Prayer of Stewardship
“Lord Jesus Christ, Thou art the good steward, who redeemed Adam and Eve of their failed stewardship by offering Thyself for the life of the world. Thou didst teach us in the feeding of the multitudes that whatever we give to God is returned to us multiplied. Thou didst praise those good and faithful servants in the parable of the talents who returned to the Master their gifts. So help us to learn the joy of stewardship, remembering that everything we have comes from Thee and belongs to Thee. We know, Lord, that we often live in fear of the future and insecurity. Help us to remember the lilies of the field and so to trust in Thy providence. Grant to us a cheerful
and generous spirit. Enkindle in the hearts of all Thy people a zealous love for Thee. For Thou art the Good Steward, and to Thee we give thanks, praise and glory, together with Thy Father who is from everlasting and Thine all holy good and life-giving Spirit now and ever and onto the ages of ages. Amen”
How blessed we truly are to have received so much from our Lord. Our families, friends, possessions, the ability to do and, of course, the very air we breath are just a handful of the infinite blessings that our Father in Heaven has given to us freely — to have received so much undeservingly, we truly may consider ourselves ‘beloved’ in the eyes of God!
As recipients of this great love, we must strive to prayerfully find ways to honor the One who has given us so much. We attempt to offer the same love we receive by selflessly giving, as Christ selflessly gave. Through this giving of our time, talent, and treasure, we transcend the lonely and misleading title of individual, and become stewards in the Lord’s vineyard, maturing as members of the Body of Christ. The honor of being a steward in The Vineyard, and members of the Body, necessitates that we offer of our time, talents and treasures to our brothers and sisters in Christ, and the Church, which Christ Himself has established upon this earth as the hospital which heals through the sanctification of souls and bodies.
Now almost two-thirds through 2008, let us prayerfully and authentically examine our commitment to be stewards in the Vineyard of the Lord by asking ourselves if we have offered the best we have to the Lord by means of our time, talent, and treasure. Praying with your spiritual family in the context of the Divine LIturgy, uplifting and supporting the community through individual prayers, volunteering at the church through the numerous ministry programs, filling out and fulfilling a stewardship pledge card on an annual basis, etc.
As spiritual pilgrims, now at the beginning of a new Ecclesiastical year (September 1), let us mature as stewards of the House of God, and (re)commit ourselves to an active life in the Church at Saint Basil’s. The church office can provide information on various forums through which you may continue or establish your involvement in the life of the Church, and/or provide stewardship pledge cards to be filled out. If we approach this stewardship journey with prayer, then to God will be all the glory!
Please read the stewardship prayer on the top of this page to establish the next step forward on your spiritual pilgrimage!
+ Fr Luke Palumbis
The 2008 Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America’s Clergy-Laity Congress uttered a profound and urgent theme: “Gather My People Home.” The impact of this theme is felt when we understand the ‘who,’ ‘how,’ and ‘what’ involved. Let’s examine this simple, yet powerful theme one word at a time. . .
“MY” – it is inferred in this statement that God Himself is the speaker (reference Zephaniah 3:20), therefore, ‘my’ is a reference to God.
“PEOPLE” – grammatically, the people referred to are God’s people, not a segmented, or selected group of individuals, but all of mankind.
“HOME” – eschatologically this refers to the Kingdom of God (reference John 14:2), and in the present time in which we live, it refers to the Church (reference 1 Timothy 3:15), which is a manifestation and experience of the heavenly Kingdom on earth, through the sacraments.
“GATHER” – Initiating this theme is the verb ‘gather,’ which commands an action to take place. The action is to go out and bring together God’s people by leading them to His Church.
“My People Home” is relatively easy to understand, however, the true dynamism of the statement is found in the initial verb, ‘Gather.’ In this statement, God is commanding whoever hears the statement. Therefore, the thousands in attendance at the Clergy-Laity Congress, together with the hundreds of Basilian readers, the thousands of Saint Basil website viewers, and all those who have read scripture have been commanded by God Himself to “gather,”— go out and inspire others to come to the House of the Lord…Church!
His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios highlighted four distinct groupings of God’s people who need special attention in our effort of gathering:
1) Non-Practicing Orthodox Christians
2) Those who intermarried into the Orthodox Christian Church and are not engaged.
3) Youth
4) The Un-Churched; those who do not attend any church and have no particular religious affiliation
Think for a moment…do you know anyone in any of these four categories?…perhaps even yourself? Now think of yourself as an instrument and tool of God, whose purpose is to “gather God’s people to Church.”
There are many aspects of community life at Saint Basil’s, which you may use to (re)introduce one of God’s children to His Home: Saint Basil Family Night, Bible Study, Catechism Classes, 20’s/30’s, 40’s/50’s, Youth Programs to name of a few — not to mention the Divine Liturgy itself!
As a community of faithful, let us not simply allow this theme application to the 2008 Archdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress, but let us apply it to the life of the Saint Basil community and the life of each and every one of us as individual Christian pilgrims!
God has commanded you, will you respond?
