The Altar
SCRIPTURE READINGS for the Sunday of The Final Judgement - February 19th.
MATIN GOSPEL - Eothinion 3
The Reading is from Mark 16:9-20
"At that time, Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, and he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover." So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen"
EPISTLE
The Reading is from St. Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians 8:8-13; 9:1-2
"Brethren, food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. Only take care lest this liberty of yours somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. For if any one sees you, a man of knowledge, at table in an idol's temple, might he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak man is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of my brother's falling, I will never eat meat, lest I cause my brother to fall. Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are not you my workmanship in the Lord? If to others I am not an apostle, at least I am to you; for you are the seal of my apostleship in the Lord."
GOSPEL
The Reading is from Matthew 25:31-46
"The Lord said, "When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.' Then he will say to those at his left hand, 'Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.' Then they also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?' Then he will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.' And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."
ARABIC PHOENETICAL GOSPEL:
"KAR-LA EL-RUB: WA-MA-TA JA-A IB-NOO EL-IN-SAN-NEE FEE MAJ-DEE-HEE, WA-JA-MEA-OO EL-MA-LA-EE-KA-TEE EL-KID-DEE-SEE-NA MA-A-HOO, FA-HEE-NA-IZ-ZIN YEJ-LEE-SOO ALA KUR-SEE MAJ-DEE-HEE. WA-YEJ-TA-MEE-OO A-MA-MA-HOO JA-MEA-OO EL-SHU-OO-BEE: FA-YOO-MAY-YEE-ZOO BA-A-DA-HUM MIN BA[T]-DIN. KEM-MA YOO-MAY-YEE-ZOO EL-RA-EE EL-KHE-RA-FA MEE-NA EL-JEE-DA-EE. FA-YOO-KEE-MOO EL-KHE-RA-FA AN YA-MEE-NEE-HEE, WA-EL-JEE-DA-A AN EL-YA-SA-REE. SUM-MA YA-KOO-LOO EL-MA-LEE-KOO LIL-LA-ZEE-NA AN YA-MEE-NEE-HEE: ‘TA-A-LOO, YA-MOO-BAR-RA-KEE A-BEE, REE-SOO EL-MA-LA-KOO-TA EL-MOO-AD-DA LA-KUM MIN-ZOO TA-A-SEE-SEE EL-AL-LA-MEE: LEE-EN-NEE JOO-A[T]-TOO, FA-UT-AM-TOO-MOO-NEE; A-TISH-TOO, FA-SA-KAI-TOO-MOO-NEE; KUN-TOO GHA-REE-BEN, FA-OW-TOO-MOO-NEE; UR-YAN-NEN, FA-KA-SEW-TOO-MOO-NEE; MA-REE-DUN, FA-ZOOR-TOO-MOO-NEE, MAH-BOO-SEN, FA-A-TAY-TUM E-LAY-YA.’ FA-YOO-JEE-BOO-HOO EL-UB-BRA-ROO HEE-NA-IZ-ZIN, KAR-EE-LEE-NA: ‘YA RUB-BOO, MA-TA RA-EY-NA-KA JA-EE-AN, FA-UT-AM-NA-KA? OW AT-SHA-NAN, FA-SA-KAI-NA-KA? WA-MA-TA RA-EY-NA-KA GHA-REE-BEN, FA-OW-NA-KA? OW UR-YAN-NEN, FA-KA-SEW-NA-KA? WA-MA-TA RA-EY-NA-KA MA-REE-DUN, OW MAH-BOO-SEN, FA-A-TAY-NA E-LAY-KA?’ FA-YOO-JEE-BOO EL-MA-LEE-KOO WA-YA-KOO-LOO LA-HUM: ‘EL-HA-KA A-KOO-LOO LA-KUM, BEE-MA AN-NA-KUM FA-AL-TOO-MOO-HOO BEE-A-HA-DEE IKH-WA-LEE HOO-OO-LA-EE, EL-A-SA-GHEE-REE FA-BEE FA-AL-TUM." {St. LUKE 25:31-46}
Check Back Next Week [St. MATTHEW 6:14-21]
The most important part of the Church building is the Holy Altar, this is the Holy of Holies as referenced in the Bible. It is here that the worship of Our Lord is celebrated.
To serve at the Holy Altar is a great and wondrous thing for any member of the Body of Christ. For many, many years our Pastor, Father John has encouraged not only the traditional boys to serve at the Altar, but also men; we do not have 'altar boys' we are blessed with Altar Servers.
This parish is very, very blessed to have as the Head Altar Server a very humble and holy man in the person of Sub/Deacon Charles P. Hill. He not only encourages all the servers, he especially works with the newest servers to take on all the responsibilities of serving. He has a wonderful spirit of humility and gives all the 'special jobs' to the boys so they know that they are important as well. We also invite pious girls [who sit in the Sanctuary to help with the Divine Liturgy by If you are a male and would like to be Blessed to serve at the Holy Altar of the Lord, please contact either Fr. John or Sub/Deacon Charles. We also invite young ladies who would like to participate in helping during the Divine Liturgy by carrying the lanterns during the Holy Scripture readings, processions and also helping during the distribution of Holy Communion and the veneration of the Lord's chalice to the service of the Lord. Please speak to Mary Brakeall after the Divine Liturgy.
