February 27, 2022
Sunday of the Last Judgement (Meat Fare)
The third Sunday of preparation for Lent is The Sunday of the Last Judgement and Meat Fare Sunday. It is the last day before the Lenten fast from meat and the beginning, in part, of the Fast. The fast from meat reminds us especially of the times when the celebration of God’s glory, though promised and sure, is not evident. The ram sacrificed in Isaac’s stead, the meat of the purifying sacrifices, the fatted calf, the pure body of the Lamb of God–all present in times of special joy. Participating in the Lenten fast reminds us of Moses’ time on the mountain, the years in the wilderness, our Lord’s fast in the wilderness–times of trial and hardship, but steps to times of joyous celebration and victory, as our fast leads to the great celebration of the Resurrection. The more practical and historically specific question concerning meat, whether meat used for sacrifice could be eaten in good conscience, helps illuminate the standard of the Last Judgement, for the true question was not the eating of the meat but the love of him who ate for those who would or could not. If we do not care enough for those about us to refrain from acting to their detriment, we show the same callousness for our Lord and will be confronted with our hardness of heart on the day of judgement. The love we have for men is inseparable from the love we have for Him whose image men bear. Refraining from meat not only reminds us of the trials of our Lord, of those who have gone before us, and those who are remote from us; it reminds us of the struggles of those about us and of their need of His grace extended through us.
I Corinthians 8:8-9:2: Brethren, food will not bring us closer to God; for neither if we eat, are we the better, nor if we do not eat, are we the worse. But take heed lest by any means this authority of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak. For if any one sees you, as someone who has knowledge, reclining at a table in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of the one who is weak be emboldened to eat of the things sacrificed to idols, and through your knowledge the weak brother perishes, for whom Christ died? And thus, sinning against the brethren, and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food causes my brother to stumble, I will not eat meat forever, lest I cause my brother to stumble. Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not you my work in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, yet at least I am to you; for the seal of my apostleship are you in the Lord.
Matthew 25:31-46: The Lord said, “When the Son of man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at His right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave Me food, I was thirsty and you gave Me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me, I was in prison and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see Thee hungry and feed Thee, or thirsty and give Thee drink? And when did we see Thee a stranger and welcome Thee, or naked and clothe Thee? And when did we see Thee sick or in prison and visit Thee?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ Then He will say to those at his left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave Me no food, I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome Me, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see Thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to Thee?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to Me.’ And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Troparion of the Resurrection: Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; for the Lord hath done a mighty act with his own arm. He hath trampled down death and become the First-born from the dead. He hath delivered us from the depths of hades, granting the world the Great Mercy.
Troparion of the Chains of St. Peter: O Holy Apostle, Peter, thou dost preside over the Apostles by the precious chains which thou didst bear. We venerate them with faith and beseech thee that by thine intercessions we be granted the great mercy.
Kontakion of Meat Fare Sunday: When thou comest, O God, to earth with glory, and all creatures tremble before thee, and the river of fire floweth before the Altar, and the books are opened and sins revealed, deliver me then from that unquenchable fire, and make me worthy to stand at thy right hand, O righteous Judge.
CALENDAR
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast.
Please continue to follow the CDC Guidelines to limit contagion and the spread of the COVID virus.
Sunday, February 27 (Sunday of Meat Fare)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
Monday, February 28
Father Herman off
Tuesday, March 1
NO Services
Wednesday, March 2
6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers
Thursday, March 3
11:30 a.m. — Men’s Lunch
Friday, March 4
NO Services
[His Grace Bishop NICHOLAS
arrives for his arch-pastoral visit.
Please check your email
for the schedule of meetings during his visit.]
Saturday, March 5
11:30 a.m. — Retirement Banquet and 35th Anniversary Celebration at Reunion Golf and Country Club
Sunday, March 6 (Sunday of Forgiveness — Cheese Fare)
8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)
9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)
6:30 p.m. — Forgiveness Vespers
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Brocks for the Saturday of the Souls Liturgy yesterday and by the Dn. Richard Roots for the Divine Liturgy this morning. The Koliva for the Saturday of the Souls Liturgy was offered by Ken and Anastasia Jones
Eucharist Bread Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
February 27 R. Root Algood/Schelver
March 6 Baker Lasseter/Pacurari/Miller
March 13 Henderson D. Root/Baker
March 20 Algood POT LUCK MEAL
Henderson/Jones
March 24 (Thurs. p.m.) Katool Dansereau/Alaeetawi
(Feast of the Annunciation)
March 27 Schelver Meadows/Pigott
Schedule for Epistle Readers – Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the Chanters’ stand at the front of the nave. Please be sure to use this book when you read.
