Jesus Christ taught us to love and serve all people, regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. To understand that, we need to look no further than to the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). Every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, it is offered "on behalf of all, and for all." As Orthodox Christians we stand against racism and bigotry. All human beings share one common identity as children of God. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatian 3:28)

Members of our Parish Council are:
Greg Jankura - Vice President
Susan Davis- President
Sharon Hanson - Member at Large
Luba Martins - Member at Large
Susan Egan - Treasurer
Dn Timothy Skuby - Secretary

Pastoral Care - General Information

Emergency Sick Calls can be made at any time. Please call Fr Steven at (860) 322-2906, when a family member is admitted to the hospital.
Anointing in Sickness: The Sacrament of Unction is available in Church, the hospital, or your home, for anyone who is sick and suffering, however severe. 
Marriages and Baptisms require early planning, scheduling and selections of sponsors (crown bearers or godparents). See Father before booking dates and reception halls!
Funerals are celebrated for practicing Orthodox Christians. Please see Father for details. The Church opposes cremation; we cannot celebrate funerals for cremations.

Red House

As was discussed at our special meeting last Sunday, we will begin preparations for making use of the red house. The first, and perhaps obvious use, is to arrange my office space. This would mean moving the bookshelves, desks, and filing cabnets from the kitchen. Imagine the room in the kitchen then!

In addition to arranging office space, I would also like to set up a reading library. I will be donating my entire book collection to the parish, as well as a computer for the office. If anyone has a bookcase, comfy chair, office table and chairs etc that they would like to put to use within the red house, please let me know. We will begin to make the transition soon.  Thank you.

Fr Steven

Further Considerations

If you hae an idea for the use of the Red House, please share it with myself or any member of the council. Any and all ideas (that do not compromise the tax except status, or the teachins of the Church will be considered).

The following is a brief synopsis of the last Parish Council meeting held on 20 August 2024.

Financial Report for June: Income for the month of May totaled $$5,861 and expenses totaled $$11,263, resulting in a loss for the month of $5,402. We did purchase 500 gallons of heating oil at $3.38/gallon – total cost was $1,690.

Power Washing Church: Thank you to Greg Jankura for completing this project.

Annual Meeting: The annual meeting is scheduled for 3rd Sunday in November, 17 November 2024. Please save this date.

Parish Council and Auditor Vacancies: Three Parish Council members are completing their terms – Susan Davis, Susan Egan and Fr Deacon Timothy. One of the auditors is also completing her term – Natalie Kucharski. The nominating committee will be contacting members to fill these positions. Please consider serving.

Many Years! To Edward Hayes, Anastasia Littlefield and Irene Kaiser on the occasion of their birthdays. And to Dn Timothy and Maureen Skuby on the occasion of their anniversary.

Pray for: All those confined to hospitals, nursing homes, and their own homes due to illness; for all those who serve in the armed forces; widows, orphans, prisoners, victims of violence, and refugees;

• All those suffering chronic illness, financial hardship, loneliness, addictions, abuse, abandonment and despair; those who are homeless, those who are institutionalize, those who have no one to pray for them;
• All Orthodox seminarians & families; all Orthodox monks and nuns, and all those considering monastic life; all Orthodox missionaries and their families.
• All those who have perished due to hatred, intolerance and pestilence; all those departed this life in the hope of the Resurrection.

Please let Fr. Steven know via email if you have more names for which to pray.

• Departed: Galina, Olga, Mat Lillian, Dorothy
• Clergy and their families: Fr Sergei, Fr Ceriphim
• ​Catechumen: Robert, Abbie, Matthew, Joseph, Mary, and Kevin
• Individuals and Families: Luba, Suzanne, Gail Galina, Evelyn, Rosemary, John, Daniel & Dayna, Kristen, Charles, Victor, Susan
• Birthdays and Name’s Days this Month: Michael Kuziak, Susan Davis, Douglas Kuziak, Stasia PenkoffLedbeck, Samuel Jankura, Kyle Holis, Susan Egan, Anastasia Littlefield, Irene Kaiser
• Anniversaries this Month: Valery and Jason Danilack-Federer, Fr Steven and Anne Hosking, Dn Timothy and Maureen Skuby
• ​Expecting and Newborn: Lynn, David and their unborn child, 
• ​Traveling: Michael, Jason, Dn Timothy, Maureen
• ​Sick and those in distress: Thomas, Sheri, Joanna, Joshua, Remy, Stormy, Scott, Anne, Noah

