January 2013

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7301 Rivoli Road, Macon, GA 31210 Fr. Theophan #478-538-8161, email fr.theophan@st-innocent.org

www.st-innocent.org

January 2014 Newsletter

Greetings in the Lord,

Our North American society since the late

20th century has taken a rather casual approach to

life. We have, at home, in public, in school, and at

work have been encouraged to discard basic decorum

(appropriateness) in preference to an off-the-cuff

approach to life. Traditional norms have been

thrown away as old straitjackets that we would prefer

not to wear. This approach has affected all aspects

of our society and has even been brought into the

Church.

One of the areas our encouragement to be

casual has affected the faithful is in our approach to

the Holy Eucharist. It has become prevalent in the

culture of modern Orthodoxy, to partake of the

Eucharist frequently but with minimal or no

preparation.

At one time, and even now in some countries,

due to the emphasis on the holiness of the Eucharist,

people would only partake once or twice a year after

a rigorous preparation. This approach can be

problematic because many instead of living

faithfully and receiving the holy gifts regularly,

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many decline the Eucharist because of the daunting

preparation involved.

In response to the rigorist approach, or some

would say, in reaction to it, there developed a new

norm in the Church, at least in the US. Frequent

Communion has been encouraged for at least forty

years now. In some ways this is good. Many faithful

partake regularly and live their Christian lives within

the Church. However, the emphasis on frequent

communion has also opened the door to the Eucharist

being approached very casually, without any

preparation or thought about what it is we are taking

into our bodies.

Both extremes can be problematic. On the

one side there is more to receiving Holy Communion

than simply checking off a list of daunting rules and

regulations. On the other side when we partake

casually and unprepared it can harden our hearts

towards the things of God. Of course, God is not

bound by our preparedness, He discloses Himself to

whom He pleases, but we must never take this for

granted.

The Holy Eucharist is not a good luck charm

or a magic trick, rather to properly receive the Holy

Mysteries of God we always have to living a life of

faithfulness to the Gospel. As Christians we should

always be in preparation to receive Christ into our

hearts and life. That is to say, we are always in a

state of preparation, which is manifested by the way

we live. We live to receive Christ, whether it is by

the Holy Eucharist or in the multitude of other ways

that God discloses Himself to us.

Receiving Communion, in this light, assumes

that we are living a Christian life outside of the

services of the Church. The great commandment is

to love God with all of our strength and to love our

neighbors. We show our love for God by pursuing

an intimate daily relationship with Him. This

relationship certainly includes prayer and fasting.

We show our love for neighbors by treating all

people with dignity, serving those in need around us,

and by forgiving people when we are offended.

The reception of the Holy Eucharist certainly

assumes that we are trying to live holy and moral

lives. If our lifestyle is at odds with the teachings of

the Church we are given a choice: we can repent and

change our ways, thereby turning towards Christ or

we can go our own way and turn away from what our

Lord calls us too. Repentance means actively

struggling against and renouncing our sinful

behaviors. If we choose to disagree with the morality

that God has revealed to the Church and go our own

way we excommunicate ourselves from God and the

Church.

Some lifestyle choices that are at odds with

traditional Christian teaching are: sex or sexual

activity outside the context of marriage, the viewing

of pornography, masturbation, drunkenness,

cohabiting couples who are unmarried, murder,

swearing, abortion, lying, stealing, gambling, and

more. Of course, as the list goes on it gets more

subtle so what has been listed is considered basic

Christian morality. When we engage in lifestyles

that are incompatible with Christian teaching we

should avoid taking the Holy Eucharist, unless of

course we are willing to repent and struggle to

correct our ways.

Beyond the above mentioned sins we have to

watch over our hearts that they may abide in purity.

Jesus says “blessed are the pure in heart” and purity

of heart is the ultimate Christian goal that we may

“see God.” One of the assumptions of our faith is that

we will fail in some areas in our Christian walk. We

will fail to love God, we will fail to love our

neighbors. When we fail we should seek

reconciliation with God asking Him for forgiveness.

