Assumption of the Blessed Monthly newsletter of the...

SHEPHERDMonthly newsletter of the Serbian

Orthodox Church of the AssumptionFair Oaks, California

P AS T I R

JULY 2012God be with you

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SHEPHERD

A monthly publication of theSerbian Orthodox ChurchAssumption of the Blessed

Virgin Mary

7777 Sunset AvenueFair Oaks, Ca 95628

Very Rev. Stavrophor Dane PopovicVery Rev. William Weir

Church: 916-966-5438Fax: 916-966-5235

Priest: 916-966-6276Cell: 916-606-8808

Shepherd Staff

Editor: V. Rev. Stavrophor Dane Popovic

Written contributions are welcome;Editorial discretion reserved. Please

Submit articles and ideas to:

V. Rev. Stavrophor Dane Popovic7777 Sunset Ave

Fair Oaks, Ca 95628

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SUBSCRIPTIONS FORSHEPHERD

YEAR $ 20:00Monthly $ 2:00Many Thanks.

Dear Parishioners,

I am looking for an individualor individuals to write a “What’sHappening” Column about thehappenings within our parish

such as baptism’s, kolo dances,event’s, funeral’s, weddings, etc,

for our monthly Shepherd/Pastir. If you would be inter-

ested, or if you know of someonewho would be able to perform

this much needed service, pleasecontact me either via email([email protected])or telephone 916-606-8808.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Of the Ten Commandments, theone we probably break more often is theninth. One reason for this is that we talk somuch about people.

'Thou shalt not bear false witness againstthy neighbor" (Exodus 20:16)

It has been said that those withgreat minds discuss ideals, people of medio-cre mentality discuss events, and those ofsmall minds discuss other people. It wouldseem that most of us have never mademuch mental development

Another major reason that webreak this ninth commandment so often isbecause it ministers to our pride. It surelytakes some of the sting out of our own fail-ures, if we can rub off the glitter from some-one else's crown. It is a sure sign of an inferi-ority complex when a person tells of thefaults of others.

An Underlying AttitudeBehind much of gos-

sip is jealously. However,hardly anyone feels guilty ofviolating this law. None ofus will admit to gossiping;we just say: "I don't mean totalk about so- and-so, but..."and off we go.

Sometimes our gos-sip takes the form of falsesympathy: “Isn't it too bad how Mr.___beats his wife? I feel so sorry for her." Orperhaps, we just ask a question, "Is it trueabout Mr. and Mrs. — getting a divorce?"

It is really an insult to you Corsomeone to tell you of the vices оГ an-other person, because in so doing, he ispassing judgement, not only on the sub-ject of his gossip, but also on you. Itsomeone tells you a dirty joke, his veryaction is saying that he thinks of you asone interested in dirty jokes. For one totell yon of another's sins means that thegossiper's opinion of you is that yonwould he glad to know such things. It isan insult to you!

A Harmless Pastime?Usually we do not mean to hurt

others whom we talk about. We think oftale bearing as a bit of harmless pastime.But let us remember the words of theLord, that we read in Matthew 7:1-2:"Judge not that you be not judged. Forwith what judgment yon judge, you shallbe judged; and with what measure you

mete, it shall me measuredagainst you." That statementscares me...I want God to bekinder to me than I havebeen to others. Don't you?"So live," advised Will Rogers,"that you would not beashamed to sell the familyparrot to the town gossip."That is good advise, but not

many of us have lived up to it.Maybe this old saying will help us

all: "Then is so much good in the worst ofus, and so much bad in the best of us."

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The Lord gave us this very same messagewhen he cautioned, "How can you say toyour brother, 'Brother, let me take out thespeck that is in your eye,' when you yourself do not see the log that is in your owneye?" (Luke 6:42)

A Touching StoryWhenever X think about the ninth

commandment, there is a story in thebook, The Days of Four Years, writtenby Pierre Van Paassen, which comes to mymind Briefly it goes like this... There was ahunchback w ho became sick. He hadnever known his father, and his motherwas a drunken outcast, lie had a beautifulsister, and she loved her brother verymuch. She knew that the only way herbrother would be able to have medicine,because they were very poor, was for herto sell her body. So she did.

The townspeople talked so harshlyabout her that her brother drowned him-self, and she shot herself. Yet for the fu-neral, the little church was crowded. Theminister mounted the pulpit and began hissermon: "Christians!" The word was like awhiplash! "Christians! When the Lord ofLife and Death asks me on the Pinal Judg-ment Day, ' Where are your sheep?' I willnot answer Him. When He asks me a sec-ond time, 'Where are your sheep? I willnot answer Him. But when He asks me thethird time, ' Where am your sheep?' Г11hang my head in shame, but I ш7/answerHim, 'They were not sheep, Lord, theywere a pack of wolves f

That is one of the most beautifulstories I have ever heard. It is so true,when we look at our lives and what we doto others... or what they may put шthrough. And it often is time, too, that theperson w ho talks about one who sins isworse than the person who commits thesin in question!

It Isn't EasyNo one ever said that Christian char

ity (the Bible word for ‘love’) would beeasy to accomplish. In fact, it isn't. Christiancharity is a heavy task for most people. Itpresupposes humbleness. It depends uponthe Grace of God to accomplish the won-ders of mankind. It is easier for a Christianto dedicate himself as a servant of God thanit is to be a servant of man in demonstrating Christian charity in God's name.

We all have our own defects andshortcomings, and each of us expects othersto bear with them. How, then, can we rea-sonably refuse to bear the defects and short-comings of others? lie whose life is one ofcharity is he who gives all things and needsnothing, for he inhabits eternity.

Christian charity is one of the threetheological virtues and is the greatest ofthem. Charity is the outflow of salvationfrom the heart. Faith finds the Saviour, hope delights in Him, and love desires tohe like Him and exhibits Him. to others forconversion.

An Effective MethodThere is no other method so effec-

tive for w inning and maintaining the goodwill of our fel low men than by love. Theman of eminence, intelligence or wealth isenvied, if not hated, by those less fortunate;but a loving man unites all classes to himself,and even conquers enemies and compelstheir love in return.

There is no vi rtue that so gladdensthe heart and enriches the life than love.Charity is to the heart what summer is tothe year, maturing all the noblest andgrandest fruits.

The man in whose heart the spirit oflove abides can go through the day and life without exhaustion.In Christ's service, Protopresbiter Dane Popovic

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“Ne svedoci lažno na bližn-jega svoga“

Od svih deset božijih zapoveti,jedna od najve}ih a koju ~esto prekr{imo je deveta. Razlog ovome je damnogo pričamo o ljudima.

Kaže se da veliki umovi disku-tuju ideale, srednji diskutuju dogadaje,a oni sa malim umom diskutuju odrugim ljudima. Po ovome mnogi odnas nisu dostigli mentalni razvoj.

Drugi razlog što kr{imo ovuzapovest je to {to ovo ide uprilog na{em ponosu.Zasigurno ovo pokriva našesopstvene mane naročito akouspemo da skinemo sjaj sanečije krune. Sigurno je daosoba koja priča o Manamadrugih ima sopstvenih.

ŠTA JE ISPOD OVOG PONASANJA!^esto iza ogovaranja je ljubo-

mora i zavist. @alosno je da skoro nikone oseća krivicu kr{enja ovog zakona.Niko od nas neće priznati ogovaranja;mi samo kažemo: “ja ne želim da pri-čam o njemu ili njoj ali .... “ I počin-jemo priču. Nekada ogovaranje liči nasaosećanje koje je lažno: "žalosno jekako gospodin.,, tuče svoju ženu,mnogo mi je žao nje." Ili samo posta-vimo pitanje “dali je istina da gospo-din...i gospoda ... su u procesu raz-voda?"

Zaista je poniženje za nas samekada nam neko govori o problemima

drugih ljudi, čineći to ne samo da sudiljudima o kojima govori ve} donosi sudi o nama. Ako nam neko govori bezo-braznu šalu njegovo je misljenje da mivolimo bezobrazne sale. Ako nam nekogovori tu|e grehe misli da i mi želimoto da znamo. Pa zar ovo nijeponižavaju}e za nas!

OGOVARANJE DA NAM PRODEVREME

Obi~no mi nemamo nameru dapovredimo one o kojima pričamo. Mis-limo da malo ogovaranje je samo da

nam prode vreme. Ali pod-setimo se reči Gospodnjihkada čitamo "Mt. 7:1- 2). Nesudite da vam se ne sudi.Jer onako kako vi sudite ivama će biti su|eno; kakomerite bližnjega tako merite

sami sebe. Ova činjenica je zastra{uju}a... mi želimo da Gospod bude boljiprema nama nego što smo mi premadrugima.

“Zivite” Poručuje Will Rogerszivite onako da se ne postidite ako pro-date papagaja u gradu: Ovo je do barsavet ali mnogi od nas ga se nepridržavaju.

Moždaće nam ova stara izrekapomoći: "Ima mnogo dobrog čak I u na-jgorem od nas I mnogo lošeg I u najbol-jem od nas. Sam Gospod nam je daoistu poruku kad nas je upozorio "Kakomožete reći bratu svome, brate daj da tiizvadim trun iz oka a nevidite brvno uoku svomc (Lk..6:42).


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DIRLJIVA PRIČAKad god mislim o devetoj

zapovesti setim se price iz knjige (Dam učetiri godine) koju je napisao Pierre VanPaassen. Ukratko priča ide ovako... Bešejedan grbavi covek koji se jako razboleo.On nažalost nikada nije upoznao svogaoca a majka mu beše pijanica. Covek jeimao I prelepu sestru koja ga je jakovolela. Da bi bratu omogućila lekovakako su bili jako siromašni mogla je jed-ino da proda svoje telo što je i učinila.Ljudi iz grada su tako lose govorili onjoj da je njen brat učinio samoubistvoutopivsi se a ona se takodeubila. Za njihovu sahranucrkviea je bila prepuna isvestenik poče propoved:"Hrišć anil" Svet je kao bič!"Hńšćani!" Kada me gospodarzivota bute zapitao nazadnjem sudu: Gdesu tiovceP Ja mu neću odgo-voriti. Kada me bude pitao po drugi put"Gde su ti ovceP J a mu neću odgovoriti.Ali kada me bude upitao po treći put"Gde su ti ovce" ja ću pognuti svojuglavu pos- ramljen i odgovoriti "Oninisu bili ovee Go- spode oni behu čoporvukova!"

Ovo je jedna od najlepših pričakoju sam čuo. Ovo je istina kadauporedimo sebe šta mi činimo drugima....Ili šta drugi čine nama. Obično je daosoba koja priča o tudim gresima imavise svojih.

