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Page 1

The Promise

InsIde ThIs Issue

Pastoral Message .....................................2

Preaching christ crucified.................3

christMas services & event.................7

news & notes...........................................10

Beauty, the divine connection....13

tayBeh housing Project.....................14

Managing soMeBodyelses stuff....15

More suMMerscenes.............................17

welcoMe......................................................21

haPPyBirthday.......................................25

deceMBercalendar................................31

januarycalendar...................................32

daTes To RemembeR

decembeR 5Christmas Cookie Party

decembeR 19ParishChristmas LunCheon&

stewardshiPCardCoLLeCtion

JanuaRy 9PhiLoPtoChosVasiLoPita

JanuaRy 14 - 17okLahomaCitytournament

JanuaRy 22sChoLarshiP Foundationwinetasting

WoRdsof WIsdom

The person who listensto Christ fills himself

with light;and if he imitates Christ,he reclaims himself.- sT. ThalassIosThe lIbyan

decembeR/JanuaRy 2011

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THE PROMISE

Page 2

W

hen we attend services on Sunday,

every so often it is good for us to stop

for a minute and look around. For

at a glance we will quickly take noteof all of our brothers and sisters in Christ who join

us in praising God. A look around will also lead us

to perceive the cloud of witnesses that spiritually

surround us in the Church at every service as the

icons of the saints on the wall serve to highlight. But

at the same time, more often than not, a look around

during any Divine Liturgy will lead us to realize that

there are many faces that are missing. In fact, it is safe

to say that on any given Sunday

morning each and every one of

us can personally name a fewfriends and or family members

who are not in Church.

In a handful of cases there

might be some a very legitimate

reason for their absence. But

the question is NOT why some

of our fellow parishioners are

not in Church on Sunday, the

question for each of us is, whatare we doing about it?

At rst the question may sound

intimidating. After all, we often

think of ourselves as very small pieces in a much

bigger picture, and as a result, loose sight of the fact

that in Gods plan we not only have an important

role to fulll, but each and everyone of us actually

have an impact on others and on the big picture.

Case in point, the woman with the ow of blood who

touched the hem of the Lords garment in the Gospelaccording to Luke 8: 41-56. In her wildest dreams,

she could have never imagined how her plight and

her actions would affect people thousands of years

later. And yet here we are in Little Rock, Arkansas

thousands of years later talking about her and in awe

of what Christ did for her.

She alone is brilliant evidence of the fact that in Gods

big picture, every brush stroke of the Lord not only

matters, but makes things clearer and more beautiful.

Therefore, it is incumbent on us to ask ourselves

exactly what are we personally doing to reach out toall of those beautiful faces that we know and love who

frequently miss the Lords heavenly banquet.

For it is simply not sufcient for us to be satised

that we ourselves attend the services of the Church

regularly. We have to be genuinely concerned for

those people in our life who are not going to Church.

Notbecause we are better than any one else; Not

because we are smarter than any

one else and Not because we

are holier than any one else. Butbecause as Orthodox Christians

we genuinely love our family and

friends! And as men and women

of faith, we know that God really

matters. The Divine Liturgy

really matters. The Church really

matters. All of His people really

matter.

We must not look to lectureothers on their priorities, and

we must not look to lift ourselves

up at others expense. Instead,

we must fulll our calling to

share the gift of faithful life in Christ with our world

of family and friends.

After all, knowing that the Divine Liturgy is a limitless

reservoir of life, it is intrinsically unnatural for us to

idly stand by and quietly hope that someday our

family and friends might stumble upon the eternal joyof the Divine Liturgy. We simply cannot save a soul

from drowning by biting our tongue or expecting that

one day they might come to their senses and learn

how to swim. Knowing what we know about the

importance of having Christ at the center of life, we

cannot wait for someone else to throw our loved ones

and friends a lifeline.

(Continued on page 4)

PasToRal message

Look

Around

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Page 3

December/ January2011

ouR condolences

The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness

the passing of our sister in Christ,Jean MarieBailey, the mother of Mike Bailey, who fell asleep in

the Lord.

The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness

the passing of our sister in Christ, evelyn

Brewer, the sister of Helen Hronas, who fell asleep

in the Lord.

Let us keep all of these families in our prayers and

beseech the Lord to offer them His comfort and strength.

May Their Memory Be Eternal.

a gIfTTo youRfamIly

At the dawn of

a new year the

A n n u n c i a t i o n

parish is pleased

to offer the entire

Church family an

ecclesiastical calendar

for the home &

wallet as well as a Bible Guide to all of its faithful

stewards in order to help us all plan for the comingyear under the guiding light of Christ and His Church.

The calendar will help us plan for and celebrate the

major feasts of our faith as well as commemorate the

memory of the saints while the Guide will help us to

better study and absorb the truth of the Scriptures. If

you do not receive these gifts after the New Year, please

see a Parish Council member. With Gods grace may

these small tokens of love from the Annunciation serve

as a constant reminder of the love of Christ and His

Church for us all as together we strive to spiritually

grow to new heights in 2011.

aTTenTIon

oklahoma cITy

TouRnamenT

TRaveleRs

Remembe,We e levg Friday, January 14th

eg Monday, January 17th.

