BULLETIN, July 9, 2017

237 Long Hill Rd, Little Falls, NJ 07424Matins 9:00 am

Divine Liturgy 10:00 amParish Office - (973)256

8961Pastor Office - (973)256-9475

Church Website: www.stgeorgenj.comChurch office Email:

jsalotti@stgeorgenj.com

Tone4 Fifth Sunday after

PentecostEothinon

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Altar Servers Andrew Handal, Andrew Louis, Anthony Louis,

Christian Hanna, Anthonly Maemari, Mark Tarazi.

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The Most Reverend Metropolitan JOSEPH

His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS

V. Rev. Father Dimitri

Deacon Issac

Parish Council OfficersAmin Amireh

(Chairman)Elie Saade

(Vice Chairman)Michael Nafash

(Treasurer)Donna Starke(Secretary)

RESURRECTIONAL APOLYTIKION IN TONE FOURHaving learned the joyful message of the Resurrection from the angel the women disciples of the Lord cast from them their parental condemnation. And proudly broke the news to the Disciples, saying, Death hath been spoiled; Christ God is risen, granting the world Great Mercy.

رابع طروبارية القيامة على اللحن ال00رز بالقيام00ة البهج. وط00رحن القض00اء الج00دي. إن تلمي00ذات ال00رب. تعلمن من المالك الكبي الم0وت وق0ام المس0يح اإلل0ه. ومنح الع0الم ل مفتخ0رات وق0ائالت. س0 س0 وخ0اطبن الر

الرحمة العظمى.TROPARION OF SAINT GEORGE IN TONE 4

As deliverer of captives, as defender of the poor, healer of the infirm, champion of kings, Victorious, Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ our Lord, intercede for the soul’s salvation.

ك بما ر للمأسورين أن طبيب وللمرضى وناصر، عاضد والمساكين وللفقراء ومعتق، محرها. ومحارب مكافح المؤمنين وعن وشاف، .المظفر جاورجيوس الشهداء في العظيم أي

.نفوسنا خالص في اإلله المسيح إلى تشفعKONTAKION FOR ORDINARY SUNDAYS IN TONE 2

O Protection of Christians that cannot be put to shame, and their constant intercessor before the Creator, despise not the petitions of us sinners who are imploring you; in your goodness come to our help, who in faith cry to you: hasten, O Theotokos, to intercede for us, and hurry to pray for us, for you have always protected those who honor you.

عن تعرضي ال, المردودة غير الخالق لدى المتوسطة, المخذولة غير المسيحيين  شفيعة يا إليك الصارخين نحن صالحة أنك بما بالمعونة تداركينا بل, الخطأة نحن طلباتنا أصوات.بمكرميك دائما المتشفعة اإلله والدة يا, الطلبة في وأسرعي الشفاعة إلى بادري: بإيمان

EPISTLEHow great are Thy works, O Lord! In wisdom hast Thou made them

all.Bless the Lord, O my soul.

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The Reading from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Romans. (10:1-10)

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that it may be saved. I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not enlightened. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law, that everyone who has faith may be justified. Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. But the righteousness based on faith says: Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into Heaven?” (that is, to bring Christ down) or “Who will descend into the abyss?” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? The word is near you, on your lips and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach); because, if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved.

الرسالةفصل من رسالة القديس بولس إلى أهل رومية

هد ي أش00 رائيل هي للخالص. ألن ة قلبي وطلبتي إلى الل00ه ألج00ل إس00 ر ها اإلخوة، إن مس00 أي00ر الل00ه، 00ون ب 00انوا يجهل هم إذ ك ب المعرف00ة.ألن 00رة لل00ه، ولكن ليس حس00 لهم أن لهم غي00ر يح للب اموس هي: المس00 ويطلبون أن يثبتوا بر أنفسهم لم يخضعوا لبر الله. ألن غاية النان الذي يفعله0ا اموس: »إن اإلنس0 0ر الذي بالن ى يكتب في الب 0ؤمن. ألن موس0 0ل من ي لكعد إلى 0ك: من يص0 0ذا:»ال تق0ل في قلب ذي باإليم0ان فيق0ول هك 0ر ال يحيا به0ا«. وأما الب س0يح من عد المس00 00ة؟« أي ليص00 00ط إلى الهاوي يح، »أو: من يهب ماء؟« أي ليح00در المس00 الس0000ك« أي كلم00ة اإليم00ان األموات لكن ماذا يقول؟ »الكلمة قريبة منك، في فم00ك وفي قلب00ك أن الل00ه أقام00ه من وع، وآمنت بقلب ب يس00 00الر ك إن اعترفت بفم00ك ب تي نكرز بها: ألن ال

، والفم يعترف به للخالص. األموات، خلصت. ألن القلب يؤمن به للبر

THE GOSPELThe Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St.

