross of the Lord returned to the Christians.

With great solemnity the Life-creating Cross was transferred to Jerusalem. Emperor Heraclius in imperial crown and royal purple carried the Cross of Christ into the temple of the Resurrection. With the emperor went Patriarch Zacharios. At the gates by which they ascended Golgotha, the emperor suddenly stopped and was not able to proceed farther. The holy Patriarch explained to the emperor that an angel of the Lord was blocking his way. The emperor was told to remove his royal trappings and to walk barefoot, since He Who bore the Cross for the salvation of the world from sin had made His way to Golgotha in all humility. Then Heraclius donned plain garb, and without further hindrance, carried the Cross of Christ into the church.

In a sermon on the Exaltation of the Cross, St Andrew of Crete (July 4) says: “The Cross is exalted, and everything true gathers together, the Cross is exalted, and the city makes solemn, and the people celebrate the feast”.

In today’s Gospel lesson we hear a call.

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

It is a call that we have all heard many times. For us to be true believers, true followers of our Lord and Saviour, we must be willing to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow our lord, Jesus Christ. We must be willing to put aside our wants and desires and follow the path, the teachings of our Lord and Saviour. The path is referred to as carrying a cross because of the simple fact that it will not be easy. And Jesus Christ, in his divine love and honesty, never said it would be easy following him.

St. Isaac the Syrian declared that all sins will be forgiven except the sin of indifference towards the risen Christ. This is because Jesus Christ’s resurrection is the very cornerstone of God’s entire creation: of the world and of mankind. The resurrection is the guarantee of divine love, without which no form of life is possible.

When we chose not to lift up that cross and follow the teachings of our Lord and Saviour, we are guilty of the sin of indifference. When we chose to go against the will of God, to chose our own selfish path, we are telling God, so what? I have my health, I have my possessions, I am happy and content.

The tragedy of our society, dear brothers and sisters, is that we have made God a stranger in our lives. My grandfather, when he was a young child, went and lived with his grandparents for a while. When he went to bed, he would hear his grandparents praying. When he woke up in the morning, he would hear his grandparents praying. God was not a stranger. God was meant to be a part of his life. God is not meant to be a stranger in our lives. He is meant to be a constant part, a constant companion. However, we have become indifferent to God. God is a stranger, or at the very least, just an acquaintance that we are familiar with. Somehow, we are almost ashamed or embarrassed to be known as Orthodox Christians. The irony is that we place so much value on being accepted by those around us and worry about their opinion, that we will keep quiet about who we are, what we believe, mumble something if asked if we are a Christian, so that people won’t think us weird, that we forget that it is only God’s opinion that matters and if our loving God, who has every right to be ashamed of us, of how we act towards one another, kill, lie, steal, abuse one another, still loves us enough to give us the gift of His beloved Son for our salvation, we can not be indifferent to God.

Each one of us is blessed with talents and gifts, each one us can make a difference in this world, we can make this world better. Our Holy Orthodox Faith is not just two hours every Sunday. It is not a faith that is restricted to the walls of this church. It is taking that message of love and hope, of forgiveness and salvation to the world around us. If we do not, we are indifferent to God.

In our churches we have crosses. In our homes, we have crosses. When we pray, we cross ourselves. The cross is the visible symbol of who we are as Orthodox Christians. It is the symbol of God’s love for humanity. It tells us that God, never has been, and never will be indifferent to us. When we gaze upon the cross, we see our true value, our true worth.

When we pick up that cross, when we follow that path that our loving lord and saviour Jesus Christ set before us, we tell the world around us that we, as individuals, as a church, as a society, are not indifferent to God and that we are not ashamed to be known as Orthodox Christians. God is not a stranger in our lives. God is not someone who is hiding from us. God is a real and vital part of our lives.

I would like to end with these words by St. Cyril of Jerusalem: “The Cross is the crown of victory. It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of mankind. Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it. For it was not a mere man who died for us, but the Son of God, God made man.”

Amen.

Welcome Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Glory Be To Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!