NIJE LAKONiko nikada nije rekao da jebibliska hrišanska ljubav laka i da

ju je lako ostvariti. Hrišćanska ljubav jejedna od najtežih svtari mnogima.Zahteva poniznost iz zavisi od blagodati

Gospodnje da se ispuni. Lakše je hrišćan-inu da se posveti službi Bogu nego službiljudima pokazujući hrišćansku ljubav uBožije ime. Svi mi imamo svojih manakao i trepera- ment i svako od nas oče-kuje od drugih da nas razumeju i da nasprihvate, pa kako onad mi ne podnosimomane I tepera- mente drugih. Onaj kojizivi u hrišćanskoj ljubavi je onaj koji svedaje i netraži ništa "On će naslediti večnizivot". Hrišćanska ljuba je jedna od triHRIŠANSKE vrline i jedna od najvecih.Hrišćanska ljubav je spasenje koje izlazi izsrca. Vera nalazi spasitelja, Nada uziva u

Njemu a Ljubav želi dabude kao On i prikazujeNjega drugima.

USPEŠNA METODANe postoji bolja metodaza dobi- janje i odrza-vanje dobre volje meduljudima nego što je

ljubav. Covek od po- stovanja, inetligen-cije i bogastva je covek kome zavide ikoga mrze. Covek ispunjen hrišćanskomljubavlju zbłižava sve klase sebi i po-beduje svoje neprijatelje ljubavlju.

Ne postoji vrlina koja vise radujesrce u zivotu nego što je ljubav. Hrišć an-ska ljubav je kao leto kada sazrevaju na-jlepši plodovi.

Covek u čijem srcu živi duhljubavi prolazi kroz dan i život bezteškoća i umora.

Sa ljubavlju Hnstovom,Profojerej-stavrofor Dane Popovic


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Sin Jonin, brat Andrejeprvozvanog, iz plemenaSimeonova, iz grada Viut-saide. Bio je ribar, I najprese zvao Simonom, no Go-

spod je blagoizvoleo nazvati ga Kifom, iliPetrom (Jov. 1:42). On je prvi od u~enikajasno izrazio veru u Gospoda Isusa rekav{i:Ti si Hristos, Sin Boga ìvoga (Mat.16:16). Njegova ljubav prema Gospodubila je velika, a njegova vera u Gospodapostepeno se utvr|ivala. Kada je Gospodizveden na sud. Peter Ga se tri putaodrekao, no samo jedan pogled u lice Go-spoda—I du{a Petrova bila je ispunjenastidom I pokajanjem. Posle silaska SvetogaDuha Petar se javlja neustra{ivim I silnimpropovednikom Jevan|elja. Posle njegovejedne beside u Jerusalimu obratilo se u veruoko 3000 du{a. Propovedao je Jevandjeljepo Palestini I Maloj Aziji, po Iliriku IItaliji. înio je mo}na ~udesa: le~io je bole-sne, vaskrsavao mrtve; ~ak I od senke nje-gove isceljivali su se bolesnici. Imao je ve-liku borbu sa Simonom Vlohom, koji seizdavao za boga, a u stvari bio je slugasatanin. Najzad ga je posramio I pobedio.Po zapovesti opakoga cara Nerona, Si-monovog prijatelja. Petar bi osu|en nasmrt. Postavi{I Lina za episkopa u Rimu Iposavetovav{I I ute{iv{I stado Hristovo, Pe-tar po|e radosno na smrt. Vide}I krst predsobom on umoli svoje dzelate, da ga raspnu

naopako, po{to smatra{e sebe nedostojnimda umre kao i Gospod njegov. I takoupokoji se veliki sluga velikog Gospoda, iprimi venac slave ve~ne.

Rodom iz Tarsa, aod plemena Venijami-novog. Najpre se zvaoSavle, u~io se kog Ga-malila, bio farisej I go-nitelj hri{}anstva.ûdesno obra}en u veru

hri{}ansku samim Gospodom, koji muse javio na putu za damask. Kr{ten odap. Ananija, prozvat Pavlom I uvr{}en uslu`bu velikih apostola. Sa plamenomrevno{}u propovedao jevan|elje svudaod granice Arabije do [panije, me|uJevrejima I me|u neznabo{cima. Dobionaziv apostol neznaboàca. Koliko sustrahovita bila njegova stradanja tolikoje bilo njegovo nad~ove~ansko strpljenje.Kroz sve godine njegove propovedanjaon je iz dana u dan visio kao o jednomslabom kon~i}u izme|u ìvota I smrti.Po{to je ispunio sve dane I no}I trudomI stradanjem za Hrista, po{to je or-ganizovao crkvu po mnogobrojnimmestima, I po{to je dostigao tu merusavr{enstva, da je mogao re}i: newìvim ja nego Hristos ìvi u meni, tadaje bio pose~en u Rimu, u vreme caraNetrona kad I apostol Petar.


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Epistle :1 Corinth.12:27-13:8;

There are many ways in whichwe as followers of Jesus Christ canexpress ourselves through the act ofgiving* This month has been desig-nated as "Stewardship Month" withinour Parish Community. It is a monthin which we will present messages,information and education that will,hopefully, inspire you toward aclearer understanding of what Stew-ardship is and how we can live asfaithful Stewards of Christ. Amongthe topics I will present during thesenext four weeks will be positive andhealthy attitudes of giving throughlove, education, charitable goodworks, finances and through receiv-ing. Yes, giving through receiving!Today, we shall talk about love, be-cause St. Paul's First Epistle to theCorinthians talks about love. Part ofthis Epistle is known as the Epistleof love - Chapter 13 in Paul's FirstLetter to the Corinthians.

In relating to the Corinthiansand extolling them in the virtues ofbeing within the body of Christ, Paul

stated through teaching, healingand prophesizing that we shoulddesire the higher gift of love. Forthe greatest single virtue we pos-sess that does not fail, that neverends is love.

When we talk about love, wetalk about a feeling, an attitude ofuntiring warmth, affection and ap-preciation that we have for some-thing or someone. When we ex-press our love, we outrightly givethat love without thinking of get-ting anything in return. This, by far,is the greatest feeling of love.If we love with an attitude that wemust be loved back, we can oftenbe disappointed in not receiving asmuch as we give. This is selfishlove. Christ taught us to love with-out expecting anything in returnbecause it feels good to love. Whenyou feel good about love, then youwant to go out and show your love.Through means of Christian Stew-ardship, in being a person whoshows responsibility and exercisesan attitude of caring toward anotherperson, by giving of himself (forwhatever it is worth or whatever it


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takes) we can show how much welove our Lord.

The act of giving throughlove is the only way a person shouldgive and can give! If a person givesto His Lord, His Church begrudg-ingly, with an attitude that reflectsthe feelings - "I have to pay my duesto the Church or I won't be consid-ered a member" or "I cannot baptizemy child or get married or be aKoumbaro," that, dear friends, is not

giving through love. If people - notthe Church, but people, look at ourSacraments with a price tag - "Whatdo I have to pay to be a member"then they could never afford them!What price do we put on a Baptism,a Wedding, a Funeral, Holy Com-munion? What price do we put onlove? The Church does not put theseprice tags on our Sacraments, peopledo!

DIOCESAN DAYS 2012AUGUST 31- SEPTEMBER 2, 2012

Saint Steven's Serbian Orthodox CathedralALHAMBRA, CA

Clergy SymposiumAnnual Diocesan Assembly Annual KSS Assembly

Question & Answer Session with His Grace, Bishop Ignatijeand His Grace, Bishop Grigorije Heirarchical Divine Liturgy

Saturday, September 1st& Sunday, September 2nd

Keynote Address by His Grace, Bishop Ignatije BarbequePicnic Lunch with Children's Carnival Youth Presentation by

His Grace, Bishop Grigorje Folk Fest Program


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The Lords Prayer in Serbian iscalled Molitva Gospodnja. Serbs fre-quently call it also by its opening wordsOce Nas.The text of the Lord's Prayeris contained in the Gospel of St. Mat-thew (Mt. 6:9-13). It is the prayer JesusChrist taught His Disciples. The primarypurpose of Jesus Christ was to furnish anexample of true prayer, an ideal prayer,which would serve as a model for allChristian prayers. The Lord's Prayerrepresents a summary of all the ele-ments of which a true Christian prayershould consist.

If we examine the Lord's Prayer, weshall find in it the following features;

(a) It is simple. There are no bigtheological words in it which would behard to understand. It is almost childlikein simplicity.

( B) It is śrief. There are no super-fluous words in it. Everything is to thepoint. Consequently, it is easy to learnby heart and use it regularly.

(c) It is comprehensive, whichmeans all-including. It covers all the es-sential spiritual and material needs andaspirations of every human being.

(d) It is universal It can be used byeverybody without regard of race, na-tionality, sex, age, and

(E) It is everlasting. It was used 1900years ago; it is used today; and it will beused forever. There has never been a needto change it, and there never will be. It isbecause the Lord's Prayer contains eternaltruths about God and the essential humanneeds which never change in time.The Lord's Prayer consists of an invocationand seven petitions. The invocation andthe seven petitions are centered in God,while the last four petitions are centeredin our needs:Invocation:1.Our Father Who art in Heaven,2.hallowed be Thy name3.Thy Kingdom comeThy will be done on earth as it is in heaven4.give us this day our daily bread5.and forgive us our trespasses as we for-give those who trespass against us6.and lead us not into temptation7.but deliver us from the evil one.

As it is evident, the invocation andthe first three petitions concern God's Na-ture, God's Kingdom, and God's Will. Thelast four petitions concern man's needs -need of forgiveness of sins, need of pro-tection from temptations, and need of ourdeliverance from evil.


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Молитва Господња је код Србапозната под именом „Оче Наш". Текстове молитве се налази у јеванђељу поМатеју, глава 6, 9-13 стиха. To јемолитва којом је Христос научио својеагтостоле. Када је дао ову молитву,Христос је имао за главни циљ да онабуде пример праве и идеалне молитвекоја ће служити као модел свиххришћанских молитава. МолитваГосподња претставља скуп свихелемената праве хришћанске молитве.

Ако прегледамо Молитву Господњу,у њој ћемо наћи следеће:1. Она је разумљива. У њој нема

великих теолошких речи које је тешкоразумети и деци су разумљиве јер супросте.2. Она је кратка. У њој нема сувише

речи. Све је сажето. Зато је лаконаучити је и читати редовно.3. Она је свеобухватна. Покрива све

најпотребније духовне и физичкепотребе и тежње сваког верујућегљудског бића.4. Она је општа. Може да је

употребљава свако ко верује без обзирана расу, нацију, пол и године,5. Она је вечита. Употребљавана је

1900 година, употребљава се данас, и

употребљаваће се за увек.Никада није било нити ће битипотребно мењатије. МолитваГосподња еадржи вечне истине оБогу и најнужније људске потребекоје се не мењају у времену.Молитва Госцодња се састоји изпризивања и седам молби.Призивање и три молбе усредсређенесу у Богу, док остале четири молбе суусмерене за наше потребе.Призивање: Оче наш, који си на

небесима1. да се свети име твоје,2. да дође царство твоје,3. да буде воља твоје на земљи као

и на небу4. хлеб наш потребни дај нам данас5. и опрости нам дугове наше као

што и ми опраштамо дужницимасвојим6. и не уведи нас у искушење7. но избави нас од зла.Као што се види, призивање и прве

три молбе односе се на Божјуприроду, на царство Божје, на вољуБожју. Остале четири молбе односесе на људске потребе као штосуопроштај грехова, заштита одискушења и потребе избављења одзла.


