FAST AND PRAY IN LOVE

greek orthodox archdiocese of america * metropolis of san francisco

On the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, Fr. Theodore spoke about Orthodox Praxis in his homily. Drawing the distinction between Theoria (theory) and Praxis (practice) is important. Theoria is tied to Theology, the teachings of the Church. Praxis, on the one hand, is associated with worship, and on the other hand, is connected with “living rightly,” day to day as an Orthodox Christian. In the New Testament, we read of the teachings of the Lord. We also see in the N.T examples given by our Lord that point to what it looks like to live as a Christian in relation to others, not simple to know the truth. When Great Lent comes around each year, we are reminded of the ascetical practice of fasting that we’re about to embrace. We are also reminded of the many beautiful services the church off ers during this unique season. Both increased prayer and fasting are opportunities for all of us to deepen our repentance, engage more fully in our faith, and draw closer to God. Unfortunately, both increased prayer and fasting can have the opposite aff ect on us; they can be to our judgment if we’re not approaching them and practicing them in a way that is acceptable to God. Recall the story of the Publican and the Pharisee. The Pharisee stood before God praying, “I fast twice a week and I pay tithes of all that I get” (Luke 18:12). The Pharisee prays, fasts, and tithes, and feels he is living a life pleasing to God. Could we not also say, “I fast during lent, I go to Great Compline, Pre-sanctifi ed liturgy, the Canon of St. Andrew, and do many prostrations?” Does this mean that we are living a life pleasing to God? Aren’t we doing what we’re being asked to do? In theory, yes, and we could make an argument that in practice we are too, and we wouldn’t be wrong, if we only look at praxis in terms of our worship. What gives air to the wings of prayer and fasting, and allows them to function as they were intended, is love for others. The Fathers don’t hesitate reminding us that the demons can fast more than us and can stay vigilant while we sleep. What the demons lack though, and what makes fasting and prayer acceptable to God is when they are done in love.

If I fast exactly how the church “prescribes” but am impatient towards my spouse, or my children and give way to anger and irritability, to what avail is my abstinence from certain foods? If I attend all the church services throughout Great Lent, but turn a blind eye to those who are hurting, then what good is my perfect attendance? We place a lot of value on “doing”

what we feel is expected of us, and what we believe will help us. We would fare better if we placed as much, if not more value, on how we are in the presence of others. Those who caught the woman in the very act of adultery were ready to execute her because that’s what the Law prescribed. Christ, on the other hand, recognized the person of the woman, her woundedness, her sickness, and her desperation and refused to be problem-focused. The father of the Prodigal Son was not focused on what his son had done wrong, rather he focused on his return, his repentance, and the fact that he had come home. The Good Samaritan was not concerned about why the man got beat up and was left for dead on the road. He simply saw his suff ering and he went to him and took care of him. The stories in Scripture are endless regarding how we are to be with others. We have another opportunity this Great Lent to increase our fasting practices and attend more services. More than this, however, is if

we could focus on how we are living our life in the presence of others. Do we exude the fragrance of Christ after an encounter with our spouse, our child, our co-worker, or our fellow student? Is this not what our Lord is seeking from us (Cf. Mt. 25:35-40)? Does He want to see how well we fast, or how many services we go to, or how many spiritual books we read during lent?

Witnessing the Truth of Apostolic Christianity

14485 SW Walker RoadBeaverton, Oregon 97006

Offi ce: 503.644.7444 Fax: 503.296.2507E-mail: churchoffi ce@stjohngoc.org

Parish Website: stjohngoc.orgMarch 2017VOL. XX NO. 3

NONPROFIT ORGUS POSTAGE PAIDBEAVERTON, ORPERMIT NO. 24

ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH

14485 SW WALKER ROAD

BEAVERTON OR 97006

CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

1

Mochas for Missions will start March 5th. We hope to reach our goal of $4000 by June 4th.