Keep an eye on the SundayBulletins and Parish emails

or all o the details!

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THE PROMISE

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PasToRal message(Continued from page 4)

storms, we are called to be rescuers. In a world of

confusion,we are called to be the voice of reason. In

a world of hate,we are called to be vessels of Gods

love. In a world of sickness, death and decay,we not

only know the way to eternal life but we are called

to show others the path.

Beloved, it is up to us to reach out to all those souls we

know who are frequently missing Church services and

help them nd their way home to the Annunciation.

For in the nal analysis, heroes cannot personally saveeveryone, but heroes always try.

We need to be heroes!

May the Lord grant you a very Merry Christmasand a Blessed New Year!

Rev. Dr. Nicholas J. Verdaris

The

PRomIse

Is

back

!The Promise is back.

However, we are in still in

the process of transition

as we continue to explore

ways to enhance the

delivery, appearance, efficiency

and format of our

parish newsletter - so we

welcome your ideas in

this on going process.

Also please keep in mind that The Promise remains

a vital instrument in disseminating information

affecting our Church family. So, if Church

family members and organizations have news or

announcements applicable to the entire Church

family, please submit items via e-mail to the

Church Ofce as soon as possible. Above all, keep

careful eye on the calendar - now that the Promise is

moving to a bimonthly publication, we need to thinkahead, now more than ever in order to ensure critical

announcements are made in a timely fashion.

Remember the goal of this publication is tocommunicate

the Good News, explore the Good News, highlightthe

Good News and keep us connectedas a Church family

through The Promise of the Good News!

fRomThe scRIPTuRes

T C y g .

A I y y, bg b v,

my v , g ,

g g g v C,

k v kg

y my b m G.

Ephesians 3:17-19

ThankYOUForeachnewmorningwithitslight,Forrestandshelterofthenight,Forhealthandfood,forloveandfriends,ForeverythingThygoodnesssends.-RalphWaldoEmerson

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Page 7


annuncIaTIon

chRIsTmas luncheon& PRogRam

The Annunciation will be hosting its annual

Christmas Luncheon on December 19thimmediately following the Divine Liturgy. You &

yours are warmly invited!!!

During this very special luncheon our Sunday

School students will also be presenting their

annual Christmas Program - you will not want to

miss it.It is also rumored that a very jolly fellow may

even pop in for a visit. Please join us!!!

Lets Have

a Merry CHristMas

togetHer

at tHe annunCiation!

chRIsTmas seRvIces

With the celebration of Christmas we jubilantly

celebrate and proclaim the fact that the Lord God

Himself has miraculously condescended to takeon our flesh in order for us, (His creation), to know

Him better, draw closer to Him and be saved by

Him. The celebration of such a momentous event

naturally calls us together into His Holy House in

order to sing His praises, express our love for Him

and partake of His life-giving Body and Blood..

There simply is no Christmas holiday without

worshiping Jesus Christ. There is no Christmas

joy without assembling in prayer within His Holy

Church. We as the Annunciation Church family,will have the great and high privilege to herald the

birth of our Lord & Saviour together as follows:

FriDay, December 24th -

Christmas EveCandlelight Service

Vesperal Liturgy - 6:00 pm

SaturDay, December 25th -

The Feast Day of the NativityDivine Liturgy - 9:30 am

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THE PROMISE

Page 8

2010 Youth Retreats

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Page 9


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may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my

life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. . . . (Ps 26: 4).

The prophet Ezekiel, writing about his encounter with

God, tells us: ...the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of

God. ...the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest. (Ezk 11,3) His very detailed and personal narrative continues

...the hand of the Lord was upon him there. As I looked, behold,

a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with

brightness round about it, and re ashing forth continually, and

in the midst of the re, as it were gleaming bronze.(Ezk 1: 3,4

Later in the description of his vision Ezekiel recounts

...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;

and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it wer

of a human form ...I saw as it were the appearance of re, and

there was brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the

bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance

of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the

likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon

my face...(Ezk 1: 25-28).

St. Macarius of Egypt, in his homily on the vision

of Ezekiel, tells us that this foretells none other than

Christ Himself: And this that the prophet saw, was

true and certain. But the thing it signied, or shadowed

forth beforehand, was a matter mysterious and divine

that very mystery which had been hid from ages andgenerations, but was made manifest at the appearing

of Christ.i This is conrmed at the very beginning

of the Gospel of St. John: 1: 1-5): In the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all

things were made through him, and without him was

not anything made that was made. In him was life, and

the life was the light of men. The light shines in the

darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

That God is beauty was not lost on St. Basil the Greatwho describes God as He who surpasses all beauty

St. Basil, counsels: . . . let us recognize the One Who

transcends in His beauty all things. . . . McGuckin

presents to us St. Symeon the Theologians Hymn of

Divine Love. St. Symeon prays: Master how could

I describe the vision of your face? How could I ever

speak of the ineffable contemplation of your Beauty?


beauTy, The dIvIne

connecTIonby Fr. George Morelli

The uncircumscribed Word of the Father became

circumscribed, taking esh . . .and He has restored the sullied

image to its ancient glory, lling it with the divine beauty. This,

our salvation, we confess in deed and word . . . .

