Update for the week Thursday, December 18, through Thursday, December 25, 2014, HOLY NATIVITY

THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY'S

THURSDAY 12/18 – The Bible Study group will meet tonight - Thursday, December 18 - at 7:00 pm in the church library, as we continue our study of Numbers using the podcasts found at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-part-3/ and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-and-deuteronomy/ 

The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday (next meeting will be January 8), and is based on a very interesting course originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio, entitled Search the Scriptures. For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mailto:mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (mailto:frawhj@gmail.com). New members are always welcome.

SUNDAY, 12/21 – Enquirers Class (St. Ignatius Catechetical Group) 9:00 am; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; no Church School

WEDNESDAY, 12/24 - NATIVITY SERVICES - Royal Hours for the Nativity at 9:00 am, Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil at 11:00 am; Orthros at 6:45 pm, and Festal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil at 8:00 pm. (There are no services on December 25.)

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

HOLY THEOPHANY – On Monday, January 5, we will celebrate the Feast of Holy Theophany with Divine Liturgy and Blessing of the Waters at 6:30 pm. There will also be a celebration on Sunday, January 11, with a second Blessing of the Waters.

PARISH MEETING – The Annual Meeting of St. Mary's Parish will be held on Sunday, January 25, immediately after Liturgy. (Snow date: February 1)

REMINDERS

FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive continues through Wednesday, December 31, 2014. Since 1984, we have collected over 3,281,200 pounds of food. Please bring in canned goods ONLY and place them in the plastic bins in the room outside the kitchen. They will be distributed to food pantries in our area.

PASTORAL VISIT – His Grace Bishop John will join us for a Pastoral Visit and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, January 4.

CONVENTION COMMITTEE – The next meeting of the National Convention committee is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2015. In case of snow, the meeting will be January 28.

PARISH MEETING – The Annual Meeting of St. Mary's Parish will be held on Sunday, January 25, immediately after Liturgy. (Snow date: February 1)

CALENDAR – A Calendar of Events for St. Mary's church can be seen on the church website at https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/news/calendar/

SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY, December 21Epistle: Brethren, by faith Abraham sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. For he looked forward to the city which has foundation, whose builder and maker is God. ...

   And all these, though well attested by their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had foreseen something better for us,that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

   - Hebrews 11:9-10; 32-40 

Gospel:

The book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.  Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob ...

   So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations.

   Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way....

   All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel"(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.

- Matthew 1:1-25 

REFLECTION

The gospel reading for the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday before Christmas is "the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham," taken from the gospel according to St. Matthew. This genealogy lists the generations of people from Abraham to David, to the Babylonian captivity of the people of Israel, to the birth of Jesus. It is a selected genealogy, ending in the appearance of "Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ" (Matthew 1:16). It differs from the genealogy presented in St. Luke's gospel which begins with Jesus "being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph," and goes back all the way not simply to Abraham but to Adam (Luke 3:23-38).

   There are many purposes for presenting the genealogy of Jesus in the gospels, chief among which is the affirmation that Jesus, being in truth the Son of God, as all the gospels testify, has come "in the flesh" as a real human being. This affirmation was critically important in the time of the apostles and the first Christian generations because, unlike today, the temptation of the early period of Christianity was not to deny Jesus' divinity, but to deny His real and authentic humanity.

   As a matter of historical fact, the first Christian heretics were those who said that Jesus was some sort of divine being (how this was explained had many variations and versions) who only appeared to be a true man, but was not really one since "flesh and blood" were taken to be intrinsically degrading if not downright evil. Thus the apostle Paul had to insist that in Jesus, who belongs to the Jews "according to the flesh" (Romans 9:5), the "whole fulness of deity dwells bodily" (Colossians 2:9), and that it is the same Jesus who died and was buried and raised in the flesh as a real man, who is Messiah and Lord....

   The genealogies in the gospels of Saints Matthew and Luke are made to and from Joseph. This is not to give the impression that Jesus came from Joseph's seed. Both gospels are absolutely clear on this point. Jesus is born from the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit. The point is rather that Joseph is Jesus' father according to the law, and it is from the father that one's lawful descent is to be traced. Jesus' legal father is "Joseph, son of David," the legal husband of Mary (Matthew 1:20).

   One other important point is made in listing the human generations which led to the birth of Jesus. This is the fact that God is faithful to His promises even though His chosen people are often not faithful. Among the people from whom Jesus came are both sinners and heathens. In a word, Jesus comes not only from the righteous and holy, but from the wicked and sinful. And He comes not only from Jews, but from Gentiles. The names of the four women specifically mentioned in St. Matthew's list-- Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah (Bathsheba)-- were noted, not to say notorious, Gentiles, including one of David's own wives, the mother of Solomon. The point to be seen here is one beautifully made in an early Christian hymn quoted in the Bible in the second letter to Timothy:

If we have died with Him,
   we shall also live with Him;
If we endure,
   we shall also reign with Him;
If we deny Him,
   He also will deny us;
If we are faithless,
   He remains faithful-- for He cannot deny Himself. (2 Tim 2:11-13)