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Peter was the son of Jonah andthe brother of Andrew, theFirst-called. He was of theTribe of Simeon from the town

of Bethsaida. He was a fisherman and, at first,was called Simon but the Lord was pleased tocall him Cephas or Peter: "And he brought himto Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, He said,You are Simon the son of Jonah: you shall becalled Cephas, which is by interpretation, arock" (St. John 1:42). He was the first of thedisciples to clearly express faith in the LordJesus saying: "Thou art the Christ, the Son ofthe living God" (St. Matthew 16:16). His lovefor the Lord was great and his faith in the Lordgradually strengthened. When the Lord wasbrought to trial, Peter denied Him three timesbut after only one glance into the face of theLord, Peter's soul was filled with shame andrepentance. After the descent of the HolySpirit, Peter appears as a fearless and powerfulpreacher of the Gospel. Following one of hissermons in Jerusalem, three-thousand soulsconverted to the Faith. He preached the Gospelthroughout Palestine and Asia Minor, through-out Illyria and Italy. Peter worked many power-ful miracles; he healed the sick, resurrected thedead; the sick were healed even from hisshadow. He had a great struggle with Simonthe Magician who proclaimed himself as godbut in reality Simon was a servant of Satan.Finally, Peter shamed and defeated him. Byorder of the evil Emperor Nero, Simon's friend,Peter was condemned to death. Installing Linusas Bishop of Rome, counseling and comfortingthe flock of Christ, Peter proceeded joyfully to

his death. Seeing the cross before him, hebegged his executioners to crucify him upsidedown for he considered himself unworthy todie as did his Lord. Thus the great servant ofthe Great Lord reposed and received the wreathof eternal glory.

Paul was born inTarsus of the tribe of Benja-min. At first, he was calledSaul, studied under Gama-liel, was a Pharisee and apersecutor of Christianity.

He was miraculously converted to the ChristianFaith by the Lord Himself Who appeared tohim on the road to Damascus. He was baptizedby the Apostle Ananias, was called Paul andnumbered in the service of the great apostles.With a fiery zeal, Paul preached the Gospeleverywhere from the borders of Arabia toSpain, among the Jews and among the Gen-tiles. He received the title "Apostle to the Gen-tiles." As horrible as his sufferings were, somuch more was his super human patience.Throughout all the years of his preaching Paul,from day to day, hung as one on a weak threadbetween life and death. Since he fulfilled alldays and nights with labor and suffering forChrist, since he organized the Church in manyplaces and since he attained such a degree ofperfection he was able to say: "It is now nolonger I that live, but Christ lives inme" (Galatians 2:20). Paul was beheaded inRome during the reign of Emperor Nero at thesame time as the Apostle Peter.


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INVITATION TO THE ANNUALDRA@IN DAN COMEMORATION

DIVINE LITURGY 10:00 a.m.PARASTOS 11:30 a.m.

SUNDAY, JULY 15,201212:30 noon LUNCH

EVERYBODY IS WELCOME

POZIVATE SE NA GODI[NJI DRA@IN PARASTOS

NEDELJA JULY 15, 2012

12:30 P.M. RU^AKSVI STE DOBRODO[LI

916 317 4226


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Six months before his appearancein Nazareth to the All-holy Vir-gin Mary, the great archangel ofGod, Gabriel appeared to Zacha-rias the high priest in the Templeat Jerusalem. Before he an-nounced the miraculous concep-tion to the unwed virgin [Mary],the archangel announced the mi-raculous conception to the child-less old woman [Elizabeth].Zacharias did not immediately believethe words of the herald of God and thisis why his tongue was tied with dumb-ness and remained as such until eightdays after the birth of John. On thatday, the relatives of Zacharias andElizabeth gathered for the young child'scircumcision and for the sake of givinghim a name. When they asked the fa-ther what name he wishes to give to hisson and being dumb, he wrote on a tab-let: "John." At that moment his tonguebecame loosed and he began to speak.The home of Zacharias was on theheights between Bethlehem and Heb-ron. The news of the appearance of theangel of God to Zacharias was spreadthroughout all of Israel, as well as of hisdumbness and the loosening of histongue at thee moment when he wrote

the name "John." The news concerningthis even reached Herod. Therefore,

when Herod sent soldiers toslay the children throughoutBethlehem, he directed mento the hilly dwelling place ofthe family of Zacharias to killJohn also. However, Eliza-beth promptly hid the child.Enraged, at this King Herodsent his executioners to

Zacharias in the Temple to slay him (forit happened that it was Zacharias' turnagain to serve in the Temple of Jerusa-lem). Zacharias was slain between thecourt and the temple and his blood coagu-lated and petrified on the stone paversand remained a perpetual witness againstHerod. Elizabeth hid with the child in acave where she died soon after. Theyoung child John remained in the wilder-ness alone under the care of God andGod's angels.


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In many activities of our dailylives we may encounter difficulties withothers. These difficulties may occur any-where, i.e., in families, in the workplace, inorganizational work, and even in churchcommunities. Unfortunately, it results inthe most important of passions - anger -which hurts the one who is possessed by itmore than the one against whom it is di-rected. When such incidents do occur, ittakes a good Christian person to forgivethe person(s) who may have committed theperceived wrong. Never does the humansoul appear so strong and noble as when itforgoes revenge and dares to forgive aninjury.

The following anonymous articleentitled "The Art Of Getting along" canapply to most of us who are disenchantedwith the difficulties confronting us. It re-emphasizes that progress in all facets oflife can only occur when there is a coop-erative effort exerted by all parties(Editor)

Sooner or later man, if he is wise,discovers that life is a mixture of gooddays and bad, victory and defeat, give andtake.

He learns that it doesn't pay to bea sensitive soul - that he should let somethings go over his head life water off aduck's back.

He learns that all men have burnttoast for breakfast and that he shouldn'ttake the other fellow's grouch too seri-ously.

He learns that carrying a chip onhis shoulder is the easiest way to get into a

fight.He learns that the quickest way to

become unpopular is to carry tales and gos-sip about others.

He learns that most people are hu-man and that it doesn't do any harm tosmile and say "good morning" even if it israining.

He learns that most of the other fel-lows are as ambitious as he is, that they havebrains that are good or better, and that hardwork, and not cleverness, is the secret to suc-cess.

He learns that it doesn't matter somuch who gets the credit so long as thebusiness shows a profit.

He comes to realize that the businesscould run along perfectly without him.

He learns to sympathize with theyoungsters coming into the business, be-cause he remembers how bewildered he waswhen he first started out.

He learns not to worry when he doesnot make a hit EVERY time, because experi-ence has shown if he always gives his best,his average will break pretty well

He learns that no man ever got tofirst base alone and that it is only throughcooperative effort that we move on to betterthings.

He learns that the fellows are notany harder to get along with in one placethan another, and that "getting along" de-pends about 98 per cent on himself.

Anonymous-From Lansing BulletinAA


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Nastavak ……..4.Они признају само две Свете Тајне,

Крштење и Свето Причешће, коју онизову „Господња Вечера". Али, чак уњиховој Тајни Причести, они не верујуда је то право Тело и Крв Христова уоблику вина и хлеба. Они узимају хлеби пију вино само као успомену наТајну Вечеру. Неке Протестантскегрупе, за своје причешћеупотребљавају сок од грожђа уместовино, Православнима је забрањено дапримају свету Тајну Причешћа одПротестаната.

5.)У Односу на Тајну Крштења, некикрштавају своју децу као што то иПравославна Црква практикује, алиБапитсти и Назарени, крштавају самоодрасле, које је веома неправилно,зато што Сам Исус Христос је позиваода деца дођу к Њему, а они долазеХристу кроз Свету Тајну Крштења.

6.)Они одбацују других пет СветихТајни.

7.)Они немају Свету Литургију илима шта слично ПравославнојЛитургији. Сва мистика и симболизамСвете Литургије је пренебрегнута. УЛитургији Православне Дрквенајважнији део је Бескрвна ЖртваХристова ради опроштаја греховацелог света. У Протестантскимслужбама главни делови су молитве,проповед и певање. Многипротестантски свештеници и епископине припремају се нити се од њих

захтева да себе припремајууздржавањем од хране и пића преучествовања у Светој Тајни Причешћакао што се то захтева у ПравославнојЦркви.

8.) Они немају установљенихпостова, нити се постом припремају препримања Свете Причести, као што точине Православни Хришћани.

9.)Протестанти одбијају поштовањеПресвете Богородице, Светитеља,Анђела, Светих Икона, Светих Моштију,чак и Свети Крст. Њихове цркве немајуни једну свету Икону, а многе немају никретова, нити мећу знак часног Крста насвоју личност (нити се крсте).

10.)Протенстатизам учи да се човекспаеава само Божијом милошћу крозверу у Христа. Човек треба само даверује. Ово је потпуно нетачно, пошточовек може бити спаеен кроз његовуверу и његова добра дела, што значиблагодаћу Божијом уз кооперативнуакцију слободне воље чинећи добрадела.

11.)Многе протестантскеденоминације одбацују јерархију, алиимају свештеника и проповеднике којисе понекад називају презвитери.

12.) Неке од ПротесТантскихденоминације светкују суботу као данодмора уместо недеље, као што суАдветисти и други.

Пошто су Протестантсјка учењапогрешна и јеретичка, ПравославнимХришћанима је забрањено да ихприсвајају.


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CONTINUE..4. They accept only two Sacraments,

Baptism and Holy Communion, which theycall "the Lord's Supper". But even in theirHoly Communion, they do not believe thatit is the True Body and Blood of Christ inthe form of wine and bread. They partakeof the bread and drink of the wine only inmemory of the Last Supper. Some Protes-tant groups use grape juice in their com-munion instead of wine. It is forbidden foran Orthodox Christian to receive the Sacra-ment of Holy Communion from the Protes-tants.

5.Relative to the Sacrament of Baptism,some of them baptize their children as theOrthodox Church practices it, but the Bap-tists and Nazarenes baptize only adults,which is very wrong, since Christ Himselfcalled the children to come to Him, andthey come to Christ through the Holy Sac-rament of Baptism.

6.They reject the other five Holy Sacra-ments.

7.They do not have the Holy Liturgy oranything even similar to the Orthodox Lit-urgy. All mysticism and symbolism fromthe Holy Liturgy are disregarded. In theLiturgy of the Orthodox Church, the focalpoint of the worship is the Supreme Sacri-fice of Christ for the remission of sins forthe whole world. In the Protestant servicethe points of the service consist of prayers,preaching, and chanting. Many of the prot-

estant ministers and bishops donot prepare and are not required to preparethemselves by abstinence from food anddrink before partaking of the Sacrament ofHoly Communion as is required by the Or-thodox Church.

8.They do not have any instituted fasts,and they do not prepare themselves by fast-ing before receiving the Holy Communionas do the Orthodox Christians.

