Update for the week Friday, July 12, through Thursday, July 18, 2013
THIS WEEKEND
BIBLE STUDY – The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday and is based on a lecture series originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio. Join us at 7:00 pm on Thursday, July 11, in the church library, for a discussion of Patristic Interpretation (Part 3) and the School of Alexandria (Part 1) . For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com). New members are always welcome!
FRIDAY VESPERS WITH CROSSROAD STUDENTS - Join us at 5:00 pm this Friday evening for Vespers at St. Mary's as 30 high school students from the CrossRoad Summer Institute visit our parish. These students have come from all around the country and from many different Orthodox jurisdictions to participate in this 10-day long program of spiritual growth and education on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross. To learn more about CrossRoad, visit http://crossroad.hchc.edu
NO VESPERS - There will not be a Vespers service at St. Mary this Saturday, July 13.
SUMMER HOURS – During July and August services start half an hour earlier. Orthros starts at 8:15 am, and Liturgy 9:30 am.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
HALL FLOOR REFINISIHING - On Saturday, August 3rd, the church hall floor will be refinished. Therefore, there will not be Vespers on Saturday evening August 3rd and there will not be a coffee hour on Sunday, August 4th. Please do not walk on the floor in the church hall from Saturday August 3rd-Monday August 5th.
CHURCH SCHOOL TEACHERS NEEDED - The Church School is looking for Teachers/Assistants and Substitutes for the 2013-2014 school year. Being a Church School Teacher can be a very rewarding and exciting opportunity. Teachers are provided with all the materials they will need. If you are interested, please see Barbara Shoop as soon as possible.
REMINDERS
HELP GIVE SHOES TO CHILDREN IN NEED – FOCUS North America and the Antiochian Women of the Archdiocese are working with a major American shoe company to distribute thousands of pairs of shoes to economically disadvantaged children in Boston and other large cities throughout the US. Volunteers are needed to help sort, organize, and distribute these shoes and other items. Your efforts are essential to the program’s success! For more information or to volunteer, please contact our own Kailen Hodge, the FOCUS “Operation Lace Up” coordinator in our area, at 857-277-8323 or Kailen.Hodge@gmail.com . Information can also be found on the web at www.FOCUSna.org/LaceUp and in this week's Sunday bulletin.
BIBLE BOWL - Congratulations to our Bible Bowl Team from St. Mary’s for taking Third Place at the Parish Life Conference. Team participants were Thomas and Anthony Marge and Thais and Tycho Traumann-Davis.
FSJD SCHOLARSHIPS - Congratulations to Julia Shoop, Theo Smith and Tatiana Dalton on being awarded scholarships from the Fellowship of St. John the Divine at the 75th Parish Life Conference. We wish them well as they pursue their college education and future careers!
OUR PRISON MINISTRY ON RADIO - Our own Deacon Jeff Smith can be heard in a recent interview with Ancient Faith Radio, talking about the blessings of ministering to prisoners in Concord, MA. Deacon Jeff gives listeners an inside look at prison ministry, recounting the nervousness of visiting a prison for the first time, the deep faith he's encountered among men in prison, and how his parish has even involved their Sunday school children in the ministry. Listen to Deacon Jeff's heartfelt interview here: http://www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/features/prison_ministry_awareness_sunday1
GREETERS NEEDED – We’re still looking for Summer Greeters – please help out! Volunteers are needed for these Sundays: August 11, 18, 25, and September 1. As a Greeter, you will welcome people into the Church and help to direct visitors upstairs to the Liturgy, as well as keeping an eye on the Vestibule, Hallways and Entrance ways during Church. Arrive at Church 15 minutes before Liturgy. Greeting time ends when Communion starts. Please contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or e-mail: buddy@cjmabardy.com. Summer Hours are: Orthros: 8:15 am, and Liturgy: 9:30 am. Summer might be a GREAT time for you to start participating in this Ministry!
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION – The 2013 national convention of the Antiochian Archdiocese will be held Sunday, July 21 through Sunday, July 28 in Houston TX, hosted by St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church. For information and registration see http://www.achouston2013.com.
