St. Nectarios of AeginaBorn: October 1, 1846

in Selymbria, ThraceReposed: November 9,1920

in Aegina, GreeceCanonized: April 20, 1961Feast Day: November 9

HOLY SAINT NECTARIOS,PRAY UNTO GOD FOR US!

Directory:Parish CouncilPresident......John G. SennettOfficers:Angela KatsarelisArlene TonjesNatalie PopeSam GjurichWalter KlymenkoDaniel RodriguezKendra J. Taylor

Subdeacons:Joseph BrownPeter Flynn

Altar Servers:TBD

SAINT NECTARIOSORTHODOX CHURCH:

A Mission of the AmericanCarpatho-Russian OrthodoxDiocese: His Grace, Gregory ofNyssa, Metropolitan Bishop

Under the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.

ST. NECTARIOS AMERICAN CARPATHO-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH405 Marcum Road, Lakeland, FL 33809 • http://www.stnectarios.com

Rev. Fr. Demetri Glimidakis Fr.’s Cell: (970) 620-3899Fr. Demetri’s Email: frdg.carpatho@gmail.com

From the desk of Fr. Demetri:THE UNEXPECTED JOURNEY…

Some of us are familiarwith the books: The Hobbit &The Lord of the Rings writtenby J.R.R Tolkien. In thesebooks, Tolkien would chroniclea story about the different peo-ple (hobbits, orcs, dwarves,elves, wizards, humans, etc.)

that lived in the land that would forge rings of powerat the instruction of Sauron, and unbeknownst tothem, Sauron would forge a single ring that wouldenable him to dominate and enslave Middle-Earth.But, then an individual from a very small and some-what insignificant group of people called the Hobbitswould come forward and this individual would agreeto take the treacherous journey to a land of darknesscalled Mordor and save them from the power of thedark lord Sauron.

The unlikely hero named Frodo, one of thehobbits, would take on the task of bringing the ringto Mount Doom in order to destroy it, hence strippingthe power of the dark lord and freeing the world.Frodo chose to make the journey, and because of him,the light conquered the darkness and evil was de-feated freeing the people of Middle-Earth fromSauron’s tyranny.

Just as Sauron convinced the lands of Mid-dle-Earth to come under his control, Satan did thesame in convincing Adam and Eve to hand over theirfreedom that they were given and, in turn, man felland sin was born. Sin dominated the lives of all thepeoples of the world and it seemed that there wouldbe no redemption. Sin would lead to death — a deaththat was permanent. A death that would come to alland all would be sent to a place where even the right-eous would go.

The same happens to us with the paths wetake throughout our lives that often have many pit-falls, twists and turns. We often are scared, confusedand wonder if God is really in control. We wonderwhat we can do, and do the choices we make reallymake a difference. We wonder what it is that God

does up in His lofty throne room, does He listen, andis He paying attention? Each of us has a journey wetake. Some of us live to be into our fifties, sixties …nineties or more, some only live but a few months.No matter the length of days in our life, no matterhow old we live to be, we all have something we arecalled to do. We are on a journey to solve the samequestion as a follower of Christ — how can I be freefrom sin and how do I attain eternal salvation?

This month we celebrate Theophany, a sig-nificant moment in history where a wild preachercomes from the desert dressed in camel hair, wholived on eating locusts and honey, and found himselfface to face with his Creator, and then found himselfin a moment of time where he knew the next choicehe made would lead to the end of his life on earth.He was an unlikely hero, someone who would heraldthe coming of the true Messiah. John, the man whofor years was preparing the way for the Lord to come.He preached, stepping on many toes by his unrelent-ing fight over sin, causing the hearts and minds ofthose who heard his words to stir.

The words of John, which he repeated somany times, echoed… Repent for the kingdom ofheaven is at hand… is a familiar set of words pro-claimed by mostly every preacher who followed afterJohn’s footsteps. We, who have been called to serveGod, find ourselves proclaiming these same wordsover and over again, calling those who seek aftersomething more to bring the hearts to a new place,to bring people to the journey that brings them to anever lasting kingdom.

But, those who heard the preaching of theBaptist were instructed to continue their journey.They were instructed to not let their journey end atbaptism. When John proclaimed that kingdom ofheaven was at hand, he also instructed those who lis-tened to his words to take yet another step, in essencethat repenting was only the beginning of the journeyto our salvation.

In the books of the evangelists, Matthew andLuke, we read: I baptize you in water for repentance,but the one who follows me is more powerful than Iam, and I am not fit to carry his sandals; he will bap-

tize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in his hand;he will clear his threshing-floor and gather his wheat into the barn;but the chaff he will burn in a fire that will never go out. (Matthew 3:11-12/Luke 3:16-17)

And, in the book of Mark… Someone is following me, someone whois more powerful than I am, and I am not fit to kneel down and undothe strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he willbaptize you with the Holy Spirit. (Mark 1:7-8)

John is instructing the people that God has listened to theirprayers — that the petitions of his people have been heard and notfallen on deaf ears. For centuries, the people of God asked to be de-livered. Many kings rose up and attempted to liberate and deliverthem from their enemies, but the true enemy was sin, the sin thatled to death, a death that had no redemption and that had no end.He was telling everyone that someone was coming to fulfill the prom-ise that had been made. The imagery of his words tells us that thefields are ready for harvest and that God is collecting those who arebeing called.

