Dearly Beloved,
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!
January 19, 2025, Second Sunday after the Feast of Epiphany
Scriptural Readings
OT: Leviticus 22:26-33, Proverbs 8:22-9:9, Micah 4:13-5:8, Isaiah 51:1-8
NT: 1 Peter 3:7-15, Hebrews 1:1-2:4, St John 1:42-51
Holy Evangelion: St John 1:42-51
42 He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter[a]).
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida the city of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”
Reflections:
God made human in His Image and Likeness. It is ‘the reality’ of our ‘self’. This must be set up as our shortest and most realistic description of personality, by default. Jesus, being the Son, remains for ever, the perfection of that image and likeness to which we all must be transformed and grown into full. While we see Him, He will be our mirror, and we shall be His expectation.
By uttering “Follow Me”’, it was intended for us to follow Him daily until the end. It is not limited to a walking after, but a following of everything that He thinks, says and does. St Paul used the term – imitation. Thomas A Kempis has written a beautiful work which is a classic, ‘Imitation of Christ’. It requires more keenness to perceive the Lord’s mind. In the early church, all those who believed in Christ had one heart and one mind (Acts 4:32). St Paul asks his flock to have one mind. ‘Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment (1 Cor 1:10). Here the ‘one mind’ referred to is the mind of Jesus. His mind is the mind given to every human by birth, though there can be some genetic variations.
Here Simon was brought to Jesus. At the first glance, the Lord told him that he would have a new name and a new mission. At that moment, Simon ceased to be and Peter was thus born there. A change of name can mean a change of mind. Peter made history through his mission. Jesus met Nathaniel after meeting Simon Peter. At their meeting, Jesus spoke of Nathanael time spending under the fig tree. The fig tree represents a setting that seeking divine wisdom. A good research student will always be a joy for a professor guide as they both will find something through their research that could benefit the whole world.
Jesus the Son of God knows everyone. He knows what we are capable of. When He asks us to do something, though we may wonder if it is possible or not, He will enable us to accomplish it. He knows each person inside out. In the midst of many constraints, we may not notice the many instances where we get to know that He knows us well. He calls us to know Him more and let Him know us better. It is like cookies that companies use to serve us better by knowing of us more. Follow me is the Jesus Cookie one should never opt out!
FEASTS AND REMEMBRANCES:
January 15, Feast of Mother Mary for Seeds
January 15, Paul the Ascetic
January 18, Mar Samuel, Mar Simon & Abba Antony
January 18, Michael Mar Dionysius Metropolitan, 69th anniversary, entombed at Panampady
FROM OUR LAST UPDATE:
Sunday School, the First Canadian Teachers Conference on Sat, Jan 11 at Norval went well.
Rev Fr Mathew Alexander was the keynote speaker based on the theme, ‘Cultivating Excellence’. The conference was fruitful with its main presentation of the theme, interactive sessions, sharing of thoughts, workshop and the motivational gathering. Congrats to the organising team for the successful event. Hope and pray that the insights our teachers received from the meeting would bring positive changes to the Sunday School environment.
MGOCSM meeting with Mat Achen on Sat, Jan 11 at Norval Parish
MGOCSM members from Toronto met Rev Fr Mathew Alexander on Saturday, January 11th, evening at St. Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church, Norval Parish. This was a wonderful opportunity to ask questions, share thoughts, and to learn more about a sustainable spiritual life in a challenging world. Thanks to our MGOCSM unit for their initiative and participation.
New office bearers 2025 for parish organizations
MMVS:
Vice President – Elizabeth Abraham,
General Secretary – Suna Cherian
Joint Secretary – Jitty Tom,
Treasurer – Loozy Mathew
Joint Treasurer – Ansu Binu Joshua,
Area Representatives –
Brampton – Reegi Manoj, Mississauga – Susan Benjamin, Scarborough – Sheril Chacko
MGOCSM:
Vice president – Sangeeth Thomas,
Secretary – Jewel Thomas
Joint secretary – Chris Thomas,
Treasurer- Steve Abraham
Joint Treasurer – Jadon Koshy
Committee – Chris Cherian, Jewel Gijo, Sarah Thomas, Binta Joshua, Hannah Thomas, Aiden Anish
SJEF (St Joseph’s Elders Forum):
John C. Philip- Vice-President, Anni Varughese- Secretary
Omana John- Treasurer, George Varughese- Entertainment Convener
Hearty congrats to the new elects! Praying that the Spirit of the Lord empowers and guides them to carry out their services for the wellness and progress of our community. Sincere thanks to all the office bearers who served well in 2024. May God reward them for all their hard work.