PAPPAS PATRISTICS INSTITUTE SUMMER PROGRAM - The Pappas Patristics Institute is pleased to announce the seventh annual week-long Summer Patristic Studies Program on the campus of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology in Brookline, MA on July 21-26, 2013. This week-long program is a unique opportunity to study and discuss classic texts of the early Church through small group-study and brief lectures from leading patristic scholars. The intended audience for the program includes theology and religious studies students at the masters and undergraduate levels, along with clergy, lay people, and undergraduates with an interest in learning more about the Church Fathers. Course offerings include "Exploring the Ancient Baptismal Liturgies" taught by our own Teva Regule, Doctoral Candidate at Boston College. For more information, or to register, please send an email to the Director of the Pappas Patristic Institute, Dr. Bruce Beck (pappaspatristic@comcast.net) at your earliest convenience. Complete information found here: http://www.hchc.edu/assets/files/patristics/2013_SumInst_AnnouncmentProgram_Short_130607.pdf
TANGLEWOOD OUTING – Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary’s as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy on Sunday, July 28. We’ll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Dvorak (Carnival Overture and New World Symphony) and Prokofiev (Piano Concerto), with pianist Garrick Ohlsson. (For more information see http://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/48875) The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $19.00 (pay at the door). Bring lawn chairs if you want them, and picnic food for yourself and to share. For more information and to let us know you're coming, especially if you'll need a ride, contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com.
NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE - The Monastic Communities of New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, New York (www.newskete.org), invite you to their Annual Pilgrimage on Saturday, August 10, 2013, between 8:30am - 6:00pm. The day will include Church Services, Church Tours, a Photo Exhibit, and a Healing Service with Anointing as well as talks by the monastics on Monastic Life and Iconography and by Chapel Community members on their relationship with the monastery. This year’s guest speaker will be Art Historian, William Hood. His talk is entitled, "Praying with Two Eyes: Icons in the Christian Life." A event flier can be found here: http://www.newskete.org/pdfs/2013Pilgrimage%20SchedulePosterAccommodationsFINAL.pdf
In the past, a crew from Boston has usually gone out to help with the logistics of the day. If you would like to do so (and also stay at the monastery), please contact Teva Regule at teva@mit.edu by July 28. (Caveat: Housing requests for the monks' guest rooms must be received before July 10. We have more time with other housing requests.)
PARISH SECRETARY – Marilyn Robbat will be out of the office during the summer months of June, July and August. Barbara Shoop will be filling in for her during this time. If you need any assistance, please do not hesitate to call Barbara in the office at 617-547-1234.
PRISON MINISTRY - Please donate unwanted past issues of Orthodox magazines such as The Word, OCMC or other periodicals to prison ministry to hand out to inmates. Please remove any personal mailing address for security purposes and give them to Mitrophan Chin.
STREAMING VIDEO – St. Mary’s Church services are broadcast live each week through an internet video stream. If you can't attend a service in person or want to share this ministry with a friend or loved one, the live stream can be viewed at www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/live during regularly scheduled service times (see the schedule of services below or online). If you have questions or comments about this ministry please contact us at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
VIDEO EDITING HELP WANTED – We are looking for volunteers to assist with some basic video editing to post the sermons and lectures from St. Mary's online. If you have experience with digital video editing, please let Jamil Samara or Erick Straghalis know you are interested in helping by emailing live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
PHOTOGRAPHERS AND GRAPHIC DESIGNERS WANTED – Are you a photographer or a graphic designer and want to share your talents with St. Mary Church and her ministries? We are looking to get you involved to help photograph the divine services and events and to design promotional material for events and programs at our parish. Please contact Jamil Samara at webmaster@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org with any questions and to let him know that you are interested in getting more involved.
PARKING RESTRICTIONS – Please do not park in the Church parking lot if you need to leave quickly after church. Cars parked there will be staying until the end of coffee hour.
Additionally, do not park beyond the sign that prohibits parking at the corner of Inman Street and Bishop Allen Drive. (An orange cone will be placed in that No Parking area.) It is difficult for large vehicles to turn the corner if cars are parked there. Failure to heed this warning may result in the City preventing parishioners from parking on Inman Street. Your cooperation is appreciated.
And remember, there is no parishioner parking in the church parking lot Monday through Friday until after 6:00 pm.
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
Friday, July 12: Vespers with CrossRoads Students 5:00 pm
Saturday, July 13: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 14: Summer hours: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am
SCRIPTURE READINGS for this Sunday:
St. Paul's Letter to Titus 3:8-15
Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.
When I send Artemas or Tychicos to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.
All who are with me send greeting to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
The Gospel of Matthew 5:14-19
The Lord said to his disciples, "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven."
LOOKING AHEAD
Sunday, July 21: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM
Saturday, July 27: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 28: Orthros 8:15 AM, Divine Liturgy 9:30 AM