THE MESSENGER

The Monthly Newsletter of St. Paul

The Apostle Orthodox Church

April 2008

Dear Parishioners and Friends of St. Paul the Apostle Orthodox Church:

Christ is Risen!   Indeed He is Risen!

Often when we think of Pascha, we think in terms of our personal experience.   I hear statements such as “I remember when we celebrated this as a child...” or “in Russia we did it like this....” or “the customs in Eritrea is that we.....” or even

“I remember my first Pascha in the Orthodox Church...”   These are all fine since we tend to remember events through our experiences of those events.   I know that I look back at the many Paschas I celebrated as a child, an adult and as a priest.   Each one has been a unique experience and has given me a wealth of stories anecdotes that I often share with others.

But Pascha is not just an experience.   It is not just a remembrance.   Nor is it even a custom that we share.   It is something much deeper and much more transforming.   It is more than a set of services but rather something defines us not only as Orthodox Christians but as humans. It is THE seminal event of human history and the actual definition of what it means to be truly human.

Christ did not come to this earth, suffer, die, be buried and rise from the dead so that we can celebrate some customs or services.   Rather He rose from the dead so that we as humans are also raised with Him.   So that we who were held captive by sin and the fallen world can be raised with Him.   We can be transformed as a fallen humanity in a fallen world.   We can break the bonds that held us so that we can, through Christ, restore the image of humanity.   We overcome that last enemy, death, by His death so that the promise of life is truly realized.   Jesus Christ becomes the first fruit of the dead so that we will no longer be a hopeless and defeated people but rather a redeemed and victorious humanity.

It is in that context that services make sense.   It is in that context that the words of the Church, the Gospel message, and all the wonderful and glorious celebrations find their true meaning.   Everything we do during this period finds its ultimate meaning when we understand what this event really means to us individually and to the world as a whole.

When we sing the go through the dark brightness of Holy Week, when we stand at the Cross, when, we bury the immortal God, when we experience the Empty Tomb, then we understand.   It is then that we find in meaning in our own lives.   It is then that we understand who we are and why we sing the Glory of God with such enthusiasm.   Not because the Fast is complete, the traditions are upheld and our family comes together to celebrate.   It is because we as a Holy Nation, a Royal Priesthood, a Chosen People have rediscovered their place in the world.   Then we can truly say with a pure and bright heart: Christ is Risen!   Indeed He is Risen!

Yours in the Risen Christ:

Archpriest Eric George Tosi

Rector

It is truly up to each and every one of us to ensure the smooth operation and financing of this parish.   Please review your personal finances and determine through prayer how you can contribute to this parish.   Remember that your contributions should regular and frequent so that we do not fall behind in any bills. This will ensure that we can truly grow the parish and serve the community.   Please participate in the appeals and special collections for Pascha.

We will be releasing a new program for the parish in which you can have your donations to the church automatically deducted from your pay check each month.   This should be in place by the end of the month and a form will be available for you to submit to your employer.   If you are interested see the parish office.

We have raised money for the new bells.   They have been ordered from Russia and will be installed prior to the 20 th Anniversary.   The new frescos will be installed by Pascha. The first set has arrived. We are still short around $15,000 to complete phase 2.

We are looking to raise additional income each month so we can support a second priest for training here at St. Paul's.   The diocese will provide $1000 and we will need an additional $2300 a month.   A candidate has been identified and it will be the inaugural program for training new priests.

Please note the schedule of services for the rest of Great Lent.   Also note the services of Holy Week.   Come to the Sacrament of Confession prior to Pascha.

A sign-up sheet for the vigil at the tomb is in the parish hall.

The Paschal services will begin on Saturday evening, April 26, at 11:30 PM.   Baskets will be blessed after the service.   We will also bless baskets at 2:00 PM on Pascha prior to the Paschal Vespers at 3:00 PM.   A paschal meal will be after the services and a sign-up sheet is in the hall.

There will be no services for Bright week as Fr. Eric will be out of town.

We will do Pan-Orthodox Vespers each Sunday evening at a different Orthodox Church in Las Vegas.   There is a flyer on the back of the calendar for where the services will be held.    There will be a Lenten meal after each service and a collection to benefit all Orthodox in Las Vegas.

We will not have a Slavonic Liturgy in April due to Great Lent.  

We will have a parish clean-up day on Saturday April 12 at 10:00 AM.   We will also be decorating the Church for Palm Sunday after the Lazarus Saturday services.

Church School continues each Sunday after Liturgy.   Tigrenya School is after Church School.   Russian School is on Saturday mornings at 10:00 AM.