Matthew (8:28-9:1) At that time, when Jesus came to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs met Him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one

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could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have we to do to Thee, O Son of God? Art Thou come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many swine was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged Him, “If Thou cast us out, send us away into the herd of swine.” And He said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the swine; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and perished in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, and what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they begged Him to leave their neighborhood. And getting into a boat He crossed over and came to His own city.

البشير متى القديس بشارة من شريف فصل من خارجان مجنونان استقبله الجرجسيين كورة إلى يسوع جاء لما الزمان ذلك في

شرسان القبور قائلين فصاحا الطريق، تلك من يجتاز أن يقدر أحد يكن لم أنه حتى. جدا وكان لتعذبنا، الزمان قبل ههنا إلى أجئت الله ابن يسوع يا ولك لنا ما قطيع منهم بعيدا

أن لنا فأذن تخرجنا كنت إن قائلين إليه يطلبون الشياطين فأخذ. ترعى كثيرة خنازير فإذا. الخنازير قطيع إلى وذهبوا فخرجوا أذهبوا، لهم فقال الخنازير، قطيع إلى نذهب

إلى ومضوا فهربوا الرعاة أما المياه، في ومات البحر إلى الجرف عن وثب كله بالقطيع ولما. يسوع للقاء كلها المدينة فخرجت المجنونين، بأمر و شيء بكل وأخبروا المدينة

.مدينته إلى وجاء واجتاز السفينة فدخل تخومهم، عن يتحول إليه طلبوا رأوه

A ParableThere was once a great city, in the centre of which stood a very tall building, whose top was lost in the sky. It was said that everyone who reached the top was very, very happy. You would have thought that everybody would have wanted to get to the top. But such was not the case.There were some who lived in parts of that city who had never even seen the tall building. Still others had seen it, but did not know what was inside. Yet others, though they had heard about how pleasant it was at the top, either did not believe it or else simply refused to go and look, saying that they preferred to stay where they had always been.Nevertheless there were great crowds milling about the building. Many tried to enter it, yet somehow never managed to, even though the doors were wide open. They said the doors were too narrow. Some of them would try to enter through a window or look for

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other doors. They never succeeded. Some would peer in through the doors out of curiosity, others would actually go in, but quickly come out again, saying that they did not like the look of the ground floor.Inside, on that ground floor, there were throngs of people scurrying about, very busily. Some of them were looking for the lifts that had been installed to replace an ancient staircase, the remains of which could be seen in the panelling of the lifts. Many people found the lifts and got in; however the lifts were out of order and did not go very far. Some realised this and got out of the lifts in disgust. Certain people got out and began looking to see if there was not somewhere another ancient staircase.To their surprise, there, not far away for those who bothered to look, there was indeed another staircase, and there were many people who were already going up. Unfortunately there were those who, having found the staircase, did not go up it. Some of them simply stood there, admiring the carpet; others stood looking at the woodwork, comparing it to that in the lifts. Still others just stood there at the bottom writing books about what it was like at the top - though they had never been there. What imagination!Of those who started going up the staircase, a certain number kept looking around and would then come back down. Of these some would complain that it was too hard to go up. Others complained about other people who were going up the stairs, many of whom, apparently, did not speak English.And yet there were others who went up their stairs and did not come back down, and there were many who went right up to the top. I know, because a cloud of witnesses has told me so. And although I am still at the bottom of these stairs, I am determined to start going up and not look back.And how about you, will you come with me?

TIME-TRAVELLING

A Talk given to the girls of St Felix School at Southwold in Suffolk on 7 March 2001

What were you doing at this time yesterday? And a week ago? And on this day a year ago? Difficult to remember? Today I am going to take you back in time not a day, or a week, or a year, not even 1,000 years, but some 1,400 years.

Imagine: at that time Southwold was a tiny fishing hamlet, Ipswich, the oldest English settlement, was only a small village, and London had a population of perhaps three thousand. This was a wild area, criss-crossed by tracks, sparsely populated, with much marsh and woodland. People lived in thatched huts, often near rivers, which they used for transport. There

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were no stone or brick buildings, apart from a few Roman ruins. Not far from here, at Rendlesham near Woodbridge, was the chief place of all East Anglia, the palace of the King. It was today what we would call a barn. Nearby, at Sutton Hoo, kings were buried in their longships, their bodies buried together with slaves, living sacrifices. Then mounds were raised over them, almost like pyramids.

