The St. Anne Mission Newsletter

The Mission

News of St. Anne Orthodox Church

Knoxville/Oak Ridge, TN

March, 2002

Going to Confession It is required of all Orthodox Christians to periodically confess their sins to God in the presence of a priest and to receive God’s forgiveness through the ministry of the priest. The is called the mystery of “Penance.” This is generally understood to apply to all Orthodox Christians who have reached an age of accountability (around age 7 or so). In our world of legal do’s and don’t’s it is all too easy to misunderstand the sacrament of penance and to see it as a legal transaction between ourselves and God. Worse still, we could misunderstand the sacrament as a form of punishment for our wrongdoing. Nothing could be further from the truth! Penance is coming into the presence of God and standing in the truth of who we are. We tell him the truth of what we have done, of how we have hurt or neglected others and of how we have failed to keep his commandments. Speaking the truth about ourselves, with one witness (the priest) present, is a medicine for the self-deception we	practice all too easily. Standing in the truth of our lives before God, we hear from the priest God’s truth of our lives – that He forgives us, no matter the sin. God’s truth is that we are created in His image and destined to live with Him eternally. But we can only live that way in the truth of our being, not in self-deception. The sacrament or mystery of penance is a preparation for eternity. We learn to face God in the truth and to accept His love, in the truth. Without this we run the risk of living a lie, and of failing to truly live. As the season of Lent approaches this month, we should begin to prepare ourselves for penance. Everyone in the parish, young and old, should make plans to make confession during this holy season so that at Pascha, we may greet the risen Christ in the truth. Forgiveness Sunday The season of Lent begins with a wonderful rite of forgiveness at the Vespers service following the Liturgy on Sunday, March 17. In this service the priest asks forgiveness for any offense or harm done to each individual parishioner over the course of the past year. Each parishioner in turn asks the same of the priest and every other parishioner in the service. In addition, it is customary in the first week of Lent to greet others with the request, “Forgive me.” The importance of the Vespers of Forgiveness cannot be overstated. There is a peculiar link we share together as a parish. St. Anne is not simply the place we worship because we happen to live in this general area. This particular	parish is the place that God has appointed for each of us to work out our salvation at this time in our
		St. Anne is not simply the place we worship because we happen to live in this area. This particular parish is the place which God has appointed for each of us to work out our salvation at this time in our lives.
		lives. Our fellow parishioners are co-workers, sharing in our spiritual struggle. We will either do well together or poorly – but we will do it together. A community of people who come to the cup of Christ’s body and blood should also come to each other in love and forgiveness. Only in this way can we truly be Christ’s body, the Church. I urge every member of the congregation to look at the Vespers of Forgiveness as if it were Pascha itself, for indeed it is the gate to Pascha. Let us make a good Lent together and share in the life God has given us! Fr. Stephen The Date of Pascha

Continue to Page 2 of March, 2002 newsletter