Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, October 23, through Thursday, October 29, 2009

 

THIS WEEKEND

 
Saturday
HELP MAKE SFEEHA AND KIBBEH– Plan to come to the church this  Saturday morning, October 24, starting at 9:30 am to help make meat pies with the Women's Club.   Lots of help will be needed – young and old, women and men are all welcome - and it's always lots of fun. 
 
Also, come Friday morning, October 30, at 9:30 to help the Women’s Club cook Kihbbeh.  Pick-Up dates will be Sunday, October 25 for Sfeeha, and Sunday, November 1 for Kibbeh.
 
VESPERS CANCELLED – There will not be a Vespers service at St. Mary this Saturday evening, October 24, as previously announced.
 
Sunday
NO COFFEE HOUR – No one volunteered to provide coffee this Sunday. When no one volunteers, we don’t have a coffee hour.  So please sign up to sponsor one, individually or with friends.  Some do this to celebrate a special event or anniversary, but you don’t need a reason, and it can be as simple as coffee, juice, and cookies.   Signup sheets are on the bulletin board downstairs outside the Hall. Call the Church Office if you have any questions: 617-547-1234.
 
SFEEHA PICKUP – If you ordered Sfeeha, please pick it up in the Hall after Liturgy. Any orders not picked up will be frozen.
 
TEEN SOYO APPLE PICKING – On Sunday, October 25, St. Mary’s Teen SOYO (ages 12-18) will be going apple picking immediately after Liturgy.  The Teen SOYO at St. George West Roxbury will be joining us for liturgy and for apple picking fun!  The group will carpool to the orchards together, and will return to St. Mary's for parent pick-up around 4:00 or 5:00 pm.  Teens should plan to bring a change of clothes to church, as well as a few dollars for purchasing apples or snacks. If you have any questions contact Liz Straghalis at (617) 974-5005 or elizabeth.straghalis@gmail.com.  This will be a great opportunity for fellowship and fun!
 

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

 
SPAGHETTI DINNER – On Sunday, November 8, the Teen SOYO will be serving a Spaghetti Dinner after Liturgy.  The menu includes Spaghetti, Meatballs (just before the Fast!)
Salad, Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage .   Your goodwill donation will be much appreciated.
 
FAMILY VESPERS - Attention Church School Parents & Students:  Join us for a Church School Family Vespers at 5:00 pm on Saturday, November 14.  Fr. Antony will be hearing confessions.  For a small donation, we will have pizza together in the church hall after Vespers.  This is a great way to prepare for the Nativity Fast, which starts on Sunday, November 15th.
 
SCHAEFFER TO SPEAK - Frank Schaeffer, best-selling author of Keeping Faith and Crazy for God, a frequent commentator on MSNBC and other news outlets and contributor to The Huffington Post, will be speaking at St. Mary Orthodox Church on the evening of Saturday, December 5, 2009.  His talk, which promises to be both witty and provocative, will be entitled "Can Christianity Be Saved from the Christians?"    Great Vespers will begin at 5:30 pm, followed by the lecture at 7:00 pm in the Church Hall. For more information about Mr. Schaeffer and his latest book, see https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/newsevents/2009-frankschaeffer.php.
 
IOCC WINE TASTING - The Metropolitan Committee of International Orthodox Christian Charities –Boston (IOCC) announces an Afternoon of Jazz, Wine Tasting & Hors d'oeuvres on Sunday, November 15th.  It will take place at the X & O Restaurant in Stoughton from 2:00 - 5:00 pm.  This is a great chance to find out about the work of IOCC and support their projects -- both in America and around the world.  Tickets are $50 each or $40 if you order in advance at http://iocc.org/boston  Designated Driver and Under-21 tickets are just $20. For more information email BostonMet@IOCC.org
 

REMINDERS

                                                                                                                                                     
YOUTH MONTH – October is Youth Month throughout the Antiochian Archdiocese. In our parish young people will be reading the Epistle, holding the Communion cloth and Holy Bread baskets, and taking the collection.
 
