Update for the week Friday, July 15, through Thursday, July 21, 2011

THIS WEEKEND

NO VOLUNTEERS = NO COFFEE– Volunteering always falls off this time of year, but the need for fellowship and hospitality stays strong. Please sign up to sponsor a coffee hour, individually or with friends.  It can be as simple as coffee, juice, and cookies, and plenty of help is available.   Signup sheets are on the bulletin board downstairs outside the Hall. No one has volunteered for this Sunday, so there will be no coffee hour this week… unless you step up at the last minute.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

PRAYERS REQUESTED– Shannon and Panayiotis Sakellariou and their girls have left for OCMC Family Camp in Albania, with a stop in Greece on the way, and they ask that we keep them in our prayers during this time.  They are very thankful for the community's support and look forward to sharing their experience when they return.

REMINDERS

SUMMER HOURS FOR CHURCH AND OFFICE – During the summer, Orthros is at 8:15 am, and Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am.  The church office will only be open on Tuesday, Thursday & Friday, from  9:30 am to 1:30 pm.  Regular hours will resume in September.

2011 ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION – The 50th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will be held July 24-31 at the  Marriott Chicago Downtown, Chicago, Illinois.   For more information see www.archdioceseconvention2011.orgor email info@archdioceseconvention2011.org 

CHURCH WILL BE CLOSED – St. Mary Church and offices will be closed Monday through Friday, July 25-29, during the Antiochian Archdiocese Convention. Also, there will be no Vespers at St. Mary on Saturday, July 30.

BIBLE BOWL CHAMPS –Thomas Marge, Anthony Marge and Theo Smith, with their coach Violet Robbat, will represent the New England Diocese at the Archdiocese Convention Bible Bowl in Chicago on Wednesday evening, July 27.  We wish them much success!

NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE –The Monastic Communities and Chapel Community members of New Skete Monastery in Cambridge, New York (www.newskete.org), invite you to join them for a day of prayer and reflection celebrating their feast day on Saturday, August 13, 2011 (rain or shine).  The theme of the pilgrimage is "Preparing for Life: Exploring End of Life Questions."  As is the rule of monastic life, the day will begin and end with prayer—Matins at 8:30 am, followed by the celebration of the Diving Liturgy 9:30 am (Close of Transfiguration) and end with Vigil of the Resurrection (Preparation for Dormition) at 5:00 pm.  In addition, a special Healing Service with Anointing will be held at 4:00 pm.  Fr. George Gray, Priest at St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, Portland, Oregon, and a lecturer on end of life issues will deliver the feature presentation and Sr. Macrina, Ph. D. of the Nuns of New Skete, will give the response and lead the discussion.  In addition, the day will include tours of the monastery churches, a talk on monastic life, a demonstration of the monks' dog training program and opportunities for puppy socialization, as well as time for hiking, conversation, reflection and quiet.  Activities for children and teens are also planned. Traditional ethnic and American style food will be available for purchase.  (The Monks, Nuns, and Companions of New Skete are a Stavropegial monastery under Metropolitan Jonah of the Orthodox Church in America.)  For more information, contact Teva Regule (teva@mit.edu).

In years past, a number of us have gone out for the weekend to help the Chapel Community with the "leg-work" for the day.  They are hoping a number of us will do so again this year.  Let Teva Regule (teva@mit.edu) know if you are interested as she will be coordinating the Boston helpers and arranging housing for all of us.  For those wishing to stay the weekend, there is a parish picnic on that Sunday afternoon to which we are all invited.  DEADLINE: RSVP to Teva no later than Friday, July 29, 2011.

In addition, a few of us will be trekking out there two weekends before the event (7/29-31) to help with the clean-up on that Saturday.  Let Teva know right away if you can help for the clean-up weekend as well.

CHURCH SCHOOL HELP NEEDED– St Mary’s Church School needs teachers or co-teachers for several classes for next year, as well as two administrative assistants to help with administrative tasks such as Church School calendar and registration. If you would like to be considered for a teaching or assisting role, please contact Andrea Popa at maryandreapopa@gmail.comor Arlene Marge at lanciani@alum.mit.edu.

