Sunday Before the Nativity - Sunday of the Ancestors
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory Forever!
Sunday Before the Nativity; Sunday of the Ancestors;
December 22, 2024
Sat 12/21/24 4:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy +Susan Herman by Jeanne Sheffer
Sun 12/22/24 9:30am Divine Liturgy +Fr. Dennis Bogda (5 Yr. Anniv. Of Passing) by The Slavish Family
Tue 12/24/24 8:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy of Christmas for All Parishioners
Wed 12/25/24 9:30am Christmas Divine Liturgy
Thu 12/26/24 9:30am Divine Liturgy Synaxis of the Theotokos
Fri 12/27/24 7:00pm Divine Liturgy Protomartyr Stephan
Sat 12/28/24 4:00pm Vigil Divine Liturgy +Jerry Tincha by Ann Hoszwa
Sun 12/29/24 9:30am Divine Liturgy +Gertrude Flick by Matt and Darlene Callihan
Wed 01/01/24 9:30am Divine Liturgy
Variable Parts Tone 6 - Pages 152 - 153 Sunday Before the Nativity Pages - 285 - 287
Epistle Hebrews 11:9-10 and 17-23 and 32-40
Gospel Matthew 1:1-25
Memorial Candle Request - +Joseph Baysura by Linda Mueller
Epistle Readers 21-Dec John Baycura/Mary Motko 22-Dec Shari Allen 28-Dec Annabelle Bistransin 29-Dec Eva Babick
Please Pray for: Liz Moyta, Fr. Michael Huszti, Fr. Laska, Susie Curcio, Robert Zera, Teresa Milkovich, Robert Saper, Anna Habil, Martha Sapar, Mike Dancisin, Karen Smaretsky Vavro, Diane Sotak, Anna Pocchiari, Larry Hamil, Beverly Jones, Marilyn Book, Maryann Russin Schyvers, Nick Russin, Ken Konchan
Attendance: 12/14 — 23 12/15 — 66; Collection: 12/14 & 12/15 — $2,061.00
Parish Theophany Supper: On Sunday, January 5th we will have a Vigil Liturgy for the Thcophany followed by supper. Please bring a meatless side or desert. The GCU will donate fish. There will be NO morning coffee social on this day.
Year of Jubilee - We are quickly approaching 2025, which will be celebrated as a Jubilee Year for Catholics. The Jubilee is described as a "special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, in which people are invited to deepen their relationship with God, with one another, and with all of creation." The concept of the Jubilee is, of course, not original to the Catholic Church but finds its source in a mandate given by God to Israel. The instructions for a Jubilee are laid out in Leviticus 25, verses 8-17 . God tells Israel that they need to count 49 years and then blow the ram's horn (also known as a 'yovel, 'the Hebrew word for Jubilee) throughout the whole land on the biblical "Day of Atonement" for the Jewish community.
The year after that, the 50th year, is then dedicated to God: "You shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each ofyou shall return to his property and each ofyou shall return to his clan" (Leviticus 25:10).
The Jubilee year is considered holy, during which farming is prohibited. It includes powerful social and economic resets: debts are forgiven, slaves are freed, and all land is returned to its original owners. The land is the Lord's, and we are merely sojourners on it. This is a key principle of the Jubilee. It's a powerful antidote against the greed and materialism many so easily fall into. The Jubilee is a radical equalizer to counteract the nation's wealth being monopolized by a few, but has hardly ever been properly carried out. In fact, God gives the reason for the exile to Babylon as a consequence of Israel's failure to carry out year of Jubilees. Resisting the need to till the land —to sow and reap a harvest — demands extraordinary faith to see God provide in the absence of human labor. The Jubilee then is an even greater opportunity for radical blessing but it requires even more radical faith. Perhaps due to the great practical challenges involved in actually carrying out the biblical Jubilee, it has largely been reinterpreted and spiritualized to the point of becoming almost obsolete. Today, Jewish rabbis even fmd it difficult to agree which year it might be, as counting months and years has become complicated and contested after long seasons in exile. The Jubilee 2025 year's theme is 'Pilgrims of Hope', and Pope Francis is inviting Catholics to renew hope and discover a vision that can restore access to the fruits of the earth to everyone," Bishop Monahan relays. "We are also invited to rediscover a spirituality of God's creation in which we understand ourselves as 'pilgrims on the earth', rather than masters of the world." Unlike the biblical Jubilee, which starts in the fall with a blast of the ram's horn on Yom Kippur, Catholic Jubilee celebrations will commence when the Pope opens the "Holy Door" at the Basilica in Rome on Dec. 24, 2024.
This Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem! We continue to rejoice in the celebration of God's greatest gift of coming down from heaven to be born into our world. By His birth over 2000 years ago, we celebrate the Christmas liturgies through singing the special sacred melodies of the Divine Liturgy and the Christmas hymns and songs.
The holy music reminds of the events in Bethlehem. The prayers, music, and foods also bring to life our memories of all our family's celebrations. When we hear the words and music, we recall the faces of erandparents„ parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends living and those in heaven are also brought us mind. In similarity to the Christmas hymn God is with Us, they are with us.
Here am I with the children God has given me. 'Or God is with us. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. fin- God is with us. For a child is born to us; a son is given to us, for God is with . us (God is with Us)
The traditional Christmas songs and new popular ones grow each year. Almost every musician produces a Christmas song or album. Silent Night or even I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas were the most popular songs in the age of records, radio, and television.
The number one Christmas song from this year again is All! want for Christmas is You! It was written and sung by Mariah Carrie. h was released as a 45 rpm vinyl record single in 1994. The vinyl record sold more than 10 million copies. Like many Christmas songs, it is more popular now on the radio than when it was released thirty years ago. The song has been downloaded 2 billion times from the internet.
It is a joyful song which calls to mind everything, that happens on Christmas. The sight of the Christmas trees, the appearance of Santa Claus or Saint Nicholas, and receiving presents are not as important as people who join us to celebrate Christmas. Without gathering our loved ones or our church family, the celebration is a little less special. Like the Holy family in the manger in the cave outside of Bethlehem, it would have been lonely without the shepherds the three King from the East.
The All I want for Christmas song falls a little short in remembering the deepest reason for all the Christmas joy which is even more than the joy of gathering together. The current hit Christmas single does not mention the birth of Jesus, but the record has a surprise twist.
To find Jesus, you have to flip the Miriah Carrie's original 45 RPM vinyl single record to side B. On the other side of the vinal disk, Carrie sings Joy to the World, Joy to the World is the most popular English Christmas Hymn. It's good news of the birth ot'Christ resounding through the earth has been sung for over three centuries. The inspiration for the Christmas hymn is from the Book of Psalms attributed to King David.
The verses of Joy to the World repeat the 'sounding and fields sing out the wonders of his love. We are spread the news that Jesus was born and we glorify year, we do our best to keep the message ofJesus's joy again and again until everyone and even the hills called to sing and to go out from our celebration to Him with our words and actions. With each passing birth fresh.
From all of us at the Archeparehy of Pitt burgh, we thank you for your prayers and support during the past year. And, we wish you a blessed Christmas season and a Happy and Blessed New Year.
Metropolitan Archibishop of Pittsburgh