+Fr Luke Palumbis
I recently attended our 2008 Archdiocese Clergy-Laity Congress in Washington D.C. The event was successful, and provided many avenues for growth in the Christian sense - both as communities and individuals. However, the most exciting part of the congress, in my opinion, was the opening address by His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios. In his opening address, aimed at exploring the congress theme: ‘Gather My People Home,” His Eminence made a powerful statement about the modern Church in America: “The Church is no longer an immigrant church, or an ecclesiastical entity of the diaspora—it is firmly rooted in American soil.” I was pleased to hear our ArchShepherd addressing dynamics of the present day Church in our country of the United States of America.
I am curious to hear your thoughts as readers of this blog. After receiving some of your comments, I will compile a report of reader’s thoughts in a future blog...all anonymous of course.
May our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ bless us on our Christian pilgrimage of illuminating the world around us with the Light of God!
“O Holy God, Who created man from the dust and fashioned woman from his rib
and joined her to him as a helpmate, for it so pleased Your Majesty that man should not be alone on the earth. Do You now, O Master, send down Your hand from your holy dwelling-place and join this your servant (Bridegroom) and this Your servant (Bride) for by You woman is brought into union with man. Join them together in harmony, crown them in one flesh, grant to them the enjoyment of fair children.”
— From the Orthodox Christian Wedding Service
Healthy marriages must have commitment and connections between the spouses, ultimately bringing offerings of love that we as people can offer to one another. The connection typically leads to the commitment — and seemingly many believe this commitment, after some form of religious or civil ceremony, produces a marriage. Although this process appears convenient, it ultimately builds upon a foundation which is weak in nature, as it was produced by man. Unfortunately this has been witnessed time and time again, with a lamentable divorce rate of almost 50% in the United States alone!
Christians view this process as temporary; this process leads us toward marriage, and is termed as engagement. Christian marriage is something beyond this process, as it is something beyond what we can build alone and offer to one another. Marriage is only established by God Himself, and it is a great mystery as God, through His Church, joins two people together — placing their souls in union with one
another for all of eternity. Despite legislation or any false sense of egotism, this is something that man can not establish. The foundation is strong, without fault, as it is built by God. God establishes this union only when He may be present and bless all aspects of the union; spiritual, emotional, and physical. After this foundation is built by establishing a marriage, the man and woman build their unified life together, with God’s help, as He heals any faulty building through the couple’s commitment to a process of forgiveness and repentance.
Perhaps if individuals understood this Christian experience of marriage, sad statistics of divorce would begin to be undone with healthy experiences of marriage. When a marriage is reduced to simply the commitment that two people offer to one another, then when the terms of that commitment are no longer exciting, the marriage may easily be abandoned. However, when a marriage is understood and experienced as a mystery that God has established for all of eternity; something beyond human capacity to regulate and control — we become participants in something divine, not easily abandoned.
Please include in your daily prayers all those in the union of marriage, asking the Lord to strengthen the understanding and experience of that which God has established. To God be all Glory!!!
+ Fr. Luke Palumbis
In an effort to continually serve God’s people through both efficient and effective mediums, Saint Basil’s has established multi-media, internet ministries. Currently, we offer our parish website, http://www.gosaintbasil.org, podcasts, and blogs. We are currently developing audio classes that will be made available through our website and podcast.
We are interested to hear your thoughts… Are you an Orthodox Christian? ...are you not? Where are you from? What would you like to hear about through these multi-media forums to assist you on the pilgrimage of Christian living? Please respond with your thoughts by e-mailing Father Luke at, .
Please keep the ministry of Saint Basil Greek Orthodox Christian Church in your prayers, as you are in ours!
Starting Sunday June 15, 2008, Orthros will begin at 8:00am and the Divine Liturgy will begin at 9:00am. Please note the change on your calendars.
Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!
Watching our preschool children play in the festival grounds last week, I witnessed one
boy crying as he sat hunched over by himself, off to the side of all the action. After a
brief moment, two other boys approached him, inviting him to play with them on tri-
cycles—quickly all three were laughing and playing together. This boy’s entire day
changed because he was invited to play with his classmates!
A man from Lebanon recently shared with me his love for the people of Cyprus.
Numerous times, while under foreign attack, the citizens of Lebanon have been forced
to flee, many to the island of Cyprus. This gentleman was one of those individuals, and
he told me that he will always feel at home, and a great sense of love for Cyprus
because the people were so welcoming!
The Patriarch Abraham received three visitors, which were a manifestation of the Holy
Trinity, and he immediately pleaded with them, so that he might have the opportunity to
extend to them his hospitality. Abraham not only stepped forward to offer hospitality,
he also approached his wife Sarah, so that she too might offer hospitality to their visitors.
After being welcomed with such an invitation and authentic hospitality, the Lord
blessed Abraham and Sarah with a child!
God is standing in front of you with His arms outstretched, waiting for you to step into
His embrace, and the experience of His perfect love. As you step closer toward His
embrace, the warmth of His outstretched arms closing in around you will produce such
comfort that it invokes a security beyond measure.
