St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church
1100 Hicksville Rd. • Seaford, NY, 11783
Rev. Fr. Andrew Gromm
(516) 541-3628 / onearthasinheaven@yahoo.com
Website: www.sgnseaford.org/
Sunday Mornings: Hours- 9:15, Liturgy- 9:30, Church School- 10:40
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February 21, 2016 / Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee
Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:10-15; Gospel: Luke 18:10-14; Tone 5
Commemorations: St. Eustathius of Antioch (+337); St. John the Scholastic, Patriarch (+577);
St. Timothy of Symbola (+795); St. George of Amastris (+805); St. Macarius of Glinsk (+1864).
Wednesday, February 24th
9:00 AM- Divine Liturgy
Saturday, February 27th
No Vespers (Fr. Andrew is in Rahway)
Blessings: Fr. Andrew is ready for house blessings & visiting. Please contact him or sign up.
Parish News: Fr. Andrew visited Irene Lentz, a shut-in of our parish. She fell & was sent to a
rehabilitation center, where she is doing fine. She joyfully remembers you & sends greetings.
Diocesan News: Please note the various events promoted on our bulletin board. Missions are
looking for people to help in diocesan work in Toronto and New Orleans.
Camp Nazareth: Online registration for the camp begins Feb. 22nd. See the flyer in the kitchen.
Parish Finances: Last week’s contributions were $784 and expenses were $. 2692, 1241
Prayers: Health for Anthony, Kathleen, Martha, Anthony, Eugenia, Gregory, Elizabeth, Mary,
Annette, Anna, Lydia, Anne, Frank, Paul, Liz & George. /// Jobs for Nicholas, Dana and Peter.
Rubrics for the Sunday of the Publican & the Pharisee
1.
RESURRECTION TROPARION: (Tone 5)
We the faithful proclaim and worship the Word, * eternal with the Father and the Spirit. * He
was born of the Virgin for our salvation. * He willingly ascended the cross in the flesh and
suffered death. * He raised the dead by His glorious resurrection.
2.
KONDAK OF THE PUBLICAN & PHARISEE: (Tone 3)
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. * Now and ever and forever. Amen.
As the publican, let us bring cries of sorrow to the Lord, * and let us fall before Him as sinners
at the Master’s feet. * For He desires the salvation of all men. * He grants forgiveness unto all
that repent * and He has for our sake taken flesh, * though He is God co-eternal with the Father.
3.
PROKIMENON: (Tone 5)
O Lord, protect us and guard us from this generation forever and ever, forever, from this
generation forever. (Psalm 12:7)
v. Help Lord; for there is no longer any that is godly, for the faithful have vanished from
among the sons of men. (Psalm 12:1)
(Repeat the above.)
4. THE EPISTLE LESSON:
(2 Timothy 3:10-15)
The Reading is from the Epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul to Timothy.
Brethren: Timothy, my son: You have followed closely my teaching and my conduct. You have
observed my resolution, fidelity, patience, love and endurance, through persecutions and
sufferings in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. You know what persecutions I have had to bear and
you know how the Lord saved me from them all. Anyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ
Jesus can expect to be persecuted. But all the while evil men and charlatans will go from bad to
worse, deceiving others, themselves deceived. You, for your part, must remain faithful to what
you have learned and believed, because you know who your teachers were. Likewise, from your
infancy you have known the sacred Scriptures, the source of the wisdom which through faith in
Jesus Christ leads to salvation.
5.
ALLELUIA: (Psalm 89:1-2)
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. I will sing of Your steadfast love, O Lord, forever. With my mouth I will proclaim Your
faithfulness to all generations.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
v. For Your steadfast love was established forever, Your faithfulness is firm as the heavens.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
6. THE GOSPEL LESSON:
(Luke 18:10-14)
Let Us All Be Attentive: The Lord told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray,
the one a Pharisee and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood and began to pray thus within
himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of men, robbers, dishonest, adulterers, or
even like this publican. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all I possess.’ But the publican,
standing far off, would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but kept striking his breast,
saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went back to his home justified
rather than the other. For anyone who exalts himself shall be humbled and anyone who
humbles himself shall be exalted.”
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From Bishop Gregory
Bishop Gregory has sent us a great list of internet sites to peruse. Please remember to use
them every week. In his letter, the bishop explained that the diocesan websites offer “rich
content” and “the ability to be better connected to the ministries and various activities taking
place in the Diocese. We expend a great amount of time, energy and resources in providing
outreach to the homebound through our offering of live stream services from the Diocesan
Cathedral, spiritual resources such as the daily scripture readings and lives of the saints, and
high quality, multi-media coverage of Diocesan and Camp events.” They are quite wonderful,
including a good number of articles and answers to questions. So take some time every week to
look into them and understand the greatest Faith and the only Truth.
Follow Our Diocese On-Line
Diocesan Website: http://www.acrod.org
Camp Nazareth: http://www.campnazareth.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/acroddiocese
Twitter: https://twitter.com/acrodnews
You Tube: https://youtube.com/acroddiocese
The Publican and the Pharisee
YouDemotses
by Reverend Andrew
Jesus Christ shared the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee with us to warn us of the
great spiritual danger of arrogant self-confidence in our own righteousness, coupled with
contempt for those whom we consider to be beneath us. In this way Jesus sought to protect us
from the terrible spiritual sickness of Pharisee-ism.
