February 26th is Mission Sunday (OCMC News)

 by Orthodox Christian Mission Center 

(Posted 2/17/2017)

Beloved Faithful,

In the hymns and Scriptural readings of the Sunday of Forgiveness, our Mother Church reminds us that the Great Fast we are about to embark on is a matter of spiritual urgency that will lead us from death to life. Nowhere is this more clear than in the words of the Holy Apostle Paul read during the Divine Liturgy: Salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone, the day is at hand. Let us then cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light (Romans 13:11).

The days ahead will involve struggle against those dark forces within us that separate us from God and one another: anger, greed, lust, harsh judgment, our outsized appetites for food and fortune. Over the course of the next few weeks we will be challenged repeatedly to leave behind our petty preoccupations and selfish pursuits, to prepare ourselves to encounter the Lord in the Light of His Resurrection. And in encountering him, we encounter our true selves. We become sons and daughters of the light!

The time of the Fast, properly understood, is a time of preparation for joy. And the joy of the Resurrection, genuinely experienced, compels us to share it with all of creation. It is that joy which drove the first witnesses of the Risen Lord to the far reaches of their world. And it is that genuine joy, the assurance of eternal life in loving communion with the living God, revealed to us by the Risen Lord and made possible for us by his Holy Spirit, that continues to drive men and women in our own day to the far reaches of our world, to places where the Good News has yet to be heard.

On this final Sunday before the Great Fast, let us look ahead to the joy that awaits us at the end of our Lenten journey, and let us join together in the work of our brothers and sisters who are bringing that joy to more and more people. Remember the work of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center (OCMC), a common ministry of all Orthodox Christian jurisdictions throughout our nation, endorsed by the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the United States. Pray for our Orthodox missionaries and for those yet to be reached with the message of the Gospel. Consider serving as a missionary, or as part of a short-term mission team. And, remember that even if you can’t go, you can participate through your financial support to help enable the great and holy work of making disciples of all nations!

In Christ,

Metropolitan SAVAS
Liaison to the Assembly

Mr. John Colis
Board President

Fr. Martin Ritsi
Executive Director

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