We should also bring our failures to Holy Confession

that we may be cleansed by God. Whenever possible

we should also seek to reconcile with those who we

have offended.

St. Paul, in reference to how we are to

approach the Holy Eucharist tells the Corinthians:

For I received from the Lord that which I also

delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the

same night in which He was betrayed took

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bread; and when He had given thanks, He

broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body

which is broken for you; do this in

remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He

also took the cup after supper, saying, “This

cup is the new covenant in My blood. This

do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance

of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and

drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death

till He comes. Therefore whoever eats this

bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an

unworthy manner will be guilty of the body

and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine

himself, and so let him eat of the bread and

drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks

in an unworthy manner eats and drinks

judgment to himself, not discerning the

Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak

and sick among you, and many sleep (1

Corinthians 11:23-30).

On the one hand we are always unworthy. All

of us carry sins that we are often blind to. Regular

personal prayer, confession and effort in cultivating

relationship with our Lord in Savior along with

prepared partaking of Communion will undoubtedly

aid us in the discovery of those more subtle sins. That

path and those efforts will lead to healing and fuller

integration into the Kingdom of Heaven. However

our blindness to the more subtle sins that allow us to

approach the chalice with faith in God’s loving

mercy do not excuse us from any unworthiness that

may fall into the clearer, more basic forms of

Christian morality stated earlier in the article.

If we have discovered or already know that

we are “living in sin” we should not despair. It is true

that those sins should keep us from the chalice but if

we confess and repent we are easily restored to

Communion. God is just as loving and merciful,

when we sin He desires for us to be restored. He

desires communion with us. This is why our Lord

incarnated, lived and died for us. He has made every

effort to restore us to Himself and His kingdom but

we must do our part. Every week when the priest

brings out the chalice he states clearly to all, “With

the fear of God and faith and love, draw near." May

God bless us to take the Holy Mysteries of God

seriously with Godly fear and love. May He also

bless us to renounce any sins that separat us from the

Body of Christ. Finally, we are only saved by the

mercy and love of God, let us continually seek God’s

mercy and attract His grace by living pious lives

dedicated to living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In Christ, Fr. Theophan

Announcements

If you would like your house blessed please let

Fr. Theophan know by calling him or emailing

him. There will be a signup sheet in the Narthex

of the Church.

Orthodoxy 101/ Catechism classes will resume

on Wednesday the 8th at 6:45pm. All are

welcome. We are currently covering the Holy

Mysteries of the Church.

Fr. Theophan has enrolled in a Clinical Pastoral

Education (CPE) class. CPE is a post graduate

professional training for ministers.

The Parish Council is scheduled to meet on

January 9th at 6pm. In the December meeting we

elected Heidi as our Warden, Diane as our

Treasurer and Eric as the PC Secretary.

Church Cleanup is scheduled for Saturday the

11th at 10:30am. At this cleanup we will be

putting away all of the decorations. Any and all

help is appreciated.

The Outreach Committee will meet on the 18th at

10:30am.

Church School resumes on January 19th.

Confessions are heard every Saturday from 5-

6pm, on Sunday’s before the Liturgy, and by

appointment during the week.

Sunday Gospel Readings Sunday January 5th Mark 1-1-8

12th Matt. 4:12-17

19th Luke 18:35-43

26th Matt. 15:21-28

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Many Years! Birthdays January 1 George Moore

1 Raymond Brown

6 Olga Uchakin

7 Peter Hintermaier

21 Carmen Luca

24 Leann Almquist

27 Anton Osobov

28 James Talley

Anniversaries January 12 Ray and Patti Lanier

Theophany House Blessings

It is that time of year again! It is an Orthodox

Christian tradition and custom to have your house

blessed every year between the feast of Theophany

and the beginning of Lent. In many places, after the

water is blessed on the day of Theophany the priest

would begin to go house to house, blessing with the

newly blessed Theophany water. In our times many

people live further away from the Church, so it is

often that the priest to be invited to a particular home

for the house blessing.

