Weekly Newsletter for the week Thursday, June 25, through Thursday, July 2, 2009
THIS WEEKEND
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE -The 2009 Parish Life Conference for the Diocese of New England will be held this week , Thursday through Sunday, June 25-28, at the Wyndham Hotel in Andover, MA. St. George Church in Lawrence is our host. The schedule and more information can be found on St. George's website at www.stgeorgelawrence.org/Conf2009
Note that the St. Mary parish offices will be closed June 25 through 28, and there will be no Vespers at St. Mary on Saturday, June 27 and no Liturgy on Sunday, June 28. Come join us in Andover instead.
ORTHODOX WOMEN'S RETREAT - Holy Resurrection Church, Allston, MA invites you to an Orthodox Women's Retreat on Saturday, June 27, 2009, from 9 am - 5 pm (Lunch Included). Topic: Facing the Challenges of Life with Faith and Joy - Learning from Lynette Hoppe & Capturing the Mission Spirit. Speaker: Fr. Luke Veronis Cost: $35 pre-paid registration; $40 at the door; $25 for students. For more information, contact P. Paula Tishel: ptishel@yahoo.com or www.hrocboston.org or 617-680-5658. Registration deadline: June 22.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
SUMMER HOURS - Summer hours at St. Mary begin next Sunday, July 5. Orthros will start at 8:15 am and Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am.
MARROW REGISTRATION - A Bone Marrow Donor Registration Drive will be held at St. George Church, 55 Emmonsdale Rd., West Roxbury, on Sunday, July 12, from noon until 2:00 pm. To register you must be between 16 and 60 years old and in general good health. Please bring your health insurance card with you. Sponsored by The Caitlin Raymond International Registry - see www.crir.org or call 508-334-8969 for more information.
REMINDERS
APOSTLES' FAST - The Apostles' Fast, which began Monday, June 15, continues until the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul on Monday, June 29.
VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL - St. George Church, West Roxbury, MA, will be having a four-day summer program for Pre-School (at least age 3 & potty trained) through 4th grade to learn more about their faith. Dates are Monday - Thursday, June 29 - July 2, 2009, from 8:45 am to 1:00 pm. Theme is "Traveling on the Ark of Salvation." Each day includes a lesson, snack time, singing, playtime, crafts, and lots of fun! Snacks will be provided each morning, and participants should bring a bag lunch on Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday. Lunch will be provided on the last day (Thursday) to celebrate the end of the program. The suggested Registration Donation is $15 for one child; $20 for two children; $25 for three children. Any questions: Khalil Samara 617-323-0323 or khalil@stgeorgeboston.org
TANGLEWOOD OUTING - Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary's as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy and the Trisagion prayers for Steve's mom, on Sunday, July 12. We'll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Beethoven, Bruch and Dvorak, with violinist Joshua Bell. (For more information see http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/perf_detail.jsp;jsessionid=3X3WSE4LGCMGMCTFQMGSFEQ?pid=prod2880017 ) The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $19. Bring lawn chairs if you want them, and picnic food for yourself and to share. Please let us know if you're coming so we can save plenty of space in the shade, and let us know if you'll need a ride - contact Melissa Nassiff by email (mnassiff@gmail.com) or phone (508 877-7483).
Note: A second trip is planned for Sunday, August 2. Watch for further information.
CROSSROADS - High School Juniors and Seniors: The Office of Vocation & Ministry at Hellenic College is now accepting applications for its summer CrossRoad program. Two sessions are offered: June 20 - 30 and July 7 - 17, 2009. For more information and application see www.crossroad.hchc.edu or call 617-850-1309.
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION - The national convention for the whole Archdiocese will be held July 19 - 26 at Desert Springs JW Marriot Hotel, Palm Desert , California, hosted by St. Michael Church, Van Nuys. Check their website for more information: www.archdioceseconvention2009.org (note corrected web address)
ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN PRISON MINISTRY - OCPM, the official prison ministry of SCOBA, announces the 2009 Convocation, which will take place July 28-30 in Denver , Colorado . The purpose of the convocation is to bring together the many Orthodox clergy and laity from throughout North America who are participating in prison ministry, or are interested in participating in prison ministry for a time of fellowship, education, encouragement, communal worship and the free exchange of ideas. To register, please visit www.ocpm-scoba.org. Financial assistance is available. If you have questions, please contact Liz Straghalis at liztutella@gmail.com.
WOMEN'S CLUB SUMMER READING - This summer Women's Club members (and anyone else who'd like to join us) will be reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, a New York Times best seller. Read the book over the summer, and join us in the fall, Monday, September 14, for an enjoyable evening of discussion, refreshments and fellowship!
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, 617-990-7162.
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, 617-990-7162, 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
June 27: Kern Ormond and Socrates Deligeorges
LITURGICAL SERVICE
June 28: No services at St. Mary (Parish Life Conference)
COFFEE HOUR
June 21: No coffee hour at St. Mary (Parish Life Conference)
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Thursday, June 25 - Sunday, June 28: Parish Life Conference at Wyndham Hotel, Andover MA - No services at St. Mary; church offices closed
SCRIPTURE READINGS for June 28:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 5:1-11 Brethren, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
Gospel: Matthew 6:22-33 You cannot serve God and mammon. ... Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear? For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well."
Monday, June 29: Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, July 4: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, July 5: Summer hours begin - Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am
Sunday, July 12: Memorial for Barbara Walker (mother of Subdeacon Steve Walker)
Sunday, July 19: 40 day memorial for Bob Hamwey
Sunday, July 19 - Sunday, July 26: 2009 Archdiocese Convention at Desert Springs JW Marriot Hotel, Palm Desert, California
Saturday, July 25: No Vespers at St. Mary.
INSIGHT
Brethren, let us be prepared for the day of temptation, well girded and armed, but let us not hope in our own preparation, but in the Lord.
- Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich, The Prologue from Ohrid
Those whom divine providence is leading towards holiness in this life are tested by the following three tests: by the gift of agreeable things, such as health, beauty, fine children, money, fame and so on; by afflictions causing distress, such as the loss of children, money and fame; and by bodily sufferings, such as disease, torture and so on. To those in the first category the Lord says, "If a person does not forsake all that he has, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:33); and to those in the second and third He says, "You will gain possession of your souls through your patient endurance" (Luke 21:19).
- St. Maximos the Confessor
...we ought to learn the virtues through practicing them, not merely through talking about them, so that by acquiring the habit of them we do not forget what is of benefit to us. 'The kingdom of God', St. Paul says, 'resides not in words but in power' (I Cor. 4:20). For he who tries to discover things through actual practice will come to understand what gain or loss lies in any activity that he pursues...
- St. Peter of Damaskos
But when the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart of a person, He shows him all his inner poverty and weakness, and the corruption of his heart and soul, and his separation from God; and with all his virtues and righteousness, He shows him his sins, his sloth and indifference regarding the salvation and good of people, his self-seeking in his apparently most disinterested virtues, his coarse selfishness even where he does not suspect it. To be brief, the Holy Spirit shows him everything as it really is. Then a person begins to have true humility, begins to lose hope in his own powers and virtues, regards himself as the worst of men. And when a person humbles himself before Jesus Christ Who alone is Holy in the glory of God the Father, he begins to repent truly, and resolves never again to sin but to live more carefully. And if he really has some virtues, then he sees clearly that he practiced and practices them only with the help of God, and therefore he begins to put his trust only in God.
- St. Innocent of Irkutsk, Indication of the Way Into the Kingdom of Heaven