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Alameda
Belmont, CA 94002-1604 |
Orthros: 8:30 AM
Sunday Divine Liturgy: 9:30 AM |
In an attempt to minister to those who, for good reason, are unable to attend services and to share the good news of Christ with the world, Holy Cross now broadcasts its Sunday Orthros and Divine Liturgy, weekday services and Saturday Great Vespers over the Internet. Join us for our live broadcast of Orthros and the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom each Sunday (Orthros: 9:00 AM, Divine Liturgy: 10:00 AM - PST) and to other services as scheduled below. To listen to a live broadcast, RealPlayer is required. For software requirements, click here.
(Important note for WINDOWS users : If you receive "file not found" or "this is not a RealAudio file" error, you need to install the most recent version of RealPlayer on your computer system.)
Also, Fr. Chris is trying to collect the e-mail addresses of our Holy Cross youth so that he may contact them in a timely fashion and provide them info. about youth events, services, and topics of interest. Please send your address to frchris@goholycross.org . |
In the life of Christ our Lord, the Transfiguration occurs between His baptism and His passion. Having revealed himself to John the Baptist, Jesus now reveals the mystery of his person to the apostles, He manifests Himself as the second person of the Holy Trinity. It is through the apostles, “eyewitnesses of his majesty” (2Pet 1:16), that we have inherited the revelation about Christ, both God and man. There is a great deal made in the American culture of today of the humanity of Christ. Theological schools, newsmagazines, television specials, even news anchors have devoted much time and energy to the study of the historical figure that is called Jesus Christ. In contrast, however, Vladimir Lossky, the famous Orthodox theologian states in his book, “The Mystical Theology of the Easter Church, that the feast of the Transfiguration can serve as the key in the understanding of Christ's humanity in the Eastern tradition”. The Church is constantly reminding us that Christ is fully God, even when He strips Himself of his glory, “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwelt bodily..."”(Col. 2:9). Our Lord abases himself willingly; he accepts disgrace and abandonment, but even in his poverty the majesty and triumph of the King of glory can be seen. The hymn of the Transfiguration teaches us the following: You were transfigured on the mount, O Christ God,
Mount Tabor is the traditional site of the Transfiguration with the first Byzantine Church being built there in the 5th century. It is on this mountain that three of disciples, Peter, James, and John witness their Lord being transfigured, surrounded by a glorious white light and flanked by the two most important prophets of the Old Testament, Moses and Elijah. The disciples are so moved by this experience that Peter suggests they build three booths or tents on the sight and remain there overnight. The hymn tells us that the Lord only reveals a portion of his glory, “as far as they could bear it.” For them it was enough to see a great light surround the Lord, during which time they observe Him in discussion with Moses and Elijah. They saw also a cloud that came and overshadowed them and from this cloud they heard the voice of the Father as He declared, “this is My beloved Son. Hear Him!”(Mk 9:2-8) They would be forever moved and enlightened by this event. We recall in the Old Testament that both Moses and Elijah are given the opportunity to witness God’s glory. The Lord takes infinite precautions on Mount Sinai and only allows Moses to see His back… and then only briefly for no one can look upon the face of God and live. Elijah also finds himself in the presence of God on Mt. Horeb when God reveals Himself to Elijah in the still, small voice. We read that the prophet, in awe and humility, covered his face and bowed. Unlike these great prophets, we are allowed to experience His energies but not His essence. Both Moses and Elijah, having stood in the presence of God, stand before us now as witnesses to Christ, God in the flesh, the Son of God, making the Transfiguration one of the most significant events in the entire Bible. The three disciples know they have witnessed a great but inexplicable wonder. Each of these disciples clearly reveals how the experience of the Transfiguration influenced their writings. Saint Peter relates to us in his second Epistle that we “are partakers of divine nature.” St. John in his Gospel and in his three letters, tells us that although no one has ever seen God, we do experience Him in the greatest of His energies, His love. And finally, St. James in his Epistle, brings us the profound and timely message of God healing power for no one who experiences God through His energies remains unaffected, physically or spiritually. Even centuries later, Saint Gregory Palamas explains how we may experience our Lord’s nature through the spiritual exercises of prayer and worship. The classic Russian novel “The Way of a Pilgrim” describes the spiritual journey of one such as us, seeking a spiritual father who can show him the way to God and how he himself experiences God’s grace and light. The Transfiguration, when contemplated in connection with His Baptism, Passion and Resurrection helps us more fully come to understand who Christ is and the relationship He has with the Father and the Holy Spirit. This event also more clearly shares with us how our own relationship with Him can bring us to experience His grace, transforming and transfiguring us to greater perfection. As we celebrate this sacred feast and find ourselves poised to commemorate the falling asleep of the Theotokos and her subsequent assumption into Heaven, let us recognize the opportunity to commit ourselves to greater participation in prayer and worship. Let us, as a community, dedicate ourselves to prayer and fasting for the next two weeks, seeking a closer relationship with our Lord, desiring to experience His presence, His grace, dare we