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Page 1
The Promise
InsIde ThIs Issue
Pastoral Message .....................................2
Preaching christ crucified.................3
christMas services & event.................7
news & notes...........................................10
Beauty, the divine connection....13
tayBeh housing Project.....................14
Managing soMeBodyelses stuff....15
More suMMerscenes.............................17
welcoMe......................................................21
haPPyBirthday.......................................25
deceMBercalendar................................31
januarycalendar...................................32
daTes To RemembeR
decembeR 5Christmas Cookie Party
decembeR 19ParishChristmas LunCheon&
stewardshiPCardCoLLeCtion
JanuaRy 9PhiLoPtoChosVasiLoPita
JanuaRy 14 - 17okLahomaCitytournament
JanuaRy 22sChoLarshiP Foundationwinetasting
WoRdsof WIsdom
The person who listensto Christ fills himself
with light;and if he imitates Christ,he reclaims himself.- sT. ThalassIosThe lIbyan
decembeR/JanuaRy 2011
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THE PROMISE
Page 2
W
hen we attend services on Sunday,
every so often it is good for us to stop
for a minute and look around. For
at a glance we will quickly take noteof all of our brothers and sisters in Christ who join
us in praising God. A look around will also lead us
to perceive the cloud of witnesses that spiritually
surround us in the Church at every service as the
icons of the saints on the wall serve to highlight. But
at the same time, more often than not, a look around
during any Divine Liturgy will lead us to realize that
there are many faces that are missing. In fact, it is safe
to say that on any given Sunday
morning each and every one of
us can personally name a fewfriends and or family members
who are not in Church.
In a handful of cases there
might be some a very legitimate
reason for their absence. But
the question is NOT why some
of our fellow parishioners are
not in Church on Sunday, the
question for each of us is, whatare we doing about it?
At rst the question may sound
intimidating. After all, we often
think of ourselves as very small pieces in a much
bigger picture, and as a result, loose sight of the fact
that in Gods plan we not only have an important
role to fulll, but each and everyone of us actually
have an impact on others and on the big picture.
Case in point, the woman with the ow of blood who
touched the hem of the Lords garment in the Gospelaccording to Luke 8: 41-56. In her wildest dreams,
she could have never imagined how her plight and
her actions would affect people thousands of years
later. And yet here we are in Little Rock, Arkansas
thousands of years later talking about her and in awe
of what Christ did for her.
She alone is brilliant evidence of the fact that in Gods
big picture, every brush stroke of the Lord not only
matters, but makes things clearer and more beautiful.
Therefore, it is incumbent on us to ask ourselves
exactly what are we personally doing to reach out toall of those beautiful faces that we know and love who
frequently miss the Lords heavenly banquet.
For it is simply not sufcient for us to be satised
that we ourselves attend the services of the Church
regularly. We have to be genuinely concerned for
those people in our life who are not going to Church.
Notbecause we are better than any one else; Not
because we are smarter than any
one else and Not because we
are holier than any one else. Butbecause as Orthodox Christians
we genuinely love our family and
friends! And as men and women
of faith, we know that God really
matters. The Divine Liturgy
really matters. The Church really
matters. All of His people really
matter.
We must not look to lectureothers on their priorities, and
we must not look to lift ourselves
up at others expense. Instead,
we must fulll our calling to
share the gift of faithful life in Christ with our world
of family and friends.
After all, knowing that the Divine Liturgy is a limitless
reservoir of life, it is intrinsically unnatural for us to
idly stand by and quietly hope that someday our
family and friends might stumble upon the eternal joyof the Divine Liturgy. We simply cannot save a soul
from drowning by biting our tongue or expecting that
one day they might come to their senses and learn
how to swim. Knowing what we know about the
importance of having Christ at the center of life, we
cannot wait for someone else to throw our loved ones
and friends a lifeline.
(Continued on page 4)
PasToRal message
Look
Around
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Page 3
December/ January2011
ouR condolences
The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness
the passing of our sister in Christ,Jean MarieBailey, the mother of Mike Bailey, who fell asleep in
the Lord.
The Annunciation family notes with deep sadness
the passing of our sister in Christ, evelyn
Brewer, the sister of Helen Hronas, who fell asleep
in the Lord.
Let us keep all of these families in our prayers and
beseech the Lord to offer them His comfort and strength.
May Their Memory Be Eternal.
a gIfTTo youRfamIly
At the dawn of
a new year the
A n n u n c i a t i o n
parish is pleased
to offer the entire
Church family an
ecclesiastical calendar
for the home &
wallet as well as a Bible Guide to all of its faithful
stewards in order to help us all plan for the comingyear under the guiding light of Christ and His Church.
The calendar will help us plan for and celebrate the
major feasts of our faith as well as commemorate the
memory of the saints while the Guide will help us to
better study and absorb the truth of the Scriptures. If
you do not receive these gifts after the New Year, please
see a Parish Council member. With Gods grace may
these small tokens of love from the Annunciation serve
as a constant reminder of the love of Christ and His
Church for us all as together we strive to spiritually
grow to new heights in 2011.
aTTenTIon
oklahoma cITy
TouRnamenT
TRaveleRs
Remembe,We e levg Friday, January 14th
eg Monday, January 17th.
