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The Church Herald Saint Nicholas Orthodox Church
2053 North Road, NE
Warren, OH 44483
Church Phone: (330) 372-6240 Rectory Phone: (330) 372-9778
Pastor: The Very Rev. Protopresbyter Kenneth M. Bachofsky, D. Min.
Email: [email protected]—Parish Web Page: www.stnicholaswarren.org
Volume 33 January 15, 2017 Number 3
“This is the message which we have
heard from Him (Jesus Christ) and proclaim to
you, that God is light, and in Him is no dark-
ness at all. If we say we have communion with
Him while we walk in darkness, we lie, and do
not live according to the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as He is in
the light, we have communion with one an-
other, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses
us from all sin.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we con-
fess our sins, he is faithful and just and will
forgive our sins and cleanse us form all un-
righteousness. If we say we
have not sinned, we make Him
a liar, and His word is not in
us.
I am writing this to you
so that you may not sin. But if
anyone does sin, we have a
advocate with the Father, Je-
sus Christ the Righteous, and
He is the expiation for our
sins, and not for ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole
world.” (I John)
Many people confess
that he practice of confession is
confusing to them. They do it,
they say, form a sense of habit
or duty, as a ritual formality
without meaning or inspiration.
There are any number
of reasons for this avowed con-
dition, and we could not begin
to diagnose its causes or symp-
toms in this small article. It is
our hope, rather, that we can
come ot a clear insight inot the meaning of hu-
man life as God sees it and shows it to us in
Christ and the Church, so that the practice of
confession as we do it will become meaningful
for us and will be the inspiring event that it
should be: the liberating experience of life in
Christ and the Holy Spirit which leads to com-
munion to God.
We claim faith in Christ. This means that
we must do what Christ has shown us to do. And
this means, more than anything else, that we
must love with a perfect love.
Christians are called not merely to love
God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength;
and their neighbor as themselves. These are the
chief commandments of the Old Testament.
(See mark 12:28) But we Christians are called
to hear the Lord of the New Testament and to
fulfill His commands:
“Love your enemies, do good to those
who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray
for those who abuse you, turn the other cheek
to those who strike you, give to those who
steal, beg or borrow from you, asking nothing
in return. Do to all me not as they actually do
to you but as you would with them to do to
you, do not condemn or judge, but give and
forgive. You, therefore, must be perfect as
your Heavenly Father is
perfect.” This is the teach-
ing of Jesus Christ, told
simply and clearly on the
pages of the Gospel.
(Matthew 5 and Luke 6).
All of the com-
mandments of Jesus Christ
can be summed up as the
Perfection of God” in the
one new commandment
that the Lord gave: that we
should love with the very
same love with which He
loves.
“A new command-
ment I give to you, that
you love one another; even
as I have loved you, that
you also love one another.
By this will all men know
that you are my disciples,
if you have love one for
another.” (John 13:34,35).
This “new com-
mandment” of Christ came to a world-without-
God as something radically new. But it was not
originally meant to be new at all. God wanted
the world to be filled with His Love from the
moment of creation. This was the original des-
tiny of man: to live with God’s life and to fill
all the ends of creation with His Divine Pres-
ence, which is Love Itself. (See I John 3 & 4).
We all fail to fulfill our destiny to
“perfect as God,” the bearers of His Presence
which is Love. In some sense our failure is un-
derstandable—not justifiable, but understand-
able.
It is understandable to the extent that
If We Confess our Sins: Part I.
such a task is never fully achieved. In this sense,
the Christian life, the life of every man as Christ
has revealed it, is not a “state” but a
“movement.” No one is “real” Christian—or
even a real man—until he is fully filled with
God’s love. And this is an Eternal Life!
Our failure, however, is not merely that
we have not achieved what is in fact eternal, for
that is certainly not sinful! Our failure is that as
baptized, chrismated Christians who have the
Holy Spirit and Holy Communion with God in
the Church, we hardly even realize our task! We
hardly pay attention to it! We hardly desire it!
We Harley work at it!
This is our sin. Not only that our life is
not the constant and continual growth to perfec-
tion which St. Paul called the movement to
“mature manhood, to the measure of the stat-
ure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4: 13).
But our sin is that we are not really aware of our
“high calling” and we constantly and continually
offend against it by thoughts, words and actions
which are in fact movements in exactly the op-
posite direction. This “movement in the opposite
direction” is the definition of sin. It calls us to
repent, which means literally to change our-
selves. It demands that we confess our sins.
Our life in the Church, therefore—the
Icon of what all human life must be—must be
continual change towards God. This means con-
tinual confession and repentance. This is the fun-
damental realization which alone can make the
practice of confession meaningful to us. This is
what Christ has revealed, and His revelation is
always before us whenever we gather as the
Church for the Divine Liturgy where we hear
His Word, beg His Mercy, and receive His Body
and Blood always and forever “For the remis-
sion of sins and unto Life Everlasting!”
- By: Father Thomas Hopko—
Worship Schedule
S u n d a y ,
January 15th
9:30 a.m.
The Reading
of the Third
Hour.
10:00
a.m. The
30th Sunday
After Pente-
cost, Tone 5.
(Page 93).
The Vener-
able Paul of Thebes, John the Hut-dweller, and
Gabriel of Lesnovo are commemorated.
Epistle—Colossians 3:12-16
Gospel—Luke 18:18-27
Wednesday, January 18th 4:00 p.m. The
Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers
for the sick and anointing of the faithful.
Sunday, January 22nd 9:30 a.m. The Reading of
the Third Hour.