speak of it, His divine light. This is the light that opens our heart and mind to His will and word, the word that sanctifies and glorifies because we are also, witnesses of His Majesty. The Holy Spirit is necessary for one’s life to be genuinely fruitful. Christ’s cursing of the fig tree gives us both encouragement and ample cause for concern. Having recently celebrated the feast of Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, we are given a more perfect opportunity for reflective thinking, for taking a close look at how successfully we have fulfilled our Lord’s instructive expectations. One thing is for sure, every priest, including yours truly, insists on regular attendance and participation in the liturgical life of an Orthodox Christian community. This of course includes Sunday morning worship and regular participation in the Holy Sacraments. In the very first book of the Bible, in the Old Testament, Moses dramatically receives the Ten Commandments from God, our Creator. The commandments of God are still considered the oldest instruction and guide for Godly men and women. For us as Orthodox Christians, the expectations are even greater because we have been witnesses to much more…to the fulfillment of prophecy with the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord and the ensuing examples of His martyrs and saints. We are to remember the Sabbath day and to keep it holy, we are to give ourselves to worship, congregational worship. In 1 Chronicles 16:28-30 David, the psalmist tells us to "Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness." From the earliest recorded times, the worship of God has been an integral part of our relationship with Him. Our faith in God is expressed firstly in the action of worship. The designation of the Sabbath by God and the subsequent Christian action to worship God on the first day of the week connects us directly to our Lord’s saving Passion and glorious Resurrection from the dead, granting us the opportunity to enjoy eternal life in His kingdom. But worship without the evidence of placing into action our Lord’s call to embrace the world around us with love and concern is, as St. Paul so beautiful expresses in his letter to the Corinthians, meaningless and without merit. Many actions are part of the act of worship and can be exhibited not only within the walls of a church building but must also be apparent in our daily interactions with fellow human beings. Each of our actions, in a real sense, is an act of worshipping God. Again St. Paul shares with us the thought that we should ‘pray without ceasing,’ a seemingly impossible reality but clearly witnessed in the lives of our Orthodox saints and martyrs and of those who walk in our midst. During this sacred time when we commemorate the birth of the Church, the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the stewards, apostles, and future martyrs of our Lord’s church, we can all give greater witness to our faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. The first place to start is in our heart, for where our treasure is, there we will also find our heart, and as with any treasure, we will do any and all things to protect it and guard against theft or loss through neglect. God must occupy this first and central position in our heart and mind. When He does, the fruits of the Spirit will be manifest in everything we say and do, making the world a more enlightened and sacred environment for the uplifting of all, a sacred space alight with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
(See Archives section for past articles)
THE BEGINNING GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY When we look around at our beautiful and blessed Church of the Holy Cross, we can not help admiring the beauty of this house of God. In fact most of the Orthodox Churches we see are quite spectacular. There was a time not so long ago that our Orthodox brothers found it necessary to huddle in rooms set up to contain the mysteries of Christ. All jurisdictions found it necessary to drop nationalistic feelings and come together for the sake of properly worshiping God. In 1862 the first Greek Orthodox Church was built in America. Galveston, Texas was the site of the first church which was named after Saints Constantine and Helen. It was a fitting name as the first emperor to allow Christianity to blossom was also the name of the first Church in America. This Church later became a Serbian Church, which allowed the Greeks to move on and establish another Church in 1864. The site of the next Church was New Orleans. For the next three years the services were rather irregular and held in different places. In 1867 the congregation was finally able to establish a permanent residence. A few generous merchants who recognized that their wealth meant a more stable place of worship and a chance to demonstrate the glory of God made this permanent site for a Church possible. With the number of Orthodox Churches being quite low, Orthodox faithful from all national backgrounds found a spiritual home amongst this community. The Church was able to maintain not only a Church, but also a library and a cemetery. The first permanent priest moved to New Orleans from Greece in 1867. Archimandrite Gregory Yiayias saw not only the building completed but also the iconography, which took five years to complete. As the numbers of Greek Orthodox communities started to increase so to did the number of Churches. By 1891 the number of congregations grew to 139. These communities were mostly in the smaller cities of the United States. Today when we look at our Orthodox Community we live in, we sometimes forget our humble origins. As Orthodox Christians however, we must remember that it is not the size of the building or even the outward beauty of the House we pray in, it is the Spiritual beauty and the Holy Spirit running through the House which makes it so special.
8:30 AM, Orthros; 9:30 AM, Divine Liturgy Feast of the Falling Asleep of the Theotokos 8 AM, Orthros; 9 AM, Divine Liturgy
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