9. Protestants refuse to adore the Most-Holy Mother of God, Saints, Angels, HolyIcons, Holy Relics and even the HolyCross, Their churches do not have anyHoly Icons and many of them do not pos-sess any crosses nor do they make the signof the Holy Cross on their person.

10.Protestantism teaches that man issaved only by the grace of God throughfaith in Christ. Man has only to believe.This is completely erroneous, since mancan be saved by his faith and his goodworks, which means by the Grace of Godand by the cooperation of man's free willand activity to do good works.

11.Most Protestant denominations rejectthe Hierarchy but have ministers andpreachers sometimes called presbyters.

12.Some of the Protestant denominationscommemorate Saturday as a day of restinstead of Sunday as the Adventists andothers.

Since the teachings of Protestantismare erroneous and heretical, OrthodoxChristians are forbidden to adopt them.


18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

U ime kola sestara, ze-limo sa se zahvalimo svimakoji su doneli kolace I farbanajaja za Vaskrs, Circle of Ser-bian sisters are thankful to allthose ladies who brought cook-ies and colored eggs forEaster: Branka Cubrilo,Zorka tica, Paula Kordic,Ana Bradaric, Mileva Rad-manovic, Zorka Theo-dorovic, Tanja Susa, VelikaPejakovic, Rada Drca,Nevenka Kordic, Ivanka Ste-fanovic, Milica Stefanovic,Vesna Mojsic, Michael Vido-vich, Elenita Dmitrovic,

To All ParishionersSunday School is in need of a dedicated and qualified

teachers who will volunteer time to teach our children theOrthodox Faith and Serbian traditions. If you are consid-ering being a Sunday school teacher, please notify Father

Dane as soon as passableThank you Fr. Dane

Trina Jovovich, Vera Malk-ovic,

U isto vreme zahvaljujemose onima koji su pripremili ru-cak za Majcin Dan (Mother’sDay) Maja 13,012;

In same time we are thank-ful to all those who preparelunch for Mother's Day:

Milos Radmanovich,Jovan Kordich, Zlatko Theo-dorovic. Stenly Mojsic IMileva Radmanovic.

Clanice Kola sestara.


19. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM 2012Stewardship is our financial response to God and His Church. Through our financial

commitment our Parish will be able to carry on its programs for all its members. Please fillyour stewardship card and mail it to the Church office. “ God has given us everything we

have. He expects from us a generous portion of our blessings for the needs of His Church.”Starateljstvo je ne{ finansiski odgovor prema Bogu i Njegovoj crkvi. Kroz na

{a nov~ano obavezivanje na{a parohija bi}e u mogu}nosti di ispuni sve njene pro-grame prema svim parohijanima. Molimo vas popunite KARTU STARATELJSTVA ipo{aljite je u crkvenu kancelariju. “Bog nam je dao sve {to imamo. On i o~ekuje odnas dobar deo od blagoslova nam dati za potrebe Njegove crkve”.

We are grateful to the following Stewards of our parish family for their pledge of support to theChurch and her ministries for 2012

THE FOLLOWING PARISHIONERS HAVE RETURNED THEIR 2012 Pledge CardsRadomir AntovichIlija & Anna BradaricDon and Carmen BowenMaria BuricPaul & Irine ButenkoMargaret ChurnayAnna CippaLjubinko & Nevenka ChurchinPatricia CuljakDragoljub & Andja CvjetkovicPavo & Bosiljka CvjetkovicBiserka DelicPava DjordjevicDaisy FreemanKim GlazzardLeontiy & Aleksandra GlebovJohn & Mary GojkovichRobert & Zorka GojkovichHoria GrozaMark HackardDanica HalversonChris & Yuliya JohnsonDanica Johns

Angelia JovanovicLori Ajax JovovichMichael & Trina JovovichDimitri & Luba KarnaookhIgor & Ariadna KaporEve KatichGladys KatsikisIlija KenteraSilvia KenteraPaula KordicSteve & Gail KosachMarcia Lloyd-KovacMilos KovacAnna LisnichBarbara LobodovskyLila LukicMilena MaksimovicMirjana MarkovicIlinka MeglemereMihaela Badea-MicRobert MillerGeorge & Mary MileusnicSavka Mileusnic

Desa MojsicBetty MoomeyElsie MrvosHierodeacon PantaleimonVelika PejovichAleksandar & Zorana PetrovicDraginja PetrovichMirko PetrovicProto & Protinica PopovicMilanka RadosavljevicTodor & Milena RajakDanica Gojkovic RyderDave SokitchIvanka StefanovicPetar StojadinovichZlatko & Kim TheodorovicSlavko & Milica TurjacaninSteve & Kathy VickersDragan & Michelle VidovichCristina & Cristian ViduHelen VukasovichProto & Protinica WeirMilan & Betty TicaConnie Ziacan

How to calculate my financial commitmentAmount Pledged Monthly Weekly Daily$1200 100 23.07 3.28$1000 83.33 19.23 2.73$800 66.66 15.38 2.19$600 50 11.53 1.64$500 41.66 9.61 1.36$300 25 5.76 0.82


20

J U L Y 2012 J U L I

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

SundayNedelja

MondayPonedeljak

TuesdayUtorak

WednesdaySreda

Thursday^etvrtak

FridayPetak

SaturdaySubota

14th Sunday after Pentecost

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.4ta Nedeq po DuhovimaGospel. Matt. 8:5-15;Epistle: Rom. 6:18-23;

2 3 4 5 6 7Nativity of

St. John the BaptistLiturgy

at 9:00am


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.5-ta Nedeqa po Duhovima

Gospel. Matt. 8:28-34;9:1;Epistle: Rom. 10:1-10;

9 10 11

AKATIST at 6:00 p.m.Bible Study 6:20 p.m.

12St. Peter & Paul

PETROVDANLiturgy

at 9:00am

13 14

Vespers- Ve~ernje6:00 p.m.

Confession—Ispovest

156-th Sunday after Pentecost

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.6-ta Nedeq po Duhovima

Gospel. Matt. 9:1-8;Epistle: Rom. 12:6-14;

16 17 18

AKATIST at 6:00pmBible Study at 6:20pm

19 20 21Vespers- Ve~ernje

6:00 p.m.Confession—Ispovest-


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.7-ma Nedeq po DuhovimaGospel. Matt. 9:27-35;

Epistle: Rom. 15:1-7;

23 24 25




--


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.8ma Nedeq po Duhovima

Gospel. Matt. 14:14-22; Jn.17:1-13;Epistle: 1. Cor.1:10-18; Heb. 13:7-16;

30 31 - -

CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS? - MENJATE ADRESUIf you’re planning to move, please let us know before chang-ing your address. Ako `elite da se preselite na drugu adresu

obavestite nas pre nego se preselite.Write to –Pi{ite nam na

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary7777 Sunset Ave. Fair Oaks, Ca. 95628

KSS MEETING

Drazin Daycommemoration

St. Peter & Paul Fest from June 11-July 12

Akatist and Bible study will start in September


21. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

ALL ALTAR BOYS ARE ASKED TOSERVE WHEN ATTENDING CHURCH

Reader Schedule

Message to all readers:Please make note of the days you are toread and make plans to come to church

before 10:00 a.m.

July — Juli 1Reader: Kristina Mojsich


July — Juli 8Reader: Daniela Vidovich


July — Juli 15Reader: Rade RadulovichGospel. Matt. 9:1-8;

Epistle: Rom. 12:6-14;July — Juli 22

Reader: Brankica MojsichGospel. Matt. 9:27-35;Epistle: Rom. 15:1-7;July — Juli 29

Reader: Dimitri KarnaookhGospel. Matt. 14:14-22; Jn.17:1-13;

Epistle: 1. Cor.1:10-18; Heb. 13:7-16;

INFORMATION FOR AUGUSTSHEPHERD

If anyone has anything they would like toadd to the Shepherd, the last day to send

information is JULY15th.INFORMACIJE ZA AVGUSTOVSKI

Ako imate ne{to da bi èleli da dateza mese~ni Pastir, zadnji dan za to je

15 JULI. Nazovite Protu Dana ilipo{aljite po{tom.

J U L Y 2012 J U L ISundayNedelja

MondayPonedeljak

TuesdayUtorak

WednesdaySreda

Thursdayêtvrtak

FridayPetak

SaturdaySubota


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.4ta Nedeq po DuhovimaGospel. Matt. 8:5-15;Epistle: Rom. 6:18-23;

2 3 4 5 6 7Nativity of

St. John the BaptistLiturgy

at 9:00am


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.5-ta Nedeqa po Duhovima


9 10 11


12St. Peter & Paul

PETROVDANLiturgy

at 9:00am

13 14

Vespers- Ve~ernje6:00 p.m.

Confession—Ispovest

156-th Sunday after Pentecost

Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.6-ta Nedeq po Duhovima


16 17 18

AKATIST at 6:00pmBible Study at 6:20pm




Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.7-ma Nedeq po DuhovimaGospel. Matt. 9:27-35;

Epistle: Rom. 15:1-7;

23 24 25




--


Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.8ma Nedeq po Duhovima

Gospel. Matt. 14:14-22; Jn.17:1-13;Epistle: 1. Cor.1:10-18; Heb. 13:7-16;

30 31 - -

CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS? - MENJATE ADRESUIf you’re planning to move, please let us know before chang-ing your address. Ako èlite da se preselite na drugu adresu

obavestite nas pre nego se preselite.Write to –Pi{ite nam na

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary7777 Sunset Ave. Fair Oaks, Ca. 95628

St. Peter & Paul Fest from June 11-July 12

22Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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The home is where the heartis," goes a popular old saying. The home — andfamily — are also where faith, hope and love are— or at least ought to be. However, in the face of"outside" competition for time, interests andloyalty it becomes harder for either parents orchildren to believe these truisms.

Parents especially find it hard to be ei-ther the role models that custom traditionally expects of them or the "prime educators... in basicvalues" that both society and the Church havecalled them to be. For whatever reason or neces-sity, even the more traditional-minded father andmother find themselves pursuing a double in-come, multiple-track way of life. This reality lessens their time at home and militates against theformer generations' expectation that at least oneparent — usually the mother — would be readilyavailable to: mold the children in the pre-schoolyears, give support to them in school and extra-curricular activities, oversee their academic pro-gress as well as social development, soothe themin times of childhood crisis and teenage adjust-ment, and, in general, just , "be there."

In the view of many who have observedwhat's happening in our family and social struc-tures this new imperative can in a way, become"a blessing in disguise." It could mean that, asthe Scripture instructs us, we must come to rec-ognize that with parenting and family life "ittakes two to tango." Developing boys and girlsneed strong role models, male as well as female;where that can be realized basically in the home,all the better. The absent, work-driven husband/

father of western culture was no more a vi-able state of being for healthy marriage, fam-ily, child and social development than thepattern (at the other extreme that we fre-quently see today) of "substitute parenting"— in the form of day-care centers, unabated school and extracurricular activities,etc.

So, given all these realities, howdoes the harassed but conscientious Christianparent carry out these ideals and responsibili-ties? There are a number of important, basicyet very practical principles which can helpus in the task.