(Kontakion, Sunday of Orthodoxy)

An experimental psychologist (Seligman, 2002) may

have inadvertently come upon a great spiritual insight

What is remarkable about this is that it was Seligmans

express intent to divorce beauty from the Divine; but,paradoxically and seemingly unknowingly, he endorses

beautys ultimate end: the Divine. In discussing

Transcendence, which he labels a signature strength

that individuals can possess and which is one of the

components of authentic happiness, Seligman points

out that it is a virtue which allows one to reach outside

and beyond you to something larger than oneself.

The divine is one such end. Apparently he does not

see the irony in his writing this term [transcendence]

is not popular throughout history-spirituality is the

label of choice.. However, unwittingly, he leads us to

God who is at the peak of Transcendence. Why?

Because what is larger than God Himself ? As our

Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims in

the Anaphora Prayer: It is meet and right to hymn

Thee, to bless Thee, to praise Thee, to give thanks

unto Thee, and to worship Thee in every place of Thy

dominion: for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable,

invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally

the same, Thou and Thine Only-begotten Son and the

Holy Spirit.

goDis beauty; beautyPoiNtsto goD

That true beauty points mankind to God, is, of course,

fundamental to Eastern Christianity. But rst it must

be pointed out that God is Beauty itself: We may call

it the Divine Beauty. The psalmist prays: One thing

have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I

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Page 15


Team Annunciation

Racing for the Cure

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Page 17


God, but it does release us. Stewardship is essential to

our discovering our own spiritual freedom.

A third popular myth is based on human greed. It views

giving as a kind of investment. The more I give, the

more I get. This is simply and entirely false. AlthoughGod may entrust some of Gods faithful servants with

great wealth, Scripture claims that many of his most

faithful servants live in poverty, while many of the most

evil become rich sometimes at the expense of the

faithful. On the contrary, the Scriptures consistently

teach us to give ourselves, to sacrice ourselves for the

good of others, with the assumption of no reward in

this life. We are to follow the example of Jesus, who

made himself poor that others might be made rich.

Stewardship assumes that we Gods ock, the sheep

of Gods pasture. What God chooses to do with us isentirely up to God. God calls us to become servants, to

be faithful stewards, regardless of whether we become

wealthy or poor in the process of our stewardship.

The Spirituality of Stewardship:

Stewardship is about Spirituality. The Scriptures

present faithful stewardship as the means, the basic

discipline, for learning how to follow Jesus. Stewardshipis not the goal of the Christian life, but a method. It is

designed to break our addiction to control, greed, the

demand for personal security. This is why Jesus told

the young man rst to sell it all, give it all away, and

then to come follow Jesus. It was not the goal, but the

gateway.

Most often, when people hear about tithing, they

think of it as an ideal, as a goal. Jesus viewed it

quite differently. For him, the ideal, the goal, was

not 10%, but 100%. He pointed to the poor widowwho gave 100% as the target, and he chastised the

tithing Pharisees for not understanding the weightier

things of Torah. (Matt 23.23) He is clear that the

Pharisees needed to have been tithing, but that it was

not enough. Tithing is not a goal, but a beginning;

Where we start, not where we end.

Christian spirituality is not an experience, but a

process, an innitely long and difculty journey. But

every journey begins someplace. The beginning of

Christian spirituality is trusting Jesus enough to follow

him. The goal of Christian life is, having trusted Jesus

to have followed him to the end. The way to practicefollowing Jesus is literally to trust him with whatever

you have: your time, your talent, and your treasure

By trusting Jesus with these things, we learn to follow

him. Bit by bit, we can become like him. There

are a great number of spiritual disciplines that are

designed to help us become people of deep prayer

Sabbath keeping, lectio divina, spiritual direction

contemplation, meditation, fasting, etc. But the most

simple and basic of the disciplines, the beginning place

where one practices trusting Jesus, is stewardship

This is where one begins the serious path to spiritualtransformation and fulllment.

