On July 2, on the 4th Sunday after Pentecost, memory of the Holy Apostle Jude, our St. George parish family had a nice celebration. Our Rector, Archpriest Igor Tarasov served the Divine Liturgy in our temple. After the reading from the Holy Gospel he preached the following homily:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ! Today’s Gospel is telling us about the healing of the servant of the centurion. Reflecting upon this miracle performed by our Lord Jesus Christ, we may note two or even three things”.
“Before we do that, let us mention that today we commemorate Holy Apostle Jude, brother of the Lord. It is an English tradition to call him St. Jude, although he had the same name as another Apostle, the one who betrayed Christ – Judas. They both were named Judas, and in our Slavic languages we call them by the same name – “Juda”. English Christians probably wished to distinguish the Holy Apostle from the one who betrayed Jesus, so began to use a different name for him. St. Jude is called “brother of the Lord” because he was the son of Joseph the Spouse of the Holy Virgin Mary. He was Jesus’ stepbrother but legally was considered his half-brother. He was one of the 12 Apostles and preached in different countries before he was martyred. He wrote one of the books of the New Testament, the Epistle of Jude which was read today as the second Epistle. In that book he is telling about interesting spiritual matters: regarding the Angels, moral issues and human salvation. Thus, when you will be home, open the Bible, find the Epistle of Jude and read it.”
“Now, returning to our conversation on today’s Gospel, let us note to or three important things. First thing to note is that the centurion was a good person, because he cared for his servant. He was not one of those who considered human life expendable. He did not say to himself: “My servant is sick, I’ll let him die and tomorrow I will buy another slave to replace him”. Or, if that servant was not a slave, he could say, “Tomorrow I will hire another servant”. Therefore, we may conclude that he was also very serious about his responsibilities towards the one hundred soldiers under his command”.
“The second thing for us to notice is that the centurion’s faith. He really believed in Christ and in His power to heal. He said to Jesus: “Only speak a word, and my servant will be healed” (Mt. 8, 8). This faith was great, so Jesus considered it to be far greater than the faith of the Jews. Despite their Old Testament heritage, all that they could do to Jesus was to criticize, find fault in Him and wish to destroy Him. The centurion, on the other hand, had complete faith in the power of Christ. That’s the second thing. And he had complete trust, so we may add this as a third thing”.
“In return for these two or three qualities our Lord granted the centurion his humble request. But in the person of that Roman officer we may see all the faithful people, people possessing those two qualities that we noted – loving care for others, firm faith and full trust. And to all such people Christ granted two things”.
“First thing that Jesus grants is the Kingdom of Heaven. He grants it to the centurion and to all faithful humanity. The Kingdom is no longer for the Jews only, but it is opened to all. The Lord proclaims: “Many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness” (Mt. 8, 11-12). In other words it is no longer race or nationality that gives salvation, but faith. The Jews took it for granted in a racist way, that they would be blessed and not the rest of humanity. But today it is revealed that we shall be judged according to our faith, not according to some external sign of nationality. From now on, our faith is the one quality that opens the Kingdom of God. No human boundaries and standards apply any longer, it is faith in the grace and power of God that saves”.
“Secondly, this Gospel lesson reveals to us that it is faith that determines not only our future in the Kingdom of God, but it also determines our present. Jesus says to the centurion, “As you have believed, so let it be done for you” (Mt. 8, 13). These words are comforting and healing for the people like that centurion. We learn from the Gospel that his servant became healed that same hour (Mt. 8, 13). But these words are terrible for those without faith. They say that as we believe, so shall it be done unto us. If we believe in good things, so we shall receive good things. But if we believe in something bad, so we shall receive bad things. Those who live by the vice will receive the vice. “The wages of sin is death”, says St. Paul in today’s first Epistle lesson (Rom. 6, 23). Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword. If we love our neighbor, they will mostly love us. If we hate our neighbor, they will mostly hate us. Our lives are determined by the faith in them. Our lives are determined by our beliefs. Without faith, our lives are empty. With faith, our lives are full”.
“This understanding of this Gospel story shows that our happiness in this world or our future blessedness in the world to come is to live by the highest virtues. If we do this, then our lives will be transformed, not only in this earthly life, but also in the life to come. And the highest virtues showed in today’s Gospel are love and faith and hope – the three main Christian virtues, called theological virtues. They are called so, because in these three virtues God is fulfilling Himself in us. So, if we possess those virtues, faith, hope and love we become close to God and He fulfills His will in us”.
“Dear brothers and sisters! Let us shape our lives around the virtues of love and faith in the firm assurance and knowledge that all else will come aright as a result. For as we believe, so shall it be done unto us”.

The choir prayerfully performed hymns dedicated to Holy Apostle Jude during preparation for Holy Communion.

After the dismissal the Rector made some announcements, especially regarding our July schedule.

Following the Liturgy Fr. Igor performed the Mystery of Baptism over Mateo Trujillo requested by his father, recently converted David Trujillo. Following the Sacraments of Baptism and Chrismation the baby was introduced into the Church and received his first Holy Communion. The Rector and parishioners were also invited to have a lunch served by the Trujillo family in honor of the Christening of their son.