Dear brothers and sisters,
This is weekly newsletter #28 of the St Ignatius Parish in Belfast.
Contents of this Newsletter:
- Message from Fr Dmitry: Services this weekend at the Church
- News and Announcements
- Homily on last Sunday’s Gospel: Come and See!
Message from Fr Dmitry: Services this weekend at the Church
It is a very important and joyful weekend for our parish. On Saturday, Michael and Alastair — two of our catechumens—will be joined to the Orthodox Church through the holy Sacrament of Baptism. A young child, Lev, will also be baptised in the same service. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for this blessed day.
Church Address: Cullen Memorial Hall, Methodist Complex, 381 Donegall Road, Belfast, BT12 6GR
Weekend Schedule:
Saturday, 6 December
15:00 – Baptism of Michael, Alastair, and Lev
16:30 – Cutting the (vegan) cake and small refreshments to celebrate the newly baptised
17:00 – Great Vespers
18:00 – Tea/coffee with biscuits and a “Conversation with the Priest” fellowship (transferred from Sunday)
Sunday, 7 December
10:00 – Orthros
11:00 – Divine Liturgy
13:00 – Small refreshments and fasting finger food
Please note:
1. On this particular weekend we will NOT be able to hold our usual parish lunch, as our landlord (the Methodist Church) requires the hall from 14:00 onwards. We therefore kindly ask everyone to help pack up quickly so we can vacate the church by 14:00. Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.
2. This is a very busy weekend, and I must hear two life confessions from those preparing for Baptism. As a result, there will be limited time for private conversations and confessions. I will, however, do my best to accommodate as many of you as possible. I will be available for confessions and private conversations at the Church on Saturday after 7:00 PM and on Sunday from 8:00 to 9:30 AM.
A Clergy Guest this Weekend
With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan SILOUAN and His Grace Bishop IRENEI (ROCOR), I am pleased to share that Fr Justin Venn, from the parish of St John of Shanghai in Belfast, will be joining us this weekend. Father Justin will concelebrate at Orthros and the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, and may also be with us for Great Vespers and fellowship on Saturday if his parish commitments allow.
I am looking forward to seeing all of you at the church this coming weekend!
News and Announcements:
- NO weekly Online Faith & Fellowship Meetings this Wednesday, 3rd December: Unfortunately, we have to cancel our online Faith & Fellowship this Wednesday again. I have commitment at St George’s Cathedral in London, helping to organise St Barbara’s Festival for Children in the evening on Wednesday. God willing, we will resume on Wednesday, 10th of December.
- Save the Date – Patronal Feast – 19 & 20 December: I want to remind you that our Patronal Feast of St Ignatius of Antioch will be celebrated on Friday 19 December with Great Vespers at 7:00 PM, and Orthros and the Divine Liturgy on Saturday 20 December. As the dates fall close to the Christmas season, I wanted to give you early notice so you can plan accordingly. Please make every effort to join us as we honour our wonderful patron saint, St Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch. More details will follow in the next newsletters.
- Concelebration Before the Kursk Root Icon of the Theotokos: On Wednesday, 26 November, many of our faithful took part in the beautiful service celebrated before the wonderworking Kursk Root Icon of the Theotokos, hosted by the parish of St John of Shanghai in Belfast. It was a prayerful evening and a great blessing for all who attended. You may read the full report of the service here: https://saintignatiusbelfast.org/visit-of-kursk-root-icon-of-the-theotokos-to-belfast
- Parish Library is now open – I remind you that that our parish library is now open! The library offers a growing collection of Orthodox books on various subjects for both adults and children, which you are welcome to borrow and read. You can browse the catalogue online, check the borrowing terms, and even place an order for a book at: saintignatiusbelfast.org/library. Our librarians, Michael and Porphyrius, will be glad to assist you and can be contacted at library@saintignatiusbelfast.org.
Last Sunday’s Gospel Reading and Homily: Come and See!