HELP MAKE KIBBEH– Plan to come to the church on Friday  morning,  October 30, at 9:30 to help the Women’s Club cook Kihbbeh.  Pick-Up date is Sunday, November 1 for Kibbeh.
 
FALL DIOCESAN MEETINGS – Fall meetings for Antiochian Women, the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, and Teen SOYO will be held next Saturday, October 31, 2009 at St. George Cathedral, Worcester.  The schedule includes Morning Prayers at 10:00 am followed by Coffee:    Meetings at 10:30 am;   and Lunch at 12:30 with a presentation by Fr. Michael Nasser, pastor of St. Innocent Orphanage & Project Mexico, in Tijuana, Mexico.  Please join us.  Everyone is welcome to come!
 
PARISH COUNCIL BALLOTS -  Ballots for 2010 will be going out soon.  If you are interested in serving on the Parish Council, please see Fr. Antony or Ray Sayeg right away.
 
COME SEE THE MESSIAH - Join friends from St. Mary’s for the Handel and Haydn Society’s  annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, on Sunday afternoon, December 6, at 3:00 p.m.  We will carpool to Symphony Hall after Liturgy and have lunch together before the concert.    Contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com for discounted tickets – possibly separate from the rest of the St. Mary group - or order your own tickets online at http://www.handelandhaydn.org. Either way, plan to join us for lunch first!
 
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive:  October – December, 2009. Bring  in canned goods to the Church and place them in the large, blue plastic containers outside the Church Office.  They will be distributed to local food pantries in our area.  42 pounds of food will feed a family of four for three  days, and  37 million people in America need our help!
 
ATTENTION COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a blue College Student Address Form on the Bengarri (desk in the Narthex) so that we have your current addresses and information and you can receive announcements about activities at St. Mary's and on campus.  See Charlie Marge if you have questions.
 
ATTENTION PARENTS OF ST. MARY PARISH COLLEGE STUDENTS - If you would like your sons or daughters to receive a copy of the CORNERSTONE each month while they are away at school to keep them in touch with what’s going on at St. Mary’s, please fill out one of the blue College Student Address Forms and return it to Marilyn Robbat.
 

OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE

 
There are a number of ways you can help the Church, your fellow worshippers and those in need.  Consider serving in one of these ways:
 
PARTICIPATION
Liturgical Service - Each Sunday, members of the congregation are needed to read the Epistle and assist during Communion by holding the Communion Cloths and Holy Bread Baskets.  All Orthodox Christians in the Parish are welcome and encouraged to participate. We usually need one Epistle reader and six people to hold cloths and baskets.  If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during the Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org.
 
Coffee Hour – People are needed every week to provide coffee, juice and cookies, or more if desired, and set it up Sunday morning. To sign up for an available Sunday, please put your name on the signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall or call Marilyn Robbat in the Parish Office and she will write your name in. If you need any help with figuring out what to bring or do, check the list below the signup sheet (also printed in the Bulletin), or ask Marilyn at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
 
VOLUNTEERING
Holy Resurrection Open Doors - The Holy Resurrection Open Door Meal Ministry in Allston needs volunteers every Monday evening (there is a special need in the summer).  The official hours of the project are 4:30 pm-7:30 pm, but it is fine to come anytime and leave any time.  Best times would be 5:30-5:45 to 7:15-7:30 pm.  You can serve meals, coffee and tea to the people who arrive for dinner (6-7 pm) or just stay behind the scenes doing set-up and clean-up.  It is a very rewarding, hands-on, face-to-face way to serve the community with (mostly) other Orthodox Christians—we even chant the Our Father together before the meal begins. Church info can be found at  http://hrocboston.org.    Questions? Please contact Liz Straghalis at liztutella@gmail.com  phone 617-974-5005,  or Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.com.
 
