sermon and readings for sunday 16 june 2013

7/28/2019 Sermon and Readings for Sunday 16 June 2013

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Acts 20:16-18, 28-36n those days, Paul had decided tosail past Ephesus, so that he mightnot have to spend time in Asia; for hewas hastening to be at Jerusalem ifpossible on the day of Pentecost. FromMiletus he sent to Ephesus and called tohim the elders of the church. Whenthey came to him, he said to them,Take heed to yourselves and to all theflock, in which the Holy Spirit has madeyou overseers, to care for the church ofthe Lord and God which he obtainedwith the blood of his own Son. I knowthat after my departure fierce wolveswill come in among you, not sparingthe flock; and from among your ownselves will arise people speakingperverse things, to draw away thedisciples after them. Therefore be alert,remembering that for three years I didnot cease night or day to admonishevery one with tears. And now Icommend you to God and to the wordof his grace, which is able to build youup and to give you the inheritanceamong all those who are sanctified. Icoveted no ones silver or gold orclothing. You yourselves know thatthese hands ministered to mynecessities, and to those who were withme. In all things I have shown you thatby so toiling one must help the weak,remembering the words of the LordJesus, how he said, It is more blessed togive than to receive. And when he hadspoken thus, he knelt down and prayedwith them all.

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ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATEARCHDIOCESE OFTHYATEIRA & GREAT BRITAIN

BBUULLLLEETTIINN OOFF SSPPIIRRIITTUUAALL EEDDIIFFIICCAATTIIOONN

OF HOLY FATHERS OF 1st EC. COUNCIL16 June 2013Plagal of the 2nd Mode . No. 1288

16 2013. . . . 1288

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GGOOSSPPEELL RREEAADDIINNGG

John 17:1-13t that time, Jesus looked up toheaven and said, Father, the hourhas come; glorify your Son so that the Sonmay glorify you, since you have given himauthority over all flesh, to give eternal lifeto all that you have given him. And this iseternal life, that they may know you, theonly true God, and Jesus Christ whom youhave sent. I have glorified you on earth, Ihave accomplished the work that yougave me to do. And now, Father, glorifyme in your with you with the glory that Ihad with you before the world existed. Ihave made your name known to thosewhom you gave me from the world. Theywere yours, and you gave them to me, andthey have kept your word. Now they knowthat everything you have given me is fromyou; for the words that you gave to me Igave to them, and they received them andknow truly that I came from you; and theybelieved that you sent me. I am asking ontheir behalf; I am not asking on behalf ofthe world, but on behalf of those whomyou have given me, because they areyours. All that is mine is yours, and yoursmine; and I have been glorified in them.And I am no longer in the world, but theyare in the world, and I am coming to you.Holy Father, protect them in your name,those that you have given me, so that theymay be one, as we are one. While I waswith them in the world, I protected themin your name, those that you have givenme. I guarded them, and not one of themwas lost except the son of destruction, sothat the scripture might be fulfilled. Butnow I am coming to you, and I speak thesethings in the world so that they may havemy joy made complete in themselves.

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ngelic Powers were at your grave, and those who guarded it became as dead, andMary stood by the tomb, seeking your most pure Body. You despoiled Hell andemerged unscathed; you met the Virgin and granted life. Lord, risen from the dead,glory to you!

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SSEERRMMOONN OONN TTHHEE GGOOSSPPEELL RREEAADDIINNGG

n the tenth chapter of Saint Johns Gospel we read of Jesus calling himself the GoodShepherd and he further explains what it mean to be just that a good shepherd one who cares passionately for his sheep whom he knows and who know him, to theextent that the good shepherd will sacrifice much for the well being of his sheep and,Jesus said even gives his life for the sheep. (10:11). In this respect he is different fromone who is merely hired to look after the flock and will soon desert them in a time oftrouble.Our Lord then said those powerful words: My sheep hear my voice, and I knowthem, and they follow me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shallanyone snatch them out of my hand. (10:27f).But how does reference to this passage of Johns Gospel fit in with the readingwe have heard this morning chapter 17 verses 1-13? Well, todays reading is takenfrom the beginning of Christs time of intense prayer after he had spoken to hisdisciples in the Upper Room at the time of the Last Supper about so many things whichwere to affect their lives and indeed his own as he moved further towards his passionand laying down his life for his sheep. And in that prayer and included in todays Gospelreading is his prayer for the Apostles. Jesus expressed that same faithfulness anddevotion of a good shepherd in relation to his care for the Apostles but identifying inthem something more important than a mere analogy of shepherd and sheep, for thosewho were given to him by his Father were in turn sent by Christ no longer as sheep butas shepherds: As you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. (The laterverse 18).This apostolic shepherding is put before us regularly when at Orthros theeleventh Resurrection Gospel is read in its turn. Here, Jesus asks Simon Peterspecifically Do you love me? to which Peter replies (to Peters distress at having beenasked three times!) that he does. Jesus replies Feed my lambs tend my sheep feedmy sheep. (John 21:15:25).We should not shy away from some of the hard words of Christ including I havegiven them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as Iam not of the world. (verse 14). And conflict came soon for many of the early shepherdsof the Church, including martyrdom. Todays Gospel reading is selected tocommemorate the 318 Fathers of the First Oecumenical Council held at Nicaea in 325,their inspired work of defeating the heresy of Arius and definitively confirming theSymbol of Faith (Nicaean Creed), later added to at the Second Council, held atConstantinople on 381.It is a feature of our Orthodoxy that not only do we commemorate the lives ofthe Saints on their particular days, and events in the life of our Lord, but that suchimportant historical moments in the life of the Church are also recognised for the placethey have in the revelation of truth, by those called in succession to be faithfulshepherds of the flock entrusted to them by Christ: As you have sent me into the world, Ialso have sent them into the world.

If you reproach someone and do it with anger, you have allowed a passion to control you. You havesaved no one and have destroyed yourself (St Mark the Ascetic)

ArchdioceseofThyateira&GreatBritain,5CravenHill,LondonW23EN

Tel.:02077234787.Fax:02072249301.Email:[email protected]:www.thyateira.org.ukP r i n t e d b y S t P a u l s P r e s s

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sermon and readings for sunday 16 june 2013

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