Father’s message cont. on pg. 5

.....to those celebrating their namedays in March:

March 2 ~ St. Chad of Lindisfarne & MerciaChad Marine

March 9 ~ Holy 40 Martyrs of Sebaste

Viviana Gonzales

March 17~St. Patrick of Ireland &St. Alexios Man of God

Patrick BarnesPatrick BuckleyAlexia Braden

Kent Patrick Taylor

March 25 ~Annunciation of the TheotokosAngie (Evangelia) Egli

& everyone named Maria

March 26 ~Synaxis of Arch. GabrielGabriel Egli

Gabriel CorazzaGabriella PavlatosGabriel Gonzales

Beletshachew Shiferaw

March 31 ~ St. InnocentDn. Innocent Duchow-Pressley

Ron (Innocent) Rich

...to those celebrating Wedding Anniversaries:

Dn. Innocent & Sandy Duchow-Pressley~ 30 yrs on Mar. 14th

Memory Eternal:Pres. Kathleen Blankenstein ~ 3 yrs. on Mar. 17th

Paul (Nephon) Suryan ~ 2 yrs. on Mar. 19th

Bess Johnson ~ 5 years on Mar. 24th

Albert Lewis ~ 5 years on Mar. 27th

St. John The Baptist Greek Orthodox

Church

Rev. Fr. Theodore L. Dorrance, PriestRev. Fr. Timothy Pavlatos, Priest

Fr. Innocent Duchow-Pressley, Deacon

2017 Parish CouncilJohn Davis, President

Kent Taylor, Vice PresidentGregory Walsh, SecretaryKaren Keese, Treasurer

Erik Chosvig, Stewardship ChairRobert Crosby

Eli C.Mark Lindgren

Steve RothJoe Weick

Maria SouzaMatt VanSickle

Sunday SchoolJessie Crosby

Youth DirectorBeth Carper

Logos BookstoreAgape Ketrenos - Director

Paraskevi Whitton - Co-DirectorPhiloptochos

Eleni Goldman - PresidentSandy Duchow-Pressley - Vice President

Colleen Van Sickle - TreasurerPatrice Kuchulis- Membership

Pres. Stacey Dorrance- CommunicationHospitality

Stephanie MakarounisPatricia PoulosMoms & TotsAthena Gonzales Kendall Muzik

Church MusicPresvytera Stacey Dorrance

Altar BoysTobias Armstrong

Demetrius Van SickleBarry Ketrenos

Dn. Innocent Duchow-PressleyFacilities

Ted DemingBookkeeping

Kathleen KetrenosParish Administrator

Barbara Coert

NEWSLETTERDEADLINE

Articles & Announcements Due by the 2nd Friday

of every month

*Please notify the church offi ce if your feast or anniversary was not listed.

Many Years! XPONIA POLLA! MANY YEARS!.....to those celebra� ng their Feastdays in March:

2 7

The Spiritual Road of RepentanceBy: Fr. Theophanes (Constantine)

This book needs to be read by everyone. I have not said this about any other book, so it’s not a statement I would use lightly. Why should you read this book? As Great Lent begins, the subject of this book is most relevant because Father Theophanes explains repentance in a fresh and applicable way. He mixes together the teachings of the church, various practical reasons and the challenges of repentance for Orthodox Christians in our culture. Father Theophanes begins by explaining that the Kingdom of God is at hand and that repentance is for everyone, not an optional choice for anyone. He then works through repentance by looking closely at our relationship with Christ into three steps. Within each of the three steps, he then shows how our repentance should change and mature, (if we ever make it to the third step). You will have to read the book to see why I said that. Since this book is transcribed from a retreat Fr. Theophanes gave; there are questions that where asked at the end of the sessions which are inserted at the end of each chapter. The questions are very close to what I would have asked if I had attended the retreat, because I believe they are relevant to life in the church today. I know you will enjoy this fresh look at repentance and the ancient sacrament, Confession. And as any book should do - this one will encourage you and challenge you and give you something for your mind and spirit to ponder.