Pray for ceasing the fire in Los Angeles County
Let us all pray for ceasing the many wildfires blazing in the county of Los Angeles, especially in the densely populated areas. With the heavy winds, it would be very difficult for the rescue and fire workers to bring it down. May the Lord send his miraculous hands to save the people and the land.
UPCOMING IMPORTANT DATES AND EVENTS: Please note in your calendar
February 20 Thursday, St Joseph’s Elders Forum @ SGOCT Parish Hall
Next meeting will be on Thursday Feb 20, 2025, at SGOCT Parish Hall at 12:00 noon.
February 10-13, Nineveh Fast, Holy Liturgy on Wed Feb 12, Evening Prayer at 06:30 pm, Holy Qurbana at 07:30 pm
March 03- April 20, Great Lent: Fasting, Abstaining, Noon Prayer online and 40 Kneeling, Evening Prayer daily at 06:30 pm followed by devotional talk.
As we have observed in the previous years, there will be daily Lenten evening prayer at church along with devotional talks. OCYM will be opening a google sheet next week for our members to sign up for devotional talks. Please access the google link and sign up at the earliest.
AREA PRAYER MEETINGS
We have resumed the weekly prayer meetings after a long break. Though we had prayer meetings conducted online during Covid lockdown, the in-person meetings have resumed only recently. We request all our area coordinators to reach out to families to look for a convenient time and date for weekend prayers. It can be on Friday, Saturday or Sunday based on the availability and convenience of hosts and participants.
It will be a graceful fellowship time for our families.
We will be studying the Acts of Apostles for all area prayer meetings. Please go through chapter 3, 4 & 5 when we meet for the next area prayer. A compilation of the thoughts and discussions shall be shared in the respective groups for us to revisit.
Area Prayer Meeting:
Details of upcoming meeting shall be announced later
FOR OUR ATTENTION & TO NOTE:
Children, please occupy front benches during our Liturgical Services
Kindly avoid crowding at the back of the church. A few concerns.
- Due to safety concerns and for assuring an undistracted worship space, we request all our members to proceed to the front rows except those that are reserved for children when we enter the temple. It would be a bit difficult for our volunteers to suggest moving to the front during the service as it would cause distraction and noise. We need to avoid crowding at the entrance and stair areas as this has raised safety concerns.
- Please be considerate to our senior members to help them find seats or while they try to access the washroom. A slip or a hit should be avoided in any circumstance.
- Please be watchful at the shoe rack area which is also the entrance to both washrooms.
- We request our parents to attend our children not to pull the alarm lever at the back wall.
Hand Waving Machine & Common Absolution Prayer for all communicants
The hand waving machine has been installed at the church entrance for taking count of the communicants. Whoever wishes to take Holy Communion, upon entering the temple, please wave your hand once at the machine. Please be aware that after the Nicene Creed, the machine shall be disabled. Absolution shall be done during the morning prayer.
WEEKLY IN-PERSON MEETINGS:
- January 19, Sunday – MGOCSM meeting after the refreshment
LIVE streaming has ceased but can be accessed: We are sorry to inform that the services is not available or accessible for public viewing nowadays. The private link shall be sent by mail. We gently remind our members, whoever wish to join online to send your email ID to the parish office. We encourage all our members to join in person.
Holy Liturgical Text for this Sunday
We will be using the Taksa of Mar John Chrysostom this Sunday.
May the Gracious Lord keep us from all harm and heal the entire world.
Next Week
January 26, Third Sunday after Epiphany
Scriptural Readings:
OT: Joel 2:21-3:8, Jeremiah 31:1-12
NT: 1 Peter 2:1-10, 1 Corinthians 3:16-4:5, St John 3:1-12
Yours in Christ
Thomas John Achen
Email ID: fr.thomaspjohn@gmail.com
Mobile: (416) 570 5610