Today’s commemorated feasts and saints

9th SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST — Tone 8. Return of the Relics of the Apostle Bartholomew from Anastasiopolis to Lipari (6th c.). Holy Apostle Titus of the Seventy, Bishop of Crete (1st c.). Ss. Barses and Eulogius, Bishops of Edessa, and St. Protogenes, Bishop of Carrhæ, Confessors (4th c.). St. Menas, Patriarch of Constantinople (536-552).

• Again we pray for those who have lost their lives because of the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East: that the Lord our God may look upon them with mercy, and give them rest where there is neither sickness, or sorrow, but life everlasting.
• Again we pray for mercy, life, peace, health, salvation, for those who are suffering, wounded, grieving, or displaced because of the wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East.
• Again we pray for a cessation of the hostilities against Ukraine and the Middle East, and that reconciliation and peace will flourish there, we pray thee, hearken and have mercy.

Tone 8 Troparion (Resurrection)
You descended from on high, O Merciful One!
You accepted the three day burial to free us from our sufferings!//
O Lord, our Life and Resurrection, glory to You!

Tone 4 Troparion (St. Alexis)
O righteous Father Alexis, our heavenly intercessor and teacher, 
divine adornment of the Church of Christ! 
Entreat the Master of All to strengthen the Orthodox Faith in America, 
to grant peace to the world and to our souls great mercy.

Tone 3 Troparion (Apostles)
Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Titus,
entreat the merciful God,//
to grant our souls forgiveness of transgressions!

Tone 8 Kontakion (Resurrection)
By rising from the tomb, You raised the dead and resurrected Adam.
Eve exults in Your Resurrection,//
and the world celebrates Your rising from the dead, O greatly Merciful One!

Tone 5 Kontakion (St. Alexis)
Let us, the faithful praise the Priest Alexis,
a bright beacon of Orthodoxy in America, a model of patience and humility,
a worthy shepherd of the Flock of Christ.
He called back the sheep who had been led astray
and brought them by his preaching to the Heavenly Kingdom.

Tone 4 Kontakion (St. Bartholomew)
You have appeared to the universe as a great sun,
shining with the radiance of thy teachings and awesome miracles.//
You enlighten those who honor you, O Apostle of the Lord, Bartholomew.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit

Tone 2 Kontakion (St. Titus)
Titus, worthy of all praise and preacher of Christ’s mysteries,
you were Paul’s companion, and with him taught us the doctrine of God.
Therefore we cry out to you://
“Never cease to intercede for the sake of us all!”

now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.

Tone 6 Kontakion (Steadfast Protectress)
Steadfast Protectress of Christians, 
Constant Advocate before the Creator;
despise not the entreating cries of us sinners, 
but in your goodness come speedily to help us who call on you in faith. 
Hasten to hear our petition and to intercede for us, 
O Theotokos, for you always protect those who honor you!

COMMUNION HYMN

Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise Him in the highest! Alleluia (3X)