We want to welcome you to the Holy Cross Mission Parish Website. We are a young, small mission parish of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada. We are the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ – whose roots go back to Jerusalem and the Feast of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit, promised by Christ our God, was poured out upon the Apostles. Holy Orthodoxy is the Faith of the Apostles – the Faith of the New Testament. It has been preserved through the millenia without change of doctrine or theology. Holy Orthodoxy has sought, and continues to seek today, to pass on unimpaired the “faith once received” by the Apostles from Christ.

We currently are holding our worship services at St. Andrew’s College (29 Dysart Road, on the University of Manitoba Campus). As much as I hope you enjoy our website (we will be adding things as we go along), our parish would love the opportunity to welcome you to our worship services. The best way to experience Orthodoxy is to ‘Come and See’.

You may have read or heard that Holy Cross is an ‘all English’ mission parish and that is correct. All our services are celebrated in the English language, but we follow the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada traditions. We feel that these traditions are a beautiful expression of Orthodoxy, but we also feel that it is very important that people understand what Orthodoxy is about. Therefore we offer the faith in a language that is common and in an expression that is comfortable, friendly and open. You don’t have to be Ukrainian to be part of the Holy Cross Orthodox Mission Parish. You just have to have the desire to love God and want to worship Him in Truth and Love.

So dear friend, we invite anyone who is searching for a more meaningful worship experience to come and join us and experience the Faith of the Apostles, that has not changed for 2000 years and is preserved for all eternity.

The Way of the Cross – March 14, 2010

Just a few things:

1.  Great Vespers are at St. Nicholas OCA, (5635 Henderson Hwy), 4:00 p.m.

2.  Divine Liturgy:  Hearing of confessions and reading of the Hours at 9:30 p.m.

3.  Passia Service: St. Michael’s, 6:00 p.m.

4.  Get your perogie orders in.  March 15 is the last day for perogie orders.

5.  This Sunday is the Sunday of St. John Climacus, or St. John of the Ladder.  St. John wrote a book called the “Ladder of Divine Ascent”.  In it he talks about 30 rungs of a spiritual ladder that stretches from earth to heaven that one must climb in hopes of attaining the Heavenly Kingdom.  I am not going to go through all 30 rungs.  I will do that this Sunday at liturgy.  So if you are free, please join us for our 7 hour divine liturgy.  (I am just kidding.  I can just picture my wonderful parishoners who read this saying, “Can’t he just talk about strudel instead?”)

I just wanted to make mention about one of the rungs.  I would just like to talk about obedience.  This is the fourth rung on the ladder.  St. John describes obedience as “a total renunciation of our own life, and it shows up clearly in the way we act.  Obedience is the burial place of the will…”

The reality is that unless we learn to be obedient, heaven is unattainable for us.  But what we have to remember is that obedience is not about fulfilling external rules in hopes of obtaining God’s favor and love.  The reality is that while obedience is good and is encouraged, obedience does not earn us salvation.  We are called to come to church, come to the sacraments, pray, fast, give, but there are many that do that only because it is something “they are supposed to do”.  They are obedient to the external rules because someone told them to be.

True obedience changes us and if we understand the true nature and purpose of obedience we don’t chafe under it, we don’t resist, we don’t revolt.  Obedience makes us ready to receive the love which God has already given to humanity in the His beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Disobedience placed us in the state we are in.  Only obedience will regain what was lost.

Why is obedience so important?  Because, as Fr. John Mack states, “Obedience is necessary because to obey is to cut off our self-will and pride.  To obey is to learn not to judge.  To obey is to practice patience.” Humanity fell due to self-will and pride.  Pride destroys us spiritually and the only cure for that is obedience because out of obedience comes humility.

It is okay to be humble.  It is okay to be obedient.  “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  James 4:10 We are called during this time to fast, to pray, to give of alms.  But without humility, without obedience all of these actions will be empty.  That is why in the Sundays before Great Lent we hear the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican.  At the heart of all of our spiritual actions must, I repeat, must be humility.  If not, we stand before God exhalted only in our own minds.

Answer to last week’s question:
Complete the fourth beatitude, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…”  “…for they will be filled.”  (Congratulations to Alexis and Georgina for answering correctly)

This week’s question:
True or false?  In Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John, Jesus is depicted as the water of life.

