Bulletin for Feb, 9, 2020 – Sunday of the Prodigal Son

O Holy Apostle Philip,

Intercede with the merciful God

That he may grant our souls forgiveness of sins.

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Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory for ever! + Slava Isusu Christu! Slava i vo viki!  

Wisdom of the Desert Fathers

A certain brother fell into temptation, and through tribulation relinquished the garb of monkhood; and he wished to begin to renew his ascetic life, but he saw the great difficulty of the matter, and he drew back, and said, “When shall I ever find myself in the same condition as I was formerly?” And through fear he did not begin his work, and he went and made the matter known to an old man, and the old man said, “The matter is thus: There was a certain man who possessed an estate, and he held it to be of no account and did not cultivate it, and it became full of tangled undergrowth and thorns. Now one day he remembered it, and he sent his son, and said unto him, ‘Go, clean the estate.’ And when he had gone and seen the abundance of the undergrowth he was afraid, and said to himself, ‘When shall I be able to clean away all this undergrowth?’ And he threw himself upon a bed, and lay down, and went to sleep, and thus he did every day. The his father went forth and found that he was asleep, and that he had done nothing; and he said unto him, ‘How is it, my son, that no work whatsoever hath been done by thee?’ And he said to his father, ‘When I came to work and saw the abundance of the undergrowth, I was afraid and said, “When shall I be able to clean all this away?”’ And his father said unto him, ‘My son, work according to the measure of thy sleep each day, and it shall be sufficient for thee’; and when he heard this the young man plucked up courage, and did thus, and in a short time he cleansed the estate. Thus also thou shalt not be afraid but begin the work of thy rules, and God, by His Grace, will establish thee among those in the first rank.” Now when the brother had done thus he was helped.

A soldier asked Abba Mius if God accepted repentance. After the old man had taught him many things he said, “Tell me, my dear, if your cloak is torn, do you throw it away?” He replied, “No, I mend it and use it again.” The old man said to him, “If you are so careful about your cloak, will not God be equally careful about his creature? ”

St. Ambrose of Milan

But nothing causes such exceeding grief as when anyone, lying under the captivity of sin, calls to mind from where he has fallen, because he turned aside to carnal and earthly things, instead of directing his mind in the beautiful ways of the knowledge of God. So you find Adam concealing himself, when he knew that God was present and wishing to be hidden when called by God with that voice which wounded the soul of him who was hiding: “Adam, where art thou?” That is to say, Why do you hide yourself? Why are you concealed? Why do you avoid Him Whom you once longed to see? A guilty conscience is so burdensome that it punishes itself without a judge, and wishes for covering, and yet is bare before God.

St. Ephrem the Syrian

Do all in your power not to fall, for the strong athlete should not fall. But if you do fall, get up again at once and continue the contest. Even if you fall a thousand times because of the withdrawal of God’s grace, rise up again each time, and keep on doing this until the day of your death. For it is written, ‘If a righteous man falls down seven times’ – that is, repeatedly throughout his life – ‘seven times shall he rise again’ [Prov. 24:16].

Announcements

• Last Sunday, 21 souls came to pray at St. Philip’s, our tithes to the Lord were $, Donations $, Building fund $, gift shop $, candles $. Thank you for supporting our church, may God bless you abundantly for your generosity.
• Please consider making St. Philip’s parish a part of your estate planning.
• Prayer requests. Fr. Stephen, Fr. Michael, Fr. Mel, Fr. Marcus, Fr. Chris, Fr. Randall, Fr. Michal, Sr. Patricia, Br. Gideon, Gary and Ingrid, Margaret and Don, Margaret, Slawomir and Oceana, Becky, Alexis, Marion, Curtis, Ronald, Jeannine, Taylor, Lorrie, Frances, Alex, Leroy, Michael, Adam, Thomas, Ellen, Ernestina, Carol, Nash, Michael, Jennifer, John.
• Hospitality signup sheet: Feb 9 – open, Feb 16 – Murin family, Feb 23 – open, Mar 1 – open. Please sign up for hospitality for the upcoming Sundays; the signup sheet is in the parish hall. Thank you to Victor and Teresa Pacheco who provided hospitality for us last Sunday.
• All Souls Saturdays are days dedicated to praying for our departed brothers and sisters. Please remember to submit the list of your family members (last name of your family, and first names of those you wish remembered) to the parish office. The first All Souls is on February 15.

  Liturgical schedule

Tue	Feb 11th	6:30 AM Divine Liturgy.
Thu	Feb 13th	5:30 PM Vespers.
Sat	Feb 15th	8 AM Divine Liturgy and Panychida.	First All Souls Saturday.
Sun	Feb 16th	8:30 AM Confessions. 9:30 AM Divine Liturgy.	Sunday of Meat Fare. Tone 3.Cantor: Amy Seyfried. Reader: Tim Del Castillo.

For Confession, please come half an hour before the scheduled services, or schedule an appointment.Fridays in general are fasting days, we observe abstinence from meat foods. Let us remember one another as we offer our prayers and sacrifices to God.