After feeding thousands of people with just five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus
dismisses the crowds and even His disciples, and He stays behind on the mountain, alone,
to pray at night. Jesus Christ is the Son of God, but He takes on our human nature to unite
it with His Divine Nature. He heals our humanity by uniting it to His Divinity. The Lord,
Who created the heavens and the earth, and holds all things in the palm of His hands in
His divine love, finds time to be alone with the Father to pray. We are called to imitate
Christ in all things, especially when we come to God in prayer. As the Lord takes time for
Himself, alone, for prayer and contemplation, so He teaches us to take time for ourselves
for prayer and contemplation.
In the meantime, the disciples have taken the boats to cross the Sea of Galilee to
the western shore, towards the region of Capernaum. Many skilled fishermen, such as
Peter, James, and John, navigate the Sea of Galilee constantly. However, this night, the
wind was too strong. It is late and dark, and it is the “fourth watch of the night,” which
means between 3 am and 6 am. They are afraid, especially because the Lord is not in the
boat with them.
Jesus shows that He is greater than Moses as He had fed thousands of people in
the desert by multiplying the five loaves and the two fish. Now, once again, He calls to
mind familiar Old Testament disclosures of God. When the Israelites left Egypt by the
command of God, they reached the Red Sea. At that time, God told Moses to stretch out
his staff so the Sea could be parted, and the Israelites crossed safely to the other side.
That event also happened right before the daybreak, after a strong wind blew all
night (Exodus 14). Here, Jesus is fulfilling the conquering of the Sea, not by parting it with
a staff, but by walking on its water. He is also fulfilling the Psalm, which, speaking of God,
says, “Those who go down to the sea in ships . . . cried to the Lord in their affliction, and
He commanded the storm, and it became a breeze, and its waves were still . . . Let them
give thanks to the Lord for His mercies” (Psalm 106).
Jesus walks across the water and comes to His disciples. In the Old Testament, the
waters of the sea often serve as a symbol of death and new life emerging. Now, the Son
of God comes to help His disciples, to deliver them from death, to be with them, to calm
the storm, and to cross with them to the other side. The Lord was not in the boat when
the storm arose, but He was still with them because He knew everything and was praying.
He tests their faith, but He knows exactly when to come to them in their hour of need.
This is also true in our lives. We are on a journey to the Kingdom of God. We sail
across the sea of this life, and even if we are experienced sailors, it is inevitable that, at
times, the winds will blow against us, and the waves will threaten to sink us. It might,
sometimes, feel as though the Lord is not with us because we are only focusing on the
danger; we are focusing on the trial. However, the Lord is always with us. He lives inside
our hearts, He knows all things, and He loves us infinitely. Christ tramples death by death
and, therefore, tramples on the waves which threaten to drown us. He walks on them. He
is victorious over them.
Christ’s victory over the storm is our victory. If our focus is on Him, we also walk
securely over the waves and the storms of life, not because we have any power to do so
on our own, but because He gives us His strength when we ask. He says to us, “Come!”
Jesus reveals Himself as the God of Heaven and Earth, of the seas and all that is in them.
Christ is the Lord of the natural elements: earth, water, fire, and air. He is the Lord of life;
He rules over all things and loves us unconditionally.
Sometimes, like Peter, we go to Christ feeling strong and full of faith, but other
times our faith falters because we take our gaze off Christ. Instead, we begin to focus on
the storm around us. When we do that, we fear. When we worry, our faith diminishes, and
we begin to sink. However, the Lord does not abandon us, just as He does not let Peter
sink. All Peter has to do is to call out to the Lord, saying, “Lord, save me!” Jesus imme-
diately reaches out His hand and catches him, saying, “O man of little faith, why did you
doubt?”
The Lord then pulls Peter out of the water and out of his fear. The Lord grabs Peter,
much like how we see Him grabbing the wrists of Adam and Eve in the icon of the Resur-
rection. Their hands are not able to grasp Him, but He holds them up with His firm grip
on their wrists, pulling them out of the grave with the power of His life and love.
We pray in the petitions in every service: “Help us, save us, O Lord.” The first word
in the Greek petition is «ἀντιλαβοῦ» (antilavou), which means “take me by my hand.” Jesus
takes Peter by his hand and saves him as he is drowning, and He does the same with us.
He answers our prayers when we cry out to Him, and He always helps us. Teaching prayer,
Saint Paisios of Mount Athos says, “I send a signal (prayer), I ask for help. I constantly ask
for help from Christ, from Panagia, from the Saints, for myself, and for others. If I do not
ask, I will not get helped.” The moment we think we have lost everything, including hope,
is the time to cry out: “Lord, save me!” And He answers our prayer for whatever is bene-
ficial for our salvation and the salvation of others.
When we accept the love of God and put our trust in Him, then fear begins to
disappear. Jesus says to us, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear!” There is no fear in love be-
cause perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). To abide in God’s love is to trust in Him,
to come to Him in prayer, to spend time alone with Him in communion. When our hearts
are open to His love, the storms of life cannot sink us because He is with us. The grace of
God brings about faith in our hearts, and with strong faith, we can work miracles through
His power and love.