From the Oct 2008 Newsletter

FACT, FAITH and FEELING

I was lately reading an old book from my Jesus People days, entitled Evidence that Demands a Verdict, and in the appendix, as part of a little Evangelical Protestant essay “Have You Heard of the Four Spiritual Laws?” (nostalgia, anyone?) I found something quite Orthodox.
It was a paragraph urging the new convert not to depend upon feelings, but upon God’s Word, and it contained a little diagram of a train, with the engine labeled “Fact”, the second car labeled “Faith” and the caboose labeled “Feeling”. (It was a small train.) The author was trying to make the point that we must trust the fact of God’s Word, and not in our feelings.
“The train,” the author said, “will run with or without the caboose. However, it would be futile to attempt to pull the train by the caboose. In the same way, we as Christians, do not depend on feelings or emotions, but place our faith in the trustworthiness of God and the promise of His Word”.
Though I cannot now recommend the essay about the “Four Spiritual Laws”, I can still endorse the wisdom of not trusting our feelings and not letting our emotions be the engine that drives our life. The driving engine, the source of our decision-making, must be what Christ has said and done, as preserved by His holy Church in her Tradition. We must put our faith in Him, and let His wisdom replace our own little ‘wisdoms’; letting His will guide our own. Otherwise, our wisdom turns out to be folly.
As Solomon says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding” (Prov. 3:5). Our feelings and emotions may or may not support such a decision, but that is irrelevant. The train will run without the caboose. Maturity and safety are often found in disregarding our feelings, and putting our faith in what Christ and His Church have said. And for this verdict too, there is abundant evidence.

Yours in the Lord,
Fr. Lawrence
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Note: Fr. Lawrence will be away at Archdiocesan Council Oct. 30-Nov. 5 . Services will continue as normal.
Dn. Kurt will tend to pastoral needs at this time.

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LIFE CHAIN
This annual event of silent prayer and witness to the sanctity of human life takes place in Langley

Sunday
October 5th
2 –3 pm
200 St., N of #10 HWY

Fr. Lawrence & I have attended for a number of years and so have a few other St. Herman’s members. Unfortunately I must miss it this year myself due to another commitment., but Fr. Lawrence will be going there from the church shortly before 2 pm that day. I hope this year many of our members can join

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OCT. SPECIAL EVENTS

Sun. Oct. 12— remember to bring harvest bounty to beautify the church and to be blessed
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Fri. Oct. 17, 6:30 pm— CHANGE from Men’s gathering to Ana's 35th birthday at Wrights’. ADULTS ONLY please for wine & desserts, please dress for BLACK AND WHITE theme.

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Sun Oct 19– Baptismal Liturgy Matthew P
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Sat. Oct. 25— Memorial Trisagion after vespers
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Sun. Oct 26— St. James Liturgy


***re.: St. James Liturgy ---- On Sun. Oct. 26, the Sunday nearest the feast of Saint James, we will serve this ancient liturgy, which we do a few times a year. Some of the hymns and prayers are different, and the Body and Blood of Our Lord in Holy Communion are received separately.

For all interested, Fr. Lawrence will be giving some instruction about this service at the regular study & catechumenal sessions in the week before this service.

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New parish directory
will be available in the narthex this month!
If you would prefer an electronic copy, e-mail matdonna@shaw.ca

October fasting—All Wednesdays & Fridays this month are regular fast days— no meat, fish, dairy & eggs or wine & oil on those days

From the 2008 Sept Newsletter

Finding Healing

Since the days of the apostles the Church has always looked to her Lord to find healing. One of the ways she does this today is through the Service of Anointing. This service can be performed with only one presbyter, and is sometimes combined with the Divine Liturgy as the priest calls for all who have need of healing to come forward after the Liturgy to be anointed.

(This was the practice of our sister church in Edmonton, who made this anointing available to its faithful
four times per year.)

In many churches, the service is offered on the Wednesday of Holy Week, as the church invites her children to come forward for the healing of soul or body as part of their Paschal preparation. Classically, however, this service calls for all the presbyters of a church (or at least a symbolic seven presbyters) to gather together and anoint the faithful. Since most local parishes do not have seven priests, this classic pattern is rarely served.

Happily, we will have the opportunity to gather a number of priests together for this service when our bishop comes this September.

On Saturday Sept. 20, Archbishop Seraphim will preside at this Anointing Service at St. Herman’s at 10 AM., accompanied by a number of the local presbyters from the Deanery.

I would encourage all Orthodox who feel the need for the Lord’s healing touch to come to St. Herman’s that evening and find the healing He desires for them.

Yours in the Lord,
Fr. Lawrence
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