Saturday

2 Tim. 2:11-19, Luke 18: 2-8

A passage from St. Theophan the Recluse

“To more strongly impress the truth that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1) and that they should continue to pray if their prayer is not soon heard, the Lord told the parable about the judge who neither feared God nor regarded man. The judge complied at last with the widow’s petition, not because he feared God and regarded man, but only because that widow gave him no peace. So, if such a callous man could not withstand the persistence of this woman’s petition, will not God, Who loves mankind and is filled with mercy, fulfill a petition raised up to Him persistently with tears and contrition? Here is the answer to why our prayers are often not heard: Because we do not send up our petitions to God zealously, but as though in passing; furthermore, we pray once today, then expect our prayer to be answered by tomorrow, not thinking to sweat and trouble ourselves any more in prayer. That is why our prayer is neither heard nor answered. We ourselves do not fulfill as we ought the law laid down for prayer-the law of hopeful and zealous persistence.”

In this reading, St. Theophan uses the Parable of the Widow and the Judge to talk about how important it is that we have persistence in our prayers. Sometimes we may think, “I should stop praying because God hasn’t answered that prayer yet, so it’s not worth it.” God has His own timing and it will always be different than ours. And that is perfectly okay. God listens to us and hears everything we tell Him. Prayer is our daily conversation with God and it is also the time when we call out to Him in times of need. Persistence in prayer is essential when building an intimate relationship with God. Prayer gives us the strength to endure this life knowing that God is by our side, and as a result, we feel closer to Him. “If we have died with him, we shall also live with Him” (2 Timothy 2:11). God lives with us every single day, so we live with Him by being aware of His presence and praying and communicating with Him.

Stewardship/Outreach Thought for the Day

In the period from the Resurrection to Pentecost, the Sunday Epistle readings tell us of a community of believers that were so totally devoted to God that their life together was charged by the power of the Holy Spirit. They prayed and served together in true Christian fellowship, loving each other and sharing their lives with one another.  Those with more shared with those who had less, and people related in ways that blurred the lines of gender, race and culture.  Unbelievers coming into contact with this community of believers saw a vision of life that was so dynamic that they could not resist it.  We read in Acts 2:47 that “the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” This is the Church that we as Orthodox Christians claim to be.

- From outreach@goarch.org

March GOYA (high/middle school) Ministry Meeting for St. Basil

On Saturday, March 14th we had our monthly GOYA (high school and middle school) meeting.  Our GOYA meets every 2nd Saturday evening (5 p.m.) of the month at the Park Ridge Senior Center.  We also have one other event each month.  This month we'll be having a Lenten lock-in at the church on March 27-28.  Fore more information contact the church at 312-243-3738.

Mission Presentation at St. Basil Church

On Friday, March 6th, immediately following the Akathist Hymn service, parishioners at St. Basil were given a presentation by Ms. Laura Paulus, on Orthodox missions.  Ms. Paulus has been on a number of mission trips - to Guatemala, Tanzania, Galilee, Mexico and Alaska.  She spoke from her own experience as well as generally about missions and the need to help support Orthodox missionary work throughout the world.  Much thanks to Ms. Paulus for taking the time to visit with and present her knowledge and experience to our parish.

An Interesting Video on the Beauty of the Cross

As we enter the mid-week of Great and Holy Lent (the week on which we remember the cross of Christ), the following video offers some spiritual food for thought.

Photos of Fire Repair at St. Basil Church

Below see a collection of photos from the progress on our church repairs.

New iconostasion.

New chandeliers half assembled.

Assembled chandelier - covered to protect from construction dust.

Pillars wrapping steel support columns (these pillars were taken from the old iconostasion).

Smoke ventilation hoods to take candle smoke out of the narthex (they still need to be covered in stone).

St. Basil Parish Apokreatiko Glendi 2015

On Sunday, February 15th, St. Basil celebrated its annual Apokreatiko Glendi.  Turn out was great and much thanks to Gus and Eleni Sarolas for coordinating the day - and to all who helped with their time and talents.