St Paul’s Food Pantry - Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Harvard Square, Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45.  If you are interested in helping, please contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
 
DONATIONS
Food and Clothing - Holy Resurrection in Allston takes donations of non-perishable food items and clothing to distribute at the Open Door Ministry on Monday evenings.  You can bring your donations by on Monday nights between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm or contact Tiffany Conroy, trattus1@gmail.com, for more information.
 
- St. Paul’s Food Pantry in Harvard Square, where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday, depends upon regular donations of canned and packaged foods.  To help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
 
Monetary Contributions – The Agape Canister Program is an Orthodox non-profit development program of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center.  It is dedicated to meeting the needs of children, families, and communities throughout the world, regardless of race, color, or creed. All funds collected by the Agape Canister Program are earmarked for medical care and clinics, water wells, agricultural development, food and clothing, support personnel (e.g. doctors, nurses, teachers), the construction of schools, and the education of indigenous people in their own communities.  Please contribute each Sunday — A clear plastic box is on the Bengarri.
 
"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me," says our Lord.
 

THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS

 
FOOD PANTRY
October 24:    Kern Ormond and Eric Ayoub
 
LITURGICAL SERVICE
October 25:     St. Mary Teens
 
COFFEE HOUR
October 25:   No volunteers = no coffee hour
 

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

 
Saturday, October 24:  NO Great Vespers at St. Mary (note change)
 
Sunday, October 25:  Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School Lesson 4
 
SCRIPTURE READINGS for October 25:
Epistle:  St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 1:11-19  …  For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it; and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.
 
Gospel: Luke 8:26-39  … Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
 

LOOKING AHEAD

 
Saturday, October 31:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm
 
Sunday, November 1:  Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 5
 
Sunday, November 8:  Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 6; followed by Teen SOYO Spaghetti & Meatball Dinner
 
Saturday, November 14:  Church School Family Vespers, with confessions and Pizza to follow
 
Sunday, November 15:  Nativity Fast begins
 
Saturday, December 5:  Great Vespers 5:30 pm, followed by Frank Schaeffer talk 7:00 pm
 

INSIGHT

 
The demons that wage war on us through our shortcomings in virtue are those that teach unchastity, drunkenness, avarice and envy. Those that wage war on us through our excessive zeal for virtue teach conceit, self-esteem and pride; they secretly pervert what is commendable into what is reprehensible.
   - St. Maximos the Confessor, Philokalia, Vol. II
 
...you must never be afraid, if you are troubled by a flood of thoughts, that the enemy is too strong against you, that his attacks are never ending, that the war will last for your lifetime, and that you cannot avoid incessant downfalls of all kinds. Know that our enemies, with all their wiles, are in the hands of our divine Commander, our Lord Jesus Christ, for Whose honor and glory you are waging war. Since He Himself leads you into battle, He will certainly not suffer your enemies to use violence against you and overcome you, if you do not yourself cross over to their side with your will. He will Himself fight for you and will deliver your enemies into your hands, when He wills and as He wills, as it is written: 'The Lord your God walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you, and to give up your enemies before you' (Deut. 23:14).
   - Lorenzo Scupoli, Unseen Warfare
 
Someone who has tasted the truth is not contentious for truth. Someone who is considered among men to be zealous for truth has not yet learnt what truth is really like: once he has learnt it he will cease from zealousness on its behalf. … The gift of God and of knowledge of him is not a cause for turmoil and clamor; rather this gift is entirely filled with a peace in which the Spirit, love and humility reside. … The person whose mind has become aware of God does not even possess a tongue with which to speak, but God resides in his heart in great serenity. He experiences no stirring of zeal or argumentativeness, nor is he stirred by anger. He cannot even be aroused concerning the faith.
   - St Isaac of Syria
 
Let yourself be persecuted but do not persecute others. Let yourself be crucified but do not crucify others. Let yourself be insulted but do not insult others. Let yourself be slandered but do not slander others. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Such is the sign of purity.
   - St. Isaac of Nineveh, Ascetic Treatises