See you in church!

In Christ,

Fr. Evan

Most of the first Ukrainian settlers came to Canada from Halychyna (where they were Greek Catholics) and from Bukovyna (where they belonged to the Orthodox Church). The Halychany, settling in Canada, where visited once in awhile by Greek-Catholic priests, but the Vatican wished to attach them to the Roman-Catholic Church already in existence, which would have assimilated them. The Bukovynians arriving in North America usually incorporated themselves into the Russian Orthodox Mission, which was already in existence. Nevertheless, the Ukrainian immigrants desired to have a Church with a Ukrainian character, which would be closer to the spiritual and cultural needs of the Ukrainian people, and this led to the formation of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.

In July 1918 a confidential conference of disenchanted lay Catholics from Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta created a Ukrainian Orthodox Brotherhood — its goal — to organize the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada. Although the Ukrainian settlers who took part in the organization of this Church body were not theologians, they were conscious of the canon law that a Church body cannot exist without a bishop. Thus, the brotherhood contacted Archbishop Alexander, an ethnic Ukrainian in the Russian Orthodox Mission in North America, who initially accepted to become the temporary bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church of Canada (U.G.O.C.C.) and to preside at its first Sobor, but later refused. The first “Sobor” took place anyway on December 28, 1918, without the presence of a bishop and led to the establishment of the first seminary in Saskatoon. The second Sobor was held on November 27, 1919, with the presence of the Antiochian Metropolitan Germanos, who accepted to lead the U.G.O.C.C. until the time it would have its own bishop. He headed the Church for five years, until 1924.

The new Church was a distinct Canadian institution, unconnected to any Ukraine-based Church. It accepted the dogma, rites and practices of Eastern Orthodoxy. It also stressed that the Church was to be conciliar in organization [sobornopravna] to the point of giving lay delegates a voice and a vote in administrative matters at the Church’s General Councils (“Sobors”) and on the main administrative body of the Church, the Consistory — upon which sit the Church’s Council of Bishops, nine clergy and nine laity. The Metropolitan and the Council of Bishops retain exclusive authority in all matters of Orthodox belief and practice.

In 1924, Archbishop John (Theodorovich) arrived in the U.S.A. from the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, to lead the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in U.S.A. Knowing of the presence of a Ukrainian bishop on the American continent, the fourth Sobor of the U.G.O.C.C., held on July 16-17, 1924, decided to invite Archbishop John to become the ruling bishop of the U.G.O.C.C. He accepted, and thus began visiting Canada during the summers. During his absence in winter, when he was in the U.S.A., his administrative functions were carried out by the priest-administrator [the ‘Chair of the Presidium’] at the Office of the Consistory – Father Semen Sawchuk. With 14 priests, the U.O.C.C. insisted on retaining its administrative autonomy under Rev. Fr. S. Sawchuk.

The Ukrainian Self-Reliance League, formed in 1927, became an effective lay arm for the U.O.C.C. and boosted its material resources. By the end of 1928 the Church had approximately 64,000 followers, organized in 152 communities, served by 21 priests. It was strongest in Saskatchewan (81 congregations in 1940), Alberta (55 congregations),and Manitoba (53 congregations). In due time, the Church opened a theological school — St. Andrew’s College, in Winnipeg, in 1946.

Eventually, Archbishop John became the subject of polemics regarding his uncanonical ordination to the rank of bishop. For this reason, he was forced to resign from his office as ruling bishop in 1946. In 1947, during an extraordinary Sobor, Bishop Mstyslav (Skrypnyk) was accepted as Archbishop of ‘Winnipeg and all Canada’. He was consecrated during the administration of the Warsaw Metropolitanate on the freed Ukrainian lands in 1942. Because of some misunderstandings between him and the Consistory, Archbishop Mstyslav was forced to resign from his office in 1950, at the Tenth Sobor. Then the Consistory asked Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorsky), who presided at the Holy Synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Bishops, ordained by the administration of the Warsaw Metropolitanate on the freed Ukrainian lands, (and in the aftermath of the war found themselves in the emigration), for assistance. He agreed then to look after the U.G.O.C.C.