At that time England was divided into Seven Kingdoms. There were often civil wars between them. There were no police. Might was Right. There were no schools, no hospitals, no books, no reading and writing, because there was no alphabet as we know it. There were no shops for food and clothes, you had to eat what you could grow and dress in wool. Often there were famines because people ran out of food. It was a dark and cold age with little comfort.

But just as a dark room can become light, so a dark age can become light, if someone is willing to bring that light. And into cold hearts can come warmth, if someone is willing to bring that warmth. This happened here in about the year 630. At that time a man called Felix came here from France. There he had instructed the once exiled King of East Anglia, Sigebert, in the Christian faith and had baptised him. Now back in East Anglia, that same King had invited Felix to come here. Tradition tells us that this man, Bishop Felix, began preaching the Gospel of Christ in what is now Felixstowe, the place later named after him.

Felix built churches, monasteries, a Cathedral, probably not far from here at Dunwich, and also a school. This was the first school in East Anglia, in fact the first St Felix School, the inspiration for this School. Indeed, without it, the world-renowned East Anglian University of Cambridge would never have come into existence.

In seventeen years, Felix travelled the length and breadth of East Anglia, transforming it through his missionary journeys, through Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. He travelled by boat, by horse and on foot. Many people remembered him and his name, at Felixstowe and at Flixton and at Flitcham. Even as far afield as Yorkshire there is a place called Felixkirk which is named after him.

So well remembered is he that in the last four years, two new churches here in Suffolk have been dedicated to him, including our own Orthodox church in Felixstowe. We have written down his life for the memory of future generations, a service has been written to him, part of which you have heard sung today, and icons of him painted, one of which you can see behind you. Christians honour him in their different ways.

Why is he so honoured so long after he lived here? Because he brought light where before there had been darkness, warmth where before there had been cold, comfort where before there had been no Church. In other words, where there had been no civilization and no culture, no alphabet and no books, no schools and no education, no hospitals and no healthcare, no laws

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and no unity, he and his followers brought all these things inasmuch as they brought the Church.

So what does St Felix mean to you and to me, to us, today? Now that we have inherited all these things that he and his followers brought, who is St Felix for us? In order to answer this question, we will have to travel through time again. We began by travelling back through time, now I want to take you forward through time.

Many of you have no doubt wondered about your future. Maybe you have asked yourselves the question: 'Where will I be in one year's time, in ten years' time, in twenty years' time?'A high-flying lawyer?A doctor?A politician?A government minister?A businesswoman based in New York and travelling all over the world?A software programmer?A missionary in Africa?A famous writer about a girl magician?A singer or musician on stage in front of thousands?A famous actress?A social worker in a deprived part of London?A mother with six children, a happy family?Whatever your hopes, whatever your dreams, you who have the life and the talents that God has given you and created you for, remember these words:Be truly students of St Felix, be like St Felix: bring light where once there was darkness.

Take these words into your hearts and then you will be able to say to yourselves: 'I have made a difference, my life is not in vain, it is not worthless and empty and futile, my life is full and positive, not bitter, cynical and negative. Through me light has been brought into darkness, cold hearts have been warmed, comfort has been given'. You will say: I have lit a candle in people's minds and inspired them, starting a fire in their very souls.

Then you will have been like St Felix, bringing light instead of darkness, and you will have done good for God and for man.

Thank you for listening.

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Parish NewsHoly Bread

The Holy bread is being offered today by

A-Men FellowshipA-men Group is sponsoring an outdoor picnic on Sunday July 23rd

after the Liturgy on the church Grounds. Everyone is invited, hotdogs, hamburgers, French fries, salad, soft drink, fruits and ice cream, live music, and fun for the whole family.

Donation $20 per family, all you can eat.The Spirits of the Righteous Made Perfect

Anna Nershey, Edward DeGeyter, Filomena Soussou, Jamil Ghanim Ramza Hakim, Stanley Malouf, Jana Lynch, Elias Khoury, Ida Tabeek, Albert Hamway, Joseph Atallo, Nicholas Makoul. May the Lord God rest their souls in peace and grant comfort to their families.

Parish Council MeetingParish Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 19, 2017, at 7:30 pm. The meeting is open to all our beloved parishioners.