Keep an eye on the SundayBulletins and Parish emails
or all o the details!
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THE PROMISE
Page 6
PasToRal message(Continued from page 4)
storms, we are called to be rescuers. In a world of
confusion,we are called to be the voice of reason. In
a world of hate,we are called to be vessels of Gods
love. In a world of sickness, death and decay,we not
only know the way to eternal life but we are called
to show others the path.
Beloved, it is up to us to reach out to all those souls we
know who are frequently missing Church services and
help them nd their way home to the Annunciation.
For in the nal analysis, heroes cannot personally saveeveryone, but heroes always try.
We need to be heroes!
May the Lord grant you a very Merry Christmasand a Blessed New Year!
Rev. Dr. Nicholas J. Verdaris
The
PRomIse
Is
back
!The Promise is back.
However, we are in still in
the process of transition
as we continue to explore
ways to enhance the
delivery, appearance, efficiency
and format of our
parish newsletter - so we
welcome your ideas in
this on going process.
Also please keep in mind that The Promise remains
a vital instrument in disseminating information
affecting our Church family. So, if Church
family members and organizations have news or
announcements applicable to the entire Church
family, please submit items via e-mail to the
Church Ofce as soon as possible. Above all, keep
careful eye on the calendar - now that the Promise is
moving to a bimonthly publication, we need to thinkahead, now more than ever in order to ensure critical
announcements are made in a timely fashion.
Remember the goal of this publication is tocommunicate
the Good News, explore the Good News, highlightthe
Good News and keep us connectedas a Church family
through The Promise of the Good News!
fRomThe scRIPTuRes
T C y g .
A I y y, bg b v,
my v , g ,
g g g v C,
k v kg
y my b m G.
Ephesians 3:17-19
ThankYOUForeachnewmorningwithitslight,Forrestandshelterofthenight,Forhealthandfood,forloveandfriends,ForeverythingThygoodnesssends.-RalphWaldoEmerson
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Page 7
December/ January2011
annuncIaTIon
chRIsTmas luncheon& PRogRam
The Annunciation will be hosting its annual
Christmas Luncheon on December 19thimmediately following the Divine Liturgy. You &
yours are warmly invited!!!
During this very special luncheon our Sunday
School students will also be presenting their
annual Christmas Program - you will not want to
miss it.It is also rumored that a very jolly fellow may
even pop in for a visit. Please join us!!!
Lets Have
a Merry CHristMas
togetHer
at tHe annunCiation!
chRIsTmas seRvIces
With the celebration of Christmas we jubilantly
celebrate and proclaim the fact that the Lord God
Himself has miraculously condescended to takeon our flesh in order for us, (His creation), to know
Him better, draw closer to Him and be saved by
Him. The celebration of such a momentous event
naturally calls us together into His Holy House in
order to sing His praises, express our love for Him
and partake of His life-giving Body and Blood..
There simply is no Christmas holiday without
worshiping Jesus Christ. There is no Christmas
joy without assembling in prayer within His Holy
Church. We as the Annunciation Church family,will have the great and high privilege to herald the
birth of our Lord & Saviour together as follows:
FriDay, December 24th -
Christmas EveCandlelight Service
Vesperal Liturgy - 6:00 pm
SaturDay, December 25th -
The Feast Day of the NativityDivine Liturgy - 9:30 am
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THE PROMISE
Page 8
2010 Youth Retreats
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Page 9
December/ January2011
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Page 13
December/ January2011
may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my
life, to behold the beauty of the Lord. . . . (Ps 26: 4).
The prophet Ezekiel, writing about his encounter with
God, tells us: ...the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of
God. ...the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel the priest. (Ezk 11,3) His very detailed and personal narrative continues
...the hand of the Lord was upon him there. As I looked, behold,
a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with
brightness round about it, and re ashing forth continually, and
in the midst of the re, as it were gleaming bronze.(Ezk 1: 3,4
Later in the description of his vision Ezekiel recounts
...there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire;
and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness as it wer
of a human form ...I saw as it were the appearance of re, and
there was brightness round about him. Like the appearance of the
bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance
of the brightness round about. Such was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell upon
my face...(Ezk 1: 25-28).
St. Macarius of Egypt, in his homily on the vision
of Ezekiel, tells us that this foretells none other than
Christ Himself: And this that the prophet saw, was
true and certain. But the thing it signied, or shadowed
forth beforehand, was a matter mysterious and divine
that very mystery which had been hid from ages andgenerations, but was made manifest at the appearing
of Christ.i This is conrmed at the very beginning
of the Gospel of St. John: 1: 1-5): In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all
things were made through him, and without him was
not anything made that was made. In him was life, and
the life was the light of men. The light shines in the
darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
That God is beauty was not lost on St. Basil the Greatwho describes God as He who surpasses all beauty
St. Basil, counsels: . . . let us recognize the One Who
transcends in His beauty all things. . . . McGuckin
presents to us St. Symeon the Theologians Hymn of
Divine Love. St. Symeon prays: Master how could
I describe the vision of your face? How could I ever
speak of the ineffable contemplation of your Beauty?