In 1951 by the time an extraordinary Sobor was called, the Consistory had found four candidates for the office of a local ruling bishop. They were all canonically elected and ordained by the Holy Synod of the Warsaw Metropolitanate (Autocephanous Orthodox Church in Poland). Of these candidates, three came to Canada: the Metropolitan of Kholm and Pidliasha Ilarion (Ohienko), who fled with his flock during the war, and came to Canada in 1947 at the invitation of St. Mary the Protectress Cathedral (Sobor) in Winnipeg; Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy), who came to Canada in 1951 at the invitation of the Consistory; and Bishop Platon (Artemiuk) who came to Canada in 1951 with the blessing of Metropolitan Polikarp (Sikorsky), but who unexpectedly fell asleep in the Lord. The extraordinary Sobor decided to follow the canonical system of a metropolia to administer the U.G.O.C.C., creating thus a metropolia with three eparchies. Metropolitan Ilarion (Ohienko) was chosen Metropolitan of Winnipeg and all Canada, and Archbishop Michael (Khoroshy) became Archbishop of Toronto and the Eastern Eparchy.

By 1951 the U.G.O.C. had almost 300 congregations, 70 priests, and some 110,000 adherents. This growing Metropolia felt the need for new bishops: thus, in 1959, Archmandrite Andrew (Metiuk) was ordained Bishop of Edmonton and the Western Eparchy, and in 1963, Archmandrite Boris (Yakovkevych) was ordained Bishop of Saskatoon and auxiliary of the Central Eparchy.

After twenty-one years of zealous archpastoral ministry, Metropolitan Ilarion fell alseep in the Lord on March 29, 1972. His passing was felt as a great loss for the U.O.C.C. Archbishop Michael was chosen to replace him, and he was at the head of the Metropolitanate until 1975, when he resigned from the office of Primate. Then Archbishop Andrew became the Primate of the U.G.O.C.C. He remained its Metropolitan for ten years, until his blessed repose on February 2, 1985. During the time of his administration new bishops were ordained: Bishop Nicholas (Debryn) in 1975; Bishop Wasyly (Fedak) on July 16, 1978, who became the Primate of the U.O.C.C. after the death of Metropolitan Andrew in 1985, and Bishop John (Stinka) on November 27, 1983, who became the Primate of the U.O.C.C. after the death of Metropolitan Wasyly in 2005. During the term of office of His Beatitude, Metropolitan Wasyly, Archmandrite Yurij (Kalistchuk) was ordained Bishop of Saskatoon on October 22, 1989.

Historically, UOCC membership has been relatively stable, and has ranged between 20 and 25 percent of the total Ukrainian Canadian population. In 1989 the Church’s estimated membership was 128,000 in 290 congregations with 99 clergy.
Fulfilling the desires and intentions of the ever-memorable Metropolitan Ilarion, Metropolitan Wasyly, assisted by the Consistory, and with the help of God, concluded the canonical ordering of the U.O.C.C. After a few visits and discussions with the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the U.O.C.C. was received into the Ecumenical Patriarchate in 1990, at the time of His Holiness, the Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios, and thus normalized its relations with the other Orthodox Churches. This made it a duly recognized member of the Orthodox family which consists of four ancient Patriarchates (Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Antioch) and over a dozen other autocephalous (self-headed) and autonomous Churches, some also headed by Patriarchs. The Primates of these Churches manifest their unity by commemorating each other during Liturgy and Divine Liturgy together on special solemn occasions.
According to the Patriarchal Decree, upon entering the Ecumenical Patriarchate the U.O.C.C. remains a Metropolitanate with full internal autonomy, having as its canonical head the Ecumenical Patriarch to whom it has canonical reference in all things. This status recalls the days, when the Kyivan Metropolitanate was a part of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, and when there were very close Church relations between Constantinople and Kyiv, for the good of these two important Church centers.