By: Erik Chosvig (Sisoes)

Book Author

Forgotten Medicine-The Mystery of Repentance

Archimandrite S. Aleksiev

Great Lent-A Journey to Pascha Alexander SchememannHoliness-Is it Attainable? Fr. Peter Chamberas, trans.My Elder Joseph the Hesychast Elder Ephraim of ArizonaRepentance & Confession St. Nektarios of PentapolisRepentance & Confession Hieromonk GregoriosSpiritual Counsels-Passions and Virtues

St. Paisios of Mount Athos

The Field-Cultivating Salvation St. Ignatius BrianchanowA Path to Salvation-A Concise Outline of Christian Ascesis

St. Theophan the Recluse

The Season of Repentance St. John of KronstadtThe Spiritual Road of Repentance Fr. Theophanes

Know the FaithA Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers

By: Rev. Michael Shanbour

Where does this book fi t in our bookstore that already contains many books explaining the Orthodox Faith? This book would be a great tool to use if you are in discussions with Protestants and Catholics who do not really understand the diff erences in our theologies. It is not a book just on what the Orthodox Church believes or just about her history. This book looks at the topics that are foundational to all three churches and explains how each understands them. Father Shanbour graciously compares the diff erent doctrines and does a great job of citing the historical events that shaped them. In fact, I thought I was back in Bible school at times learning reformation history. I cannot express the care he takes as to not be overbearing or harsh when showing how the western churches, Catholic and Protestant, have veered from the Patristic Fathers’ teachings by fairly comparing all three churches, side by side, in each chapter. Included in the book are 10 chapters covering subjects such as: grace, salvation, tradition & scripture and intercession of the saints, to name a few. As you can see these are foundational doctrines that we Orthodox understand diff erently than the Protestants and Catholics. I would encourage you to use this book as a door to open up conversations with non-Orthodox friends about what we believe and why it is diff erent than the other mainstream churches. In fact, if someone was skeptical or hostile toward the Orthodox claims of being the true historical church, this book would be safe to give to them as I consider it to be a gentle, but honest comparison.

By: Erik Chosvig (Sisoes)

STS. MARY & MARTHA UPDATE

LOGOS BOOKSTORE CORNER

Please Join Us!Don’t miss the next

Crossroads 55+Ministry Luncheon

Monday, March 20th11:00 am

GOOD READS FOR LENT

March Forth to Serve on March 4th

The St. John the Baptist Parish family will be reaching out to our local community by serving those in need. A variety of service options will be available for most all ages.

This loving use of our time and talents will be a beautiful way to begin our Lenten Journey.

Questions? See Lisa Corazza or Jennifer Davis.

Join us for the Women’s Spring Monastery Retreat, sponsored by the Sts Mary and Martha Philoptochos, on

April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd in beautiful Goldendale, Washington. Enjoy a time of rest, rejuvenation and fellowship with new and old friends alike. Our time together will include the honor and blessing of hearing wisdom from

our beloved Gerontissa, as well as time to meditate on both her words and some prepared scripture or writings. More information, such as carpooling, will be coming your way in early April.

Hope to see you there!

Space is limited. Email Nika Buckley at NIKA.BUCKLEY2014@GMAIL.COM to save your spot.

Save the Date! April 21-23

6

ST. INNOCENT ORPHANGE PANTRYHello. My name is Pavlos Blankenstein and I am an 8th grader at Rachel Carson Environmental Middle School. Each year the 8th graders take on an Action Project. This project is supposed to help the community in some way. We are allowed to pick whatever organization that helps the community and do a project for that organization. I have picked Project Mexico and St. Innocent Orphanage as my project. With Fr. Theodore’s blessing, you can help me by donating food or money to the Pantry Partner program for the orphanage. During the month of March and through Palm Sunday, I will be having a Beans and Rice Drive for the orphanage. There are other non-perishables that can be donated but I want to focus on the big bags of Pinto Beans and Rice. We need to collect at least 20 boxes and Project Mexico will arrange to have it shipped to them for free! This will be easy because, for example, the large bags of dry pinto beans from Costco counts as one “box”. I have also contacted Mrs. Rice at Agia Sophia Academy and they are going to help me to reach this goal! I am really excited about this project and picked it because it will help the orphanage. God-willing, I will also go down to Project Mexico this summer.