(Continued on page 18)
beauTy, The dIvIne
connecTIonby Fr. George Morelli
The uncircumscribed Word of the Father became
circumscribed, taking esh . . .and He has restored the sullied
image to its ancient glory, lling it with the divine beauty. This,
our salvation, we confess in deed and word . . . .
(Kontakion, Sunday of Orthodoxy)
An experimental psychologist (Seligman, 2002) may
have inadvertently come upon a great spiritual insight
What is remarkable about this is that it was Seligmans
express intent to divorce beauty from the Divine; but,paradoxically and seemingly unknowingly, he endorses
beautys ultimate end: the Divine. In discussing
Transcendence, which he labels a signature strength
that individuals can possess and which is one of the
components of authentic happiness, Seligman points
out that it is a virtue which allows one to reach outside
and beyond you to something larger than oneself.
The divine is one such end. Apparently he does not
see the irony in his writing this term [transcendence]
is not popular throughout history-spirituality is the
label of choice.. However, unwittingly, he leads us to
God who is at the peak of Transcendence. Why?
Because what is larger than God Himself ? As our
Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom proclaims in
the Anaphora Prayer: It is meet and right to hymn
Thee, to bless Thee, to praise Thee, to give thanks
unto Thee, and to worship Thee in every place of Thy
dominion: for Thou art God ineffable, inconceivable,
invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing and eternally
the same, Thou and Thine Only-begotten Son and the
Holy Spirit.
goDis beauty; beautyPoiNtsto goD
That true beauty points mankind to God, is, of course,
fundamental to Eastern Christianity. But rst it must
be pointed out that God is Beauty itself: We may call
it the Divine Beauty. The psalmist prays: One thing
have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I
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Page 15
December/ January2011
Team Annunciation
Racing for the Cure
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Page 17
December/ January2011
God, but it does release us. Stewardship is essential to
our discovering our own spiritual freedom.
A third popular myth is based on human greed. It views
giving as a kind of investment. The more I give, the
more I get. This is simply and entirely false. AlthoughGod may entrust some of Gods faithful servants with
great wealth, Scripture claims that many of his most
faithful servants live in poverty, while many of the most
evil become rich sometimes at the expense of the
faithful. On the contrary, the Scriptures consistently
teach us to give ourselves, to sacrice ourselves for the
good of others, with the assumption of no reward in
this life. We are to follow the example of Jesus, who
made himself poor that others might be made rich.
Stewardship assumes that we Gods ock, the sheep
of Gods pasture. What God chooses to do with us isentirely up to God. God calls us to become servants, to
be faithful stewards, regardless of whether we become
wealthy or poor in the process of our stewardship.
The Spirituality of Stewardship:
Stewardship is about Spirituality. The Scriptures
present faithful stewardship as the means, the basic
discipline, for learning how to follow Jesus. Stewardshipis not the goal of the Christian life, but a method. It is
designed to break our addiction to control, greed, the
demand for personal security. This is why Jesus told
the young man rst to sell it all, give it all away, and
then to come follow Jesus. It was not the goal, but the
gateway.
Most often, when people hear about tithing, they
think of it as an ideal, as a goal. Jesus viewed it
quite differently. For him, the ideal, the goal, was
not 10%, but 100%. He pointed to the poor widowwho gave 100% as the target, and he chastised the
tithing Pharisees for not understanding the weightier
things of Torah. (Matt 23.23) He is clear that the
Pharisees needed to have been tithing, but that it was
not enough. Tithing is not a goal, but a beginning;
Where we start, not where we end.
Christian spirituality is not an experience, but a
process, an innitely long and difculty journey. But
every journey begins someplace. The beginning of
Christian spirituality is trusting Jesus enough to follow
him. The goal of Christian life is, having trusted Jesus
to have followed him to the end. The way to practicefollowing Jesus is literally to trust him with whatever
you have: your time, your talent, and your treasure
By trusting Jesus with these things, we learn to follow
him. Bit by bit, we can become like him. There
are a great number of spiritual disciplines that are
designed to help us become people of deep prayer
Sabbath keeping, lectio divina, spiritual direction
contemplation, meditation, fasting, etc. But the most
simple and basic of the disciplines, the beginning place
where one practices trusting Jesus, is stewardship
This is where one begins the serious path to spiritualtransformation and fulllment.
