May 21, 2023

Sunday of the Blind Man

Today is the Sunday of the Blind Man. Though the Gospel account of the healing of the blind man touches many subjects, there is but one theme: Christ is the divine Light which illuminates the hearts of those who behold Him in faith. Despite the intimidation of the authorities, despite the confusion of the people who know him, despite the fear of his parents, the blind man given sight refuses to deny what he knows is the truth: Jesus has given him sight, has healed the affliction he has born from birth, and one who does such good is from God. To deny his healer is to deny the truth, and he prefers persecution and rejection to that denial. More than his eyes have been opened; his heart has been opened to true and eternal Light. As were the Israelites cast into the dark despair of his fear, as are we all blinded by the frustration of sin and of our weakness, so this man was trapped by his closed eyes; and, as may all be, he was freed by the coming of the Messiah. In faith we open our eyes to the radiant glory of our Lord and King.

Acts of the Apostles 26:1, 12-20: In those days, King Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: “I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining round me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who art Thou, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus Whom you are persecuting. But rise and stand upon your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you to serve and bear witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, to whom I send you to open their eyes, that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ Wherefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those at Damascus, then at Jerusalem and throughout all the country of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and perform deeds worthy of their repentance.”

John 9:1-38: At that time, when Jesus was passing, He saw a man blind from his birth. And His Disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be made manifest in him. I must work the works of Him Who sent me, while it is day; night comes, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” As He said this, he spat on the ground and made clay of the spittle and anointed the man’s eyes with the clay, saying to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” [which means Sent]. So he went and washed and came back seeing. The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar, said, “Is not this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he”; others said, “No, but he is like him.” He said, “I am the man.” They said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?” He answered, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash’; so I went and washed and received my sight.” They said to him, “Where is He?” He said, “I do not know.” They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. The Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” There was a division among them. So they again said to the blind man, “What do you say about Him, since He has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight, and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; but how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” His parents said this because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Him to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue. Therefore his parents said, “He is of age, ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give God the praise; we know that this man is a sinner.” He answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I know, that though I was blind, now I see.” They said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you too want to become His disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are His disciple, but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where He comes from.” The man answered, “Why, this is a marvel! You do not know where He comes from, and yet He opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him He said, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” He answered, “And Who is He, Sir, that I may believe in Him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen Him, and it is He who speaks to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe”; and he worshiped Him.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Let us believers praise and worship the Word, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation; for he took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh, to suffer death, and to raise the dead by his glorious Resurrection.

Troparion of Sts. Constantine and Helen: Having seen the image of Thy Cross in Heaven, and, like Paul, having received the call not from men, Thine apostle among kings entrusted the commonwealth to Thy hand, O Lord. Keep us always in peace, by the intercessions of the Theotokos, O only Friend of man.

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 Pascha: When Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of Hades. In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming Rejoice! to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.

CALENDAR

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast. (Instructions can be found on the parish website.)

Sunday, May 21 (Sunday of the Blind Man; Sts. Constantine and Helen)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education
10:00 a.m.

May 14, 2023

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

After-feast of Mid-Pentecost

This Sunday concludes the week which includes mid-Pentecost. The scriptures for that day make reference to the great and final feast and the Lord’s words concerning fountains of living water and the nourishment of the spirit. The episode of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well and Jesus’ further description of Himself as living water continue this theme. There are innumerable nuances to the message of this episode, ranging from the allusion to the patriarch Joseph to the faith of those who believe without seeing, but let us concentrate on the woman who comes into the presence of her God. Christ asks service of her, asks her to ignore their traditional enmity, confuses her with parables, confronts her with her sins, and claims to be her Messiah and Lord. She enters the scene with skepticism, but she does not let circumstances blind her, for the words of the man before her ring with unmistakable authority and truth. Whether she wants to or not, she must believe herself to be in the presence of the Son of God; she not only believes, but she quickly bears witness to the others of her town. We join her in her faith, and we, too, partake of the Water of Life.

Acts of the Holy Apostles 11:19-30: In those days, when the apostles were scattered because of the tribulation that arose over Stephen, they traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one, except to Jews only. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who upon coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. The report concerning them reached the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent out Barnabas, to go as far out as Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should cleave to the Lord; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great multitude was added unto the Lord. Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year, they were gathered together in the church, and they taught a great multitude of people, and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and signified by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over the whole world; and this took place in the days of Claudius Caesar. And the disciples, every one according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren who dwelt in Judaea; and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.

John 4:5-42: At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as He was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His Disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that Thou, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst forever; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and Thou sayest that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming [He Who is called Christ]; when He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I Who speak to you am He.” Just then His Disciples came. They marveled that He was talking with a woman, but none said, “What dost Thou wish?” or, “Why art Thou talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man Who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the city and were coming to Him. Meanwhile the Disciples besought Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” So the Disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him food?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him Who sent Me, and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Many Samaritans from that city believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He said to me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His words. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Troparion of the Resurrection: Having learned the joyful message of the Resurrection from the angel, the women Disciples cast from them their parental condemnation, and proudly broke the news to the Disciples, saying, Death has been spoiled. Christ God is risen, granting the world Great Mercy.

Troparion for mid-Pentecost: In the midst of this Feast, O Saviour, give my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of true worship; for thou didst call out to all, saying, Whosoever is thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. Wherefore, O Christ our God, Fountain of life, glory to thee.