Thank you for your support. If you have any questions, please email me at grkgks12@gmail.com

WWW.ASAGALA.ORG

A Glorious Night Under the Big TopSupport the Agia Sophia Academy Gala!

May 7th at the Multnomah Athletic ClubTickets on Sale February 15. www.asagala.org

For Sponsorships & Donations, please see:

Naomi Knight (naomi@asagala.org or 971-238-2266)

Pictured: Pavlos Blankenstein

Agia Sophia AcademyLooking for the best school experience for your little one?

Learn what ASA can do! Enroll today!

www.ASApdx.org | 503.641.4600Located in Beaverton across from Nike at

14485 SW Walker Road

Montessori Primary Program (ages 3-6)

**

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Father’s Message continued

5

YOUTH NEWS

Don’t misunderstand me, all of these are very important. However, they mean nothing if we don’t allow ourselves to be transformed by them, if we don’t allow them to create a change in us where we reflect the Light of Christ to others. Is this not what Great Lent is for? If you want to measure your Lenten journey at the end of it all, look no further than how well you were able to show mercy, kindness, gentleness and love to others. With Love in Christ,

Fr. Timothy

GOYA President’s Day Trip

This January, Deacon, Jennifer Davis and I had the pleasure of taking some of the GOYAn’s up to Mt. Hood for a cross country skiing weekend. Snow ball fights, games, and deep discussions all led to a truly wonderful trip. Weekends like this are needed for our youth as they bring the entire group closer and provide a great environment for everyone to grow in their faith. Such a sweet and enriching time for all of us.

Youth ConferenceAt the end of January, I attended the 2017 Youth and Camp Worker Conference in Austin, Texas. This conference was so encouraging for me as a volunteer youth director. The conference included lectures from Fr. Stephen Freeman, Jacob Saylor, Elissa Bjeletich, Christian Gonzalez, Steven Christoforou, among others. These speakers gave many helpful ideas and ways to encourage our youth in their faith. Some of my favorite thoughts that came from the conference were; showing the children the love of Christ in all our actions, including parents as much as possible in youth programs, showing the children how needed and valued they are in the Church, and providing opportunities for all ages to serve in the Church and their community. “Our youth are not the future, they are the present.” I was truly blessed by the conference and pray that God continues to grow our youth programs. By: Beth Carper

Upcoming Events

Date Grade EventMar. 11th 6th -12th Oratorical Festival & Potluck

(see schedule below)Mar. 17th 7th-12th Pan Orthodox Amazing RaceApr. 14th Holy Friday Youth Retreat

Oratorical Festival and Potluck Schedule: •3-5 p.m. Jr Division •5-6 p.m. Vespers •6-6:30 p.m. Potluck •6:30-8:30 p.m. Sr. Division.

Youth Volunteers Needed!

Specifically: Hosts for Jr. GOYA, and GOYALeaders for Jr. GOYA (6th-8th) and HOPE (K-2nd)

This year’s Lenten Retreat sees the return of the Amazing Race where our teenagers will not only see Portland through an amazing journey on foot but also learn about the journey we take during Lent that leads us to Pascha. WHO: Teens in Grades 7 - 12WHAT: An Amazing Race around Portland! Discussions with our Clergy! Fun with Friends, New and Old! Confession and More!WHERE: Holy Trinity Cathedral: 3131 N Glisan St. Portland, OR 97232COST: $90 per person.

Scholarships available for those in need.We invite youth from all Orthodox Parishes to attend. Teens from outside of Portland will be hosted by Portland families on Fri. and Sat. night. Please fill out separate registrations forms for EACH child attending.