Three Essential Practices:
uLtiMate giviNg:The easiest form of giving is a bequest. It costs no
personal effort or pain, for it is given at death. On the
other hand, because there is no pain, there is no gain
personally and spiritually. It does not transform us. Yet
it may transform the world. So for the good of othersand for the glory of God, we should all leave a portion
of our life insurance and estate for the advancemen
of the Kingdom of God. Ultimate giving can never
take the place of ordinary giving, for ordinary giving
is a basic, essential discipline for changing us.
extraorDiNary giviNg:This is the most fun form of philanthropy. In
extraordinary giving, we have the opportunity to
inuence the world by investing in our favorite causes
charities, programs and interests. We give to capital
campaigns, organizations and ministries in ways that
will please us, because we feel it will make a signicant
difference in our world. We feel great satisfaction in
knowing that we helped start new churches, helped
restore the a poor church or ministry center, and helped
feed the hungry. We feel pride, in the most positive
(Continued on page 20)
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THE PROMISE
Page 18
beauTy(Continued from page 13)
How could mere words contain One whom the Worldcould never contain? Then Saint Symeon answers
his questions as part of his prayer: ...suddenly You
appeared from on high, shining greater than the Sun
itself, shining brilliantly from the heavens down into my
heart...What intoxication of the Light! What swirlings
of re!
the iNcarNatioN:
thecoMiNgofthe Lightofthe WorLD
Centuries after the writing of the prophet Ezekiel
(595-572 BC), the writer of the last book of the Old
Testament, the Wisdom of Solomon (30-10 BC - just
decades before the birth of Christ), proclaims God as
Wisdom, from which can be seen His glory, light and
beauty: For wisdom is more mobile than any motion; because
of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things. For she is
a breath of the power of God, and a pure emanation of the glory
of the Almighty; therefore nothing deled gains entrance into her.
For she is a reection of eternal light, a spotless mirror of the
working of God, and an image of his goodness. For God loves
nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom. For she is
more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the
stars. Compared with the light she is found to be superior, for it is
succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
(Wis 7: 24-30).
The light that is the Godhead was spoken of by King
David: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom
shall I fear? (Ps 26: 1) Isaiah, who prophesized the
Incarnate God, His suffering and nal triumph, tell us:The sun shall be no more your light by day, nor for
brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but
the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God
will be your glory. Your sun shall no more go down,
nor your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be
your everlasting light... (Is 60: 19-20). In the English
language glory is associated with a type of beauty called
resplendence, which is a brilliant radiant beauty.
Indeed, St. John the Evangelist (Jn 8:12) records the
words of Jesus: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, I
am the light of the world; he who follows me will no
walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. And
as Jesus told His disciples: As long as I am in the world
I am the light of the world. (Jn 9: 5).
Light-beauty
iNthe Liturgyofthe church
Even a cursory exposure to the rich Liturgica
practice of the Eastern Church will reveal the glory
of the Godhead, and ourselves as being lled with the
splendor of Christs light as we work toward becoming
partakers of the Divine Nature (2Pt 1:4)
hoLy baPtisM
At the baptismal exorcism service the priest prays
Open the eyes of his [ or her] understanding that the
light of thy Gospel many shine brightly in him. Yoke
unto his life a radiant Angel, who shall deliver him from
every snare of the adversary... The profession of the
Creed which follows in the baptismal service (and which
is said as well by all at every Divine Liturgy and in daily
personal prayer) proclaims: I believe in one God, the
Father Almighty... And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the
Son of God...Light of Light, Very God of Very God.. And I believe in the Holy Spirit ...worshipped and
gloried... The prayer of baptism directly ties baptism
with light; it petitions God to Call Thy servant to Thy
Holy Illumination. In the following petition the pries
implores God that the one to be baptized may prove
himself a child of the Light and an heir of eternal good
things. The baptismal water itself is referred to as
that which will be the illumination of the soul. Then
follows the actual baptism: the three-fold immersion in
the sanctied water, accompanied by the words The
servant of God is baptized in the Name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Following
this, the newly baptized illumined servant of God is
clothed with a white garment of righteousness while
a beautiful Troparion is sung: Vouchsafe unto me a
robe of light, O thou who clothest thyself with light a
with a garment: Christ our God, plenteous in mercy.
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THE PROMISE
Page 20
managIng somebody elses
sTuff(Continued from page 17)
sense, of knowing that we can make a difference in
the world. But extraordinary giving can never take the
place of ordinary giving, for ordinary giving is a basic,
essential discipline for transforming us in our core
being.
orDiNary giviNg:This is the most
difcult form,
but also themost personally
benecial. This is
the basic spiritual
disciplines that
work on our inner
life, our fear, our
insecurity, our
greed. Ordinary
giving is intended
to be regular,
consistent, and sacricial, in order to help break us ofour addictions. It is the primary discipline that teaches
us self-regulation, self-control, and impulse control. In
order to do all this, it must be large enough to make an
actual change in our lifestyle. Most of us give something,
but many fail to give enough to make a difference in
their own life. So when someone tells me that cannot
control their temper or their addiction to Twinkies,
they are always surprised that I prescribe stewardship
as the rst step. Spiritual transformation begins with
trusting Jesus Christ with at least our stewardship: ourtime, talent & treasure. The goal is to become like Jesus
Christ to be able to give 100% of ourself to God.
Unfortunately, sometimes people miss the point. They
think theyre being good stewards when they generously
invest a portion of their treasure to their favorite causes.
