Weekly eBulletin
Friday, February 10, 2017
St. Basil Church members exist to BE Disciples,
MAKE Disciples, and GROW Disciples of Jesus Christ.
Gifts: What Are We Hungry For?
by Fr Allan Boyd
A wealthy man once wanted to offer his mother a
gift so extravagant that it would express his deep
affection and esteem for her. One day, he
happened to read a newspaper story about a bird
that someone had trained to have a vocabulary of
over 4000 words. The bird had even been taught
to speak in several different languages and it
could sing the greatest musical hits from the last
70 years. The bird was indeed something to
marvel over. So he immediately arranged to
purchase this amazing bird for $500,000. He then
commenced to teaching the bird a message of
love for his mother, so that she would always be
reminded of how he adored her. Then he had the bird delivered to his mother. He was so excited, anticipating how
she would be moved to tears over such an astonishing expression of his love for her. The next day he phoned to see if
she had received the bird. “What did you think of the bird?” he inquired. She replied, “Oh thank you…it was delicious!”
This Sunday we’ll enter the second of the three weeks of preparation for Great Lent. In last week’s preparation, we
were reminded of Jesus’ parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector…prompting us to be more honest with ourselves
about the ways we often inflate our relationship to God. When we’re full of ourselves, there’s no room to be filled
with His Spirit. So we use Lent to prepare ourselves for God to do His work in us by emptying ourselves of our own
false perceptions of how close we are to Him…and we instead begin begging for God’s merciful help and we make
ourselves present for Him to do His work in us. This coming week’s theme of preparation takes us into Jesus’ parable
of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32). Our Lord tells His audience the shocking story of a young man’s cruel rejection of
his father, as he concocts a plan to run off to a far away and strange country. He says, “Father, give me the share of
the property that falls to me.” In essence he was saying, ‘Father, I can’t wait till you’re dead. You’re amazingly strong
for your age…but I want to enjoy the fruits of your life while I’m still young and they’re still fresh. So, since you’re
already dead to me…give me right now the things you’ll owe me, so that I can go live the life of my own choosing.’
As we prepare to enter Lent, the Church asks us to consider the times where we might be treating God and His gifts
the same way. As long as we’re present with God—united with Him in His will—we’re in possession of ALL things…but,
like the young man in our story, it’s easy for us to begin feeling like the preventive ways of our Father’s household and
His continual presence has cramped our lifestyle. He expects us to live in integrity and truth…completely aligned with
His will. He expects us to put actual, devoted effort into learning from Him what it really means to love Him with ALL
our mind, ALL our heart, ALL our strength, ALL our being…and that’s also too much for us. So, sometimes we take all
the gifts He’s offered to us, and we turn away from Him…to use those gifts for our own pleasures and wishes…for us
alone…without any benefit to God, or to anyone else.
Just as the evil one tempted Christ in the wilderness with the deceitful suggestion, ‘If you’re God’s Son, then turn these
stones into bread’…the evil one also says to us, ‘Since you’re God’s child, use the wisdom and strength He’s given you
for your own benefit. You deserve it. Why wait until you’re too feeble to enjoy it?’ If we’re honest with ourselves,
doesn’t this often fit the unfortunate image of our own actions?
So the young child-of-God in us seeks to leave His presence. We disconnect from being ever-present with Him to go
off to a place estranged from God…a distorted place. We look for a place that rejects the restricting ways of His
household. We find a place that has listened to and been deceived by His adversary…a place where there’s no room
for Him. We settle into a place where we can live according to the desires of our own heart…squandering the gifts that
He so lavishly offers to us. There, eventually, we discover that those who we thought were our friends weren’t such
good friends after all. Eventually, we discover that the gifts we left home with (now that we have willfully severed
them from God’s will), have dried up and wasted away into decay. There, eventually we discover what real hunger
feels like.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus says in His Sermon on the Mount, “because theirs is the Kingdom of God.” The
“poor in spirit” are those who realize that we have no life whatsoever, except the life that God pours into us…His
breath—the breath of life. The poor in spirit are the ones who realize that the only riches to be found are where God
has revealed Himself to us—who He is—where we can love Him…know Him…worship Him…serve Him…and emulate
Him, because He has become human and has shown us what it means to be truly human. To be truly human is to be
intimately unified with God’s will…to tangibly participate with His self-sacrificial love. As we sit in hunger, we can no
longer be sure of our own mind and heart. There are moments when we may wish to respond to a need where
someone is suffering…and we suddenly discover that our own heart is made of stone and our imagination has been
deadened. We discover that only God can give life to the imagination of our heart!