Fr. Eric has catechism classes on Thursday evenings at 7:00 PM during Great Lent. All those interested in becoming Orthodox are invited as well as those who desire to learn more about the Church

Please remember to participate in the parish raffle. We are trying to raise additional funds for the parish and have some wonderful gifts.   Support the raffle and also take some booklets and sell them so we can also raise   as much money as possible.   We will have the drawing at the parish festival on May 17-18.

We will have a special Pan-Orthodox Lenten Retreat here at St. Paul's on Saturday, April 5.   Igumen Jonah Paffhausen, abbot of our Monastery of St. John in Manton, CA will be the retreat master.   It will be on our spiritual life during Great Lent.   See the attached flyer for details.   If you are interested in attending, please see Fr. Eric for registration.

Finally, we are beginning the planning process for two events.   The first is the annual parish festival on May 17-18.   We are looking for volunteers to help.   See Sophocles, Justin or Katherine on ways to help. The second will be for the Anniversary dinner on June 29.   See Pam Campbell or Matushka Christina for ways to help. Both of these will be our major fund-raising events for 2008 and we are asking for full participation to make them successful.

We have two special collections during Great Lent.   One is to support the seminarian Roger Elliott and family.   See the flyer enclosed in the newsletter.   The second is to collect old gold and silver to raise money for the frescos.   Also see the flyer in the newsletter.

We raised money for four new bells for the bell tower.   They will be installed by the 20th anniversary celebration in June.

Upcoming Events

April 5            Pan Orthodox Lenten Retreat

April 6            Sunday of St John Climacus at St. Simeon

April 13          Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt at St. Paul (sponsored by St. George)

April 20          Palm Sunday

April 27          Holy Pascha

May 6            Day of Rejoicing/Bless Cemeteries

May 17-18      Parish Festival

June 5            Feast of Ascension

June 15          Feast of Pentecost

June 29          Patronal Feast Day/20th Anniversary

July 21-24      Church Camp at Potosi Pines

Christ is Risen!

By Protopresbyter Alexander Schmemann

My belief in Christ does not come from the opportunity given to me to participate since earliest childhood in the paschal celebration. Rather, Pascha is made possible, that unique night fills with light and joy and such victorious power in the greeting "Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!" because my faith itself was born from experience of the living Christ. How and when was it born? I don't know, I don't remember. I only know that every time I open the gospel and read about Christ, read his words, read his teaching, I consciously repeat, with all my heart and being, what was said by those who were sent to arrest Christ but who returned to the Pharisees without him: "No man ever spoke like this man" (Jn. 7:46).

Therefore what I know first of all is that Christ's teaching is alive, and that nothing on earth can be compared with it. And this teaching is about him, about eternal life, about victory over death, about a love that conquers and overcomes death. I know as well that in a life where everything seems so difficult and tiresome, the one constant that never changes and never leaves is this inner awareness that Christ is with me. "I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to You" (Jn. 14:18). And he does come and give the feeling of his presence through prayer, through a thrill of soul, through a joy so incomprehensible, yet so very alive, through his mysterious, but again so certain, presence in church during services and in sacraments. This living experience is always growing, this knowledge, this awareness which becomes so obvious that Christ is here and that his word has been fulfilled: whoever loves Me, "I will love him and manifest myself to him Jn. 14:21). And whether I am in a crowd or alone, this certitude of his presence, this power of his word, this joy of faith in him remains with me. This is the only answer and the only proof.

"Why do you seek the living among the dead? Why do you mourn the incorrupt amid corruption?" All Christianity, therefore, is the experience of faith repeated again and again as if for the first time, through its incarnation in rites, words, music, and colors. To the unbeliever, it may indeed seem like a mirage; he hears only words, he sees only incomprehensible ceremonies, and he understands them only outwardly. But for believers, all of this radiates from within, and not as proof of his faith, but as its result, as its life in the world, in the soul, in history.

Therefore the darkness and sadness of Holy Friday is for us something real, alive, contemporary; we can cry at the cross and experience everything that took place in that triumph of evil, treachery, cowardice, and betrayal; we can contemplate the life-bearing tomb on Holy Saturday with excitement and hope. And therefore, every year we can celebrate Easter, Pascha, the Resurrection. For Easter is not the remembrance of an event in the past. It is the real encounter in happiness and joy, with him whom our hearts long ago knew and encountered as the life and light of all light. Easter night testifies that Christ is alive and with us, and that we are alive with him. The entire celebration is an invitation to look at the world and life, and to behold the dawning of the mystical day of the Kingdom of light. "Today the scent of Spring begins," sings the church, "and the new creation exults..." It exults in faith, in love and in hope.

This is the day of resurrection,

Let us be illumined by the feast,

Let us embrace each other,

Let its call "brothers" even those that hate us, and forgive all by the resurrection, And so let us cry: Christ is risen from the dead, Trampling down death by death, And upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Christ is Risen!