Sunday, July 30, 2006

 

Newsletter No. 31



In this Issue:
St. Joseph, the Righteous
Sayings of the Fathers
A Story I liked
An Article I liked
You Say ... God Says
Congratulations
Happy Birthday wishes



St. Joseph, the Righteous


On the 26th of Abib, the righteous man St. Joseph, the carpenter, who was worthy to be called the father of Christ in the flesh, departed at a good old age. The Holy Gospel bore witness that he was a righteous man, and God chose him to be betrothed to the all-pure, our lady, the Virgin St. Mary.
When he finished his course, his strife, his toil in the journey together with the Lord and the Virgin Lady from Bethlehem to the land of Egypt, and the tribulations that befell him from the Jews, he departed in peace.
When the time came for him to depart from this world, to the world of the living, the Lord Christ was present at his departure, and laid His hand upon his eyes. He extended his arms, and delivered up his soul, and was buried in the tomb of his father Jacob.
All the days of his life were one hundred and eleven years.
His departure was in the sixteenth year of the advent of the Lord Christ.
May his prayers be with us, Amen.


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Sayings of the Fathers


You are not to pay attention to visible things let them be as though they did not exist; but you must pay attention to invisible things; for the former are temporal, and the latter eternal. Besides this, if you seek the invisible, then God will provide the visible for you, as He has done until now.

+ St. John of Kronstadt +

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A Story I liked
Reading your Bible


The story is told of an old man who lived on a farm in the mountains of eastern Kentucky with his young grandson. Each morning, Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table reading from his old worn-out Bible. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to imitate him in any way he could.
One day the grandson asked, "Papa, I try to read the Bible just like you but I don't understand it, and what I do understand I forget as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the Bible do?"
The Grandfather quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and said, "Take this coal basket down to the river and bring back a basket of water."
The boy did as he was told, even though all the water leaked out before he could get back to the house.
The grandfather laughed and said, "You will have to move a little faster next time," and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned home. Out of breath, he told his grandfather that it was "impossible to carry water in a basket," and he went to get a bucket instead.
The old man said, "I don't want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You can do this. You're just not trying hard enough," and he went out the door to watch the boy try again.
At this point, the boy knew it was impossible, but he wanted to show his grandfather that even if he ran as fast as he could, the water would leak out before he got far at all. The boy scooped the water and ran hard, but when he reached his grandfather the basket was again empty.
Out of breath, he said, "See Papa, it's useless!"
"So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket"
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. "Son, that's what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.
That is the work of God in our lives. To change us from the inside out and to slowly transform us into the image of His son.

