Men's League
St. Paul's Mens' League
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KOHNE (SUNDAY REMEMBERING ALL THE DEPARTED CLERGY)
Today is Kohene Sunday- A special day to remember all the departed priests. It’s good to remember at least once in a year our forefathers who helped us to sustain in true faith. Let’s take a couple of minutes to remember them. We have already attended countless holy Qurbanas. We have participated in Holy Communion numerous times. Just take a moment and try to remember the names of the priests, imagine their faces, and recollect the images of the holy altars where they offered the holy Eucharist for us. Especially, remember the priests who are deceased. You know they are with their master; participating in the worship and holy Qurbana…
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Ma’ Altho: The presentation of infant Jesus
Ma’ Altho is an important feast-day celebrating the presentation of infant Jesus to the Jerusalem temple. The presentation of infant Jesus is an analogy of “giving away” of children to God. They no longer simply belong to their parents, but they belong to God. In Orthodox tradition the sacrament of Baptism is a kind of a “giving away” of children to God. This “giving away” of children in baptism implies that the parents/ god-persons are not just raising their own child, but a child of God. This is also an assurance that God will help in the complex process of child-rearing. So we have to trust that God’s hand is…
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THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: Nicodemus Visits Jesus
Nicodemus was seeking Jesus under the cover of darkness because he has much to lose- his security, position and power. But Jesus asks him to be “born from above”; which was far beyond his comprehension. We also find it difficult to understand many divine things as we are just another God’s creation. The plans and purposes of the creator are far beyond our comprehension. Orthodoxy is a way to make sense and connect with the creator God, who is beyond the human intellect and comprehension, through worship. Gospel Reading: John 3: 1-12 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus…
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THE SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY: A personal invitation to “Come and See”
“Come and see” is a personal invitation by Jesus. His disciples also invite others into discipleship saying, “come and see”. This phrase, in short has become a personal invitation to God’s dwelling and into discipleship with him. Can we invite Jesus to come and see where we are dwelling? How about inviting him to our living space, kitchen and bedroom? How about talking to him as we show him around? The imagination goes like this; if Jesus accepts our invitation ask him to sit with us. Show him those aspects of our home, collections, valuables, achievements and our possessions that delight us. But if he asks, “where your sprit…
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THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
To start his ministry Jesus left Nazareth (symbolic of leaving our old ways of living to start a new!) and began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Repentance is not only turning away from our sinful ways, but it also calls for turning towards God. As St. Paul says, a new creation is what matters! Gospel Reading from St. Mathew 4: 12-22 Jesus Begins His Ministry in Galilee: 12 Now when Jesus[a] heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 He left Nazareth and made his home in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, 14 so…
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THE SUNDAY BEFORE CHRISTMAS
Genealogies are common in Hebrew bible and were a matter of pride. Mathew’s portrait of the genealogy of Jesus Christ is an amazing testimony to God’s power to overcome the sin of humankind. This stylized ancestral tree consisting of roughly three groups of fourteen: from Abraham to David, from David to the deportation to Babylon; and from the deportation to Jesus. The numerical value of David’s name in Hebrew is fourteen, which may account for this arrangement. From an Orthodox perspective, these three phases represent the three states of human life. The first phase represents the uniqueness and dignity of humanhood, and the continued fellowship with God in the…
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REVELATION TO ST. JOSEPH
St. Joseph: The ‘special’ chosen for the heavenly mission Joseph was a poor carpenter. He was simple, humble and lovable. Yet God choose this simple man to carry out one of the most important heavenly mission in the salvation plan. We are living in a world where everyone is ‘special’; we are proud of our ancestral family, our education, our occupation, our talents, our beauty, our skills, and the list continues. God always needs specials, but not according to human terms. What made Joseph special? Though he thought of abandoning Mary, he does not want her to be disgraced in public. How will we cover ourselves, if we are going…
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Birth of St. John the Baptist and ‘Zechariah’s Prophecy’
Most of the orthodox prayers are filled with praises and thanksgiving to the Trinitarian God. In addition to the traditional prayers, personal prayers and meditations are inevitable in living a meaningful Orthodox life. Although we pray a lot, most of our prayers tend to be “wish lists”. In today’s Gospel reading, Zechariah’s prayer is full of thanksgiving and acknowledgement of what God has done in the past and will do in the future. He worships God using the special name “Most High” and proclaims God’s tender mercy. Today, when we gather together for family prayers read and meditate ‘Zechariah’s Prophecy’. During our personal meditation, try finishing these sentences: “God, I…
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HOODOSH EETHO Sunday: “The Feast of Dedication of the Church.”
HOODOSH EETHO Sunday: ‘Hoodosh Eetho’ means “The Feast of Dedication of the Church.” Luke 20 depicts a series of questions the Jews ask Jesus in order to trick him. They ask Jesus three questions and today’s Gospel reading is about the first one; they question about the authority of Jesus. If we continue reading the chapter, Jesus responds by asking them twice as many questions and by telling them a parable. We might want to list the questions in this chapter of Luke and ponder why Jesus asks so many of them. Then ask ourselves, “Do we respond to people’s problems with our answers or do we try to listen…
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Various Classifications of periods in the Lectionary in Malankara tradition
Reviewing the available literature, there are at least four to five different classifications of the periods in the Church Lectionary in the Malankara tradition. All of them have the same arrangement of Sundays, order, and themes with minor differences in the gospel readings and other readings from Old Testament and New Testament. Over the years, liturgical calendars were published in two forms- the tables of Easter and related movable feasts; and a calendar of saints. The two have separate origins. The former were a matter of controversy in the ancient church. Eventually, a single one of 532 years (taqlab in Syriac sources) was adopted as the norm. They again differed…