Three Essential Practices:

uLtiMate giviNg:The easiest form of giving is a bequest. It costs no

personal effort or pain, for it is given at death. On the

other hand, because there is no pain, there is no gain

personally and spiritually. It does not transform us. Yet

it may transform the world. So for the good of othersand for the glory of God, we should all leave a portion

of our life insurance and estate for the advancemen

of the Kingdom of God. Ultimate giving can never

take the place of ordinary giving, for ordinary giving

is a basic, essential discipline for changing us.

extraorDiNary giviNg:This is the most fun form of philanthropy. In

extraordinary giving, we have the opportunity to

inuence the world by investing in our favorite causes

charities, programs and interests. We give to capital

campaigns, organizations and ministries in ways that

will please us, because we feel it will make a signicant

difference in our world. We feel great satisfaction in

knowing that we helped start new churches, helped

restore the a poor church or ministry center, and helped

feed the hungry. We feel pride, in the most positive


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beauTy(Continued from page 13)

How could mere words contain One whom the Worldcould never contain? Then Saint Symeon answers

his questions as part of his prayer: ...suddenly You

appeared from on high, shining greater than the Sun

itself, shining brilliantly from the heavens down into my

heart...What intoxication of the Light! What swirlings

of re!

the iNcarNatioN:

thecoMiNgofthe Lightofthe WorLD

Centuries after the writing of the prophet Ezekiel

(595-572 BC), the writer of the last book of the Old

Testament, the Wisdom of Solomon (30-10 BC - just

decades before the birth of Christ), proclaims God as

Wisdom, from which can be seen His glory, light and

beauty: For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because

of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things. For she is

a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory

of the Almighty; therefore nothing deled gains entrance into her.

For she is a reection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the

working of God, and an image of his goodness. For God loves

nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom. For she is

more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the

stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is

succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.

(Wis 7: 24-30).

The light that is the Godhead was spoken of by King

David: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom

shall I fear? (Ps 26: 1) Isaiah, who prophesized the

Incarnate God, His suffering and nal triumph, tell us:The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for

brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but

the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God

will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down,

nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be

your everlasting light... (Is 60: 19-20). In the English

language glory is associated with a type of beauty called

resplendence, which is a brilliant radiant beauty.

Indeed, St. John the Evangelist (Jn 8:12) records the

words of Jesus: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I

am the light of the world; he who follows me will no

walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And

as Jesus told His disciples: As long as I am in the world

I am the light of the world. (Jn 9: 5).

Light-beauty

iNthe Liturgyofthe church

Even a cursory exposure to the rich Liturgica

practice of the Eastern Church will reveal the glory

of the Godhead, and ourselves as being lled with the

splendor of Christs light as we work toward becoming

partakers of the Divine Nature (2Pt 1:4)

hoLy baPtisM

At the baptismal exorcism service the priest prays

Open the eyes of his [ or her] understanding that the

light of thy Gospel many shine brightly in him. Yoke

unto his life a radiant Angel, who shall deliver him from

every snare of the adversary... The profession of the

Creed which follows in the baptismal service (and which

is said as well by all at every Divine Liturgy and in daily

personal prayer) proclaims: I believe in one God, the

Father Almighty... And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

Son of God...Light of Light, Very God of Very God.. And I believe in the Holy Spirit ...worshipped and

gloried... The prayer of baptism directly ties baptism

with light; it petitions God to Call Thy servant to Thy

Holy Illumination. In the following petition the pries

implores God that the one to be baptized may prove

himself a child of the Light and an heir of eternal good

things. The baptismal water itself is referred to as

that which will be the illumination of the soul. Then

follows the actual baptism: the three-fold immersion in

the sanctied water, accompanied by the words The

servant of God is baptized in the Name of the Father

and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Following

this, the newly baptized illumined servant of God is

clothed with a white garment of righteousness while

a beautiful Troparion is sung: Vouchsafe unto me a

robe of light, O thou who clothest thyself with light a

with a garment: Christ our God, plenteous in mercy.

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THE PROMISE

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managIng somebody elses

sTuff(Continued from page 17)

sense, of knowing that we can make a difference in

the world. But extraordinary giving can never take the

place of ordinary giving, for ordinary giving is a basic,

essential discipline for transforming us in our core

being.

orDiNary giviNg:This is the most

difcult form,

but also themost personally

benecial. This is

the basic spiritual

disciplines that

work on our inner

life, our fear, our

insecurity, our

greed. Ordinary

giving is intended

to be regular,

consistent, and sacricial, in order to help break us ofour addictions. It is the primary discipline that teaches

us self-regulation, self-control, and impulse control. In

order to do all this, it must be large enough to make an

actual change in our lifestyle. Most of us give something,

but many fail to give enough to make a difference in

their own life. So when someone tells me that cannot

control their temper or their addiction to Twinkies,

they are always surprised that I prescribe stewardship

as the rst step. Spiritual transformation begins with

trusting Jesus Christ with at least our stewardship: ourtime, talent & treasure. The goal is to become like Jesus

Christ to be able to give 100% of ourself to God.

Unfortunately, sometimes people miss the point. They

think theyre being good stewards when they generously

invest a portion of their treasure to their favorite causes.

