Pledges & Donations: HERE |
SATURDAY, JANUARY 21ST, |
5:30pm: Great Vespers with Holy Confessions following. |
SUNDAY, JANUARY 22ND, |
8:30AM, Matins; 9:30am, Divine Liturgy followed by Church School and Coffee Fellowship. |
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25TH, |
6:00PM. Adult Education, “ON HOLY TRADITION” (Zoom & Facebook Live steam). Last Wednesday’s 1st Class on Holy Tradition may be accessed HERE. |
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Fr. Paul’s Weekly Meditation |
WHAT IS FAITH?
Orthodox Christians live by faith in Christ. And this faith is a simple faith. It means that we trust in our Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. To have faith means that we “trust in the Lord with all our hearts” and that we “lean not upon [y]our own understanding.” (Psalm 3:5). Such faith is absolute and uncompromising. It cannot be divided. We are either “all-in” for Him or we are “all-out.” The Lord asks us to be fully consecrated to Him without exception. Why so? Because He alone loves us like no other. He alone knows us better that we know ourselves. He alone can save us from ourselves and our foolishness.
Faith is simple, yes. But this does not mean it is easy. One cannot just confess faith in Christ and be through with the whole thing, “once and done.” Rather, one must keep on confessing for a whole lifetime, every hour of every day. Every thought must “be taken captive for obedience to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5).
Really, an inner revolution is necessary. Human beings in this world live in a state of constant rebellion against God, because of pride. So it’s not just the need to sweep house every once in a while to gather up the dust. No, it’s that all the forces of hell, the devil and his demons are fighting inside mind and soul in order to deny the forces of good. Furthermore, the more someone deepens their faith, the more intense the battle becomes. The devil and his demons rage against those who are in the process of being redeemed by Christ, which is why it is so intense. Our will is the deciding factor in the battle. We either choose the King who made us or the usurper, the tyrant. Only by God’s grace can we choose, and keep on choosing – through continual repentance – the light of Christ.
Every day eternity appears before us as a gift. But we must fight for it against ourselves, against temptation and the evil spirits. Every day, that is, we must lay down our own weapons and let the Lord fight for us. There is no other way.
Fr. Paul Jannakos
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PARISH ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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“ORTHODOXY 101”: Fr Paul & Rick Wolf have began a new Adult Education Series on “Orthodoxy 101: the Basics,” beginning on Wednesday, January 25th at 6pm. The first 4 weeks will be dedicated to “THE MEANING OF HOLY TRADITION.” These classes will be livestreamed on both Zoom and Facebook live. Pass the Word! |
IOCC KENTUCKY TRIP: Michaelyn Sloan will be leading a team from St. Luke to participate in the IOCC Kentucky mission trip on the week of March 20-25th. For more information, contact Michaelyn at michaelynsloan@gmail.com. A Flier for this trip is attached to this email. |
2023 PLEDGE DONATIONS St. Luke’s Church Council would like to remind all the members of the parish that they are welcome to set up direct depositofferings to the Church for this new year. If you are interested in doing this please contact the our Parish Treasurer, Mrs. Christine Bischoff at stluketreasurerpalos@gmail.com. |
THE FEAST OF HOLY THEOPHANY: Houseblessings have commenced! If you would like to have your house blessed please sign up HERE. |
2023 St. Luke Annual Meeting:Our Annual Parish meeting will take place on Sunday, February 12th immediately following the Divine Liturgy. Reports will be sent out soon. |
JANUARY MONTHLY CHARITY: Our St. Luke monthly charity for the month of January will be the COPTIC CHILDREN’S FUND. Please be generous. |
LUBA’S KITCHEN ANNOUNCEMENT: Hello St. Luke Family! I am excited to share the news that we are once again starting sign-ups for our weekly Fellowship Coffee Hour Service. As you all know, this was one of my Aunt’s favorite things to do. Oh boy, did she always put out a big spread of goodies! I have attached a spreadsheet with dates that you and your pals can get together and sign up to bring in some goodies that day. If possible, we would like to start this Sunday, I know it is short notice, my apologies. Hopefully, someone will be willing to kick this off right! Please let me know what day(s) that you are interested in or fill in your days and send the spreadsheet back to me. I would love to get this all filled out in the next few weeks. Thank you! Debra Shiflett-Picardi |
DRIVERS FOR ELIJAH’S CHARIOT: Elijah’s Chariot – if you would like to help us drive our elderly to Church for services please let Tammy Tsiones know. Click here to sign up: DRIVERS FOR ELIJAH’S CHARIOT SIGN UP. |
BOOKSTORE SALE DOWNSTAIRS: Our bookstore sale will now offer the books downstairs in the parish hall for a free will donation. The proceeds from the free will offering for the rest of the books will go to Holy Resurrection monastery. |
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St. Luke Orthodox Church – 9300 W. 107th St., Palos Hills, IL., 60465 |