A profound beauty of Christ’s Church is that all have been invited and are welcomed to
enter, in order to experience His embrace. Once any individual steps into the front
doors of the narthex, they place themselves into the position of approaching God’s
embrace, the beginning of this embrace is experienced when the community
members welcome, and offer hospitality to the one stepping into God’s house. As
Christians, a blessed responsibility has been given to us all — to be ministers of God’s
love by being inviting, welcoming, and offering hospitality to all those who ap-
proach an experience of Christ’s Church.
As we welcome visitors and one another at Saint Basil’s, let us pray that our Lord will
one day welcome us into His Heavenly Kingdom! To God be the Glory!!!
+ Fr. Luke Palumbis
In the recent Mayoral video interviews offered by the Record, Stockton’s only mainstream newspaper, the first question posed to the six Mayoral candidates by the Record’s editorial board was, “What’s the biggest problem facing Stockton that the Mayor, together with the city council, can actually address?” From the six candidates, the only topic which received multiple recognition was, crime in the city of Stockton. One candidate refereed to living conditions in some areas of the city as, ‘bunker conditions, where citizens live behind locked doors and bars.’
Law enforcement efforts have not solved the crime experience and stigma that has stained our city for decades, yet not because of the efforts of those striving to serve our city.
Education efforts have not solved the crime experience and stigma that has stained our city for decades, however, this is not do to the efforts of the men and women who serve as teachers.
City development has not solved the crime experience and stigma that has stained our city for decades, and this is not because their offerings and products are of poor quality.
Our city suffers under a rabid experience of relativism, stemming from the breakdown of belief in truth—most profoundly manifest and witnessed in the breakdown of the family! With strong family involvement and support in the positive rearing of children, and support of adults—the efforts of law enforcement would be complimented, and produced greater results. With strong family involvement and support the education of our youth and adults would soar to new levels, as the worthy efforts of our teachers would be reinforced in the homes of those being served. With strong family involvement and support, the offerings through past, present, and future city development will be experienced and enjoyed by the majority, who will not be afraid to enter into these environments.
Although politics have the ability, and the responsibility, to address the many mechanisms which can positively impact the challenges we face as citizens of Stockton, the fuel which will allow any mechanism to function is not a product of the political arena—it is the essence of what must surround the dinner table each and every evening...a unified family, dedicated to loving one another with the authentic love of Christ.
With stronger families, and a return to focusing on the virtue of the family unit, we will participate in the re-strengthening and re-establishment of a positive culture, grown from the dinner table and spread through the neighborhood, then unto all the city! WIth this true and meaningful grassroots movement, we will address crime and all challenges that plague us in today’s society. Be assured, the challenges of this life will never cease, however, when we are united as families built upon the love of Christ, which is self-sacrificial love, we will be able to address them and overcome them.
Please, make it a priority to invest time and resources into the development of your family—in doing so, your affect will be felt and experienced by many! With such a movement, our topics of Mayoral debate will be transformed from expounding upon “the biggest problems” that face our city, to “the greatest opportunities” that face our city!
With our efforts as citizens of this town, with pride we will again utter the city theme of years past: Stockton—some place special!
Come receive the light from the unwaning light, and glorify Christ, Who has risen from the dead.
-Paschal Hymn from the Holy Resurrection Service
“The dark” can be a very daunting environment. As a child I believed that the only reason I feared the dark was the possibility I was not alone, and a monster may jump out of the closet; however, looking back, I believe that this was simply a foreshadow of a fear which comes from a much more profound reality.
In the dark we feel isolated, and in this perceived state of loneliness we are forced to realize that when confronted with variables, including closet monsters, we will not be able to handle them on our own! By ourselves, when in isolation, we are not able to overcome the adversities which approach us at varied moments in our lives; from closet monsters to the adolescent and adult insecurities that breed despair.
How blessed I was as a young child that my parent’s bedroom was within “screaming distance,” and my mother would answer my pleas for help and comforting. Although I could hear her footsteps approaching from the hallway it was not until my mother entered into my room that I would immediately find relief, being filled with security and joy. Even before she would turn on the light in my room, my trust that after opening the door she was in my room was all that I needed to overcome the fear of closet monsters; not because I thought the monster had left, but because I believed that being together with my mom – the monsters could not harm me!
How blessed we are as children of God, that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the Light of the world (John 8:12), and if we have faith in Him, we will never exist in the isolation of spiritual darkness where insecurities lead many into despair, but we will truly live lives united with Christ, through the Body of Christ, which experiences life filled with hope and love. Have faith that Christ has entered into the darkened room of your soul, and with the great and eternal Light of God, there is nothing that can harm us!
Christ is Risen from the dead, by death He has trampled down death, and to
those in the tomb, bestowed life!
To the glory of God, many of our church members have worked tirelessly to bring the church renovation project to a speedy completion, and our community will experience the fruit of their labors this weekend. Services this weekend will be held within the church building, after almost two months of celebrating Divine Services in the
Constantine & Evanthia Community Center church hall. All are welcome to join us for Divine Services; this weekend's schedule of services are as follows:
2nd Saturday of the Souls
8:00am Orthros (Matins)
9:00am Divine Liturgy
Sunday Divine Services
9:00am Orthros (Matins)
10:00am Divine Liturgy
May our Lord bless us and accept our prayers!
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