House blessings are the spiritual version of a

spring cleaning. Over the year our houses slowly

collect dust and dirt, likewise our homes over the

year can become “spiritually dirty.” It is important to

cleanse and refresh our living environment

spiritually.

For those of you who may be new to the faith

or maybe have never heard of or seen a house

blessing, the general process is as follows. First, if

you desire your home to be blessed, you would need

to schedule a date and time to have your house

blessed by Fr. Theophan. In many places it is the

custom to have the priest and his family over for

dinner and house blessing. Others simply invite the

priest to come over and bless the house. Either way

is acceptable, whatever works for the family is

usually best.

In general, the priest will bring all that is

needed to bless the house. However, there are a few

things the homeowner can provide such as an icon of

Christ and a candle. Also, a list of first names for

whom prayers are to be offered, including members

of the family and all those living in the house. The

list should have a clear distinction between the living

and reposed.

Traditions surrounding the blessing differ

according to local custom. In general, when the

priest comes, all who are present in the house gather

around the icon with the candle. Often the family will

say the Trisagion Prayers and then help the priest

sing of the Troparion of the Feast of Theophany.

Then a family member, often the head of the

household, leads the priest through the house with a

lit candle. As he goes, the priest sprinkles holy water,

and prays for a blessing upon each room and the

activity that goes on there. When they have gone

through the entire house, the family gathers again

around the table and the priest blesses each person

present. For a house which has never been blessed

the process is a little more involved, let Fr. Theophan

know and he will explain the difference to you.

It is a pious custom in many cultures where

the priest is often unpaid to offer the priest a

donation. This donation is never required or even

expected.

If you desire to have your house blessed

please sign up at Church or you can email or call Fr.

Theophan to set a date and time. I am looking

forward to the opportunity to visit all of your homes.

January 2013

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St. Innocent Orthodox Church January 2014 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

Fish Wine and Oil

1 Fast Free

9am Divine Liturgy

for St. Basil and New

Year

2

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

3

9am Royal Hours for

Theophany

4

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

5 Strict Fast

9:40am Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45am break

12:15pm Great

Vespers w/ blessing

of the waters

6 Fr. Theophan off

9am Divine Liturgy

followed by Blessing

of the Waters for

Theophany

7

8

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

Resumes

9

Fr Theophan

9am-4pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

6pm Parish Council

10

11

10:30am Church

Cleanup

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

12

8:40 Baptism

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

Prosphora Workshop

13 Fr. Theophan off

14

15

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

16

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

17

18

10:30am Outreach

Committee

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

19

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

12:15 Church School

20 Fr. Theophan off

21

22

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

23

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

24

25

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

26

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

12:15 Church School

27 Fr. Theophan off

28

29

6pm Great Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

30

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

31

January 2013

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St. Innocent Orthodox Church February 2014

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday

1

4pm Confession

5pm Vigil For Our

Lord’s Entrance into

the Temple

2 Zacchaeus Sunday

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

12:15 Church School

3 Fr. Theophan off

4 5

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

6

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

7 8

10am Church Cleanup

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

9 Publican & Pharisee

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

12:15 Church School

2pm Wedding

10 Fast Free Week

Fr. Theophan off

11 12

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

13

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

6pm Parish Council

14 Valentine's Day

15

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

16 Prodigal Son

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

10 Year Parish

Anniversary service

and celebration

17 Presidents' Day

Fr. Theophan off

18 19

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

20

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

21 22

10am Memorial

Saturday Panikhida

5pm Confession

6pm Great Vespers

23 Last Judgment

9:40 Hours

10am Divine Liturgy

11:45 Agape

12:15 Church School

24 Meat Fast Begins

Fr. Theophan off

25 Meat Fast 26 Meat Fast

6pm Vespers

Orthodoxy 101

27 Meat Fast

9am-1pm CPE Class

1-4pm Central State

Prison Ministry

28 Meat Fast