The reading from the Holy Gospel according to St John (1:35-51):
At that time, John was standing with two of his disciples; and he looked at Jesus as he walked, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. Jesus turned, and saw them following, and said to them, “What do you seek?” And they said to him, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “Where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying; and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour. One of the two who heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him, and said, “So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter). The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. And he found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael, and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile! ” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I said to you, I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Homily: Come and See!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last Sunday we celebrated the feast of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. In the Divine Liturgy, the Church offered us the Gospel passage in which Andrew, Peter, Philip, and Nathanael first encounter Christ and are called by Him (John 1:35–51). The Holy Apostle and Evangelist John does not repeat the familiar story from Matthew, where the Lord sees Peter and Andrew casting their nets and says, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19). Instead, John gives us a more personal and intimate account, something he himself likely witnessed, showing us the inner movement of each heart as these men meet Christ.
Why is this encounter important for us? The way these four apostles meet the Lord reveals to us the essential virtues, fruits of the Holy Spirit, that shaped them and that we must also cultivate in our own lives.
The first of these is faith, a faithful response to God’s calling. When God calls us, or prompts us to act, we must respond with trust in Him. Andrew does not even wait for a personal invitation: hearing John the Baptist’s testimony “Behold, the Lamb of God!” (John 1:36), he immediately goes to Christ. Peter and Philip respond at once to the Lord’s words “Follow Me” (John 1:43). You have already taken your first step in seeking God. If you read this newsletter, you are either already an Orthodox Christian, a catechumen or inquiring about the Church. But the call of Christ is continual. When God calls us, He does not call us only once. The calling we see in Andrew and Peter is also the continual calling He addresses to every Christian. It is the daily invitation to follow Him, to keep His commandments, and above all to live in love (John 13:34). This calling comes to us in many ways: in the quiet movement of the heart toward prayer, in the struggle to forgive someone, in the effort to be patient, truthful, or pure, in choosing love over anger, or in taking responsibility for our family and work with faithfulness. God may prompt you to make a moral choice, to act with compassion, to serve someone in need, or to bring peace into a difficult situation. Whenever this prompting comes, respond with faith, as the apostles did.
The second of the virtues revealed in this Gospel reading is discernment, beautifully shown in Nathanael. When Philip tells him that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, Nathanael hesitates: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). He knows the Scriptures and expects the Messiah to come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), though he does not yet know that the Lord was indeed born there. His hesitation is not unbelief or cynicism. It is discernment. He does not shut his heart. He simply asks a reasonable question. And then, trusting Philip’s invitation to “come and see” he goes to Christ. When the truth is revealed, he immediately confesses: “Rabbi, You are the Son of God” (John 1:49). So too with us: when we feel inspired or moved to act, we must discern whether this is from God, from our own passions, or from the enemy who can disguise himself as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14). We discern through prayer, through the life of the Church, and through the guidance of our parish priest and through obedience to spiritual father if you have one. And when discernment confirms that something is from God, we act with faith.
Finally, the Gospel teaches us to bear witness. Neither Andrew nor Philip kept the joy of finding Christ to themselves. Andrew goes immediately to Peter: “We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41). Philip does the same with Nathanael. Consider this: if Andrew had not gone to find Peter, who would have called him? Through Andrew’s witness, the one who would become the great apostle, the “rock” on which Christ builds His Church (Matthew 16:18), is brought to the Lord. If you have encountered God, if He has visited you in your life, do not keep this hidden. If not you, who will share the good news with those around you? The Great Commission given to the apostles “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptising them…” (Matthew 28:19) belongs to the whole Church. Your task is not to draw people to yourself, nor to teach them by your own authority, but to bring them to Christ and to His Church, where they will encounter Him in prayer, in the services, in the sacraments, and in the life of the community. Simply say, like Philip, “come and see.” Share what God has done for you, and let others see that you belong to Christ by how you live. As St Seraphim of Sarov teaches, “Acquire the Spirit of peace, and thousands around you will be saved.” In other words, “save yourself, and thousands will be saved around you,” not by your words, but by the quiet, radiant witness of a Christian life and by inviting them to experience it too in the Church….”Come and See!”
May God, through the prayers of the holy apostles, grant us faith, discernment, and the zeal to bear witness to Him. Amen.
Yours in Christ,
Fr Dmitry