When we come to this place where we realize that when left to our own devices we merely impoverish ourselves and
become destitute…only then can we begin to discover all of the gifts with which we have been endowed. Only when
we realistically recount the many ways that we betray Him over and over again…the ways where we’ve turned away
from Him time and again…and the ways that, regardless of all that, He still lavishly pours His love upon us…only then
can we experience that extravagant wealth. And so, Jesus’ continued words from the Sermon on the Mount
resonate even more profoundly for us, “Blessed are the hungry…because they will be filled!” It’s only when we
discover our hunger for real things (not the distorted ones) when they can begin to come our way. The young
prodigal man in Jesus’ parable felt hungry. He hungered for his father’s home, and yet he knew that he no longer
had any right to call himself a son. Why? Because he was a murderer! He had essentially told his father, “I wish you
were dead, so that I can live according to my own will.” Nevertheless, even though he knows that he can no longer
be a son…he also knows he can still call the man whom he rejected, “Father.”
Then what happens? Jesus’ parable says that from a long
distance the father saw his son coming up the road…and
he ran to meet him and embrace him. We have a God—a
Father—who runs to embrace us, when in hunger for
Him…when we repent and make our way back to Him.
The son began to make his confession…that he was no
longer worthy to be called a son…and yet the father
stopped him mid-sentence. Even though none of us are
worthy to be called His children, our Father still considers
us as His children. As we prepare for Great Lent, God has
lavish gifts in store for us. He hopes that we will use this
experience of hunger to rejoin our efforts to live as children of Light…to become partakers of the divine nature…to
live continually as his sons and daughters in Christ and in the Spirit. Are we hungry enough to realize this Lent that
this kind of hunger is indeed blessed? …because only in Him will we be filled.
_____________________________________________________________
Welcome & Congratulations!
Sam & Maya Hage welcome
their first child, a daughter,
Gabrielle Nour Hage born on
Sunday, January 22.
Both
mother and daughter are doing
well.
*****************
Congratulations to Bogdan,
Alina and BIG Sister Joanna
Tomesco who welcomed
their son/brother, Peter
Efrem
Tomesco
on
Thursday, February 2 at 9:00
am at 7lbs 8oz, 20.5 inches
long. Both mother and son
are doing well.
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JOY
We had an eventful
JOY gathering this
past Sunday where
the children and
some of the parents
stayed and learned
how to make,
prepare
and
decorate Kollyva.
After
preparing
them, Fr. Allan
along with the
children and parents present had a Trisagion service
to commemorate the departed loved ones.
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House Blessings
Thank you to
those who have
taken the time to
schedule
a
House Blessing.
There are Two
weeks left. If
you wish to have
your house or
business
blessed, don’t
delay, please
fill out the form
(available on the Secretary’s desk) and turn it
into Fr. Allan’s mail box as quickly as possible.
 NOTE: Please don’t base the scheduling of your
visit on a perceived need to feed Fr. Allan, or give
him a stipend, or on whether you feel your house is
clean enough. He loves you and just wants you and
your house to be blessed. 
_____________________________________________________________
Sunday’s Reading
Click on the link below to read this Sunday’s Epistle
& Gospel: Sunday of the Prodigal Son.
Epistle Reading:
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/lectionary_view?typ
e=E&code=114&event=1023&date=2/12/2017
Gospel Reading:
http://www.goarch.org/chapel/lectionary_view?typ
e=G&code=279&event=1023&date=2/12/2017
_____________________________________________________________
For Mediation
How can we stay spiritually alive? Try to know God
more, to love Him more, to serve Him more. Every
day we need a time of silence, prayer and reading of
Bible. Pray the regular set prayers of the Church, not
only spontaneous prayers. Don’t only read the Bible,
but strive to hear what God is saying. At noontime,
and throughout the day, offer up even short prayers.
And of course, end your day in prayer.
~ Archbishop Anastasios
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Sunday Service Teams
 Welcome Ministry
February 12: Karen Ambus and Joann Photopoulos
Next Sunday: Elsie Saba and Luke Stamos
 Reader
February 12: Nick Jost
Next Sunday: Mike Skarpelos
 Coffee Hour
February 12: D + F + G
Next Sunday: P + H + T + N
 NOTE:
 Coffee Hour teams…
 please bring a bottle of Half & Half on Sundays.
 please set up & break down tables & chairs.
 Prosfora Offering
February 12: Helen Kyriakopoulos
Next Sunday: Georgia Froumis
 Flower Ministry
February 12: Moriah Condos
Next Sunday: Corina Stancu
 Compline
On Monday, February 27 at 7:00 pm.
 Parish Council Meeting
On Tuesday, February 28 at 7:00 pm.
