THE FORERUNNER

DECEMBER 2014 Volume 12, Issue 12

A monthly publication of

Saint John the Baptist Hellenic Orthodox Church

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15 Union Park Street, Boston, MA 02118 Tel.: 617-536-5692 Parish Priest and Editor: Protopresbyter George Dion. Dragas PhD, DD, DTh

www.saintjohnthebaptist.org

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page Contents

1. Front page

2. Table of contents

3. CHRISTMAS REFLECTION METROPOLITAN METHODIOS OF BOSTON

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9. LETTER FROM THE PRIEST Christmas 2014 10.

10. METROPOLITAN METHODIOS ON THE PAPAL TRIP TO THE PHANAR

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16. JOINT DECLARATION: POPE FRANCIS and PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW

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22. THE WORD BECAME FLESH, St. JUSTIN POPOVIC

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28. CONCERNING CHRISTMAS

29. Concerning Parish Council Elections, Fr. Ted Barbas

30. GREEK PASTRY PREORDER SALE, St. Johns Ladies Philoptochos

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32. SCHEDULE OF SERVICES DECEMBER 2014

33. PARISH OFFICERS

34. BACK PAGE, THE ICON OF OUR LORDS NATIVITY

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Christmas Reflection 2014

O Son of God, born of the Virgin, Save us who sing to you, alleluia

Once again this Christmas we celebrate the birth of the only begotten Son

and Logos of God. We celebrate the mystery of the Incarnationthe mystery that has marked mankinds history. God Himself came to live among us. And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father (John 1:14). The birth of our Savior reaches beyond the limits of space and time and becomes present today. Today, Christ is born of the Virgin in Bethlehem. Today, He who knows no beginning now begins to be and the Word is made flesh (Doxastikon of the Christmas Orthros).

The word today underscores that the Saviors birth affects and permeates the whole of history. The Eternal God entered into the limits of time and space in order to make possible our encounter with Him today. God offers to each of us today the possibility of receiving Him as did the shepherds in Bethlehem centuries ago, so that He may be born in our lives in order to transfigure them by His presence. The Logos of God was sent by God the Father to save us who live today from the evil deeply rooted in man and in history. The evil of separation

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from God. The prideful presumption of being self-sufficient, of trying to compete with God. Of trying to take His place. Of deciding what is good and evil. Of being the master of life and death (Genesis 3:1-7). This is the great evil, the great sin from which we cannot save ourselves without Gods help. O Son of God, born of the Virgin save us who sing to you, alleluia.

The Incarnation should be considered in the light of the Paschal Mystery. Both are part of the redemptive work of Christ. Jesus incarnation invites us to direct our gaze to His death and resurrection. Christmas and Easter are both feasts of the Redemption. Easter celebrates redemption as the victory over sin and death: It signals the final moment, when the glory of the Theanthropos shines forth as the light of day. Christmas celebrates redemption as Gods entrance into history, His becoming man in order to restore man to God. It marks the initial moment when we begin to see the first light of dawn. Just as dawn heralds the light of a new day, so Christmas announces the cross and the glory of the resurrection. The Fathers of the Church interpreted Christs birth in the light of the whole work of Redemption which finds its summit in the Paschal mystery. God becomes man. He takes on our flesh to conquer death and sin.

St. Basil the Great writes, God assumes flesh to destroy death hidden within it. Just as antidotes to poison, when ingested, eliminate the poisons effects, and as the shadows within a house clear with the light of the sun, so death, which had dominated human nature, was destroyed by the presence of God. And as ice remains solid in water as long as night endures and shadows reign, but melts at once by the suns heat, so death (which had reigned until the coming of Christ) as soon as the grace of God our Savior appeared and the Sun of Justice arose, was swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54), for it cannot coexist with Life (Homily on Birth of Christ, 2: PG 31, 1461).

In another text St. Basil issues this invitation: Let us celebrate the worlds salvation and mankinds birth. Today Adams guilt has been remitted. Now we need no longer say: you are dust and to dust you shall return (Genesis 3:19), but rather: united to Him who descended from heaven, you shall be admitted into heaven (Homily on the Birth of Christ, 6: PG 31, 1473).

As we gather with our families this Christmas, may we encounter the tenderness and love of the Incarnate Logos who stoops down to our limitations, to our weaknesses, to our sins. He lowers Himself to us. St. Paul affirms that

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Jesus Christ though He was in the form of Godemptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men (Philippians, 2:6-7). God lowers Himself to the point of being born in a manger as a prelude of His self-abasement in the hour of His passion. Gods love passes by way of a manger in Bethlehem to the Sepulcher of Jerusalem

Let us live this wondrous event. The Son of God is born today to bring us to Himself. We are invited today (and every day) to discover the presence of Gods saving love in our midst.

The Logos of God comes this Christmas to transform our lives by the power of His love. Let us contemplate the mystery of Christs birth against the backup of the Pascal mysteryto the redemption won for us on the cross and the glory of the resurrection.

May we prepare ourselves to become mangers to embrace our Savior who comes today to reign in our hearts and souls.

With Archpastoral love in the Incarnate Lord,

M E T H O D I O S

Metropolitan of Boston

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2014

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LETTER FROM THE PRIEST

CHRISTMAS 2014

Dear Members and Friends of our Parish of St. John the Baptist,

The month of December is marked by the Great Feast of Christmas, which St. John Chrysostom calls The Metropolis of the Feasts of the Lord. This years December has 4 Sundays, the first two are specified as the tenth and the eleventh of St. Luke, and the last two are associated with the Great Feast of Christmas and are known as the Sunday before and the Sunday after Christmas. The Gospel Lessons are taken from the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Matthew respectively. On the First Sunday, Dec. 7, we observe our Annual Agape Luncheon, which gives the opportunity to express our love for our parish and for one another.

Our preparation for Christmas by fasting and spirtitual renewal which began on the 15th of November will end on the Eve of Christmas. Christmas is an immovable (fixed) Feast and is always celebrated on December 25, but its celebration includes a Forefeast (Dec. 20-24) and an Afterfeast (Dec. 26-31). Particularly important is the Christmas Eve (), Dec. 24, because it is marked by exceptional Services. These include The Great Hours, which are also called The Royal Hours, because in Byzantine times they were attended by the Emperor and his entire Court. They are followed by Great Vespers and the Liturgy of St. Basil the Great. Also important is the first day after Christmas, Dec. 26, known as the Synaxis of the Theotokos, when we honor our spiritual Mother as the most important person after the Lord in the Feast of Christmas and generally in the Church.

Since Christmas marks the beginning of our Lords economy for our salvation, I chose as special reading a solemn and inspiring article of one of the twentieth cen