But the essential genius of stewardship is that it is about

giving up control. It transforms us because we are letting

go of something, trusting God to do with it what God

wants. It is a practicing, on a very small scale of Jesus

prayer in Gethsemane, Not my will, but your will be

done. This is why we have both ordinary giving AND

extraordinary giving. When we designate where our

offerings go, we may be inuencing the world, but welose the benet of the spiritual discipline. It no longer

breaks us of our addiction to control things; indeed, i

enables our addiction to continue. So we need both

This is why, spiritually, it is a tragic mistake to divert

ones stewardship from ones local parish because one

is unhappy with it. The whole point and purpose of

stewardship (ordinary giving) is the spiritual discipline

which transforms the inner life. Ive never met an

experienced steward, wealthy or poor, who regretted

their practice. Yet there are many people, wealthyand poor, who so desperately need to break free from

their fear, insecurity, and envy about money. Without

stewardship, we will never become the Christians that

God is calling us to be.

The Bottom Line for All 3 EssentialPractices:

1) checkyourWiLLaNDyourLifeiNsuraNce

You do want to inuence the world for its good andthe glory of God. You are a steward, the manager of

Gods resources for Gods purposes. So make sure you

have taken steps to exercise your stewardship in your

ultimate giving.

2) DosoMethiNgsPeciaL.Enjoy the pleasure of philanthropy by making free

will offerings to special causes, events, and programs

Consider giving a large and inuential gift to the

Capital Campaign.

3) butfirstaNDforeMost, getreguLar.Consider your ordinary giving. If you are not presently a

steward, begin today. Do not wait for your parish pledge

drive. Begin today. Experience the transforming power

of letting go and embracing Christian stewardship to

its fullest. It is the gateway to spiritual transformation

and the path to becoming a faithful steward.

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WelcomeThe Orthodox Church

and the Annunciation

in particular, had the

privilege to warmlywelcome into its warm

and loving embrace

through Chrismation

the beloved servants

of God: richard &

Star akel, whose

entrance into the Holy

Church was sponsored byRon & Joyce Harb along

with lindahaycook, whose entrance into the

Church was sponsoredLea Ging.

Having been formally received into the Orthodox

Church and become beloved members of our

Church family in November, we look forward to

walking together on the path of life and faith.

With our newly enlisted Orthodox Christian, let

us ask our Lord and Savior to continue to show

us the way of the Christ centered life.

baPTIzed InTo chRIsT

The Annunciation familycongratulates Richard &

Star Akel on the baptismof their daughter, isabeLLa,who was baptized at the Annunciation on NoveMber6th. Ron & Joyce Harb are theproud godparents. May Godbless our newest servant ofthe Lord, along with all of her

family and friends!

congRaTulaTIons!

The Annunciation

Church family offers

prayers of thanks and

congratulate keith

& aLLisoN freeMaN

on the birth of their

second child:Aubrey

Jane Freeman. Baby Aubrey was bo

on October 26th

weighing 8 pounds 2

ounces.

May God continue to bless the Freeman family!

you aRe InvITed!

The aNNuNciatioN schoLarshiP fouNDatioN

invites you to a

Wine Tasting Event

on Saturday, January 22, 2011

Tickets for this special occasion are $40.00 and will be

soon available for purchase from a Scholarship Board

members. Save the date, invite a friend and make plans for a

wonderful evening that will help a wonderful cause.

Pleaseremember to submit your2011 AnnunciAtion

StewArdShip cArd

on December 21st

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THE PROMISE

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of the brilliance of the Divine Beauty to come. As isnoted in the Feasts Vesperal hymn: When Thou

wast transgured before Thy Crucixion, O Lord, the

mount resembled heaven, and a cloud spread out like a

canopy, and the Father bore witness unto Thee.

The signicance of the Transguration was not lost

by the Fathers of the Church. In his Homily on the

Transguration St. John Chrysostom tells us: ...let

us journey in thought to the mountain where Christ

was Transgured: let us behold him shining as Heshone there... For as concerning the king it is not even

possible to say what he is like: so completely do his

beauty, his grace, his splendor, his glory, his grandeur

and magnicence elude speech and thought... He who

is the sovereign and God of all, even as the Psalmist

also when discoursing concerning this beauty, said

And the king shall have desire of thy beauty.

Of this splendor St. Hilary of Poitiers comments:

For though the splendor of His eternal glory overtax

our minds best powers, it cannot fail to see that He isbeautiful. We must in truth confess that God is most

beautiful, and that with a beauty which, though it

transcend our comprehension, forces itself upon our

perception.v The Divine Light that shone at Tabor

was made explicit by St. Gregory Palamas: None the

less, in accordance with the Saviors promise they did see the

kingdom of God, that Divine and inexpressible light. St. Gregory

of Nazianzos and St. Basil call this light divinity saying that

the light is the divinity manifested to the disciples on the Mount,

and that it is the beauty of Him who is almighty, and His noetic

and contemplatable Divinity. St. Basil the Great also says that

this light is the beauty of God contemplated by the saints alone

in the power of the Divine Spirit; and again he writes, On the

mountain Peter and the sons of thunder saw His beauty shining

more brightly than the sun; and they were privileged to receive

with their eyes a foretaste of His advent.(Philokalia IV)

