Weekly Newsletter for the week of Friday, October 26, 2007 through Thursday, November 1, 2007
ST. MARY UPDATE
Weekly Newsletter
for the week
Friday, October 26, 2007 through Thursday, November 1, 2007
THIS WEEKEND
MEAT PIES - Join us at in the church hall this Saturday morning, October 27, at 9:00 a.m. to help make Sfeeha (meat pies). Men and women, old and young - all are needed. And it's fun! If you placed an order with the Women's Club, please pick up your meat pies this Sunday in the kitchen. Any orders not picked up will be frozen.
SHARE OUR HARVEST COFFEE HOUR - This Sunday at coffee hour each organization of the parish will have a table with information, sign-up sheets, goodies, etc. Please visit each table and learn about our different parish ministries.
There will be no Church School classes this Sunday.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
DONATE FOOD - As we enter the season that focuses on giving thanks and giving gifts, don't forget those who have too little. Please bring cans, jars, and boxes of food and place them in the container outside the Church Office.
> From now through December, our Teens will weigh the canned goods and give them to the CEOC Food Pantry at 11 Inman St. for distribution, as part of the World Food Day project sponsored by the Archdiocese.
> Other packaged food (pasta and rice, boxes of macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, jelly, boxes of cereal, parmalat milk, etc.) will be given to St. Paul 's Food Pantry in Harvard Square , where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday.
Please be generous - it takes 42 pounds of food to feed a family of four for 3 days.
WOMEN'S CLUB - The next meeting of the Women's Club will be Monday, November 5. All women in the parish are invited to attend.
FELLOWSHIP MEETING - Fellowship of St. John the Divine Fall Meeting. November 11, after liturgy downstairs in the Church hall. All current members and everyone who is interested in learning more about the Fellowship are encouraged to join us. We will discuss current and upcoming events, opportunities for fellowship and service, as well as new ideas for future projects and events. Activity in the FSJD is open to all adults in the St. Mary's community, college-age and up (young adults and not-so-young adults, single, married, etc.). You don't have to be Orthodox, nor do you have to be a member of the parish--you just need to be interested in meeting new people while helping out with parish activities and curious about service projects benefiting the wider community.
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 2, at 3:00 p.m. Group rates for second balcony tickets are just $20 (not $15 as announced last week). We will carpool to Symphony Hall after Liturgy and have lunch together before the concert. Those who have done this before have thoroughly enjoyed it - not only do we hear a world-class orchestra and chorus with famous soloists singing glorious words (taken directly from the Bible), but we also have an opportunity to spend time getting to know some fellow parishioners whom we normally may not encounter.
Good seats go fast - please contact Melissa Nassiff at 508 877-7483 or email mnassiff@gmail.com by Sunday, November 11, to reserve a ticket with the group.
REMINDERS
ORTHODOX INSTITUTE - The Archdiocesan Department of Christian Education is sponsoring its annual Orthodox Institute at the Antiochian Village , November 1 through 4. This year's theme is Orthodox Unity, and the keynote speaker will be The Very Rev. Fr. Peter Gillquist, Director of the Department of Missions and Evangelism. There will be courses for teachers, church school directors, and those wanting to learn more about Orthodoxy. For more information see http://www.antiochian.org/node/16413
TEEN SOYO SPAGHETTI DINNER - On Sunday, November 11, following Liturgy, the teens invite you to a Spaghetti Dinner featuring Spaghetti, Meatballs (just before the fast!), Salad, Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage. Your goodwill donation will be much appreciated.
BENEFIT DINNER FOR AL-KAFAAT - His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP and the churches of the Diocese of Worcester and New England invite you to a benefit dinner to support the work of the Al-Kafaat Foundation (www.al-kafaat.org), one of the leading vocational rehabilitation facilities in the Middle East, on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 55 Emmonsdale Road, West Roxbury, MA. Cocktails at 5 pm; Dinner at 6 pm. Donation is $100 per person. For tickets, please see your parish priest or call St. George at 617.323.0323. Please make your checks payable to the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, earmarked "Al-Kafaat"
SOUP KITCHEN - Three or four St. Mary's volunteers are needed to help each week at the Open Doors Meal Ministry at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Allston, Mondays any time between 4:00 p.m. and 7:30. Contact Liz Tutella at 617-974-5005 or ETutella@sovereignbank.com.
FOOD PANTRY - Two to four St. Mary's volunteers are needed to help each week in the food pantry at St. Paul 's RC Church in Harvard Square . Contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or 617-876-5684.
ATTENTION COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a white 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.
UPDATE YOUR PROFILE - Does your St. Mary Update have a colored banner across the top, with a picture of the church? If not, you may want to update your profile on Topica, our distribution service. For a more attractive version of the Update (if your email supports HTML formatting), click on Update Profile at the bottom of this email. When you're connected, choose HTML for your Content Format. And while you're at it, please make sure we have your first and last name as well as your email address.
INSIGHT
Our church walls sparkle with gold, which also glitters upon our ceilings, while the capitals of our pillars are lavishly decorated. The holy vessels are beaten out of costly elements and precious stones. Yet Christ is dying at our doors in the person of His poor, naked and hungry.
- St. Jerome
At the last judgment, I will not be asked whether I satisfactorily practiced asceticism, nor how many prostrations and bows I have made before the Holy Table. I will be asked whether I fed the hungry, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoner in jail. That is all I will be asked.
- St. Maria Skobtsova
When the day is done and the night falls (which, however, we ought to call day: it is night for sinners and day for the just),when the play is over, when we all find ourselves confronted with our own actions and not with our riches or dignity or the honors we have had or the power we have wielded, when we are asked to give an account of our lives and our works of virtue, ignoring both the feats of our opulence and the humility of our need, when we are asked: "Show me your deeds!" then the disguises will fall and we shall see who is truly rich and who is truly poor.
- St. John Chrysostom
The bread you do not use is the bread of the hungry. The garment hanging in your wardrobe is the garment of the person who is naked. The shoes you do not wear are the shoes of the one who is barefoot. The money you keep locked away is the money of the poor. The acts of charity you do not perform are the injustices you commit.
- St. Basil the Great
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, October 27: Great Vespers 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 28: Orthros 8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.
No Church School ; Share Our Harvest coffee hour; last Sunday of Daylight Savings Time
SCRIPTURE READINGS for October 28:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 6:11-18 But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=epistle&code=218
Gospel: Luke 8:41-56 And he said to [the woman with a flow of blood], "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace." While he was still speaking, a man from [Jairus] the ruler's house came and said, "Your daughter is dead; do not trouble the Teacher any more." But Jesus on hearing this answered him, "Do not fear; only believe, and she shall be well." (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=gospel&code=210&event=960&DL=EN )
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, November 3: Great Vespers 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, November 4: Orthros 8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULES
FOOD PANTRY
Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St. Paul 's RC Church in Harvard Square , Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45. If you are willing to help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or (617) 876-5684.
October 27: Jenna Beck, Sandra Kondratiuk, and Eric Ayoub
LITURGICAL SERVICE
The Epistle each Sunday is read by a member of the congregation, and six members of the congregation hold the cloth and Holy Bread baskets during Communion. If you would like to help with these services, please contact Jeff Wasilko at jeffw@smoe.org or 781-820-0882.
October 28: Teens of the parish (Youth Month)
COFFEE HOUR
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 in the Office 617-547-1234 and she'll write your name in.
October 28: - Share-Our-Harvest Coffee Hour assisted by the family of Donna Boyko (40 Days)
November 4: Peter and Melissa Nassiff
November 11: Teen SOYO Spaghetti Dinner