The quintennial Councils or Sobors are the highest decision-making bodies of the U.O.C.C. Executive duties are shared between the Council of Bishops and the Consistory based in Winnipeg, with elected clerical and lay representatives from each diocese. The Ukrainian Self-Reliance League, with its component organizations, continues to play a significant role in Church affairs at the local and national levels. In addition to St. Andrew’s College and its Faculty of Theology, the Church is affiliated with a number of student residences: the Mohyla Ukrainian Institute in Saskatoon, St. John’s Institute in Edmonton, and St. Volodymyr Institute in Toronto. Its official publication since 1924 has been the “Visnyk” / “The Herald” newspaper.
The Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada is an important religious element in Canada, where Ukrainian culture and heritage are fused with the Orthodox Christian faith to form a living and vibrant tradition in Canada.

­ Based on information by Hierdeacon Job Getcha and Dr. Oleh Gerus, and on Consistory records.

Life-long Education – Holy Cross Mission is committed to offering opportunities for learning and spiritual growth for all ages.

Faithfulness to Tradition – We believe that it is our responsibility to embrace that which our forebears have passed down to us, to safeguard and nurture it, and to pass it to other intact.
His Eminence Metropolitan JOHN

Member Stewardship – We feel it is a fair expectation that those who will call Holy Cross their parish home will support their parish through stewardship of their time, talents and material resources.

Family Focus – We are committed to nurturing a spiritual community in which all generations can feel at home.

Christian Philanthropy – Through fellowship, outreach initiative, and involvement in other humanitarian concerns we seek to proclaiming Christ’s Gospel in both words and actions.

Open Communication – We keep our members, seekers and supporters informed through both print and electronic media.

Just a few things:

4. Please get your perogie orders in.

5. Parish Executive meeting March 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the Kitzul residence

6. Thank you to all that donated to our Haitian Relief efforts. Holy Cross has made a $685.00 donation to the Red Cross.

7. I want to share a quote with you from St. John of Kronstadt:

“When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, you own Guardian Angel, and all the saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are directed all its rays.”

Prayer is so vital to our lives on a spiritual, physical, emotional level. It truly is. We often refer to it as this personal dialogue between the individual and God, but as we can see in St. John’s quote, it transcends that. Prayer is a conversation with the Church Invisible, the Church Triumphant and through prayer, we are never truly alone. Fr. Anthony Coniaris writes, “There is a great sense of community in the Orthodox Church. Orthodox Christians never pray alone. We pray together with all the saints who have passed on. We pray not as individuals but as memebers of the body of Christ, i.e., the Church.” We pray with the Theotokos, the apostles, the angels, the martyrs, and the saints of all ages. They are present at every liturgy as depicted in the iconography of our Church.” Sometimes we may feel that our prayers fall on deaf ears and it can make us feel as if we are alone and insignificant. We must remember that we are not. Our prayers are heard and answered by God according to His will.

There will be moments in our life that we will face adversity, challenges, loneliness, despair and we will pray and ask God to take away these burdens. What we have to remember is that our prayers are not heard by God alone, but by the Church as a whole and that their voices are added to our prayers. That is why the Holy Orthodox Church does not teach prayer as a last resort, as a sign of weakness or desperation. Prayer is always our first response, it is a sign of our strength and depth of our faith.

Prayer is our boldest statement of faith. Everytime we pray we announce to those around us that we are Orthodox Christians who believe in the resurrected Lord. It is our statement that what is at the end of our Lenten journey, the glorious resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ actually happened. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the risen Lord.

Answer to Last week’s question:
What reply did Jesus give to the trick question posed by the disciples of the Pharisees and the Herodian? “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Congratulations to Dennis L. for correctly answering)

This week’s question:
True or False? In Chapter 5 of John’s Gospel Jesus heals a man who had been ill for eight years.

See you in church.

In Christ,

Fr. Evan

The Way of the Cross – Feb 28, 2010
2010 Calendar

Just a few things:

1.  No Vespers this Saturday.  Why?  Because we are all at the superfun Pan-Orthodox Basketball tournament being held at Calvin Christian Collegiate at 6:00 p.m.  Heck, Fr. Evan might even get out there on the court and remind everyone why his basketball nickname in high school was “Ukrainian Thunderstorm”.  Why did they call him that?  Because all I did was rain three-pointers, my moves on the court were faster than lightning, and dunks were like thunder.  Whoooo!!!

