{"id":6749,"date":"2018-04-17T04:13:43","date_gmt":"2018-04-17T08:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/?p=6749"},"modified":"2018-04-17T04:13:43","modified_gmt":"2018-04-17T08:13:43","slug":"st-peter-newsletter-april-17-2018-third-sunday-after-pascha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stpeterorthodoxchurch.com\/st-peter-newsletter-april-17-2018-third-sunday-after-pascha\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Peter Newsletter April 17, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christ is Risen!<\/h2>\n

The Third Sunday After Pascha<\/h2>\n

Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women,Pious Joseph of Arimathaea, Righteous Nicodemus <\/h2>\n

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The Myrhh Bearing Women<\/h4>\n

The third Sunday of Holy Pascha is observed by the Orthodox Church as the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. The day commemorates when the women disciples of our Lord came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils but found the tomb empty. As the woman wondered what this meant, angels appeared proclaiming that Christ had risen from the dead.<\/p>\n

Of those whose names are known are the following: first of all, the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 is called “the mother of James and Joses” (these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore their step-mother); Mary Magdalene (celebrated July 22); Mary, the wife of Clopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the evangelists have kept silence.<\/p>\n

Together with them we celebrate also the secret disciples of the Savior, Joseph and Nicodemus. Of these, Nicodemus was probably a Jerusalemite, a prominent leader among the Jews and of the order of the Pharisees, learned in the Law and instructed in the Holy Scriptures. He had believed in Christ when, at the beginning of our Savior’s preaching of salvation, he came to Him by night. Furthermore, he brought some one hundred pounds of myrrh-oils and an aromatic mixture of aloes and spices out of reverence for the divine Teacher (John 19:39).<\/p>\n

Joseph, who was from the city of Arimathea, was a wealthy and noble man, and one of the counselors who were in Jerusalem. He went bodly unto Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with Nicodemus he gave Him burial. Since time did not permit the preparation of another tomb, he placed the Lord’s body in his own tomb which was hewn out of rock, as the Evangelist says (Matthew 27:60).<\/p>\n

Read the entire story on the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Thank you to Everyone who Worked so Hard During Pascha!<\/h2>\n

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Dozens of people helped, so much so that listing them all is impossible. Be assured of one thing (it’s from the Bible so take is seriously!):<\/p>\n

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For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do (Hebrews 6:10).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This means that our Lord sees our work, and of special importance to Him is the work that we do for each other<\/em>. Our work in the Church — cooking, chanting, taking care of the kids, vacuuming the floor, decorating the Kovouklion, fixing the air conditioning, organizing an easter egg hunt, wiping the tables, making visitors feel at home, cooking Lenten meals and a pancake breakfast, sponsoring Palm Sunday Brunch — everything the contributes to the life of St. Peter’s is a labor of love honored by God.<\/p>\n

Think about that and then think how important the generous hearts and helping hands is for the welfare and life of our our parish. If we can grasp that it is important to our Lord, then we can be grateful for the opportunity to serve.<\/p>\n

In return St. Paul teaches, you will be blessed for all you have done.<\/p>\n

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Metropolitan Joseph Paschal Message for 2018<\/h2>\n

Click image to read the Metropolitan’s message…<\/em><\/p>\n

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Calendar At A Glance<\/h2>\n