But the essential genius of stewardship is that it is about
giving up control. It transforms us because we are letting
go of something, trusting God to do with it what God
wants. It is a practicing, on a very small scale of Jesus
prayer in Gethsemane, Not my will, but your will be
done. This is why we have both ordinary giving AND
extraordinary giving. When we designate where our
offerings go, we may be inuencing the world, but welose the benet of the spiritual discipline. It no longer
breaks us of our addiction to control things; indeed, i
enables our addiction to continue. So we need both
This is why, spiritually, it is a tragic mistake to divert
ones stewardship from ones local parish because one
is unhappy with it. The whole point and purpose of
stewardship (ordinary giving) is the spiritual discipline
which transforms the inner life. Ive never met an
experienced steward, wealthy or poor, who regretted
their practice. Yet there are many people, wealthyand poor, who so desperately need to break free from
their fear, insecurity, and envy about money. Without
stewardship, we will never become the Christians that
God is calling us to be.
The Bottom Line for All 3 EssentialPractices:
1) checkyourWiLLaNDyourLifeiNsuraNce
You do want to inuence the world for its good andthe glory of God. You are a steward, the manager of
Gods resources for Gods purposes. So make sure you
have taken steps to exercise your stewardship in your
ultimate giving.
2) DosoMethiNgsPeciaL.Enjoy the pleasure of philanthropy by making free
will offerings to special causes, events, and programs
Consider giving a large and inuential gift to the
Capital Campaign.
3) butfirstaNDforeMost, getreguLar.Consider your ordinary giving. If you are not presently a
steward, begin today. Do not wait for your parish pledge
drive. Begin today. Experience the transforming power
of letting go and embracing Christian stewardship to
its fullest. It is the gateway to spiritual transformation
and the path to becoming a faithful steward.
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Page 21
December/ January2011
WelcomeThe Orthodox Church
and the Annunciation
in particular, had the
privilege to warmlywelcome into its warm
and loving embrace
through Chrismation
the beloved servants
of God: richard &
Star akel, whose
entrance into the Holy
Church was sponsored byRon & Joyce Harb along
with lindahaycook, whose entrance into the
Church was sponsoredLea Ging.
Having been formally received into the Orthodox
Church and become beloved members of our
Church family in November, we look forward to
walking together on the path of life and faith.
With our newly enlisted Orthodox Christian, let
us ask our Lord and Savior to continue to show
us the way of the Christ centered life.
baPTIzed InTo chRIsT
The Annunciation familycongratulates Richard &
Star Akel on the baptismof their daughter, isabeLLa,who was baptized at the Annunciation on NoveMber6th. Ron & Joyce Harb are theproud godparents. May Godbless our newest servant ofthe Lord, along with all of her
family and friends!
congRaTulaTIons!
The Annunciation
Church family offers
prayers of thanks and
congratulate keith
& aLLisoN freeMaN
on the birth of their
second child:Aubrey
Jane Freeman. Baby Aubrey was bo
on October 26th
weighing 8 pounds 2
ounces.
May God continue to bless the Freeman family!
you aRe InvITed!
The aNNuNciatioN schoLarshiP fouNDatioN
invites you to a
Wine Tasting Event
on Saturday, January 22, 2011
Tickets for this special occasion are $40.00 and will be
soon available for purchase from a Scholarship Board
members. Save the date, invite a friend and make plans for a
wonderful evening that will help a wonderful cause.
Pleaseremember to submit your2011 AnnunciAtion
StewArdShip cArd
on December 21st
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THE PROMISE
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beauTy(Continued from page 19)
of the brilliance of the Divine Beauty to come. As isnoted in the Feasts Vesperal hymn: When Thou
wast transgured before Thy Crucixion, O Lord, the
mount resembled heaven, and a cloud spread out like a
canopy, and the Father bore witness unto Thee.
The signicance of the Transguration was not lost
by the Fathers of the Church. In his Homily on the
Transguration St. John Chrysostom tells us: ...let
us journey in thought to the mountain where Christ
was Transgured: let us behold him shining as Heshone there... For as concerning the king it is not even
possible to say what he is like: so completely do his
beauty, his grace, his splendor, his glory, his grandeur
and magnicence elude speech and thought... He who
is the sovereign and God of all, even as the Psalmist
also when discoursing concerning this beauty, said
And the king shall have desire of thy beauty.
Of this splendor St. Hilary of Poitiers comments:
For though the splendor of His eternal glory overtax
our minds best powers, it cannot fail to see that He isbeautiful. We must in truth confess that God is most
beautiful, and that with a beauty which, though it
transcend our comprehension, forces itself upon our
perception.v The Divine Light that shone at Tabor
was made explicit by St. Gregory Palamas: None the
less, in accordance with the Saviors promise they did see the
kingdom of God, that Divine and inexpressible light. St. Gregory
of Nazianzos and St. Basil call this light divinity saying that
the light is the divinity manifested to the disciples on the Mount,
and that it is the beauty of Him who is almighty, and His noetic
and contemplatable Divinity. St. Basil the Great also says that
this light is the beauty of God contemplated by the saints alone
in the power of the Divine Spirit; and again he writes, On the
mountain Peter and the sons of thunder saw His beauty shining
more brightly than the sun; and they were privileged to receive
with their eyes a foretaste of His advent.(Philokalia IV)
In the spirit of St. Gregory of Nyssa we could ponder
the saints words: having approached Light itself, the
soul is transgured into light.