This disease of the soul first manifests itself as absolute confidence and trust in the rightness
of our own point of view & judgment; it presupposes our personal superiority over others. And
Caof self-confidence quickly degenerates into uncritical self-satisfaction &
this twisted expression
self righteousness, into a kind of mindless self-admiration. It takes endless pleasure in the self,
and in all that it does.
Let us look at the Pharisee in today’s parable. He goes into the Temple of God to offer
incense to his own self-idol. He proclaims his saintliness and enumerates his good works. He
admires and praises himself. He, after all, is not like other people who are up to their necks in
immorality & evil. In the midst of his supposed prayer he does not hesitate to spill the poisonous
bile of his hatred for the Publican (tax collector) whom he sees praying in a distant corner. With
exaggerated self-satisfaction he refers to his careful fasting and his generous support of the
temple. He is indeed, a fastidious observer of the law of the covenant.
And though we feel repulsed by the attitude & behavior of the Pharisee, we need to be honest
enough to admit to ourselves that there are more than a few times when we astonishingly
resemble him. After all, who among us does not want others to think that we are better people
than we actually are? Which one of us does not suffer from some lack of respect toward others?
Is there even one of us who is very lenient in his judgement of others & sterner in his own selfcriticism? I sincerely doubt it. Every one of us, more or less, has something of that Pharisee
inside of us. Something of that self-adulation & righteousness. And so to protect ourselves from
infection by this disease requires nothing less than constant struggle & vigilant effort on our part.
A truly Christian heart seeks to do what is just and right as a simple and natural expression of
our responsibility as persons. But even then we understand that our good deeds do not reflect
perfection and so should not be the cause of weaning pride on our part. That is why St. Vasilios,
who devoted his entire life to the loving service of others wrote, “Even if we were somehow able
to do absolutely everything that is required of us, we would still have to conclude that we are
unworthy servants of the Lord. And this is because after having done all this, we will only have
fulfilled our basic duty and obligation and nothing more.”
This condemnation of the smug self-satisfaction of the Pharisee, leads us to the justification of
the Publican, who keenly feels and readily acknowledges his personal inadequacies. The
Publican is admittedly burdened by a host of sins. But he is acutely aware of his sinfulness and
spiritual poverty. And so he stands back, in the farthest corner of the temple. He does not dare
to even lift his eyes toward heaven. With heavy sighs, he whispers his short prayer, “God, have
mercy on me, a sinner.”
His prayer is a request, a plea actually, that is filled with contrition. And this contrition, this
acknowledgement and confession of personal imperfection, is nothing less than the very
cornerstone of the entire spiritual life. And this is because it is inseparably bound with humility of
the soul; and it is humility that allows divine grace to transfigure and sanctify our lives.
Perhaps the attitude that we need to acquire if we wish to offer prayer that is acceptable
before God, is summed up in the words of Jesus himself who said to us, “Come to Me, all you
that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you,
and learn from Me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and in Me you will find rest for your
souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28. May we too approach the
altar of God with that same gentleness of spirit, and that same humility of heart and soul.
St. Gregory of Nyssa Orthodox Church
1100 Hicksville Rd. • Seaford, NY, 11783
Rev. Fr. Andrew Gromm
(516) 541-3628 / onearthasinheaven@yahoo.com
Website: www.sgnseaford.org/
Weekly Bible Message
February 21, 2016
There is some truth to rejecting negative or pessimistic attitudes and to
accepting positive or optimistic approaches to life. But what you may hear
on TV or in school about how to overcome negative thoughts and to gain
positive attitudes is not exactly what the Bible teaches on how to do this.
The world wants us to be obsessed with our feelings, finding ways to
empower one’s self-esteem, while the Bible has a better way to be positive.
The Lord Jesus once told a parable about a Pharisee and a tax collector
(Publican). The Pharisee prayed to God, thanking Him for not being a liar,
not an adulterer, not a thief, not cruel, not a sinner, not a tax collector, etc.
He built up his self-esteem by declaring his wonderful acts of giving money
to the poor, praying all the time, obeying God’s commandments, etc. But
the tax collector finally felt deep sadness for the sins he had done to
others, so he simply prayed, “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.” And
Jesus said that this man was justified by God, not the Pharisee, due to the
Holy Spirit exalting humble people and humiliating arrogant people.
Even though the Pharisee praised himself so positively, he did this by
being pessimistic & negative. Everything & everyone around him was evil,
sinful, despicable. Only he was worthy of great praise. This is not how God
wants us to grow our self-esteem, declaring how good we are compared to
others. The Pharisee went home feeling justified by God, but it was a lie.
The tax collector shows how God wants us to live. Instead of self-esteem
& declaring we are not bad & not sinful, which is negative, God wants us to
be positive & optimistic about repentance. Instead of saying NO to God’s
mercy, we are to say yes to admitting our sins & say yes to seeking God’s
mercy. And when we feel sad about sin, God saves our souls because the
more we repent, the more we see good in others. And this is very positive.