St John the Almsgiver:For the Thanksgiving Holiday

Upcoming Lesson for November 12 :
Turning Our Attention Towards Others for Thanksgiving this Year

St. John was born in Cyprus in the year 560. His father, whose name was Epiphanus, was the ruler of the country.When John grew up, he married and had children. But his children died. And then, when his wife also died, he was left alone and suffered very much. Then John began to direct his life more towards that of a monk. He practiced all the Christian virtues through his great love for God. St. John had a special love for all men who were poor, and for strangers. He gave them everything that they had need of! The people elected John to be the Patriarch of Alexandria during the time that Heracles was the Emperor. As a Patriarch of he Church, St. John's preaching was like a brightly burning candle, a light which shone into the world. St. John built a special hospital and house for strangers and for poor people, supporting these places from his own riches. He gave of his mercy, not only to the faithful of his flock, but also to those who were not faithful of the Church. Because of this, the people called him "The Merciful One.”

St. John lived as Patriarch until he was very old. When he died, the people whom he loved so much cried for him, and buried his body with great honor.

We celebrate his feast on November 12.

ACTIVITIES:
1. Click and Print St John's Icon to Color
2. Practice the Vocab
3. Complete the Word Scramble
4. Make a Visit to Someone in Need This Month, Consider bringing a homemade treat!


Vocabulary

* Alms: Works of mercy or monetary gifts given to help the poor. All through the Bible, God's people are called to help those less fortunate than themselves (see Matt 25: 31-46).

* Almsgiver: A person who gives money or other donations to the poor or needy

* Charity: [a] the love of God for humanity, or a love of one's fellow human beings, [b] an act of goodwill or affection, [c] a voluntary giving of money or other help to those in need. Sharing with the poor. Often the translation of AGAPE or the love that God has for humanity. The act of love, the by product of which is material giving.

* Saint: A person who has loved God when alive, who worked at being like god, and because of his/her humility and holiness, God has set that person apart from others and works through that person still today.

* Sympathy: To share a feeling with the one who is in sorrow, sadness, suffering, has troubles.

* Vision: [a] something seen not by normal sight; [b] in a dream or supernaturally revealed as to a prophet; [c] a representation of a person or thing of a spiritual nature seen under divine influence.

May the life of St John be an example for our children and families as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year, and direct our attention towards others.

This lesson has been expanded from the Saints Alive curriculum

New Movie Review

Fr. Demetri has recently screened the movie "Come What May" and wishes to recommend it most highly to everyone on his e-mail list of over 1000 souls. Here is the website where the trailer can be viewed: www.adventfilmgroup.com

There are no professional actors or actresses. In fact, the majority of the characters are played by former home school students. In addition to the pro-life message, there are at least two excellent sub-messages as well: courtship over dating, and marriage commitment.

In Father's words, he stated,"There was a presence of goodness in this movie that actually touched my very soul. I hope that it will somehow make the theaters, but everyone should have a personal copy as well."

I have not personally seen this film yet, but if I do, I will be sure to post my thoughts as well. Anyone else heard of it?

Church & Elections

With topics like Abortion/Sanctity of Life, Homosexual Marriages, Euthanasia, and Human Cloning on the line in this election, I am saddened that our Orthodox bishops and priests aren't saying more to educate the people. I and others fear we are at a point of turning our backs on God as a nation. We cannot vote for the guy we like best, we've got to VOTE ON THE ISSUES. This takes courage to talk about, because it's not the popular thing to do...and for many of us, it may cause friction within our own friends and families. So, I ask you to check out the new survey on this blog and share your thoughts.

Illumination for Our Candidates

Although I've been tuned into the Presidential Election & Debates, as most of you probably have been, it dawned on me, that I haven't committed time to actually praying about our situation. Why, I asked myself, when everything else is deemed worthy of our prayers? Maybe I had excluded politics in my prayers. Maybe I expected our Church to endorse a side and therefore make my job easier. Maybe I looked for a person, a.k.a. a candidate, to show me the way....when in reality I abandoned the opportunity to cooperate with God directly about it.

Prayer is us working with God, for what He wants, rather than what we want. This is the harmony we've gotten so far from in our world, and until we get back to, the end will continue approaching. Thankfully, the Orthodox Church accepts this responsibility, collectively, for our world with reverence while praying for the sanctification of it in every Divine Liturgy. But I've got to contribute on a personal level also!

Imagine if as families, we did our part, to be the small "ekklesia" (church) in our homes, praying for the bigger world we live in.

For Our President and Other World Leaders

"Holy God, in all humility we pray to you who are the source of wisdom, bless and grant perfect health of mind and body to our President (future President), our Governors and all the loyal leaders in our world. Direct their thoughts, Lord, in the way of Truth, that they may enact, order, and enforce those things that are pleasing to You, those things that are pure, those things that are just, tending toward all excellence and virtue. Enlighten them to govern and to lead all people in the ways of Your righteousness, + for you are holy, now, and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen."

Praying for Our Kids

My husband and I came across this most beautiful "Akathist to the Mother of God,
Nurturer of Children" compiled by Archimandrite Nektarios Serfes which I highly suggest printing. It has added a dimension to my prayer life with words that seem to encompass all my thoughts and feelings! And who better suited to intercede for our kids than Panagia, the Mother of God. Here's a small sample...and the link to the full text which just takes a few minutes to pray.

Ikos 3

Having received my children from God, I do not desire to behold them dwelling in eternal torment, but rather to see them written in the Book of Life and made inheritors of eternal life. For Thy sake, O Most Pure Virgin, incline Thine ear to my supplication, as I cry to Thee:

Raise my children to flee eternal torment.
Raise my children to inherit life eternal.
Raise my children to pass the course of their life in Repentance.
Raise my children to labor to acquire the grace of the Holy Spirit.
Raise my children to exert effort to attaint the Kingdom of Heaven.
Raise my children to be written in the Book of Life.
Raise my children (names), O Lady, to be made worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven and make them heirs of eternal blessings.

http://fr-d-serfes.org/orthodox/NuturerofChildren.htm


At the end of this webpage, you can also find these additional prayers:

* Prayer of Parents to the Mother of God
* Prayer to the Guardian Angel
* Prayer for Children Who Have Difficulty Learning
* Prayer for Unborn Infants

These are also adaptable for Godparents and Grandparents. Enjoy~

The Results

There are officially two days left of our first survey, "What is the greatest threat facing our Orthodox youth today?" The results have shown an overall consensus of 48% to the Media as the #1 threat, with Parents who feel unqualified as Orthodox Christians themselves falling to second at 29%. Vanity and Body Image came in third with 23% of the votes, and Other Denominations placed last at 14%.

What do you make of the results? Surprised? Maybe not at all? Could the results reflect that we feel most threatened by what we have least control over? Or that the pressures around us sometimes wins instead of what we know to be best for our kids? It's tough...and no one knows that better than parents!

So let's get talking about what we can do, in regards to the Media. To be more specific, we're going to define the media to include television, movies, the internet, and music. This as an opportunity to share our frustrations and even more productive, our methods of combating influences that we may deem harmful. What's your approach? Can you use examples? If this is the biggest threat, how do we counter it?