2.  Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.  Reading of the Hour and the hearing of confessions at 9:30 a.m.

Holy Cross will be donating it’s January 31 collection to relief efforts for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti.  Whatever you can give helps.  ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ ³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’   Matthew 25:35-40

3.  Holy Cross is still continuing its winter clothing collection.  Please bring your donations to church with you or contact a member of the parish if you need to drop your donations off.  We would prefer them to be brought to church.  Come on, don’t be shy.  We are very friendly.  Heck, some might say we are the friendliest parish you will ever find.

4.  This Sunday is the beginning of the Lenten Triodion.  I know, I know.  You are all going, “What?  We just finished the Nativity Fast and now we are beginning the Lenten Triodion?  What is up with that?”  Actually, I think it is pretty awesome.

We just finished the Nativity Fast and we celebrated the Incarnation of the Son of God as man.  Awesome.  We just finished celebrating Theophany, the revelation of the Divine Trinity.  Awesome.  And now we are beginning the Lenten Triodion, beginning that journey that will take us to the joyous and glorious moment of our Lord and Saviour’s resurrection.  Awesome.

There is no way we should have any feeling of dread in our hearts about Great Lent.  We should still be ecstatic over the celebrations that have just finished celebrating and spur us to enter Great Lent with joy in our hearts.

A lot times you will hear a group, an organization, your church itself talk about sustaining momentum.  By the grace of God, we have that opportunity to do that.  On Nov. 28 we started our Nativity Fast that culminated in the birth of our Lord and Saviour.  We then celebrated His baptism.  And now we are beginning the Lenten Triodion.  We are looking at about 4 months of sustained spiritual momentum.  I think that is awesome.  Some might say, “I need a break from it all.”  Holy Orthodox is not about breaks, it is about being constant in your faith, in your spiritual devotion, it is about sustaining momentum.  We have been blessed with an amazing opportunity, with everything falling so close together.  Sustained spiritual momentum.  Moving ever forward towards God.

Answer to last week’s question:

True or false?  Jesus spoke more about heaven and hell than anyone else in the Bible.  True.

This week’s question:

To whom did Jesus say, “…with God all things are possible”?

See you in church!

Fr. Evan

Just a few announcements:

1.  Great Vespers, Sat. at 5:00 p.m.  Divine Liturgy, Sunday at 10:00 a.m., reading of hours at 9:30 a.m., hearing of confessions, 9:30 a.m.

2.  Great Blessing of Water/Holy Theophany – Monday, January 18 at 6:00 p.m., at St. Andrew’s College.

3.  Holy Cross Clothing Drive – over the next few Sundays Holy Cross will be collecting gently used mens winter clothing, winter hats, gloves, mittens, scarves as well as NEW mens long underwear and winter socks.  Those of you that live in this city or have visited this city know what the winters here can be like.  Holy Cross would like to help out those that could really use some winter clothing.  I still remember a gentleman that I met about 5 years ago and he was from Barbados.  He told me that he had moved to Winnipeg in the middle of winter, when it was about -40 outside.  I asked him what it was like when he first stepped outside of the airport.  He told me, “What could the people of this city have done to have been cursed by God that they would have to endure this?”  He moved here in 1978 and still lives here.

So please, when you are stopping off at Walmart, Giant Tiger, Zellers, make a side trip done the men’s wear aisle and make a purchase of some socks, scarves, or whatever.  Thank you in advance for your generosity.

4.  Pan Orthodox Youth Sports Tournaments – The Winnipeg Orthodox Clergy Association has set up a series of sports tournaments for our Orthodox Youth here in the city.  The goal of these events is to foster some new relationships and interactions between the various Orthodox parishes.

Basketball Tournament (hosted by St. George’s OCA)  Saturday, Jan 23 at 6:00 p.m. at Calvin Christian Collegiate (706 Day St.)  Ages 12-20.  There is no cost to those participating.  Family and friends are invited to come out and participate, spectate, whatever.  Following the event, we are all invited to St. George’s for refreshments.

