Promise The
HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH WESTFIELD ^ NEW JERSEY
FrPeter@htgocnj.org
April 2011 ^ Volume 35, Issue 3
908-233-8533
holytrinitywestfield.org
From Failure Comes Success
To accept the failure of sin as a way of life is to truly forfeit life.
THE REVEREND PETER DELVIZIS
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hink of the opportunities laid out before us. As we have successfully navigated through the course of Great Lent and as we prepare to enter the days of Holy Week to bear witness to the Passion of Christ, the frailty of the self has been realized in order to display the awesome magnitude of Jesus’ power. Through prayerful contemplation, through the assistance of the Fast, through almsgiving, we witness how great the fall from God’s glory is. He however, in His mercy and loving kindness, extends His hand to raise us up to greater and more glorious things. Through struggle and by recognizing and confessing the sin within, we have
emerged from a dark cave cheerfully willing to receive the Light of Christ on the holy day of Pascha. Sin, my brothers and sisters, is the greatest catastrophe of life. Sin is the failure to live up to the high calling of being children of the Most High. Like Adam and Eve, we have failed to keep the divine commandments of God. For this reason, we cannot avail ourselves to the Kingdom of God. But being creatures made in the image and likeness of God, we are given the ability to learn from our failures. With the help of the Church, we can identify the mistakes made in our lives and seek ways to correct them. True failure in the spiritual life is to remain un-
affected, un-changed, un-repenting, un-committed to Christ’s offer of New Life. In other words, to accept the failure of sin as a way of life is to truly forfeit life. Holy Week is yet another opportunity offered by the Church for us to achieve success (to meet Christ) from failure (life of sin.) Christ, has not only provided an avenue for our success, He has in fact ensured our success through confession and faith in Him. Success in achieving true life, eternal life, is found in His precious Cross, for “the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Cor. 1:18. By nailing Pag. 6
Stewardship - Your Own Gifts We Offer To You
Your own gifts we offer to you, with all our being and for all our blessings.
participation in the Liturgy and Holy Communion.
THE REV. ALEXANDER G. LEONDIS
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The Divine Liturgy is called the Eucharist, because it provides us with an opportunity to thank God weekly for the many gifts he bestows on us.
At the Great Entrance, we offer bread and wine to the Lord which is changed into the Body and Blood of Christ. At this time, we also offer ourselves to God with the hope that we will become transformed into the Body of Christ by our
The priest offers the gifts to the God the Father with the words; Your own gifts we offer to you, with all our being and for all our blessings. This means, Lord, that which you give to us, we return and offer back to you, with our whole heart and entire being and for all the blessings and gifts you give to us. We take part of the possessions that God has given us and return them to Him. We also take our life and Pag. 3
Wait for the promise of the Father
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