1.Parents represent the day-to-day image and reality of God in children's lives.This, at first, may seem intimidating, if notdownright frightening to many. But what itboils down to is that just by trying — by being a conscientious parent — the father and/or mother are conveying God to their chil-dren: who, what and how God is. On thepositive side (even if far from perfect) if aparent is fair, caring and forgiving, yet even-handed in discipline and expectations, thenthe child will perceive God as just, loving,and trustworthy. From the negative, if momand dad are severe, uncompromising, erratic— lax at one juncture but harsh on other oc-casions — then the child can only see a deitywho is expressed as "God will get you everytime" and as an untrustworthy, "sometime"presence that conveys little assurance as towhat life holds for him.

2. Parents can teach important truthsto children. Parents often feel helpless or, atbest, incompetent in comparison with eitherthe schools' professional educators or thechurch pastor and other religious authorities.But parents are, after all, the child's first edu-cators. They can and should be, throughout

23Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ….. . .. . . .... . . . .

the youthful formative years, anabiding source of learning.

3. Think about what the child can ab-sorb, given his/her age, maturity level, demonstrated interests, and circumstances. Sometimes, in trying to convey values to our chil-dren, we parents also tend to forget what is ab-sorbable and what is appropriate for the occa-sion, and the opportunity is either diminishedor lost altogether.

4.Church and home offer the parent important resources. Often, we think we are allalone. "No one else can help us with thesekids," some parents may say, or, "I don't havethe time or experience to locate and reviewmaterials to teach the kids myself." in thechurch community, we are not isolated — andwe have a right to call upon the wider churchfamily's resources. Many parents miss the op-portunity — when their children are youngerand therefore more eager and open to learn —to complement and follow up on the children'sexperiences in church, what he or she is learn-ing in the church school and in the Divine Ser-vices, and to talk it over with them. Today, allsoils of basic and supplementary materials arealso available, which was not the case for for-mer generations of parents, teachers and chil-dren in the Church Read, sing and pray to-gether.

The parish priest is a pastor — that is,a shepherd of Christ's people. He is a resourceoften neglected by families when questionsarise or even in family crises. Other couplesand families in the community have experienced, or are experiencing child-rearingand are conscientious in home, family andchurch. They can become "friends-in- need,"and "mutual support" network groups can de-velop, if we only look beyond our own hori-zons.

5. Be open to your child's own ob-servations and experiences! Allowing thechild to share what he or she is seeing orfeeling, out of their own eyes, can in factopen our often- tired adult eyes. We may, asa result, find ourselves seeing the wonders ofGod's creation, learn again to "smell theflowers in life," in ways that we, as pre-occupied and sometimes cynical adults,would or could never do.As Christ tried to tell his world-weary disciples, we can learn and experience faith,hope and love — and wonder, above all — ifwe'll only just listen to the children aroundus.

6.Finally, keep in mind six simplefacts of life:Be present to your child, rather than being asource of presents.

Children love rhythms — use thenatural rhythms and cycles of the Church'sliturgical year, feastdays, seasons, heroesand stories, as well as of your own familylife, birth, death, and renewal experiences.

Stress and show love — cultivate asense of love for others, self-worth.

Faith development is a lifelong proc-ess, just as education is — we don't have toaccomplish everything yesterday/today, nomatter what the world says to the contrary.Help children to think for themselves ... andto see the forest rather than just individualtrees.

Don't give up!Fr. G. Wingenbach

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wanderthrough those places where the person did deedsof righteousness and good. It is also Holy Tradi-tion that the bur

ial take place on the third day. Too often we keepbodies and delay burial for convenience of daysoff from work or to accommodate travelers,thereby ignoring what is prescribed by Holy Tra-dition.Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead,commanded that on the third day after death,every soul shall be brought to Heaven, in imita-tion of Jesus’ own Resurrection so that it mayoffer reverence to God. This is why we celebrateoblation and prayers on the third day.

Once the soul has offered reverence toGod, it is shown the places where the Saints livedand the beauty of Paradise. The soul sees theseduring the 3rd through the 9th days and it glorifiesGod, the creator of all. After the soul has seen allof these things, it changes and it forgets all thesorrows which it felt in the body. But, if it isguilty of sin, it begins to wail and reproach itselffor passing its time on earth in a careless way andnot obeying God’s commandments so that itcould have these same glories and graces. Afterseeing the joys of the righteous for six days, theAngels lead the soul to God again. This is whywe do well to celebrate a service and prayers(Oblations) for the soul on the 9th day.

After this second reverence to God, Hecommands that the soul be taken to hell andshown the places of torment, the different divi-sions of hell and the various torments of the un-godly which causes the souls of sinners to groancontinually. Various places of torment are visitedfor this period of thirty days and the soul trem-bles, fearing that it will be forever condemned to

The question is: “Why do we pray for oth-ers on the day of, or shortly before their death andafterwards?”

There is a prayer called the “Prayer for theparting of the soul from the body.” It is to be prayedat a person’s time of death or even in those last mo-ments when the soul is departing. The prayer maybe said by a Priest or anyone who is related to orknows the deceased. It is best said in proximity tothe body. This is the first day prayer, “ONE”.

It is our custom as Orthodox Christians topray a Memorial Service or “Parastos” (“Panahida”,in Russian) on the 3rd, 9th and 40th days after a per-son’s death. St. Macarius of Alexandria is said tohave written an apocryphal homily on the reasonsfor celebrating memorial services on these particulardates.

According to Holy Tradition, St. Macariusasked an angel who accompanied him to explain thereason for services on these particular days and lateron the anniversaries of the name-day and date ofdeath of a person. Holy Tradition tells us that thefollowing paragraphs summarize what the angeltold him.

On the third day when the body is broughtto the Church, the deceased receives from his Guard-ian Angel relief from whatever grief the person’ssoul may have suffered at parting from the body.This is received because of the prayers of oblationand praise which are offered on the person’s behalf.This creates a blessed hope. During the two dayspreceeding the third day the person’s soul was al-lowed to wander over the earth with angels accom-panying it. Since the soul loved its body, it wouldoccasionally hover around the place where it partedfrom the body. Other times it would be around thecoffin where the body had been placed. This is notunlike a bird seeking its nesting place. Some souls

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reside there for eternity.On the fortieth day, the soul is again taken

todo reverence to God and, at this time, the Judge ofall determines the appropriate place for the soulaccording to its deeds. This is the reason why theChurch and the faithful are acting properly in men-tioning the baptized deceased in a memorial serviceon the 40th day. In many places it has been the prac-tice to have the memorial on the Sunday nearest tothe 40th day. There is no prescription as to whetherthe Sunday before or after is correct because theChurch prescribes the 40th day as the appropriatetime. Sundays are a celebration of the Resurrectionof Jesus Christ and memorial services should not beheld on Sundays but is what is called “economia” orthe economy/convenience to make concessions.

The reasons for memorial commemorationson the 3rd, 9th and 40th days are readily apparent be-cause the soul is brought before God on these days.The service on the 40th day is especially significantbecause the soul is brought for judgment at thattime where it remains until the final judgment at

the Second Coming of Christ.Thereafter we remember the departed

on their name-day and the annual anniversaryof their departure from the earthly life. This isour tradition for remembering the Saints and islikewise appropriate that we remember othersthis same way. This is a bit murky since weremember Saints on the days of their glorifica-tion more than the day of their death. Even ifyou do not have a prayerful remembrance inChurch for your departed loved ones and fam-ily it remains important to at least celebrate theabbreviated service which we call the “Pomen”on the actual anniversary. This takes no morethan a few minutes and it is important for oursouls as well as the souls of the departed.

The foregoing article was adapted andexpanded from on previously published in theOrthodox Herald.

Fr. William Weir

If you would like your name listed in the August Shepherdissue, please notify Protinica Mary Anne BEFORE July 8th.Parents, Kumovi, Aunts and Uncles – please help out with submit-ting information on any graduates.

Name;____ Institution graduating from;____ Degree if onegotten;

Any special recognition or scholarships received?Many Thanks – 488 – 0827 or email: [email protected].

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Претходне напомене

NASTAVAK……. Uzeto od Svetosavlja—

"Удостој ме, Богородице, да одлазећи саземље несметано прођемпоред ваздушног владара,насилника и мучитеља, којистоји на страшнимпутевима и изненадноистражује свакуреч" (песма 4, тропар 4).

"Удостој ме светаБогородице, да избегнемпукове бестелеснихварвара, и ваздушнебездане прелетим, и на небесаузиђем" (песма8, тропар 2). "Отерајдалеко од мене светодршца-управитељагорких митарстава" (песма 8, тропар 3).

У "Келејномправилу", у молитвама после катизама,Црква даје следеће: "Господе мој, Господе!Даруј ми сузе умилења да Те њима умолим даме очистиш пре смрти од свих грехова; јерстрашно и ужасно место морам проћи од теласе разлучивши, и мноштво мрачних и суровихдемона ће ме срести" (по 4. катизми).

"Усаврши ме Својим савршенством итако ме изведи из овог живота, да би,несметано прошавши начала и власти таме,Твојом благодаћу угледао и ја неприступнеТвоје славе доброту неизрециву" (по 17.катизми).

У молитви која се говори пре кондака иикоса "Акатиста Богородици" чита се

следеће:"О, Мајко Цара небеса и земље!

Измоли опроштење свих мојихсагрешења, подај ми живота исправљењеи да на крају мирно прођем ваздушненепријатеље".

"Мртви тобом (Богомајко)оживљују. Јер си живот ипостасниродила: неми дотад постајублагоглагољиви, кужни се очишћују,

болести нестају, а ваздушнихдухова мноштва сепобеђују" (4. тропар 8.песме).

У "Осмогласнику"се Богородици упућујуследеће молитве:

"У час смрти моје, Дјево, изђавољих руку ме отми, и од

суда, распри и страшних мука имитарстава горких, кнеза љутог, и вечнеосуде" (петак, глас 4, песма канона 8).

"Избави ме, Пречиста, у смртномчасу од мучења ђавољих" (четвртак, глас4, песма 6).

"У часу, Дјево, смрти моје одруке ђавоље и осуде, одговора истрашних мучења, митарстава горких икнеза љутог, од огња вечног избавиме" (уторак, глас 4, песма 8).

"Владичице и Мајко Избавитеља,изађи преда ме у часу исхода мог када меваздушни духови буду мучили јерпомишљу сагреших" (петак, глас 3, песма6).

"Кад плотске везе душа моја будераскидала, тада, Владичице, изађи предаме и бестелесних непријатеља скуповеразруши, и чељусти оних који хоће да мепрождеру уништи немилице, да бинесметано прошао поред кнезова таме у


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ваздуху" (субота, глас 2, песма 9).

У "Молепствију за разлучење душе одтела када се човек дуго мучи" читамо:

"Ето све време мога живота прође каодим, и већ дођоше Анђели послани одБога, немилостиво тражећи душу мојунесрећну" (Требник).

"Ево дођоше многи зли дуси,држећи списак мојих грехова, и силновичу тражећи дрско душу мојупотиштену" (исто, песма 1, тропари 2 и 3).

