2716 North Dobson Road Chandler, AZ 85224 (480) 899-3330
Rev. Fr. Philip S. Armstrong, Presbyter
2716 N. Dobson Rd.
Chandler, AZ 85224
(480) 899-3330
(Located South of Elliot Rd on Dobson Rd)
Church e-mail : office@st-katherine.org
Email Fr. Phil : skpriest@yahoo.com
Office hours:
Monday Thru Thursday
9:30am - 3:30pm
Closed from 12:00 to 1:00pm for lunch.
Sunday Service Schedule:
8:30 AM Orthos
9:30 AM Divine Liturgy
St. Katherine Greek Orthodox Church Chandler AZ 85224
For 3-29-20
MESSAGE FROM FATHER
CHURCH EVENTS/ NEWS
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Orthodox Christian Network Radio
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March 2020
On Monday, March 2nd, we commence our annual journey to Holy Pascha. During the next six weeks we
will journey through the Great Lenten period and Holy Week. We will be confronted with the reoccurring
themes of which we’ve been accustomed over the years. Often times we take this time of the year for
granted. We approach it on “auto-pilot”. We become oblivious to the tremendous life-changing opportuni-
ties this spiritually intense part of the liturgical year presents us. And this is most unfortunate!
What is this holy period all about? First and foremost , it’s about putting God first! During Great Lent we
declare to God that our most important relationship in life is with the Lifegiving Holy Trinity. Everything
that happens in this holy season is directed at reacquainting; ourselves and the rekindling of our
relationship with God. It’s all about God and I!
Needless to say, the Holy Church plays a pivotal role in enabling us to re-establish our intimacy with God.
Because the Church provides the context “parexcellence” wherein one encounters God, the Church must
become a number one priority as well. Through her services, prayers, and teaching she reveals the path to
reconnecting us with God the Holy Trinity.
The Church’s ministry to us is primarily one of tending to the soul’s health.
Her most vital work is to re-store the soul’s spiritual health. When the soul’s spiritual health is restored,
then the rekindling of one’s relationship and connection with God becomes possible.
What is the Church’s program for reconnecting us with God? How does she heal and restore us to God?
The Church’s “wellness” program entails those activities that enable one to experience repentance and the
purification of the soul. Her wellness program encompasses prayer, fasting and acts of charity.
Through the ordered readings during this Liturgical period one is exposed to the “how to” of repentance.
Godly examples are put before us like the Prodigal Son and St. Mary of Egypt. The hymnology of the
Lenten services constantly remind us of our need to change the thinking that leads to our sinful failure.
They remind us that sin is a choice– a choice that can be resisted through God’s help.
The Church’s dietary rules (fasting from meat and dairy products, and their by-products, fish with a back-
bone, olive oil and alcohol) help to sharpen the soul’s capacity for prayer-communication with God. It
accomplishes this by removing the body’s sluggishness and sloth. The vegetarian diet of this period makes
the body lighter and more prone to prayer. The foods of this period are lighter and more easily digested.
Acts of charity and kindness are an important part of lent as well. Man, according to God’s blueprint was
designed to give to and care for others. Is it no small surprise that we feel best when we are doing good for
others? This is the very reason the Church encourages its’ faithful to help the poor and less privi-ledged.
As we journey through Great Lent and Holy Week, I encourage each of us to get on board with the Holy
Church’s wellness program for the restoration of our spiritual health and the re-establishing of our rela-
tionship with God.
In closing, I wish you a “Kalitessara Kosti and a Kalo Pascha” (Good Lent and Good Pascha)!
Love in Christ,
+Fr. Phil
“The Church’s Wellness Program for Our Spiritual Health”
All St. Katherine services will be streaming live on the St. Katherine Facebook
Page during the scheduled service times.
Please worship with us from your home so that we may all pray together during
this extraordinary Lenten trial.
Live Stream Services
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For 3-29-20