REGISTER at www.saintdemetrios.comRegistration closes on March 6, 2017.

Pictured from left to right: Petra R., Zachariah K., Gabriella P., Samuel D-P., Tobias A., Alex D., Vishal C., and Emelia C.

St. John the Baptist M

arch Schedule

DA

TE

PRO

SFOR

A B

AK

ER

S (L

oaves delivered day before) PA

RISH

C

OU

NC

IL

GR

EE

TE

RS

CH

UR

CH

FLO

WE

RS

CLEA

N-

UP

ALTA

R

BO

YS

Wednesday, M

arch 1st

B

lankenstein (2) --

-- --

-- --

Friday, March 3

rd

Whitton (2)

-- --

-- --

--

Saturday M

arch 4th

K

etrenos (2) --

-- --

-- --

Sunday, March 5

th

Poulos (4) Wehlitz / (2)

Walsh/C

hiprout C

hosvig M

organ Team

8 Team

E

W

ednesday, March 8

th

Rush (2)

-- --

-- --

--

Friday, M

arch 10th

D

avis (2) --

-- --

-- --

Sunday, March 12

th

Duchow

-Pressley (4) / Becker (2)

Keese/C

rosby G

oldman

Trumpow

er/Chosvig

Team 9

Team A

W

ednesday March 15

th

Courogen (2)

-- --

-- --

--

Friday, M

arch 17th

B

lankenstein (2) --

-- --

-- --

Sunday, March 19

th

Barnes (4) / W

hitton (2) Lindgren/W

eick R

eiter W

ilson/T. Hudanish

Team 10

Team B

W

ednesday, March 22

nd

Ketrenos (2)

-- --

-- --

--

Friday, M

arch 24th

W

ehlitz (2) --

-- --

-- --

Sunday, March 26th

B

ecker (4) / Rush (2)

Taylor/ Souza B

lankenstein H

ailey Team

1 Team

C

Wednesday, M

arch 29th

D

avis (2) --

-- --

-- --

Friday, March 31

st

Courogen (2)

-- --

-- --

--

Clean-up Team 1: Becker, Arm

strong, Benson, Lowe, Whitton, Marine, Leslie, Mirras, Maletis

Clean up Team 2: W

ood, Barnes, Morgan, Powell, Stinman, Gillespie, Muzik, Poulos N & A

Clean up Team 3: Cherry, Makarounis, Chiprout, Knight, Chosvig, Poulos J & P, Contes, Dorrance

Clean up Team 4: Corazza J, Trum

power, Buckley, William

s, Soot, Ketrenos B, Dunfield, Gonzales, Ramzi

Clean up Team 5: W

alsh, Daniels, Hudanish T, Keese, Chan, Olson, Ntatsos, Kolpakov, Clary

Clean up Team 6: Ketrenos J & K, Lubliner D & J, Lubliner N, Goldm

an, Thienes, Tesfamicael, Taylor, Hatch

Clean up Team 7: Gebrehiwot, Hailey, Jungwirth, Dem

ing, Russo, Walters, Hall I, Stebner, Dale

Clean up Team 8: Patske, Rich, McKenzie, Reiter, Downs, Ionescu, W

alker, Hafez Clean up Team

9: Feyler, Jones/Kuchillis, Lindgren, Rush, Wehlitz, Solom

on, Mansager, Crosby, Gebreeyseus Clean up Team

10: Wilson, Blankenstein, Hudanish P & J, Hills, Braden, Perlm

utter N & D, Stovea, Breen

Altar Servers: Team

A: Samuel, Zacharias, Nathan, Elias, Gavin, Tasso Team B: Anthony, Christos, Stathi, Nicholas, Makarios, Nicolas Team C: Tobias, Kyle, Levi, Aiden, Thomas, Petros, Gabriel

Team D: Team D: Dem

etrius Constantine, Athanasios, Basil, Wade, Owen, Simon Team E: Alexander, Gabriel, Yoas, Pavlos, Noah, Peter

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

1 John 4:7