“What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me receive my sight.”
Dear members of the Vineyard of Christ,
The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.
In this Sunday‘s Gospel we read about a blind man who cry to Jesus to heal his blindness. It is very strange that Jesus asks him “what do you want me to do for you?”. Jesus wants us to identify exactly what we are suffering from and what kind of illness we need healing from. For this reason when we go to confession we mention our sins one by one, because healing is knowing our sins. “Blindness” according to the Holy Fathers, is not to know one’s self. To know our sins and our weaknesses, is greater than raising the dead according to one holy father. We also commemorate St. Xenia fool for Christ this Sunday. One of the saints rank in the Orthodox Church is “fools for Christ”. St. Paul mentions that in his letter “we are fools for Christ”. You can read about it here: Fool-for-Christ – OrthodoxWiki
For those who have prepared themselves and desire to partake of Holy Communion, please see the bulletin for instruction.
Next Friday January 29th at 7 PM we will have Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Three Hierarchs.
The Parish Council will meet next Wednesday evening to review the financial of our church.
In the article for this Sunday we read: “What is so special about the blind man’s faith? Once he hears that Jesus is there, he immediately begins to ask mercy of Jesus as Messiah, exhibiting insight into Jesus’ true mission. But he also has an unstoppable faith, a faith that won’t take no for an answer. The crowd tells him to shut up, and he calls out all the louder. People are embarrassed as the local beggar goes ballistic when Jesus comes to town, but he doesn’t care. He has an intensity of desire that overcomes obstacles, rebuke, and embarrassment to achieve what he desires. Jesus is pleased.”
What do we need from Jesus? only material and physical healing? or the salvation of our souls.
In Christ,
Rev. Fr. Dr. George Dahdouh, Pastor
St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church
9116 Bayview Ave.,
Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3M9
Office: 905/731-7210, Cell in case of Emergency: 416/937-6301
~Pastor’s Message of January 24, 2021~