In the spirit of St. Gregory of Nyssa we could ponder

the saints words: having approached Light itself, the

soul is transgured into light.

hoLy Pascha

The Paschal service emphasizes light. The rstreference in the Paschal Liturgy to Christ, who is the

Light, is made in the 5th Ode of the Pascha Midnigh

Ofce: When Isaiah, O Christ, saw thy light that

setteth not, the light of thy Divine appearance coming

to us in pity, he arouse up early crying The dead shall

rise , and they who are in the tombs shall awake, and

all those on the earth shall rejoice. (c.f. Is 26: 19). The

contemporary Resurrection Service starts at Midnight

with the priest exiting the Sanctuary holding the lighted

Paschal Candle while all the assembly come forward

and light their candles from the Paschal Candle. Allthis while the assembly chants the hauntingly beautifu

hymn: Come ye, take light from the Light, that is never

overtaken by night. Come, glorify the Christ, risen from

the dead. The Paschal Service emphasizes light.

This can easily be glimpsed in these verses from the

Orthros Paschal Canon: Today is the day of Resurrection

O nations, let us shine forth; for the Pascha is the Pascha of the

Lord... Glory to thy Holy Resurrection, O Lord! Let us cleanse

our senses that we may behold Christ shining like lightening with

the unapproachable light of Resurrection... Verily, all creatureshave been lled with light, the heaven and the earth, and all tha

is below the earth... In truth, how noble is this radiant and all-

festal night of salvation; for it precedeth the proclamation of th

light-bearing day of Resurrection, in which the timeless Light did

shone forth bodily from the grave.

The penultimate hymn of the Paschal Agape Vespers

(and all Vesper Services) is the Hymn of Light, O Joyfu

Light: O Gladsome light of the holy glory of the immorta

Father, the heavenly, the holy blessed, Jesus Christ. Now that we

are come to the setting of the sun, and behold the light of evening,we hymn thee: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God It is meet and

right that at all times thou shouldst be magnied by voices of

praise, O Son of God, the Giver of Life. Therefore, the whol

world doth glorify thee.

The Paschal Megalynarion, repeated many times in the

services, encapsulates the Paschal theme of light: Shine

thou, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord hath

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risen upon thee. Rejoice thou now and exalt, O Zion.

And thou, O pure one, Theotokos, rejoice thou at the

Resurrection of thy Son. This hymn recalls the words

of Isaiah the Prophet: Arise, shine; for your light has

come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thickdarkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you,

and his glory will be seen upon you. (Is 60: 1,2).

Christ, in His triumphal Resurrection, is the ultimate

Beauty who has illumined the whole cosmos. As we pray

in the Paschal Vesperal Aposticha: Thy Resurrection,

O Christ Savior, hath illumined thy creation, O Lord

Almighty. Glory to thee.

thoughtsoNthe theoLogyofbeauty

ourresPoNsetobeautySt. Macarius of Egypt tells us: [those who have]

love for Christ, [are] bound fast to that beauty and

unspeakable glory, and the inconceivable riches of

the true and eternal King.vi In this same homily

St. Macarius points out that the soul which receives

Christ exudes the inexpressible beauty of the glory of

the light of the Divinity. He tells us: For the soul thatis thought worthy to partake of the spirit of his light, and is

irradiated by the beauty of his ineffable glory (he having by that

spirit prepared her for his own seat and habitation), becomes all

light, all face, and all eye: neither is there any one part in her

but what is full of these spiritual eyes of light; that is, there is

no part in her darkened: but she is all entirely wrought into light

and spirit, and is all over full of eyes, having no hinder part, or

anything behind; but appears to be altogether face, by reason of

the inexpressible beauty of the glory of the light of Christ, that

rides and sits upon her.

beautyLeaDstoLoveof goDaNDNeighbor

St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662), writes:Nothing

so much as love brings together those who have been sundered and

produces in them an effective union of will and purpose. Love

is distinguished by the beauty of recognizing the equal value of

all men. Love is born in a man when his souls powers - that

is, his intelligence, incensive power and desire - are concentrated

and unied around the divine. Those who by grace have come to

recognized the equal value of all men in Gods sight and who

engrave His beauty on their memory, possess an ineradicable

longing for divine love, for such love is always imprinting this

beauty on their intellect.(Philokalia, II).

St. John Chrysostom asks: . . . when the soul is

refulgent with it [beauty] what can match beauty and

grace of this kind?

St. Maximus the Confessor also pointed out the

connection between the good and the beautiful:The

beautiful is identical with the good, for all things seek the beautifu

and good at every opportunity, and there is no being which does no

participate in them. They extend to all that is, being what is truly

admirable, sought for, desired pleasing, chosen and loved. Observe

how the divine force of love the erotic power preexisting in th

good - has given birth to the same blessed force within us, throughwhich we long for the beautiful and good in accordance with the

words, I became a lover of her beauty (Wisdom. 8:2), and

Love her and she will sustain you; fortify her and she will exal

you (Proverbs. 4:6, 8). (Philokalia II).

