St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

St. John Orthodox Church

Behold the Bridegroom Comes

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Behold, the Bridegroom is comes in the middle of the night; and blessed is the servant who He shall find watching. Unworthy is the servant who He shall find being lazy. Beware, O my soul, be not overcome by sleep, so that you not be handed over to death and be shut out from the Kingdom. Come to your senses and cry aloud: Holy, holy, holy are You our God. By the power of Your Cross save us.
(Hymn from Bridegroom Orthros)

Dear Beloved in Christ,

Kali Anástasi!

Tonight we will have the final Bridegroom Orthros service. This series of services, which span from Palm Sunday to Holy Wednesday, remind us of Christ as the Bridegroom of the Church, His bride. This imagery of marriage appears a number of times in the New Testament (as well as in the Old Testament, most notably in Hosea). It is very fitting because in marriage, the two become one, and at the heart of the marital relationship is mutual self-sacrifice.

God desires to be unified with His creation: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, … so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. … For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.” (Ephesians 2:14-18)

Furthermore this unity has been accomplished through Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for us. The icon of the Bridegroom, which is placed in the center of the solea during these services, vividly portrays His self-sacrificial nature.

Please join us for this blessed Holy Week service!

In Christ,

Father Matthew

 

About Fr. Matthew Swehla

Father Matthew was born in Modesto, California. He grew up attending the Lutheran church, until his father, formerly a Lutheran pastor, became disillusioned by the direction of the national church and left the ministry. A few years later his family visited the Orthodox cathedral of St. John Maximovich in San Francisco—on a whim because of a Russian exchange student they were hosting—and began their journey to Orthodoxy. Father Matthew entered the Church, along with his immediate family, when he was 15 years old.

As a young college graduate, Fr. Matthew attended an Orthodox College Conference at St. Nicholas Ranch, where he renewed his acquaintance with, Annie Nieuwsma. The two knew right away that they were meant to be together and married in 2003.

After working in several professions—in journalism, restaurant fine dining, and commercial real estate development—Father Matthew was called to the priesthood. He entered Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in 2009, along with Presvytera Annie and their first three children. He received his M.Div. degree in May 2013. Fr. Matthew’s first parish assignment was St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood on September 8, 2013 and served for four years as the second priest.

In 2017, Father Matthew was assigned as the proistamenos (presiding priest) of St. John the Baptist in Beaverton.

Father Matthew and Presvytera Annie have seven children: Dimas (married to Jessica), Débora (married to Nathaniel), Thomas, Peter, Nicholas, Joseph and Maria.