The road to salvation only begins with baptism. We are tokeep seeking, to keep looking, to keep pushing forward. Johnpreached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand and suddenly,without warning, the kingdom was before him. Jesus, the Christ, theanointed one was before him. Everything he had been preaching forover the many years had suddenly became a reality.

Jesus would bring about the fulfillment of everything thelaw and the prophets were preparing for. Everything up until the mo-ment Jesus was baptized simply could not complete what it was thatJesus actually came to do. His death and the blood that was spilledwere the only things that could conquer death. Jesus had come forthat singular purpose. That is the essence of the Lord of Rings, thering was the sin that bound everyone, and the only way to destroy itpower was to destroy it at its source.

When John was beheaded, he descended into Hades andthe Church teaches us that he still continued to proclaim the same

message as he did when he was alive. Then, when Jesus died on thecross, He descended into Hades and destroyed the thing that boundus to this world calling to mind the triumphant hymn that is sungduring the forty days following Pascha…

Christ is Risen from the dead, and through death he did trample,

trample upon death and to those in the tombs

bestowing life — Eternal Life.

Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand…We too must take the things that bind us to this world to the

cross. We need to cast away from us the unfruitful works of darknessand throw them into the cleansing fire of the power of the Holy Spirit.The journey we take to achieve our goal is often full of pain and suf-fering. Temptation and sin are at every corner and every choice wemake could cost us everything. But, as long as we seek the Kingdomof Heaven and His righteousness everything will be added unto us.As long as we earnestly seek God and our salvation with our hearts,God will give us the courage to cast away our familiar darkness andhelp us put on the virtues of goodness and light.

Salvation is ours for the taking and every tool we need to ac-complish this journey is before us. We are given the tools. We aresent many John the Baptists’ and many prophets, such as Isaiah whoconstantly attempted to show us the way. Throughout the centuries,those who proclaim the kingdom preach the words we are given. Weare given chances and choices. We are given time. What we do withthat time is up to us.

Remember Jesus’ words: [We must] Enter through the narrowgate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruc-tion, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow theroad that leads to life and only a few find it.

Fr. Demetri

As part of the sacramental life and traditional services of the Church, withTheophany being the foremost event of my service to this community, I amavailable to do home, vehicle, boat and business blessings. I do not charge afee, but if you choose to offer a gratuity, it is truly appreciated.

I am currently commuting to and from an intermediate home between thisand another parish which I am tending, but I can make myself available for the needs ofthe parish community after we restructure our other obligations.

I will be posting when I am available for confessions, visitations and other needs as soonas possible. Please bear with us during this transitional time. If you have questions,please ask, I don’t mind questions and pray I have the answers you seek.

Birthdays in January:01/17 Andy Smith01/29 Petya WolfeSorry if we missed your birth-day, anniversary or nameday -this bulletin is a work inprogress.

Anniversaries:01/10 Ernest & Merle Pido01/23 Fr. Demetri & Pani Joann

Namedays:01/07 Pani Joann Glimidakis01/14 Nina Klymenko01/31 Nikita Wolfe02/03 Sam Gurich

We are in need of updating ourparishioner directories. We’dlove it if you could email yourinformation or write out your in-formation in the area providedon the left and return it to thechurch office.

Prayers for health, heal-ing or other intentions:If you have any intentions,health, healing or other, pleasesubmit the first names last ini-tial to Fr. Demetri. Write that itis a prayer request so it can beadded to list.

Volunteers for OurWeekly Coffee Hour:We are always in need of volun-teers to assist with the weeklycoffee hour. Please sign-up ifyour interested in participating.

Choir:All voices are welcome to thepeople / choir / chanter re-sponses listed in your servicebook. Need not be a profes-sional singer to participate, Goddoesn’t judge quality of voice -He knows what He’s given you.

Memorials / Panahida:Remembering those thatpassed this life is part of ourfaith. If you have those whomyou wish to remember, pleaseprovide Fr. Demetri their namesand when they departed thislife.

Parishioner Info Directory (please print or send an email with the information to: FRDG.CARPATHO@GMAIL.COM):Name: ___________________________________________________________________Address: _________________________________________________________________City/State/Zip:______________________________________________________________Birthday (Month/Day): ______/_______ Email: _____________________________________Married: ____ Single: ____ Widow/Widower: ____Spouse: __________________________________________________________________Birthday (Month/Day): ______/_______ Anniversary (Month/Day): ______/_______Children Birthday (Month/Day) Age:_________________________________________ ______/_______ Age: _____________________________________________________ ______/_______ Age: _____________________________________________________ ______/_______ Age: ____________

Prayer List (please print or send an email with the information to: FRDG.CARPATHO@GMAIL.COM):For Health:Name(s): _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For Healing/Recovery:Name(s): _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________For Other Intent:Name(s): _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ST. NECTARIOSAMERICAN CARPATHO-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH405 Marcum Road, Lakeland, FL 33809

www.stnectarios.com

Services & Scripture Readings:Saturday, January 5th - Eve of Theophany - 6pm Lesser Blessing of the Waters

Sunday, January 6th - Theophany - 9:30am

Epistle Reading: St. Paul's Letter to Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7Gospel Reading: Matthew 3:13-17

Sunday, Jan. 13th - Leavetaking of Theophany - 9:30am

Epistle Reading: St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 4:7-13Gospel Reading: Matthew 4:12-17

Sunday, January 20th - 9:30am

Epistle Reading: St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15Gospel Reading: Luke 17:12-19

Sunday, January 27th - 9:30am

Epistle Reading: St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2Gospel Reading: Luke 19:1-10