10:00 a.m. The 31st Sunday After Pente-
cost, Tone 6. (Page 96) The Apostle Timothy, St.
Anastasius of Persia and the Martyr Peter of Bul-
garia are commemorated.
Epistle—I Timothy 1:15-17
Gospel—Luke 18:35-43
Wednesday, January 25th 4:00 p.m. The
Akathist Service to the Theotokos with prayers
for the sick and anointing of the faithful.
Sunday, January 29th 9:30 a.m. The Reading of
the Third Hour.
10:00 a.m. The Sunday of Zaccheus,
Tone 7. (Pages 99) The Relics of Ignatius of An-
tioch, the Recluse Lawrence and St. Gerasimus
are commemorated.
Epistle—I Timothy 4:9-15
Gospel—Luke 19:1-10
MONDAY, JANUARY 30 9:00 A.M. THE
FEAST OF THE THREE HOLY HIERARCHS!
EPISTLE—HEBREWS 13:7-16
GOSPEL—MATTHEW 5:14-19
Memorial Service
Following the Final Blessing and the dis-
tribution of the Antidoron there will be a
Panachida offered for the repose of the soul of
+Michael Sheptock, in observance of the 40th
Day of his repose. These prayers are being of-
fered by Mary Ann Sheptock, David Sheptock
and Patti Sheptock Bossasge. Faithful in atten-
dance are invited to add their prayers to our by
attending this service.
With the Saints, O Lord, grant rest to the
soul of your departed servant, +Michael Shep-
tock, where there is no pain, sorrow nor mourn-
ing but only Life-Everlasting! Eternal be his
Memory!!!
Happy Birthday!
Ted Sekela………………………..
Julie Moroczka…………………...
Andy Cristo……………………....
A.C.R.Y. Meeting
There will be a meeting of the St. Nicho-
las A.C.R.Y. chapter #54 next Sunday, January
15th. All of the officers and members are asked
to please attend. It will be held during the morn-
ing coffee social.
The board of officers for the new year
will be elected and a calendar of activities will
be planned for the new year. We need every-
one’s help and cooperation!
They are always looking for new mem-
bers! If you would like to be a part of this parish
youth organization please come to the meeting
next Sunday.
Home Blessing
Father Ken
will continue with
the Home Blessing
Schedule for the
faithful of our par-
ish this coming
week. There have
been an number of
families who were
sick or out of town that father was not able to
visit. Also, there were some who Father Ken
tried to call but was not able to because of a
change in phone number. If anyone was missed,
please give Father Ken a quick phone call or
email and he will schedule a day and time for
your home blessing!
Please remember that this week’s sched-
ule may change because of inclement weather,
and any other additional pastoral responsibilities.
If there are any changes you will be contacted by
phone. Father Ken would like to thank you in
anticipation of your patience and hospitality!
Church Offerings
One of the many acts of worship con-
ducted at each Sunday Divine Liturgy, is per-
formed in our generous donations made during
the Church Offering! This is an excellent way of
expressing our love, devotion to the Lord, as
well as our thanksgiving for the many blessings
received from His Hands!
We would like to share with you last
Sunday’s Church Offerings: Regular Offering
$695.00/ Candle Offering $130.00/ Church Dues
$450.00/ Memorial Offering in loving memory
of +Michael Sheptock by Gotthardt $50.00/
Cemetery Cross Donation: $300.00 Mitch Duch-
nak/ Church Donation by Elizabeth Thomas
$300.00/ Total Church Offering = $1,925.00.
May our Lord and Saviour bless all of
you 100 fold for your gracious gifts offered for
the continuing salvic work being done at our be-
loved St. Nicholas Church!!!
Kitchen Reopens!
We will reopen the doors to our Church
Kitchen this coming Thursday, January 19th for
the second half of the 29th season of our ethnic
dinners. We are now soliciting the help and as-
sistance of the St. Nicholas Society and the
Kitchen Crew to ensure the success of our Inter-
nationally Renowned Holupki & Perohi Din-
ners and take-outs!
We will be rolling the holupki Tuesday
afternoon and preparing the fillings Tuesday
evening. Wednesday brings the job of cooking
the perohi and holupki beginning at 9:00 a.m.
and concluding with lunch. Help will be needed
on Thursdays for the dinners, 11:00 a.m. until
1:00 p.m. and take outs until 5:00 p.m. Let’s roll
up our sleeves and work together as a family!
Cemetery Cross!
As of this date, a total of $10,300.00 dol-
lars have been given toward the construction of a
beautiful, black marble, Cross Monument for our
section of the Pineview Cemetery. We are so
grateful for the generosity of these donors! Our
goal is $18,000.00 dollars. We pray that dona-
tions toward this noble cause will continue!
If you would like to contribute toward the
proposed Cross Monument at the cemetery,
please see Father Ken or you can give your do-
nation in the Vestibule Office of our Church.
May the Lord bless you abundantly!
Aussie Quiz Night
The Holy Trinity Academy will sponsor
an Aussie Quiz Night on Friday, February 10,
2017 at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Building
(the old Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church Hall)
175 Laird Avenue, N.E. in Warren. The Aussie
Quiz Night will begin at 7:00 p.m. Admission
will be $10.00 per person.
We challenge you to come and test your
trivia knowledge in teams of 5—8 people and
win cash and prizes! If you do not have a team,
come anyway, one will be put together at the
door. Topics to challenge you: sports, US his-
tory, entertainment, world geography, science,
world religion, current events, movies, music,
art, and literature.
Please bring you own favorite snacks and
drinks as well as any plastic ware and plates
needed for your snacks that evening!