"Смилујте се на мене, свесветиАнђели Бога Сведржитеља, и избавите одсвих митарстава злих" (исто, песма 7,тропар 2).

У "Канону Анђелу-Чувару":"Да покрије срам и стид срамна и

смрадна и мрачна лица непријатељска кадсе смирена душа моја од телаотрже" (Каноник, песма 6).

"Да угледам јадну душу моју какостоји с десне стране твоје, јер дух мојтреба да се растане од мене, удостоји мекоји те молим и горке непријатељеотерај" (исто, песма 9).

"Молим те, чувара мог, буди мизаштитник и ослонац необориви кадбудем пролазио митарства љутогсветодршца" (песма 9).

У другој молитви СветитељуНиколају, Мирликијском Чудотворцу,чита се:

"На исходу душе моје помози ми,отпалом: умоли Господа, Творца свихствари, да ме избави од ваздушнихмитарстава и вечних мука".

Молба за избављење од ваздушних

митарстава се исто налази и у молитвипреподобном Сергију Радоњешком и умолитвама другим Светитељима.

в) Основе за учење о митарствима уСветом Писму

"Непрекидна, стална употреба свудау Цркви учења о митарствима, нарочитомеђу учитељима четвртог века, непорецивосведочи о томе да су га њима предалиучитељи старијих векова и да се заснива наапостолском предању", да се оно, другимречима, заснива на Светом Писму и да се употпуности слаже с њим.

Прво што смо рекли у вези самитарствима је да самртницима кад им серастаје душа од тела долазе анђели Божијии духови-мучитељи. И Сам Спаситељ упричи о богаташу и Лазару примећује: "Акад умрије сиромах, однесоше га анђели унаручје Авраамово" (Лк, 16,22).

А у причи о човеку који је имаодобру летину и који је рачунао да ћепоживети у изобиљу и весељу, Бог му каже:"Безумниче! ову ноћ узеће душу твоју одтебе" (Лк, 12,20), узеће, мучиће (премацрквенословенском тексту), по свемусудећи, зли духови.

Свети Јован Златоуст овакоразмишља: "Лазара су онда однели анђели.Док су, насупрот, душу оног (богаташа)узеле неке страшне силе које су, можда, ипослане због тога, јер душа не одлази самаиз овога живота, то и није могуће. Ако микад путујемо из града у град тражимоводиче, колико ће тек души бити потребнапомоћ, јер је ишчупана из тела и треба дауђе у нов живот? Зато она, излазећи из тела,често се час пење, час спушта, и боји се, идрхти. Јер свест о гресима нас увек мучи, анарочито онда кад треба да будемоодведени на тамошње муке и Страшни суд".


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Осим тога, Свето Писмо нас учи дасу анђели уопште "службени духови којису послани на службу онима који ћенаслиједити спасеније" (Јев, 1,14), да сеони брину за нас у току целог нашегживота (Пс, 91,10,11), да су нашинераздвојни заштитници, водичи, нарочитоанђео-чувар кога свако добија на крштењу(Мт, 18,10; Пс, 34,7). После свега овога јејасно да нас ови добри духови не остављајубез помоћи и у тешком тренутку смрти, дане одбијају да прате нашу душу, да је водеи подржавају и у току страшног и потпунонепознатог јој прелаза из садашњег животау вечни. С друге стране, Свето Писмо учида су све радње злих духова усмерене нанашу пропаст (Еф, 6,12; 2 Тим, 2,26; 1 Сол,3, 5), да наш противник ђаво, са својимклеветама "као лав ричући ходи и тражикога да прождере" (1 Пет, 5, 8). Зар није заочекивати да он неће испустити погоданслучај да, ако је могуће, погуби нашу душуу тренутку растанка с телом?

Друга ствар која се спомиње уучењу о митарствима је да душа човека напуту у вишњи свет кроз ваздушни просторстално среће пале духове. И реч Божијасведочи о томе да је ваздух напуњен"духовима пакости испод неба" (Еф, 6, 12)- напуњен, наравно, не телесно илиматеријално, већ духовно, да је њихов кнез- кнез "који влада у вјетру" (Ефес, 2, 2) и дадуша људска, дакле, чим изађе из теланеизбежно ступа у њихову област.

Треће из учења о митарствима је тода митари-мучитељи заустављају душу нањеном путу ка небу, подсећају је на разневрсте њених грехова и својски се труде даје осуде, док добри анђели који прате душуу исто време подсећају је на њена добрадела и брину се да је оправдају. Такводелање духова злобе је врло природно: они

не могу а да не знају и да се не сећају нашихгрехова, не могу а да не уложе сав труд у тода нас, у погодној прилици, осуде, јер суони, по учењу Светог Писма, стални нашикушачи и саучесници свих наших злодела (1Сол, 3, 5; 1 Јн, 3, 8) и хоће само једно - данас лише вечног спасења (Лк, 8,12; 1 Пет, 5,8). Толико је и делање добрих анђелаприродно и благотворно за нас, јер они сунаши наставници у сваком добру ируководиоци за вечно спасење (Јев, 1,14),ван сваке сумње знају наша добра дела, и изљубави своје не могу а да не утичу на нашеоправдање.

И четврто и последње у учењу омитарствима је да Бог не спроводи Сампојединачни суд над душом људском поњеном разлучењу од тела, већ допуштадуховима злобе, као каквом оруђу Свогстрашног правосуђа, да је муче, и - заједно совима - користи као оруђе Своје благости идобре анђеле. Ако и на скончању света, кад сејави у свој Својој слави да суди живима имртвима, Господ неће Сам непосредно даизвршава све што се тиче Суда, него "послаћеанђеле своје и сабраће из царства његова свесаблазни и који чине безакоње и бациће их у пећогњену" (Мт, 13,41, 42; в. 24, 31), шта је чудно утоме ако ће и суд над појединцима да извршаване непосредно, већ уз помоћ духова који Муслуже - наравно, присуствујући притомневидљиво и Сам као свеприсутан. Исто тако,ако знамо да Бог даје да пали духови, преопштег Суда када ће и они коначно да добијусвоју казну (Јуда, 6), раде против човека (Јов., 1,12; 1 Пет 5, 9) и понекад их употребљава још наземљи као Своја оруђа праведног гнева противгрешника, као "зле анђеле" (Пс, 78, 49; 2 Кор, 5,5) - шта је чудно ако им Он даје да буду истотаква оруђа правде Његове и за времепојединачног суда над људским душама,користећи притом као оруђе благости Своје идобре анђеле.

NASTAVI}E SE…….


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Eternal King without beginning, Thouthat art before all worlds, my Maker Who hastsummoned all things Iron nonbeing into thislife: bless this day that Thou of Thine inscru-table goodness dost give unto me. by thepower of Thy buying enable me at all times inthis coming day to speak and act for Thee, toThy glory in Thy fear according to Thy will,with a pure spirit, with humility patience love,gentleness, peace courage wisdom and prayer,aware everywhere of Thy presence.

Yea, Lord, of Thine immense mercy,lead me by Thy Holy Spirit into every goodwork arid word, and grant me to walk all m\life long in Thy sight without stumbling, ac-cording to Thy righteousness that Thou hasrevealed to us, that I may not acid to my trans-gressions.

O Lord, great in mercy spare me whoam perishing in wickedness; hide not Thy facefrom me. And when my perverted will wouldlead me down other paths, forsake me not, mySaviour, but force me back to Thy holy path.

O Thou Who art good, unto Whomall hearts be open, Thou knowest my povertyand my foolishness, my blindness and myuselessness, but the sufferings of my heart andthe sighs of my soul are also before TheeWherefore I beseech Thee: hear me in myaffliction and fill me with Thy strength fromabove. Raise me up who am paralyzed withsin, and deliver me who enslaved to the pas-sions. Heal me from every hidden wound.Purify me from all taint of flesh and spirit.Preserve me from t very inward and outward

impulse that is unpleasing in Thy tight andhurtful to my brother-man.

I beseech Thee: establish me in thepath of Thy commandments and to my lastbreath let me not stray from the tight of Thineordinances, that Thy commandments may be-come the sole law of my being in this life andin all eternity

O God, my God I plead with Thee formany and great things do not disregard me.Cast me not away from Thy presence becauseof my presumption and boldness, but by thepower of Thy love lead me in the path of Thywill. Grant me to love Thee as Thou hast com-manded, with all my heart and with all mysoul, arid with all my .mind,, and with all mystrength; with my whole being.

For Thou alone art the holy protectionand all-powerful defender of my life, and untoThee I ascribe glory and offer my prayer.Amen,

Grant me to Know Thy truth before Idepart this life Maintain my life in this worlduntil I may offer unto Thee true repentance.Таке me not away m the midst of my days andwhen Thou shall be pleased to bring my lift toan end, forewarn me of my death that I mayprepare my soul to come before Thee.

Be with me then, O Lord,, on mygreat and sacred day, and grant me the joy ofThy salvation. Cleanse Thou me from manifestand secret sins, from, all iniquity that is hid inme; and give me a right answer before Thydread judgment-seat. Amen.


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A man came Many teach-ers leave the classroom feeling that "parentsdon't care", that "the home just won't cooper-ate" At the same time, many parents simplyraise their hands in desperation, "our childrenparticipate in so many outside activities. Whatdo you expect from us?" And there's alwaysthat inevitable complaint, The kids are boredwith church school classes anyway."

Frequently, when studying such a situa-tion in the parish, we find that it's not thatparents don't want to help, nor is it that teach-ers don't want to improve their skills. It's morea matter of communication. It seems the morewe talk, the less we understand. Yet we hardlycan imagine a world without communication.Concerning education, I think there are pointsto keep in mind.

First, there should always be the vi-sion of the school as an extension of thechurch. When we think of communication, weusually think in two's - two persons, twogroups, two thoughts. Yet Christ is present ineach person we deal with. Our vision of thechurch's school should reflect Him, it shoulddirect us to Him m whatever we seek to do. Heis the "Light Of The World." This vision caneliminate division, sides, cliques within thechurch, school and home.

Second, there should be a return tothat original image of the local church as theBody Of Christ Our membership in the churchconsists in belonging. As soon as this sense ofbelonging becomes real in school life, the divi-sion between "parents and teachers", "churchand school", "they" and "us" no long exists. Itbecomes our church school, our children, andour program. We make the effort to help and °volunteer.

Third, we must establish relationshipsbetween parents and teachers, teachers andpastor, pastor and children, children and par-ish. I can't think of any one difficulty that stag-

nates the growth of everyone in the church as muchas "sticky" relations. A friendly smile, a kind andgentle manner, a humble and unimposing relation-ship, can achieve more of the ideal in the church thanthe cold, efficient, business like atmosphere that wesometimes find. Parents should be grateful that theschool program exists and feel need to help. Teachersshould not forget they have an obligation to thewhole parish, not just the stud Teachers can become"walking reminders" of the growth and learning thateach Christian should seek.