hoLy Pascha
The Paschal service emphasizes light. The rstreference in the Paschal Liturgy to Christ, who is the
Light, is made in the 5th Ode of the Pascha Midnigh
Ofce: When Isaiah, O Christ, saw thy light that
setteth not, the light of thy Divine appearance coming
to us in pity, he arouse up early crying The dead shall
rise , and they who are in the tombs shall awake, and
all those on the earth shall rejoice. (c.f. Is 26: 19). The
contemporary Resurrection Service starts at Midnight
with the priest exiting the Sanctuary holding the lighted
Paschal Candle while all the assembly come forward
and light their candles from the Paschal Candle. Allthis while the assembly chants the hauntingly beautifu
hymn: Come ye, take light from the Light, that is never
overtaken by night. Come, glorify the Christ, risen from
the dead. The Paschal Service emphasizes light.
This can easily be glimpsed in these verses from the
Orthros Paschal Canon: Today is the day of Resurrection
O nations, let us shine forth; for the Pascha is the Pascha of the
Lord... Glory to thy Holy Resurrection, O Lord! Let us cleanse
our senses that we may behold Christ shining like lightening with
the unapproachable light of Resurrection... Verily, all creatureshave been lled with light, the heaven and the earth, and all tha
is below the earth... In truth, how noble is this radiant and all-
festal night of salvation; for it precedeth the proclamation of th
light-bearing day of Resurrection, in which the timeless Light did
shone forth bodily from the grave.
The penultimate hymn of the Paschal Agape Vespers
(and all Vesper Services) is the Hymn of Light, O Joyfu
Light: O Gladsome light of the holy glory of the immorta
Father, the heavenly, the holy blessed, Jesus Christ. Now that we
are come to the setting of the sun, and behold the light of evening,we hymn thee: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, God It is meet and
right that at all times thou shouldst be magnied by voices of
praise, O Son of God, the Giver of Life. Therefore, the whol
world doth glorify thee.
The Paschal Megalynarion, repeated many times in the
services, encapsulates the Paschal theme of light: Shine
thou, O New Jerusalem, for the glory of the Lord hath
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risen upon thee. Rejoice thou now and exalt, O Zion.
And thou, O pure one, Theotokos, rejoice thou at the
Resurrection of thy Son. This hymn recalls the words
of Isaiah the Prophet: Arise, shine; for your light has
come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thickdarkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you,
and his glory will be seen upon you. (Is 60: 1,2).
Christ, in His triumphal Resurrection, is the ultimate
Beauty who has illumined the whole cosmos. As we pray
in the Paschal Vesperal Aposticha: Thy Resurrection,
O Christ Savior, hath illumined thy creation, O Lord
Almighty. Glory to thee.
thoughtsoNthe theoLogyofbeauty
ourresPoNsetobeautySt. Macarius of Egypt tells us: [those who have]
love for Christ, [are] bound fast to that beauty and
unspeakable glory, and the inconceivable riches of
the true and eternal King.vi In this same homily
St. Macarius points out that the soul which receives
Christ exudes the inexpressible beauty of the glory of
the light of the Divinity. He tells us: For the soul thatis thought worthy to partake of the spirit of his light, and is
irradiated by the beauty of his ineffable glory (he having by that
spirit prepared her for his own seat and habitation), becomes all
light, all face, and all eye: neither is there any one part in her
but what is full of these spiritual eyes of light; that is, there is
no part in her darkened: but she is all entirely wrought into light
and spirit, and is all over full of eyes, having no hinder part, or
anything behind; but appears to be altogether face, by reason of
the inexpressible beauty of the glory of the light of Christ, that
rides and sits upon her.
beautyLeaDstoLoveof goDaNDNeighbor
St. Maximus the Confessor (580-662), writes:Nothing
so much as love brings together those who have been sundered and
produces in them an effective union of will and purpose. Love
is distinguished by the beauty of recognizing the equal value of
all men. Love is born in a man when his souls powers - that
is, his intelligence, incensive power and desire - are concentrated
and unied around the divine. Those who by grace have come to
recognized the equal value of all men in Gods sight and who
engrave His beauty on their memory, possess an ineradicable
longing for divine love, for such love is always imprinting this
beauty on their intellect.(Philokalia, II).
St. John Chrysostom asks: . . . when the soul is
refulgent with it [beauty] what can match beauty and
grace of this kind?
St. Maximus the Confessor also pointed out the
connection between the good and the beautiful:The
beautiful is identical with the good, for all things seek the beautifu
and good at every opportunity, and there is no being which does no
participate in them. They extend to all that is, being what is truly
admirable, sought for, desired pleasing, chosen and loved. Observe
how the divine force of love the erotic power preexisting in th
good - has given birth to the same blessed force within us, throughwhich we long for the beautiful and good in accordance with the
words, I became a lover of her beauty (Wisdom. 8:2), and
Love her and she will sustain you; fortify her and she will exal
you (Proverbs. 4:6, 8). (Philokalia II).