Soccer Tournament (hosted by St. Demetrios G.O. Church)  Saturday, Feb. 13 at 6:00 p.m.  Canadian Mennonite University.  Meet at St. Demetrios Church at 5:30 p.m., 2255 Grant Ave.  Family and friends are invited to come out and participate, spectate, whatever.  Following the event, we are all invited to St. Demetrios’ for refreshments.

Bowling Tournament (hosted by St. Ivan Suchavsky UOCC)  Saturday April 17, at 2:00 p.m.  Roxy Lanes, 385 Henderson Hwy.  Meet at Roxy Lanes at 1:30 p.m.

Sign up by email at wocaweb@gmail.com OR contact your parish priest.

5.  Holy Cross needs a new recording secretary.  Please see Sylvia Ptashnik if you are interested in the position.

6.  Sometimes I wonder if we truly appreciate our faith.  I know that we will say that we do, that we love being an Orthodox Christian, that our faith means everything to us and yet, I wonder if that is true.  Would you suffer for your faith?  What would losing your church mean to you?  Would you be willing to die for your faith?

Reason I bring this up, and please let me state, I am in no way criticizing anyone’s commitment to the church.  I am, sadly, a very poor example of a Christian, a weak, foolish and sinful man, and even worse priest, I bring this up because of what I encountered this past Wednesday.

This past Wednesday was the meeting of the Winnipeg Orthodox Clergy Asspciation.  You can check us out on the web.  Please don’t laugh too much at my picture.

We had a presentation from St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Church.  They came to tell us of events that happened in Egypt this past January 6, 2010.

On January 6 2010, seven Egyptian Coptic Christians were executed in cold blood, and fifteen more were wounded. Two of the wounded died from their grave injuries on the second day after the massacre. This crime took place when three Egyptian terrorists criminals opened fire towards the Coptic worshippers in southern Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi, as they came out of their Church after the celebration of the Coptic Christmas Eve midnight mass at 11.15 PM. According to several eyewitnesses, the intention of the perpetrators had originally been to assassinate Bishop Kirollos, but when the terrorists failed in their mission to hunt down the Bishop, they turned round and started shooting at the Christian congregation instead.

Since the massacre of a Christian Priest together with his wife and daughter and another 13 others during the “Al-Zawye Al-Hammra’a” (english “Red Corner”) massacre back in 1981, 160 crime against Christians, among them assault, theft, setting fire to houses and shops, kidnapping and raping of Christian girls, have been recorded at the police and with the justice authorities, but in none of these cases the court has ruled against a single perpetrator. In Egypt the Coptic girls are kidnapped and declared their loyalty to Islam after marrying Muslims. The Christian are not allowed to build Churches. There is a clear incitement against Christians and their culture at the Islamic mosques.

One of member’s St. Mark’s congregation held up her cross and said the stronger the persecutions against our people, the larger the crosses they wear.

Hopefully, most of you saw the report about the Ecumenical Patriarch, His All-Holiness Bartholemew.  He lives in Turkey under a constant threat of violence, animosity, threats to his life.  If you have not seen it, there is a link on uocc.ca

So, I ask you again, what does this Orthodox faith mean to you?  What does your relationship to God mean to you?  How important is your salvation to you?  This past Wednesday, I was reminded that there are martyrs for the faith, martyrs for God today.

Our brothers and sisters in Christ are still being persecuted and sadly, we here in Canada, argue amongst ourselves, criticize the priest, the priest criticizes the laity, priests and laity run to lawyers and threaten to sue each other stupid and petty disagreements, we attack the reputations of priests, of bishops, of laity.  We level accusations over who might be a “secret agent” for the Moscow Patriarchate, the Kievan Patriarchate.  We refuse to be obedient to our hierarchy, to our clergy, to each other.  And just to be clear, obedience goes for everyone.  Hierarchy need to be obedient to their flock, clergy to their flock.  Obedience goes both ways.

This, sadly, is what we occupy our time with, and on one of the holiest days of the year, the day when we celebrate the Incarnation of the Son of God as man, we celebrate salvation, joy, peace and love, there are still those that would seek to hurt and harm those that share and profess the same belief as us.  These poor souls would love to have the freedom to worship that we have and we are doing everything in our power to waste this blessing we have been granted by God.

