The Good News

On Saturday March 9th, Fr. Timothy and Fr. Ian led a pre-Lenten retreat at the Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga. The theme of the retreat was “Seeking first the Kingdom: Our Lord’s Teaching from the Sermon on the Mount.” Over twenty parishioners from Holy Cross attended, along with many other friends of the monastery from throughout Northern California. Fr. Timothy first provided some theological background on how the Sermon on the Mount is the New Testament fulfillment of the Old Testament Law given on Mt. Sinai. He stressed that we Orthodox Christians are to live by these Gospel Commandments, which can be expressed as a call to live a hidden and simple life in Christ. Fr. Ian continued on this theme, explaining just what is the Kingdom that we seek and what it means to seek first the Kingdom of God. He also discussed how since the lamp of the body is the eye, we need to strive for a pure and sanctified vision of the world and people around us. In the afternoon, there was an open discussion facilitated by Frs. Timothy and Ian, along with Mother Melania, the Abbess of the sisterhood.

Following the midnight Divine Liturgy on Pascha we break our fast in the early morning hours together at an Agape Meal in our pavilion. The following afternoon after Paschal Vespers we come together again to share in a BBQ Potluck Picnic. Both meals are a potluck and everyone is encouraged to sign up and share a dish as well as bring your own drinks. For sign ups please see Melissa Dubovik or the sign up sheet on the hall bulletin board.

On Sunday, January 6^th, Fr. Timothy and the faithful of Holy Cross gathered at the banks of the American River for the Great Blessing of the Waters. This is customarily celebrated on the Great Feast of Theophany, commemorating our Lord’s Baptism by John in the Jordan River. The American River is a 120 mile waterway that originates in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, and is the site where gold was discovered in 1848 that started the California Gold Rush. It flows into Folsom Lake just outside of Sacramento, and eventually joins the Sacramento River. By this confluence, the waters of the American River flow into the San Francisco Bay Watershed. These waters eventually join the Pacific Ocean, and through the Pacific, reach the rest of the world. Thus, by blessing the river off of this rainy, rocky bank, the Orthodox faithful invoke God's blessing on the living waters on the whole of His creation! "Great art Thou O Lord, and marvelous are Thy works, and there is no word sufficient to hymn Thy wonders!"

Though we might be tempted to approach Great Lent as a somber time, we must remember that the Church calls us to enter into the Fast in a joyful spirit. Let us joyfully begin the all-hallowed season of abstinence, and let us shine with the bright radiance of Christ our God… (Matins of Clean Monday) Why is this? As we read in the Psalms, They that sow with tears shall reap with rejoicing (Ps. 125). During Great Lent, we intensify our personal repentance. The experience of the Church (and many of us personally) is that the more deeply we repent, the more we experience God’s love and mercy. We weep over our transgressions, and in the process, we are cleansed, we are purified, and we feel light once again. Our tears (metaphorical or actual) become the waters of our renewal in Christ. Therefore, in all our personal efforts of prayer, fasting and charitable works (almsgiving), we need to keep in mind that the proper Lenten spirit for all of this is one of joy and gratitude. We rejoice and are thankful for the opportunity to be healed of soul’s wounds, to draw closer to God, and to be of help to our brothers and sisters. Come, O ye people, and today let us accept the grace of the fast as a gift from God and a time for repentance (Lenten Triodion).

• Joshua Gray
• Michael Herman Lineback