THE FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Today's Gospel concerns the casting out of demons from two possessed men, their entry into a herd of swine and the suicide of

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those swine. There are several things that we can learn from this Gospel.

Firstly, we should note that the Gergesenes who owned the swine were disobeying the Jewish Law. The Jews did not and do not eat pork. The Jews who lived in this region were therefore disobeying their own Law. That is why the swineherd 'besought' Christ to leave their area, virtually chasing the Son of God away. We cannot help thinking that the disobedience of these people explains why two of them at least had become possessed.

Therefore we learn that disobedience of God leads to misfortune.

Secondly, it is clear from the Gospel that devils exist and that they can possess men. All too often we meet naïve people who call themselves Christians but have been so hoodwinked by the Devil that they maintain that devils do not exist and that they most certainly cannot enter into men. Such people have clearly not read the Gospel with understanding and have little experience of life. In this context we may ask ourselves about the meaning of the word 'possession'. The Fathers of the Church, many of whom we commemorate today, tell us that that we cannot simply become possessed overnight. Possession is the ultimate stage in a process. The first stage of that process is when we begin to surrender our free will and we 'entertain' demons and demonic thoughts in a habitual manner. The second stage is when demons come to obsess us; we are almost unable to fight against demonic influence over us. Demonic thoughts stalk us, becoming an obsession. The third stage is possession, when demons actually come to live inside us, to own or possess us as their property. This is when we have totally surrendered our free will to resist.

Therefore we learn that the Devil and demonic possession are realities.

Thirdly, in today's Gospel we should notice three characteristics of the devils. First of all, they dwell in tombs. They live in tombs

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because the devils are spiritually dead. Also the devils are violent, alien to the spirit of peace, 'exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way'. Finally, the devils are also believers. This should not surprise us. For the devils are bodiless, spiritual beings, fallen angels. Here we should remember that there are many sorts of spirituality, one of which is the spirituality of the demons. Unlike men, who are made foolish because they are deluded by bodily, material things, the devils see reality as it is, they see the spiritual basis of all things. Thus they confess Christ as He really is: as the 'Son of God'. They have no illusions that Christ may only be some man, albeit a prophet, or a mere man though of great intelligence or giftedness. No, He is the Son of God and that is clear to them. The devils know spiritual reality. According to one Father of the Church, St Simeon the New Theologian, the devils lack only one thing: Love. Indeed, according to him: 'theology without love is the theology of the demons'.

Therefore we learn that Love is the abiding characteristic of God.

Lastly, we see from today's Gospel that animals may sometimes behave better than men. For what do the two men possessed by devils do? They survive, living among tombs. On the other hand, the entry of devils inside animals is enough to make them commit suicide. They cannot bear the presence of evil within them. Yet very often we hear that some people have 'behaved like animals'. This is often untrue and unjust. Animals, for example, do not kill their own species. Animals are sensitive to the presence of evil and fear the presence of supernatural demons, running away from them. This is because animals, who have no eternal, immortal souls, belong to the natural world and fear the supernatural. Men, on the other hand, belong partly to that natural, material, bodily world, but partly to the spiritual world. They are therefore subject to the influence of spirits, whether the spirits of God from the angelic world, or else to the spirits of Evil, from Satan.

Therefore we learn that we are all subject to spiritual influences, to the spirit of evil or to the spirit of good.

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What are we to do? Let us flee the spirit of evil. Otherwise we too will finish by living in the tombs of the spiritually dead. Otherwise we too will be owned by devils and none will pass our way. Otherwise we too will run 'violently down a steep place into the sea and perish in the waters'.

And let us instead of all this cleave to the Spirit of God, which we know from the Gospels, from the Apostles, from the Fathers and from the Saints of the Church of God.

Amen.

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Ladies SocietyIkhlas Munayyer973-228-1927

Teen SOYODonna Starke

(609) 426 0429

Sunday SchoolCo-DirectorsClaire Levash

Michael Kaufman, Mary Ellen Saba

churchschool@stgeorgenj.com

PTAHowaida Louis732-306-3038

Mary Ellen Saba862-228-0386

Stewardship CommitteeJohn Chalet

Choir DirectorJane Tadros

Parish Life Conference Co-Chairs

Jane Tadros jtadros3@optonline.net

Julie Abboudimmalbert@aol.com

Charity CommitteeJulie Abboud

immalbert@aol.com973-812-0444

Hall RentalMaher Louis

201-538-6784hallrental@stgeorgenj.com