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Jesus answered, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (Jn. 9:3).
One might ask, “Did the born blind man suffer for the glory of God?” Tell me what did he do wrong? Rather, I assert that he not only did not suffer from his blindness but that he even received benefit from his blindness. Because he recovered the sight of the eyes within. What were the Jews profited by their eyes? They incurred the heavier punishment, being blinded even while they saw. And what injury did this man have because of his blindness? For through his blindness he recovered his sight. As, then, the evils of the present life are not evils, so neither are the good things good. Sin alone is evil, but blindness is not an evil… As some excellent architect may build part of a house, and leave the rest unfinished, so that for those who do not believe he [the architect] may prove, by means of that remnant, that he is author of the whole; so also God joins together and completes our body, as it were a house decayed, healing the withered hand, bracing the palsied limbs, straightening the lame, cleansing the lepers, raising the sick, making sound the crippled, recalling the dead from death, opening the eyes that were closed, or adding them when they were not even present; all which things, being blemishes arising from the infirmity of our nature, He by correcting showed His power. – St. John Chrysostom
Sermon:
Church Announcements:
- Servants Meeting on Sunday, February 6th right after liturgy.
- There will be a liturgy this Saturday from 8:00-10:30am
Saint of the Week: St. Peter the Ascetic
Peter was a tax collector who was very cruel and had no mercy. Because of his selfishness and greed, he was nicknamed “the merciless.” However, the Lord Jesus had compassion on him, and He wanted to turn him away from all his evil deeds.
One day, God sent him a poor man to ask him for a bit of food. The tax collector took a loaf of bread and hit the poor man with it on his head, not as an act of mercy, but to get rid of him so that he might not come back again.
That same night, Peter, the tax collector, saw a vision in his sleep, as though he was in the Judgment Day, where the scale of justice was erected, and he saw some people clothed in black in the ugliest forms. They came and put his sins and injustices in the left pan of the scale. Then a group of the angels of light in white clothes came and stood beside the right pan of the scale. They appeared perplexed, for they did not find anything to put in the pan. Finally, one of them came and put the loaf of bread with which he had hit the head of the poor man and said, “There is nothing for this man except this loaf of bread.”
At this moment, Peter woke up from his sleep trembling and afraid. He rebuked himself for all that he had done. He started to be exceedingly merciful and compassionate and even gave his own tunic away. When nothing was left of his property, he left his town and sold himself as a slave and paid the price to the poor.
When his good deeds became well known, he fled to the wilderness of St. Macarius, where he became a monk and lived an ascetic life with great devotion.
Saints of the Week:
- St. Timothy the Apostle – Monday, Jan. 31
- St. Mary the Ascetic, St. Psati – Tuesday, Feb. 1
- St. Peter the Worshiper – Wednesday, Feb. 26
- The 49 Saints of Sheheat, St. Anastasia – Thursday, Feb. 27
- Archangel Suriel, St. Serapion, St. Abe-Fam – Friday, Feb. 28
- St. Kaou, St. Clement of Angora, St. Babylas– Saturday, Feb. 29
This Week’s Schedule:
- Monday:
- Midnight Praises: 8:00-9:30pm
- Tuesday:
- Bible Study: 7:00-8:30pm (in-person and Facebook)
- Wednesday:
- Liturgy: 5:00-7:00am
- Thursday:
- Liturgy: 7:30-10:00am
- Friday:
- Liturgy: 8:00-10:30am
- Saturday:
- Liturgy: 8:00-10:30am
- Hymns Class: 5:00-6:00pm
- Sunday School: 6:00-7:00pm
- Vespers: 7:00-7:30pm.
- Midnight Praises: 7:30-9:30am
- Sunday:
- Liturgy: 7:30-11:00am
- Liturgy: 7:30-11:00am