As the author of the book of Wisdom tells us, it i
through beauty that we can glimpse the Divinity: If
through delight in the beauty of these things men
assumed them to be gods, let them know how much
better than these is their Lord, for the author of beauty
created them. (Wis 13: 3). For from the greatness
and beauty of created things comes a corresponding
perception of their Creator. (Wis 13: 5)
hoLiNessourreWarDforresPoNDiNgtobeautyPaul Evdokimov points to the spiritual effects mankind
receives in responding to the grace of perceiving the
Divine Beauty. It is that we become beauty ourselves
At the ultimate heights of holiness, the human person
becomes in a certain sense light [St. Gregory Palamas
Homily on the Presentation of the Holy Virgin in theTemple]. Seraphim of Sarov was thus able to cloth
himself in the sun and shine. Being himself called a
striking likeness, St. Seraphim was the living icon of
the God of Light. St. Gregory of Nyssa described the
elevation of the soul of him who hears in the following
way: You have become beautiful by coming close to
(Continued on page 26)
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Carnival Fun!
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December/ January2011
HappyBirtHday
to our parishioners celebratingduring the upcoming months!
Jana Hunter December 1stKate Martin December 3rdRon Harb December 9thMarshall Mann December 9thDaniel Kassissieh December 12thPat Pappas December 14th
Randy Kassissieh December 15thHelena Roy December15thGrant Alley December 17th
Elizabeth Hunter December 19thMaria Verdaris December 19thPete Stathakis December 20thJesse Burks December 21st
Raouf Kassissieh December 22ndKatie Pearson December 22ndToni Staley December 26thGrace Tidwell December 27thStephanie Verdaris December 27th
Kristin Alley December 28thBenjamin Alley December 29th
Eleanora Daly January 1stAmberley Turjman January 3rdJohn Verdaris January 3rd
William Hronas January 4thJeanne Spencer January 4thJason Alley January 5th
Hannah Cotros January 7thJames Nix January 7th
Heather Alley January 10thChris Pappas January 11thJaegar Burks January 13thJosie Ging-Glass January 13thJames Rutter January 13thChad Butts January 17thSteve Vaden January 18thChristopher Haddad January 23rdMark Hunter January 25thSophie Sargent January 25th
ouTReach commITTeemeeT & gReeT schedule
December 5th Carole HawkinsDecember 12th Jack Weatherly
December 19th Mark Hunter
December 26th Robin Jones
January 2nd Susan McDowell
January 9th Sharon Johnson
January 16th Christopher Huckabay
January 23rd Carole Hawkins
January 30th Jack Weatherly
T felloWshIP houRT
If you or your family would like to commemorate a
special event, honor the memory of a loved one or
would simply like to after a gift to the Annunciation
family... you too can sponsor a Fellowship
Hour!
Please check the Bul letin Boardand sign up today!
But that Gods word may be made
clearer, listen to this. If any one loves
Jesus, and attends to Him in earnest,
and not in a casual way, but in love
abides by Him, God is already devising
to make some return to that soul for
its love, although the man does not
know what he is to receive or what
portion God is about to give to the
soul.
-St. Makarios the Great, Homily XII,
4th Century
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Giddy-Up JOY!
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December/ January2011
beauTy(Continued from page 26)
ends up by creating his own god, a god embedded innature itself. Seligman continues:Toward a [g]od who
is not supernatural, a [g]od who ultimately acquires [emphasis
mine] omnipotence, omniscience, and goodness through the
natural process [emphasis mine] of win-win.
He goes on to explain: Biological systems are forced
designed without a designer by Darwinian selection into
complexity and more win-win scenarios. A cell that incorporates
mitochondria symbiotically wins out over cells that cannot.
Complex intelligence is almost an inevitable result, given enoughtime, of natural selection and differential reproductive success.
Seligman is actually basing his comments on a model
of the cosmos developed by Robert Wright called
Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny. Wright
considers that all ,from the minutest particle of
matter to mankind, has an intrinsic mechanism of
complexity, based on a win-win game theory, a non-
zero-sum, which means all involved will win out by
combining, so to speak. Wright states:The underlying
reason that non-zero-sum games wind up being played well isthe same in biological evolution as in cultural evolution Whether
you are a bunch of genes or a bunch of memes, if youre all in
the same boat youll tend to perish unless you are conducive to
productive coordination. For genes, the boat tends to be a cell
or a multicelled organism or occasionally . . . a family; for
memes, the boat is often a larger social groupa village,
a chiefdom, a state, a religious denomination, Boy Scouts of
America, whatever. Genetic evolution thus tends to create
smoothly integrated organisms, and cultural evolution tends to
create smoothly integrated groups of organisms.