We have, sadly, lost sight of the big picture.  We have, sadly, lost sight of what our mission as disciples of Christ is.  We take for granted that which is systematically being attacked in other lands.  We argue and squabble, attack and destroy and say, “I do this for the good of the Church”.  And tragically, all that our Coptic brothers and sisters in Christ wanted to do was celebrate Christ’s birth, and that was taken away from them.

So, I will now step off my soapbox (I don’t like heights and the problem with soapboxes is that you are easily knocked off).  But I ask you to research and look up this tragic event that took place.  I ask you to pray for those innocent souls taken away.  I ask you to pray for the men that perpetrated this event and ask God to have mercy on them.

Give glory to God that you are not faced with what our brothers and sisters in Christ in the Coptic Church are faced with.  Give glory that you are not faced with the choices and decisions they have to make to stand up for their faith.  If faced with the choice, life or death, what would you choose?

Answer to last week’s question:

What did Jesus say about a city on a hill?  It cannot be hidden.

This week’s question:

True or false?  Jesus spoke more about heaven and hell than anyone else in the Bible.

See in you church.

In Christ,

Fr. Evan

1.  Great Vespers, 5:00 p.m. this Saturday.  Divine Liturgy, 10:00 a.m. this Sunday.  Reading of the Hours and the hearing of confessions at 9:30 p.m.

2.  Holy Theophany/Great Blessing of Water – January 18, at St. Andrew’s College.  6:00 p.m.  Please bring a container to take the blessed water home with you.

3.  Holy Cross is looking for a new secretary.  Sigh, in my short time serving Holy Cross I have now had to post this request twice.  And for the record, I don’t believe you when you say, “It isn’t you Father, it is me.”  I heard that way too many times in high school and university to know it is me.  Except for Chantel.  It was totally all her.

Anyway, Holy Cross needs a new secretary.  As your signing bonus, you will get a jar of jelly, a container of honey, life time supply of Holy Cross perogies and the secret to Fr. Evan’s more meat chili.

Please contact our parish president Sylvia Ptashnik if you are interested in the position.

4.  One of the parishes I used to serve is located in the Rossburn/Oakburn area.  Nice little parish located at Seech.  Sts. Peter and Paul.  On their altar, they have the words, “God is with us” carved in Ukrainian.  I always liked standing at that altar and seeing those words because they always reminded me that what we do each and everytime we come together to give worship and glory to God, to partake of the divine Body and Blood of the Son, it is not empty, it is not hollow gestures.  “God is with us”.

Take a look at the verses used during the Great Compline service served on the eve of the Nativity.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

And of your fear we shall be neither afraid nor in dread.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

But the Lord our God, Him will we hallow, and he shall be fear unto us.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

And if I be trusting in Him, He shall be unto me sanctification.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

And I will be hoping in Him, and shall be saved by Him.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Behold I and the children which God hath given me.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

The people that walk in darkness have seen a great light.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Ye that dwell in the region and shadow of death, a light shall shine upon you.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Whose government is upon His shoulder.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

And of His peace there is no end.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

And His name shall be called Angel of Great Counsel.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Wonderful Counselor.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Mighty God, Ruler, Prince of Peace.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

Father of the age to come.

FOR GOD IS WITH US.

God is with us.  That is the message of the Incarnation.  That we have not been abandoned.  That God has not turned His back to us.  He has given us that which is most precious to Him.  His divine Son.  God is with us.

That message is the true joy of this feast we have celebrated.

I think about that altar in Seech.  I still remember that first service I served there and I looked down and saw the wood carving that had the words “God is with us” attached to the altar.  God has blessed me with the opportunity to stand at that altar, to stand with those wonderful people, to share with them the joy that “God is with us”.

As each of us embark on this new year of 2010, it is my hope and prayer that you carry the joy, hope and peace that come from the knowledge that “God is with us”.

Answer to last week’s question:

Who as Jesus for a drink at the well?  A samaritan woman.

This week’s question:

What did Jesus say about a city on a hill?

See you in church!

In Christ,

Fr. Evan