As the author of the book of Wisdom tells us, it i

through beauty that we can glimpse the Divinity: If

through delight in the beauty of these things men

assumed them to be gods, let them know how much

better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty

created them. (Wis 13: 3). For from the greatness

and beauty of created things comes a corresponding

perception of their Creator. (Wis 13: 5)

hoLiNessourreWarDforresPoNDiNgtobeautyPaul Evdokimov points to the spiritual effects mankind

receives in responding to the grace of perceiving the

Divine Beauty. It is that we become beauty ourselves

At the ultimate heights of holiness, the human person

becomes in a certain sense light [St. Gregory Palamas

Homily on the Presentation of the Holy Virgin in theTemple]. Seraphim of Sarov was thus able to cloth

himself in the sun and shine. Being himself called a

striking likeness, St. Seraphim was the living icon of

the God of Light. St. Gregory of Nyssa described the

elevation of the soul of him who hears in the following

way: You have become beautiful by coming close to


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THE PROMISE

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Carnival Fun!

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HappyBirtHday

to our parishioners celebratingduring the upcoming months!

Jana Hunter December 1stKate Martin December 3rdRon Harb December 9thMarshall Mann December 9thDaniel Kassissieh December 12thPat Pappas December 14th

Randy Kassissieh December 15thHelena Roy December15thGrant Alley December 17th

Elizabeth Hunter December 19thMaria Verdaris December 19thPete Stathakis December 20thJesse Burks December 21st

Raouf Kassissieh December 22ndKatie Pearson December 22ndToni Staley December 26thGrace Tidwell December 27thStephanie Verdaris December 27th

Kristin Alley December 28thBenjamin Alley December 29th

Eleanora Daly January 1stAmberley Turjman January 3rdJohn Verdaris January 3rd

William Hronas January 4thJeanne Spencer January 4thJason Alley January 5th

Hannah Cotros January 7thJames Nix January 7th

Heather Alley January 10thChris Pappas January 11thJaegar Burks January 13thJosie Ging-Glass January 13thJames Rutter January 13thChad Butts January 17thSteve Vaden January 18thChristopher Haddad January 23rdMark Hunter January 25thSophie Sargent January 25th

ouTReach commITTeemeeT & gReeT schedule

December 5th Carole HawkinsDecember 12th Jack Weatherly

December 19th Mark Hunter

December 26th Robin Jones

January 2nd Susan McDowell

January 9th Sharon Johnson

January 16th Christopher Huckabay

January 23rd Carole Hawkins

January 30th Jack Weatherly

T felloWshIP houRT

If you or your family would like to commemorate a

special event, honor the memory of a loved one or

would simply like to after a gift to the Annunciation

family... you too can sponsor a Fellowship

Hour!

Please check the Bul letin Boardand sign up today!

But that Gods word may be made

clearer, listen to this. If any one loves

Jesus, and attends to Him in earnest,

and not in a casual way, but in love

abides by Him, God is already devising

to make some return to that soul for

its love, although the man does not

know what he is to receive or what

portion God is about to give to the

soul.

-St. Makarios the Great, Homily XII,

4th Century

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Giddy-Up JOY!

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ends up by creating his own god, a god embedded innature itself. Seligman continues:Toward a [g]od who

is not supernatural, a [g]od who ultimately acquires [emphasis

mine] omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness through the

natural process [emphasis mine] of win-win.

He goes on to explain: Biological systems are forced

designed without a designer by Darwinian selection into

complexity and more win-win scenarios. A cell that incorporates

mitochondria symbiotically wins out over cells that cannot.

Complex intelligence is almost an inevitable result, given enoughtime, of natural selection and differential reproductive success.

Seligman is actually basing his comments on a model

of the cosmos developed by Robert Wright called

Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny. Wright

considers that all ,from the minutest particle of

matter to mankind, has an intrinsic mechanism of

complexity, based on a win-win game theory, a non-

zero-sum, which means all involved will win out by

combining, so to speak. Wright states:The underlying

reason that non-zero-sum games wind up being played well isthe same in biological evolution as in cultural evolution Whether

you are a bunch of genes or a bunch of memes, if youre all in

the same boat youll tend to perish unless you are conducive to

productive coordination. For genes, the boat tends to be a cell

or a multicelled organism or occasionally . . . a family; for

memes, the boat is often a larger social groupa village,

a chiefdom, a state, a religious denomination, Boy Scouts of

America, whatever. Genetic evolution thus tends to create

smoothly integrated organisms, and cultural evolution tends to

create smoothly integrated groups of organisms.