Unfortunately, Seligman falls into the same intellectual
trap as false evolutionists, He makes nature, which is
nite, no matter how innitesimal or complex it may
be, or how many dimensions it may have, or no matter
that it may operate according to the rule of quantum
physics which states that particles do not have single
denite histories, the principle of its own
(Continued on page 30)
W m g , Do something REALthis spring break,O C F
c e peg f egs f s 20Rel Bek ps.
Ec y cg N Amc v g g bk m, my c. Sc 200, OCF f R Bk SgBk v v -mg y g mg g m. Sc c, v cg v y
m y m c g gg O C .Eg 0 y, OCF R Bk c f mv, - bmcy y. T g Mc 20 c: B A, Pjc McRm, C, N Yk, Gm I Gm 2 .
To fnd detailed inormation regarding the 2011Real Break trips and to register, please visit
www.oc.net/realbreak. Be a part o this years lie-
changing week-long Real Break experience.
Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF).c.
800..OCF
aTTenTIon college sTudenTs!
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beauTy(Continued from page 29)
innite existence His explanation of the initial point
of creation, of even the minutest particle of matter, ismissing. It is a logical inconsistency. How can nothing
create something? Interestingly, this is the same trap
that cosmologist Stephen Hawking falls into, as his
recent publication, The Grand Designindicates; he falls
into the identical logical conundrum It is possible that
a non-zero-sum interaction is the way God created the
cosmos, including mankind. But spiritual perception
demands that we see the work of God not only in the
initial creation of something out of nothing, but in the
way in which that something works, its beauty and that
the something ultimately glories Him.
the goDof reveLatioN
On the other hand, the God of Judeo-Christianity is
a personal God of Love, Truth Goodness and Beauty.
As I have said: God is above and beyond all creation.
God, to quote once more from the Anaphora prayer
of the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom as
used in the Eastern Orthodox Church, is: ineffable,
inconceivable, invisible, incomprehensible, ever existing
and eternally the same.
...every perfect gift is from above,coming down from the Father of lights...
(Jas 1: 17)
Thank you!!!
The Annunciation Church family extends its heartfelt
thanks to all those who offered their time and talent
to ensure that our annual Thanksgiving Luncheon, &
Stewardship Presentation was a beautiful moment for
all to enjoy. The abiding manifestation of Christian
love, faithfulness and creativity always make such nice
gatherings possible. From the gifted decorators, the
talented cooks, gracious servers, inspiring speaker,
dedicated clean-up crew, the generous Wilcox family
who underwrote the event, to all those loving men
and women who attended - we give thanks to God
for all of you and enhancing our sense of blessed
gratefulness!
good foR a laugh
My job as a land surveyor took me to a golf course
that was expanding to 18 holes. Using a machete to
clear thick brush in an area I was mapping, I came
upon a golf club that an irate player must have tossed
away. It was in good condition, so I picked it up and
continued on.
When I broke out of the brush onto a putting green,
two golfers stared at me in awe. I had a machete in
one hand, a golf club in the other, and behind me was
a clear-cut swath over 100 yards long.
There, said one of the golfers, is a guy who hates
to lose his ball!
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December/ January2011
Sun Mon ues Wed hurs Fri Sat
6Feast of St. Nicholas
Liturgy 9:30am
510th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
Parish Assembly
Christmas Cookie Party
6:00pm
131211th Sunday of LukeMatins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
19Sunday Before Nativity
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
Parish
Christmas Luncheon
26Sunday After Nativity
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
20
27
1
Orthodox Study Class
6:30pm
8
15
22
29
7
14
Parish Council Meeting
6:00pm
21
28
2
9
16
23
30
3
10
17
24
Christmas Eve Candlelight
Liturgy6:00pm
31
New Years Eve Liturg y
6:00pm
4
9:00am ChristmaSet-Up
1:00pm GOYA Set U
1
1
2Christmas Liturgy
9:30am
January 12011
annUnCiaTion GREEK oRThoDoX ChURCh1100 napa vaLLEy DRivE, LiTTLE RoCK, aR 72211REv. DR. niChoLas J. vERDaRis, pasToR
decembeR 2010
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3
109Sunday After
Theophany
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
Philoptochos Vasilopita
Event
2Sunday Before
Theophany
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
17GOYA
Return from Oklahoma City
1612th Sunday of LukeMatins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
2314th Sunday of Luke
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
30The Three Hierarchs
Matins 9:00am
Divine Liturgy 10:00am
24
31
5Eve of Theophany
Liturgy 9:30am
12
19
Orthodox Study Class
6:30pm
26
2Presentation of the Lord
to the Temple
Liturgy 9:30am
4
11
Parish Council Meeting
6:00pm
18
25
February 1
6Feast of Theophany
Liturgy 9:30am
13
20
27
3
7Feast of St. John the
Baptist
Liturgy 9:30am
14GOYA
Leave for Oklahoma City
21
28
4
8
15
22Scholarship
Wine Tasting Even
29
5
Sun Mon ues Wed hurs Fri Sat
annUnCiaTion GREEK oRThoDoX ChURCh1100 napa vaLLEy DRivE, LiTTLE RoCK, aR 72211REv. DR. niChoLas J. vERDaRis, pasToR
JanuaRy 2011