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An article I liked

St Joseph, the Carpenter

During the holy days of the Nativity Fast, as we prepare ourselves to receive the Word Incarnate, we tend to focus on the Baby Jesus and His blessed mother Virgin Mary. We sing praises to our Lord Jesus Christ and we venerate St. Mary as we chant the Kioahk Praises.
In the churches, replicas of mangers are up and the icons of the Nativity and the Holy Family take center places. In all this festivity, we tend to overlook the role of a very important member of the Holy Family during these events, St. Joseph the carpenter.
Born in Bethlehem of Judea, St. Joseph came from the royal lineage of King David. Both St. Luke and St. Matthew mark his descent from David, the greatest king of Israel (Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38). The Scriptures do not tell us why or when originally St. Joseph left Bethlehem and chose Nazareth to be his place of residence, but it tells us that he was a carpenter (Matthew 13:55).
According to tradition, when St. Mary, who was dedicated to the temple, completed twelve years in the sanctuary and could not stay there any longer, the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Judah a respectable man, to espouse her. St. Joseph was among the candidates. A miracle revealed the choice of St. Joseph God had made. When the priests gathered twelve righteous men from the tribe of Judah and took their staffs inside the sanctuary, a dove flew up and stood on the staff belonging to St. Joseph. They immediately knew that this was God’s will. The righteous St. Joseph took St. Mary to his house. Both spouses intended for this betrothal to be virginal marriage.
When St. Joseph discovered St. Mary was pregnant, he knew the child was not his. St. Joseph knew that a woman accused of adultery could be stoned to death. Being a compassionate man, full of love he did not want to defame her for "Love covers all sins" (Proverbs 10:12). Being sensible and discreet he did not show annoyance nor behaved in anger but behaved with prudence "A fool’s wrath is known at once, But a prudent man covers shame" (Proverbs 12:16) and decided to put her away secretly (Matthew 1:18,19).
"But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit…" Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife." (Matthew 1:20-24) St. Joseph did not doubt the angel of the Lord but in full faith accepted his words and kept St. Mary with him.
A few months later, Caesar Augustus issued a decree ordering the entire world to be registered everyone in his own city. For St. Joseph and St. Mary, this meant to travel from Nazareth of Galilee to Bethlehem of Judea. Upon their arrival in Bethlehem "the days were completed for her to be delivered …." and "there was no room for them in the inn" (Luke 2:1-7). St. Joseph was there with St. Mary at the birth of our Lord. He
was there when the shepherds came to greet the Newborn. He witnessed the wise men offering gifts to the Child. He took full responsibility of the Mother and Child.
St. Joseph was a modest man not with great means for when the time came to present the Child Jesus to the Temple to be circumcised he offered the sacrifice of two turtledoves or a pair of pigeons, allowed only for those who could not afford a lamb (Luke 2:24). He was present at the temple, saw Simeon the elder carry the Child and prophesy about Him. Both St. Joseph and St. Mary marvelled at those things spoken of the Lord and they both received Simeon blessings.
St. Joseph was man of faith, obedient to God in everyway. When the angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him" (Matthew 2:13). He did not hesitate but immediately left everything he owned, all his relatives and friends, and fled to Egypt, a strange country. He took full responsibility of the Child although he is not His real father. It did not occur to him that his own life and the life of St. Mary were not in danger, but only the Child. He could have resented this move but he did not. In all obedience he went to Egypt and waited there submissively until the angel of the Lord told him it was safe to go back (Matthew 2:13-23).
Upon their return from Egypt, the Holy Family settled again at Nazareth. St. Joseph supported himself and his family by his work. We do not know many details about their life in Nazareth except that they faithfully followed the religious practices commanded by the Law. Being a pious man St. Joseph traveled with his family each year to Jerusalem to observe the Passover, "His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover" (Luke 2:41).
St. Joseph raised the Lord Jesus, loved Him and cared for His safety. St. Matthew records an incident that took place when our Lord Jesus Christ was twelve years old. On their way home to Nazareth after celebrating the Passover in Jerusalem, St. Joseph and St. Mary discovered the absence of the Lord Jesus from among the company. Anxious for His safety they immediately returned to Jerusalem to look for Him. Three days had passed until they found Him sitting among the teachers at the temple listening to them and asking them questions. St. Joseph definitely treated the Lord Jesus as his own son; For the people of Nazareth had said of the Lord, "Is this not the son of Joseph" (Luke 4:22).
This incident of the Passover is the last account mentioning St. Joseph in the Holy Gospels. Tradition tells us that St. Joseph had died before Jesus entered public ministry. Our Lord was about sixteen years of age when His foster father St. Joseph departed. The Lord Christ was present at his departure, and laid His hand upon his eyes. St. Joseph extended his arms and delivered up his soul. He was buried in the tomb of his father Jacob. All the days of his life were one hundred and eleven years. His departure was on the twenty-sixth day of the month of Epep. May the blessings of the righteous saint be with us all Amen.

H.G. Bishop Youssef
Bishop, Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States


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You Say ... God Says ...

You say: "I can't figure things out"
God says: I will direct your steps
(Proverbs 3:5-6)


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Congratulations

Daneil Kiriakos for your Baptism

May you prosper in both
your spirit and body, amen.


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The Corner wishes

Amel, Christine and Mario
A very Happy Birthday


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End of Issue No. 31


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