Unfortunately, Seligman falls into the same intellectual

trap as false evolutionists, He makes nature, which is

nite, no matter how innitesimal or complex it may

be, or how many dimensions it may have, or no matter

that it may operate according to the rule of quantum

physics which states that particles do not have single

denite histories, the principle of its own


W m g , Do something REALthis spring break,O C F

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Ec y cg N Amc v g g bk m, my c. Sc 200, OCF f R Bk SgBk v v -mg y g mg g m. Sc c, v cg v y

m y m c g gg O C .Eg 0 y, OCF R Bk c f mv, - bmcy y. T g Mc 20 c: B A, Pjc McRm, C, N Yk, Gm I Gm 2 .

To fnd detailed inormation regarding the 2011Real Break trips and to register, please visit

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THE PROMISE

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innite existence His explanation of the initial point

of creation, of even the minutest particle of matter, ismissing. It is a logical inconsistency. How can nothing

create something? Interestingly, this is the same trap

that cosmologist Stephen Hawking falls into, as his

recent publication, The Grand Designindicates; he falls

into the identical logical conundrum It is possible that

a non-zero-sum interaction is the way God created the

cosmos, including mankind. But spiritual perception

demands that we see the work of God not only in the

initial creation of something out of nothing, but in the

way in which that something works, its beauty and that

the something ultimately glories Him.

the goDof reveLatioN

On the other hand, the God of Judeo-Christianity is

a personal God of Love, Truth Goodness and Beauty.

As I have said: God is above and beyond all creation.

God, to quote once more from the Anaphora prayer

of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom as

used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is: ineffable,

inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing

and eternally the same.

...every perfect gift is from above,coming down from the Father of lights...

(Jas 1: 17)

Thank you!!!

The Annunciation Church family extends its heartfelt

thanks to all those who offered their time and talent

to ensure that our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon, &

Stewardship Presentation was a beautiful moment for

all to enjoy. The abiding manifestation of Christian

love, faithfulness and creativity always make such nice

gatherings possible. From the gifted decorators, the

talented cooks, gracious servers, inspiring speaker,

dedicated clean-up crew, the generous Wilcox family

who underwrote the event, to all those loving men

and women who attended - we give thanks to God

for all of you and enhancing our sense of blessed

gratefulness!

good foR a laugh

My job as a land surveyor took me to a golf course

that was expanding to 18 holes. Using a machete to

clear thick brush in an area I was mapping, I came

upon a golf club that an irate player must have tossed

away. It was in good condition, so I picked it up and

continued on.

When I broke out of the brush onto a putting green,

two golfers stared at me in awe. I had a machete in

one hand, a golf club in the other, and behind me was

a clear-cut swath over 100 yards long.

There, said one of the golfers, is a guy who hates

to lose his ball!

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Sun Mon ues Wed hurs Fri Sat

6Feast of St. Nicholas

Liturgy 9:30am

510th Sunday of Luke

Matins 9:00am

Divine Liturgy 10:00am

Parish Assembly

Christmas Cookie Party

6:00pm

131211th Sunday of LukeMatins 9:00am


19Sunday Before Nativity

Matins 9:00am


Parish

Christmas Luncheon

26Sunday After Nativity

Matins 9:00am


20

27

1

Orthodox Study Class

6:30pm

8

15

22

29

7

14

Parish Council Meeting

6:00pm

21

28

2

9

16

23

30

3

10

17

24

Christmas Eve Candlelight

Liturgy6:00pm

31

New Years Eve Liturg y

6:00pm

4

9:00am ChristmaSet-Up

1:00pm GOYA Set U

1

1

2Christmas Liturgy

9:30am

January 12011

annUnCiaTion GREEK oRThoDoX ChURCh1100 napa vaLLEy DRivE, LiTTLE RoCK, aR 72211REv. DR. niChoLas J. vERDaRis, pasToR

decembeR 2010

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THE PROMISE

3

109Sunday After

Theophany

Matins 9:00am


Philoptochos Vasilopita

Event

2Sunday Before

Theophany

Matins 9:00am


17GOYA

Return from Oklahoma City

1612th Sunday of LukeMatins 9:00am


2314th Sunday of Luke

Matins 9:00am


30The Three Hierarchs

Matins 9:00am


24

31

5Eve of Theophany

Liturgy 9:30am

12

19

Orthodox Study Class

6:30pm

26

2Presentation of the Lord

to the Temple

Liturgy 9:30am

4

11

Parish Council Meeting

6:00pm

18

25

February 1

6Feast of Theophany

Liturgy 9:30am

13

20

27

3

7Feast of St. John the

Baptist

Liturgy 9:30am

14GOYA

Leave for Oklahoma City

21

28

4

8

15

22Scholarship

Wine Tasting Even

29

5

Sun Mon ues Wed hurs Fri Sat

annUnCiaTion GREEK oRThoDoX ChURCh1100 napa vaLLEy DRivE, LiTTLE RoCK, aR 72211REv. DR. niChoLas J. vERDaRis, pasToR

JanuaRy 2011

dec. 2010-jan. 2011 pdf

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