St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church

St. John Orthodox Church

Services of Holy Thursday

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Crucifixion

 

He, whom Isaiah proclaimed to be the Lamb, comes to His voluntary slaughter. He gives His back to whips and His cheeks to blows. He turns not away His face from the shame of spitting. He is sentenced to a shameful death. The sinless One willingly accepts it all, so that He might grant to all the resurrection from the dead.
~ Sticheron from the Vesperal Liturgy

Today, He who suspended the earth in the waters is suspended on a cross. The King of the Angels wears a crown of thorns. He who wraps the sky in clouds is wrapped in a fake purple robe. He who freed Adam in the Jordan accepts to be slapped. The Bridegroom of the Church is fixed with nails to the cross. The Son of the Virgin is pierced with a spear. We worship Your Passion, O Christ. Show us also Your glorious Resurrection.
~ Hymn from the 15th Antiphon of Orthros

 

Dear Beloved in Christ,

Kali Anástasi!

Today we commemorate the Mystical Supper, when Jesus gave to His disciples the great gift of His own Body and Blood, thus instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist in the Church. At the morning Vesperal Liturgy we will sing hymns that recall the upper room, where Jesus celebrated the Passover with the disciples.

During the Liturgy two Lambs will be consecrated. (The “Lamb” is the center portion of the prosphora loaf, which becomes the Body of Christ, Who is the Passover Lamb.) One Lamb will be for those who are communing that morning. The other Lamb will be set aside and fractured into small pieces, which are placed into the tabernacle (the gold container at the center of the altar), and used throughout the year for bringing communion to those in need.

Tonight is the Twelve Gospels Service, which is the Orthros of Holy Friday. (Since all the services of Holy Week are moved half a day earlier, this service takes place on Thursday night.) At this service we will read numerous chapters from all four of the Gospels, pertaining to our Lord’s betrayal, trial, mocking, scourging, and crucifying. After the fourth Gospel we will process around the church with the Stavroménon, the icon of Christ on the cross, and will place it in the center of the solea.

May our compassionate and long-suffering God strengthen us for the remaining days!

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.