The teaching ministry of the church is desig-nated by the bishop to the priest, who then hands itdown to teachers. The parish priest is an essentialpart of the educational structure of the church'sschool. He is spiritual father of the parish and of theschool. Most fathers make their children comfortableby meeting their basic needs. Some go even furtherand offer guidance, loving support and protection. Aparish p " is all this to the school and more.

At the same time, in the home, respect of thehighest degree for religious education must be shownby parents. The school is not a baby-sitting service.The home has its response to make to the school. Theseeds that are planted in the classroom are for par-ents to nurture in the home. We can and must makehome a small school, just as it is a "small church"according to St. Paul (Philemon 1:2). It can be aschool at the table where we eat and drink and talkover everything that is important in the family andchurch.

Wholesome relationships that are possible inthe church's school - the fellowship of the teachers, ofthe parents and of everyone in the church - are awonderful thing. Real communications begin fromheart Without even speaking, our relations are un-derstood. As St. Ignatius, a great church father, saidlet's "be patient and gentle with one another, as Godis with us" so that we can grow and learn into thewholeness of the church.

Archimandrite Thomas Kazich


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Juri Maksimov

Нastavak…..:

Па иако Црква сваке године у чину ПобедеПравославља са одређеном јасношћу објављује:"Ономе ко не прима благодат искупљења,проповедану Јеванђељем, као јединественосредство нашег оправдања пред Богом -анатема!", многи модернисти упорнопокушавају да ствар замагле и представе је такокао да се, тобож, на ово суштинско питање неможе дати јасан одговор.

Они воле да говоре о томе да би, наводно, билаби неопростива дрскост унапред изрицатибудући суд Божији , и тврдити да се нико однехришћана неће спасити, јер то, наводно можеда реши само Бог.

Иако, понављајући више пута истину израженуу Светом Писму и Предању, ми се самим тимуопште "не усуђујемо да претекнемо СудБожији", већ напротив, изражавамо оно из тогсуда што нам је већ открио Бог: "Који повјерује икрсти се биће спасен, а који не вјерује бићеосуђен" (Мк. 16:16). Нисмо ми ти који се"усуђујемо", већ је тако рекао Христос, а Он јеИстина и нема у Њему лажи никакве. ВераЦркве у последњи суд се уопште не ограничавасамо тврдњом да ће таквог суда бити, већ у себеукључује и основне критеријуме по којима ће сеон вршити - а најглавнији од њих јесте свесноприхватање Христа.

Јер, ако је спасење могуће без Христа, то ондаследи да би оно било могуће и пре Христа, а акоје тако, зашто је онда долазио Христос на земљуљудима, и не само долазио, већ и на смртпошао? И зашто Га ми онда називамоСпаситељем, следујући апостолима и Њему

Самом? Како је Ононда рекао да"дође да потражии спасе

изгубљено" (Лк. 19:10), ако се показује даљудски род до Његовог доласка уопште нијегинуо, већ се у потпуности спасавао унехришћанским религијама?

Ако је Христос дошао само да би већ постојећојмогућности људског спасења додао некаквунову "опцију", предложио једноставно неку нову"побољшану" варијанту спасења, онда Он нијеСпаситељ, већ "Побољшатељ". Али само ЊеговоИме у преводу значи "Спаситељ", то јест, самоИме Исусово разобличава и оповргава оне којимисле да је спасење могуће без Њега.

Познато је да је, кушајући Христа у пустињи,сатана цитирао стихове из Светог Писма.Објашњавајући тај јеванђелски догађај,преподобни Јефрем Сиријац пише: "Оно што мује било неопходно, он је узео из Писма, а оношто му је противречило изоставио је. Тако ијеретици узимају из Писма оно што им јенеопходно за своје саблажњавајуће учење, аизостављају оно што противречи њиховојзаблуди, да би на тај начин јасно показали себеученицима тог учитеља."[7]

Следбеници мишљења да је тобож без познања иприхватања Христа могуће спасити се, самонека човек чини добра дела, а да ли верује он,није важно, покушавају да наводе цитате изПисма, који тобож потврђују њихову заблуду.Посебно, они указују на апостолске речи да је "усваком народу мио њему онај који Га себоји" (Дела Ап. 10:35) и да "кад незнабошцинемајући закона чине од природе што је позакону... они доказују да је у срцима њиховимнаписано оно што је по закону" (Рим. 2:14-15).

NASTAVI]E SE……..


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CHARGES FOR RELIGIOUS RITES - TREBESteward Non-Steward

Wedding $50 $500Baptism Donation DonationChurch Funeral Donation $300Chapel $50 $300Parastos—Panihida $25 $100Pomen $15 $ 50Certificates $10 $ 20

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Parish StatisticsBAPTISM: June 2, Nicholas Brovn, son of Richard & Susan Brown

June 2, Milica (Tracy) Smith , daughter of Eugene & Elizabeth Smith

June 2, Jovan (Alexandar) Rangelov, son of Tracy & Bozidar Rangelov,

June 2, Ljubinko (Nikola) Rangelov, son of Tracy & Bozidar Rangelov,

June 2, Stefan (Boki) Rangelov, son of Tracy & Bozidar Rangelov,

FUNERAL: May 5,

-Vjecnaja Pamjat – Memory eternal !

PARASTOS: June 7, for Boris Petrovic

-Vjecnaja Pamjat – Memory eternal !

BECOME A SHEPHERDSPONSOR FOR 2012

Please consider becoming a Shepherd Sponsor. For $ 25 you will become a bronzeSponsor, for $ 50 a Silver Sponsor and for $ 100.00 a gold Sponsor. Your name or

the name of a loved one will be listed.

SHEPHERD SPONSOR for2012

BRONZE SPONSORSHIPIn Loving memory of my parents

Anna & Steve Vucinichby

Vera Richardson

SHEPHERD SPONSOR for2012

GOLD SPONSORSHIPIn Loving memory of my Uncle

Ivan KadichBy

Joseph Kadich


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Calendar of EventsWe are publishing a calendar of events so that

you and your familycan join us for these events. All are welcome

and we hope to see you at Church,as well as these events.

More details will follow.

June 24, Vidovdan Celebration- Vidovdanska ProslavaJuly 15, Drazin dan- ParastosAugust 26 Church SlavaSeptember 30, PicnicOctober 13-14, Serbian FestivalNovember 11, Stewardship SundayNovember 18, KSS Slava

Your Church Board Welcomes you.


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Parishioners hospitalized, sick at home or in nursing homes…Proto Miladin Garic Greta Ljubisavljevic Alexandra FitzpatrickNikola Dragovic Ana Bozinovic Milli MatacicDusko Pesevic Marta Mamika Nikolas CvjetichPersa Dragovic Sandy Tobe Michael MelnikovMike Mraovic Nada Kosanovic Milos KovacAna Mileusnich Daisy Freeman Valerija MelnikovOleg & Irina Butin Ana Lisnich Zorka Schnake

Dear Brothers and Sisters, please remember these people in your daily prayers. If you know anyone who is sickplease let Father Dane know. He would like to visit them and pray for them. His telephone number is 966-6276

or 606-8808.We pray for your return to health and well-being.

When your are making a donation to ourChurch, please note on the check (under thememo field) what it is for. This is because wehave no way of knowing your intent for the do-nation. Otherwise, if there is no such notation,and if you are already a steward, the donationwill automatically apply towards your steward-ship. If you are not a steward, it will be appliedas a church donation.

Saint Sava Camp of the Serbian Orthodox ChurchIt's Summer Camp Time Again!

WHO: Children and Teens Grades 1-12WHEN:

WEEK 1: Sun. July 15, 2:00 p.m. through noon Sat. July 21 (Grades 1 - 8)WEEK 2: Sun. July 22, 2:00 p.m. through noon Sat. July 28 (Grades 1 - 8)

WEEK 3: Sun. July 29, 2:00 p.m. through noon Sat. Aug. 4 (Grades 1 - 12 )For any more information call Fr. Stephen Tumbas Camp Director at (209)–

245-3142 or (925) 890-0408 (cell)


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It is profoundly tragic boy must die to in-herit his manhood. It is poignant beyond measurethat the girl must die to give birth to her woman-hood. It is even more tragic, however, when theprice frightens them off and they cling to perpetualadolescence.

Suffering is inevitable in human life, andthe mature face up to the facts of life. What is morepathetic than the person who meets with shockedsurprise the ordinary visitations of suffering? Whatis more ridiculous than the Christian who thinks heis doing something astounding for Christ when heaccepts the ordinary burdens of life which the athe-ist takes as a matter of course?

S u f f e r i n g rolls in upon the shores ofhuman life as surely as waves roll in upon the oceanstrands. We are finite beings, and f i n i t u d em e a n s change, and changes means simultaneousaugmentation and diminishment, contemporaneous d e a t h and subsequent resurrection.

DO NOT LIVE IN PASTThis casts light on the bitter sweetness of ado-

lescence. Adolescence is a time of growth, but sincethere is no growth without change, and since changeinvolves loss as well as gain, there is no humangrowth without suffering as well as joy. Man mustdie to many good things to come alive to others. Hislife is a graveyard of happy things, but it is a road,upward to things happier still.

There is no need to flounder on the shoalsof accumulating diminishments that e v e r y humanvoyager experiences. Those shoals lie behind us inour journey. They can never wreck us until we reverse course and live in the past. Ahead lies thefuture with all its hopes and its new life. Our laborsthemselves point up a valuable .lesson about suf-fering. We discover that only God can create effort-lessly. As for us, we create from the magma of ourown substance. Worthwhile accomplishments de-plete our energies and our health.

DAILY DYINGMany great artists and saints were quickly

consumed in the very fire of creation from whichthey drew forth new sparks to illumine man's way.Many parents have spent themselves in the labor ofrearing their families. Many statesmen have ex-hausted themselves in the service of their country,as many soldiers have died for it. Countless priestshave literally died for their parishes, fighting a bat-tle to preserve Christian mores. How many othershave, at least figuratively speaking, poured theirown sweat and blood into the stone and more tar ofbeautiful houses of worship throughout of land?

To the burden of suffering, imposed by finitudeand finite creativity, two other burdens of dyinghave been added. The first is the burden of dying tosin. The second is the burden of dying to finitude,which is an imprisonment we live entirely toomuch.

By coming alive to the leprous life of sin,our human race died to God and inherited mortality.Christ insists we die to sin and come alive in Himthrough baptism. But neither that dying nor thatcoming alive is completed yet. We can remainChrist's disciples only by bearing in our bodies thesuffering of the struggle to die to sin as He did.Each conquest of temptation is a further dying andrising.

We cannot win the victory over temptationwithout deliberate penance. The Old Testament tellsus that fasting and physical discipline turn us fromsin, humble us before God, dispose us for prayer,help us to understand spiritual things, and prepareus to receive God fully in our lives.

The New Testament opens a whole newdimension or suffering and penance by imposingupon us the mighty task of dying to our finitude andopening up ourselves to the very life of God. Christnot only helps us fulfill our humanity, but He liftsus beyond our humanity and makes us die to it aswe know it and desires that we try on the garment ofdivinity by living His life.