Reader Reading Page#
February 27 Walt Wood I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273
March 6 Sh. Charlotte Algood Rom. 13:11-14:4 279
March 13 Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40 281
March 20 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Heb. 1:10-2:3 283
March 24 (Thurs. p.m.) Brenda Baker Heb. 2:11-18 376
March 27 Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 4:14-5:6 285
Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tithe box at the back of the nave or be mailed to: St. Peter Orthodox Church, P.O. Box 2084, Madison, MS 39130-2084.
We will pray the Trisagion Prayers for the Departed for the Forty Day Memorial for Saliba Dabit today at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy.
Continue to pray for Metropolitan Paul (who is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo who were abducted while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
Please remember the following in your prayers: Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Lamia Dabit and her family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Jay and Joanna; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ and their family; Kathy Willingham; Marilyn (Kyriake) Snell; Jack and Jill Weatherly; Lottie Dabbs (Sh. Charlotte Algood’s mother), Sh. Charlotte and their family; Maria Costas (currently at St. Catherine’s Village); Fr. James and all their family.
Calendar Items:
* The Ladies will meet at the church at 10:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children on behalf of our children. They will also enjoy a book study afterwards.
* The Ladies will meet for lunch on the last Tuesday of the month.
* His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS will be at St. Peter the weekend of March 5-6, 2022 to help us celebrate Fr. John’s retirement and our 35th anniversary as a parish.
* Great Lent begins on Clean Monday (March 7th). As is our parish custom, we will celebrate Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday evening, March 6th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. We will pray the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday that week March 7-11) and celebrate the Pre-sanctified Liturgy on Wednesday and the Akathist Hymn to the Mother of God on Friday. All services will begin at 6:30 p.m.
* Please note that our Pot Luck Meal in March will be on Sunday, March 20th and NOT on March 13th as listed in our Quarterly Schedule.
* We will celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy on Thursday evening, March 24th, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
* The dates for Stewpot for 2022 are Saturday, May 7th and Saturday, September 3rd.
If you are not feeling well, PLEASE do not attempt to come to the services. This also includes anyone who may have been exposed to you during this time. Also, please let Fr. Herman know if you are not feeling well and have COVID like symptoms.
A movie has been released about St. Nectarius of Aegina. It’s called Man of God. It is scheduled to play at the theaters in Pearl and Madison one showing only, March 21, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. Here is the link: https://www.imdb.com/showtimes/title/tt6060964/?date=2022-03-21
Camp St. Thekla dates: The dates for Camp St. Thekla are: Session 1 is June 26 – July 2 and Session 2 is July 3 – 9. If you have a child registered for Camp, please see Daniel for information on scholarships available from the Order of St. Ignatius. If there is still a financial need, some additional funds may be available.
Instructions for streaming our services can be found on the parish website.
Fasting Discipline for March
Following Meat Fare Sunday on February 27th, meat will no longer be eaten until Pascha. During the week following Meat Fare Sunday, dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday. Beginning with Clean Monday on March 7th, the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except for the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 17th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).
Major Commemorations for March
March 6 Sunday of Cheese Fare
March 7-11 First Week of Great Lent
March 9 Holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste
March 13 1st Sunday of Lent; Sunday of Orthodoxy
March 20 2nd Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas
March 25 Feast of the Annunciation
March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel
March 27 3rd Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross
Quotable: “Watch your heart during all your life — examine it, listen to it, and see what prevents its union with the most blessed Lord. Let this be for you the science of all sciences, and with God’s help, you will easily observe what estranges you from God, and what draws you towards Him and unites you to Him. It is the evil spirit more than anything that stands between our hearts and God; he estranges God from us by various passions, or by the desire of the flesh, by the desires of the eyes, and by worldly pride.”
St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ
Worship: Sunday, March 6, 2022 (Sunday of Cheese Fare)
Scripture: Romans 13:11-14:4; Matthew 6:14-21
Celebrant: Father Herman
Epistle Reader: Sh. Charlotte Algood
Prosphora: Baker
Coffee Hour: Lasseter/Pacurari/Miller
Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church 