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 Pascha: When Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of Hades. In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming Rejoice! to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.

CALENDAR

UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE: All services listed on the calendar will be available through streaming and webcast. (Instructions can be found on the parish website.)

Sunday, May 14 (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)

Monday, May 15

Father Herman off

Tuesday, May 16

NO Services

Wednesday, May 17

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

Thursday, May 18

NO Services

Friday, May 19

NO Services

Saturday, May 20

4:45 p.m. — Choir Practice

6:00 p.m. — Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia

Sunday, May 21 (Sunday of the Blind Man; Sts. Constantine and Helen)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros (webcast)

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy (webcast)

12:00 p.m. — Coffee Hour honoring High School Graduates

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Morrises for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

May 14 Morris Henderson/Jones

May 20 (Sat. p.m.) Baker (Artos Bread for Litia/Sts. Constantine & Helen)

May 21 Jones Dansereau/Alaeetawi

(Special Coffee Hour to honor High School Graduates)

May 24 (Wed. p.m.) Meadows Lockhart/Karam/Snell

(Feast of Ascension)

May 28 Davis POT LUCK MEAL

Lavric/Skirtech/Dabit

Also, please remember that we still need your tithes and offerings which may be placed in the tray that is passed during the Divine Liturgy, 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.

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#

May 14 Walt Wood Acts 11:19-30 52

May 21 Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 26:1, 12-20 384

May 24 (Wed. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Acts 1:1-12 63

May 28 Reader Basil Baker Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66

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 Davis; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver 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); Reader Basil and Brenda Baker and their family; Buddy Cooper; Georgia and Bob Buchanan; Fr. Joseph Bittle; Anthony and Athena Zouboukos and Keri Waites; Steve and Sheryl Chamblee.

Congratulations and Many Years to Metropolitan SABA! His Eminence was enthroned as Metropolitan of our Archdiocese May 13th at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY. May God grant him Many Years!

Luke Habeeb (Jackson Prep) and Cole Parker (MRA) will be graduating from high school this month. We will honor both of them with a special Coffee Hour NEXT Sunday, May 21st.

We will have our Monthly Pot Luck Meal for the month of May on Sunday, May 28th during Bishop NICHOLAS’ visit to St. Peter.

Time is running out to register for the PLC. This year the Parish Life Conference will be hosted by St. George Cathedral in Coral Gables, FL on June 14-17. His Eminence, Metropolitan SABA will be in attendance. Deadline for registration is May 22nd. Father Herman sent an email earlier with the link for registration, or you may also go to the Diocesan website DOMSE.org.

PARENTS, your help is needed in the following areas:

1) A problem has arisen due to the nursery room being left messy after Coffee Hour. No food of any kind should be taken into that room. Also, it is necessary for a parent to be in the room whenever their children are in there playing. Thank you for your assistance with this.

2) Please see that your children do not use the Sunday school rooms with the doors closed during Coffee Hour.

3) Please ask your children to not climb the trees in the front of the church. (The playground will be available again soon.)

Fasting Discipline for May

The Holy Synod of Antioch has given instruction in the past that there will be no fasting for the entirety of the Paschal Season. Following the leave-taking of Pascha (May 24th), the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) will once again be observed on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Major Commemorations for May

May 14 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

May 21 Sunday of the Blind Man

Sts. Constantine and Helen

May 24 Leave-taking of Pascha

May 25 Ascension

The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)

May 28 Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council

Archdiocese Convention: The Biennial Antiochian Archdiocese Convention is being hosted by St. George Orthodox Church in Phoenix, AZ on July 23-30. His Beatitude, Patriarch JOHN X will be in attendance. Information about the convention may be found at http://www.ac2023az.org.

Calendar Items:

* The men of the parish meet for lunch at 11:30 a.m. on the first Thursday of the month.

* The Ladies 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.

* The Ladies meet for lunch at 1:00 p.m. on the last Tuesday of the month.

* The remaining Stew Pot Date for 2023 is Saturday, September 9th.

* Special Coffee Hour to honor High School Graduates, Luke Habeeb and Cole Parker on Sunday, May 21st.

* Mark your Calendars now! His Grace, Bishop NICHOLAS will be at St. Peter for his Archpastoral visit May 26-28. He will celebrate the Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with us on Sunday morning. We will also have our Monthly POT LUCK MEAL that Sunday.

Quotable: “The life of the Church is not a dead remembrance of past events. Again and again in our prayers and hymns we use the word ‘today’. ‘Today the virgin goes to the cave to give birth…, ‘Today the Jordan is turned back…, ‘Today is hung upon the Cross…, and so forth. We never say ‘Christ has risen’ or ‘Christ was born’, but ‘Christ is risen!’ ‘Christ is born!’ These are never past events; they happen today for each of us because we experience them in the present as a living reality, and through them we participate in eternity.”

Dr. Eugenia Constantinou, Thinking Orthodox, Understanding and Acquiring

the Orthodox Christian Mind

Worship: Sunday, May 21, 2023 (Sunday of the Blind Man; Sts. Constantine and Helen)

Scripture: Acts 26:1, 12-20; John 9:1-38

Celebrant: Father Herman

Epistle Reader: Kh. Sharon Meadows

Prosphora: Joneses

Coffee Hour: Coffee Hour honoring High School Graduates

Dansereau/Alaeetawi