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LIVE FOR CHRIST"For me," St. Paul declares, “to live is Christ

and to die is gain." This living to Christ and dyingto mortal existence was instituted at our baptism,it progresses through our daily living out of thepassion-death-resurrection of Christ, if we refuseto recognize the need for this series of deaths inthe lower regions of existence, we will never un-derstand suffering's role in raising us higher in thelatitude of life. Lacking that understanding wewill hate suffering unconditionally, and neverreap its fruits.

Not all suffering is from God, we can besure, but all suffering is viewed from His provi-dence. Some suffering is neither willed norwanted by God, for in itself much suffering isuseless and destructive. Yet it is certain that Godbrings good out of all suffering endured by thosewho love Him.

Suffering, if we are properly disposed toit, makes us genuinely God's children. Accep-tance of suffering gives us heroic courage to doGod's will, whatever it might be in our lives, italso gives us a tender compassion for others. Andsuffering accepted releases a flood of creativeenergies. A martyr complex toward suffering isnevertheless wrong. The human task pleasing toGod is to reduce to a minimum suffering in ourown lives and the lives of others.

CHRIST'S EXAMPLEJesus set the example by His work of healing.

In His own agony too, He pleaded with the Fatherto take away the sufferings He faced. His pleawas, though, only provisional, according to whatthe Father knew to be best. How much Jesus9prayer alleviated His sufferings we have no wayof determining, We do know that the sufferingsHe endured alleviated our own.

We ought to understand that Jesus didnot deliberately bring His sufferings upon Him-self. He did, though, deliberately go ahead withHis work even after He saw so clearly the suffer-ing it would bring upon Him. in this He is amodel for us all. Christian penance is exercisedprimarily in persevering faithfulness to the duties

of one's state of life, in the acceptance of the diffi-culties arising from one's work and from humancoesistence.

To accept suffering as Jesus did we needHis perspective. We fear facing death for fear it willmake life meaningless. Jesus made the fear itselfmeaningless. He revealed that it is only in beingemptied of mortal life and filled with resurrection-life that man fully finds the meaning of his exis-tence. Labor in field and factory has far more mean-ing, unquestionably, if it helps man on a journeywhich terminates not in the grave but in the resur-rection. This is why our Church has always empha-sized Christ's Resurrection more than His Passion.

Jesus succeeded not despite suffering, butthrough suffering. He wove suffering into service.He made suffering meaningful, eternally significantby enduring it out of love. Now who can miss itsmeaning?

Even a little child can read the message ofsuffering on Calvary. "He loved me and deliveredHimself up for me." "He was wounded for ourtransgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities;upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole,and with His stripes we are healed."

Closer to us Christians than Calvary is theResurrection that enshrines suffering as the sign ofvictory. The double consecration recalls the separa-tion of the body and blood of Jesus. It also brings toour altars the teeming life which is the fruit of Hissuffering. Jesus nailed all suffering to the cross.Suffering is a species of human experience headedfor extinction in eternity. Its worst product is death,and death is marked for death. To faith and intelli-gence is given the power to unveil the mystery ofsuffering. In a sinful world, it is love's passage tovictory.


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* -What if a Church had an Answering Ma-chine? -For a church service schedule,press one. -For office hours, press two. -For the forgiveness of sins, press three. Ifyou want to pray alone, hang up.

*-A pastor asked a youngster: Johnny,do you know where little boys go if theydon't put their money in the collectionplate?" "Yes, Pastor" the boy answered.They go to the movies.

*- Coming through the church just before theservice was scheduled to begin, a bishop notedwith some displeasure that there was a verysparse congregation. "There are not many peo-ple in church," the bishop said to the Pastor."Did you tell them I was coming?" "No,bishop," the pastor replied. "Someone elsemust have."

* -The grandparents were so thrilled to havetheir grandchildren coming next week to visitthem that they threw an extra ten dollars in theoffering plate on Sunday. The following Sun-day, after the kids were gone, they put in anextra hundred.

*-The ninety-year old woman was out of the roomwhen the minister came to visit her in theNursing Home. He began munching on a bowl of pea-nuts she had on a table. She came in and apolo-gized for not being there when he came in. He said,"Oh, that's all right, but I'm sorry I ate all of yourpeanuts." "Oh, pastor, don't worry about that", shetold him. "I really don't eat peanuts anyway. I just

like to suck the chocolate off of them."

*-At a civic dinner the conversation switchedto discussion of the heritage of some of thepeople. At this dinner a man of distinctionfrom New England area was sitting next to aJewish Rabbi, and he said, one of my relativessigned the Declaration Of Independence. Yesindeed said the Rabbi, and one of my relativessigned the Ten Commandments.

*- After church services, a little boy told the pas-tor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you somemoney." "Well, thank you," the pastor replied."But, why?" "Because my Daddy says you're oneof the poorest preachers we've ever had."

*-What if a Church had an Answering Ma-chine? -For a church service schedule, pressone. -For office hours, press two. -For theforgiveness of sins, press three. If you wantto pray alone, hang up.

*-Husband and wife leaving the church af-ter the service. The wife says to the hus-band: "Are you okay? You hardly slept atall in church today."

*- A rabbi, priest, and minister were discussing the theologi-cal question: "When does life begin?" The priest said he believed it was at the moment of con-ception. The minister said he believed it was at the momentof birth. The rabbi nodded and told the others that he un-derstood their points of view. "But," he added "after consid-erable thought and experience, I've come to the conclusionthat life begins when the children leave home."

38Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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What is the teaching of our Orthodox Churchon re-incarnation? How can you explainpeople under hypnosis regressing to andremembering past lives, something whichhas been noted in more than one instance?

The answer to this question of re-incarnation isfound in the Creed that we recite at each DivineLiturgy: "I look for the resurrection of thedead and the life of the age to come."

Recently, As Orthodox Christians we believethat the soul and the body are not a duality but aunity. One of the consequences of the fall ofhumanity through the images of Adam and Eveis the separation of the soul from the body atdeath; but this is not the "natural" state of thesoul to be separated from the body. ThroughChrist's death and resurrection God is preparingfor the last day, when through the resurrectionthat we confesss in the Creed, the soul is joinedto the glorified body, the same body that Christhas now after the resurrection. We must pointout that the resurrection of Christ is not simplythe revival of a corpse, as was the raising ofLazarus, who we know died again. In His resur-rection Christ rises with the glorified body, thebody possessed by Adam and Eve before thefall, a body not subject to old age, sickness, anddeath; a body not bound by the limitations ofspace and time. That which has happened toChrist is the forerunner of what will happen toevery person. St. Paul writes: "Christ has beenraised from the dead, the firstfruits of thosewho have fallen asleep."I Cor. 15:20.

In the same chapter St Paul remindsthe Corinthians that this mortal body is like agrain of wheat, which to grow must first dieand be buried. The human body as well "issown a perishable body, is raised an imper-ishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it israised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it israised in power, it is sown a natural body, itis raised a spiritual body." (I Cor. 15:42-44).

As Orthodox Christians we believethat God has intervened in human history, inthe created order, and is bringing history to aclose with the second coming of Christ, forwhich we pray at every Divine Liturgy infact each time we pray the Lord's prayer weask, "Thy Kingdom come."The martyrs un-der the Altar in the Book of Revelation ask"How long, 0 Lord.. will You refrain fromjudging and avenging our blood?" Rev.6:10.

The testimony of Scripture revealsthat God intends to re-unite the soul and theglorified body "on the last day" forever, re-turning mankind to his original created staterather than his current fallen condition.

In the light of this emphasis on theunity of the body and the soul reincarnationmust be rejected. Why? Because it presup-poses what theologians call dualism — thatis the body and soul are separate and notdeath they separate, never to be joined again.The body and soul are opposed to each otherin dualism, as expressions of the forces ofgood and evil that battle for control of theuniverse. Most faiths that accept reincarnation or "transmigration of souls" seethe act of re-incarnation as either punishmentor reward for the deeds of past lives throughwhich one can eventually ascend and escapethe cycle of re-births or others see it as a

39Serbian Orthodox Church of the Assumption. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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never ending cycle which is not dependent on aperson's actions at all. There is no end to his-tory; God is not concerned about it except toprovide for the cycle of re-incarnation.

Platonic ErrorThe doctrine of re-incarnation is of course

not a new idea. It is as old as it is best known inthe Far East the Church Fathers were familiarwith it through the writings of Plato, who alsoexpresses the idea. In Platonic thought the bodywas a prison that contained the soul; the Chris-tian writer Origen, under the influence of Plato'sphilosophy believed that the body was a placethat God condemned the pre-existing soul to forsome evil it had done. The Orthodox Churchrejected this position because it denied the or-ganic unity of soul and body. The Church Fa-thers taught that each soul was created at thetime of conception by God in unity with thebody.

The Orthodox Church, with its Scrip-tural mindset, views history not as a "never-ending wheel" as does the re-incarnationist, butas a straight line with a definite beginning andending, determined by God. For the OrthodoxChristian, the body is not a "prison of the soul"or a "disposable container" that enables the soulto experience space and time. It is the "Templeof the Holy Spirit" (I Cor. 6:19) that is notmeant, according to St. Paul, "for immorality,but for the Lord. "(I Cor. 6:13). At the end oftime the Lord will glorify both the body and thesoul of the believer.

Past Live?How do we account then, for the numer-

ous documented cases of people under hypnosisremembering "past lives?" There is a story fromthe 4th century Sayings of the Desert Fathersthat bears repeating here:

When Abba Zacharias was at the pointof death, Abba Moses asked him: "What do

you see? And Abba Zacharias replied, "Is itnot better to say nothing?" "Yes, my child"said Abba Moses, "it is better to say nothing

The act of dying is for us a mystery.Whenever we attempt to go beyond thatmystery we enter a realm for which we arenot prepared. For the Orthodox Christian thepathway to God lies in the humble practiceof the commandments, prayer and fasting,the frequent reception of the Sacraments. Toagain quote the Sayings of the Desert Fa-thers:

A young monk informed his elder,"Abba, whenever I pray I see angels stand-ing beside me." The old man replied, "Itwould be better if you saw your sins in frontof you."

Whenever we attempt to enter wherewe cannot go, to acquire some "knowledge"about what lies within the realm of the super-natural, we place ourselves in great danger ofbeing led to "spiritual deception." It is forthis reason that the Apostle John warns, "Donot believe every spirit, but test to seewhether they are from God "(I John 4:1).And the Apostle Paultells us, "Even Satan disguises himself as

an angel of light, "(II Cor. 11:14). When-ever we attempt, even through hypnosis, toenter where God has placed barriers for us togo, demonic forces are only too happy toprovide us with the information, they willgive us the "knowledge" that we seek, caus-ing us to turn from the truth and believe thefalse. The accurate information of "pastlives" does not come from a person underhypnosis, but from demonic forces who at-tempt to lead the unprepared and the un-knowing further into the darkness.

40Serbian O

rthodox Church of the A

ssumption

7777 Sunset Avenue

Fair Oaks, C

alifornia 95628

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