____________________________________________________________
Stewardship 2017
Please prayerfully fill out a 2017 Stewardship Pledge
Card, to support Saint Basil ministries. As our Lord
has blessed each of us so generously…so also be
generous toward Him. Together, “as coworkers with
Him,” our beloved parish will thrive, growing in
Christ. Glorify Him!
____________________________________________________________
Ministry Opportunities

Gala 2017
_____________________________________________________________
Services & Events.
 Memorial
A 40-day Memorial Service will be held this Sunday,
February 12 for Bisser Dimitrov. Husband of
Evgenia Vatchkova. May his memory be eternal!
 Philoptochos Meeting
This Sunday during Coffee Hour.
The WHYs of Orthodox
Christianity Class
On Wednesday, February 15 at 7:00 pm.

 Soul Saturday’s
On Saturday February 18, 25 and March 4 at 8:30
am. Please bring a small bowl of koliva and a list of
names of the departed loved ones to be
commemorated.
 Education Meeting
On Tuesday, February 21 at 6:30 pm.
 Teen Youth Group
On Friday, February 24 at 7:00 pm.
 Forgiveness Vespers
See Bay Area Events, below.
 Lent Begins
On Clean Monday February 27.
SAVE THE DATE and MARK YOUR
CALENDARS
September 9 at 5:30 pm The Villages.
Mariah Condos has offered to chair the Gala this
year. Thank you, Moriah! We currently have an
opportunity for one or more persons to offer their
skills, planning and implementing the 2017 Saint Basil
Gala. This ministry has been vital in helping our
parish fulfil its financial obligations. If you, would
like to help by serving our parish please contact
Moriah Condos, Annie Agah or Presvytera Danita.
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Bookstore
The St. Basil Bookstore is here for your needs. It is
stocked with icons and books which will enhance
your spiritual growth along with your families and
friends. Besides books, we also carry many other
Orthodox items such as sensors, vigil lamps, prayer
books, prayer ropes to name just a few for both
personal or gift-giving purposes. You are
encouraged to browse the bookstore after each
service or during the secretary's workdays (Tuesday Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm). Feel free to ask
questions. Let us know if you can't find something;
maybe we can order it for you.
_____________________________________________________________
Prayer Request
Are you sick or will be having surgery? If so, please let the office
know and we can include your name on the prayer request list.
Please keep in your prayers:
Fr. Jim Foreso
John Anhari
Samira Bahous
Levi Blain
Elaine Bracket
Maria Davis
Andrew Froumis
Philip Gosvener
Otto Hampel
Elaine Honjas
Alyssa Jimenez
Ron Jimenez
Shamiram Joseph
Lillian Kawar
Vasso Koffas
Athena Lofaro
May Louie
George Nicholas
Megan Ng
Giovanni Nitis
Nicholas Manis
Voula Papadatos
George Pettis
Georgia Photopoulos
Paul Rousseve
Mary Sarcone
Joanne Smith
Anna Stavaridis
Kristos Stavropoulos
Nicholas Steely
Nicholai Taranin
Thanasis Theologiedes
Vickie Wilson
Lena Xydes
Nectarios
George Zambos
Suzanna Zeitler
 Friday, February 10, 2017 at 7:00 pm
Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church
223 Church Street, Santa Cruz, 95060 (831) 429-6500
 Saturday, February 11, 2017 at 6:00 pm
St. Nicholas OCA
14220 Elva Ave., Saratoga, CA
 Bay Area Forgiveness Vespers
With the blessings of His Eminence Metropolitan
Gerasimos of San Francisco, all are invited to begin
Great Lent by participating with other Bay Area
communities in the Forgiveness Vespers Service on
Sunday, February 26 at 6:00 pm at Holy Trinity
Greek Orthodox Church, SF. His Grace Bishop
Apostolos of Medeia, Chancellor of the Metropolis
of San Francisco, will preside. The homily will be
offered by Rev. Father Aris Metrakos. A
makaronada reception will follow the service.

Summer Camp
_____________________________________________________________
Bay Area Events
Saint Nicholas Ranch, Summer Camp
registrations usually fill up by the end of
January. So, don’t delay, get your kids registered
ASAP. You can easily register your kids online by
going to the following link:
http://www.youth.sanfran.goarch.org/editor/summ
er-camp/
_____________________________________________________________
Let Maria Know…
 Konevets Quartet
Male vocal ensemble from St. Petersburg, Russia will
perform a concert which offers a fascinating program
of harmonic brilliance in the rich tradition of Russian
and Ukrainian choral music and the male chamber
choir. They sing Church music, Russian and
Ukrainian famous folk songs and romances.
You may hear their performances at:
Let Maria know…
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number(s) and email address.
You can send an email to Maria at:
[email protected] or call 408-268-3214
on Tuesday – Thursday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.
Thank you!
_____________________________________________________________
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____________________________________________________________
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