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 atlive@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.

DONATE VIA eGIVE – Recently we have had  special collections for Japan, for Seminarians, for the Antiochian Women’s project: the Convent of St. Thekla, and other causes.  If you didn’t have a chance to contribute to those collections, or would like to give more, you can do so through eGive  at www.egive-usa.com.  If you have not yet set up an account, you can do it there, or contact Charlie Marge (marge@alum.mit.edu) for help. The Recipient Organization is “St. Mary’s Orthodox Church,” and when you get to Step 4 after selecting that, you have the option of designating how your gift will be used.

PROTECT YOUR VALUABLES – Please do not leave valuables unattended in the Church Hall or Coat Room.

FIRST IN, LAST OUT – Please do not park in the small lot behind the church unless you intend to stay through the end of coffee hour. The only way out is the single lane driveway.  Please pull all the way in to the parking space, and please do notblock the driveway – if the lot is full, you can park on the street or in the lot at the corner of Prospect Street and Bishop Allen Drive.

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:

GREETERS –The Parish Council has enacted the Greeter Program, similar to other churches, to greet and aid parishioners, guests and visitors each Sunday.  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.  If you would like to help and volunteer as a Greeter once every few months, please contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or email at Buddy@cjmabardy.com 

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  and six people to hold cloths and baskets.  If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during 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.

PRISON MINISTRY – If you would like to find out more about Prison Ministry at St. Mary’s Church, please subscribe to our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ocpm-concord

"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

LITURGICAL SERVICE: If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org. 

COFFEE HOUR – No volunteers, no coffee

LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK

Saturday, July 16:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, July 17:  Summer Hours - Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am

SCRIPTURE READINGS forJuly 17, Sunday of the Holy Fathers: 
Epistle: 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. …  And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful.

Gospel: Matthew 5:14-19
The Lord said to his disciples, "You are the light of the world. … Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

LOOKING AHEAD

Saturday, July 23:  Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, July 24:  Summer Hours - Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am

Monday-Sunday, July 25-31:  Archdiocese Convention in Chicago  (church and offices closed Monday – Friday)

Saturday, July 30:  No Vespers at St. Mary

Sunday, July 31:  Summer Hours - Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am

INSIGHT

If we shall be eager to make brighter by good deeds the light within us -- I mean the grace of the Spirit -- so that it is never quenched, we shall enjoy the title of newly baptized for all times. But just as the sober and vigilant man whose conduct is worthy can continue to be a neophyte, so it is possible after a single day for a man to relax his vigilance and become unworthy of that title.
   - St. John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instructions

God is truth and light. God’s judgment is nothing else than our coming into contact with truth and light. In the day of the Great Judgment all men will appear naked before this penetrating light of truth. The ‘books’ will be opened. What are these ‘books’? They are our hearts. Our hearts will be opened by the penetrating light of God, and what is in these hearts will be revealed. If in those hearts there is love for God, those hearts will rejoice in seeing God’s light. If, on the contrary, there is hatred for God in those hearts, these men will suffer by receiving on their opened hearts this penetrating light of truth which they detested all their life. So that which will differentiate between one man and another will not be a decision of God, a reward or a punishment from Him, but that which was in each one’s heart; what was there during all our life will be revealed in the Day of Judgment. If there is a reward and a punishment in this revelation – and there really is – it does not come from God but from the love or hate which reigns in our heart. Love has bliss in it, hatred has despair, bitterness, grief, affliction, wickedness, agitation, confusion, darkness, and all the other interior conditions which compose hell.
   - St. Symeon the New Theologian

The “spiritual life” is then the perfectly balanced life in which the body with its passions and instincts, the mind with its reasoning and its obedience to principle and the spirit with its passive illumination by the Light and Love of God form one complete man who is in God and with God and from God and for God. One man in whom God is all in all. One man in whom God carries out His own will without obstacle.
   - Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation    

Let us purify our senses and we shall behold Christ, radiant with the ineffable light of the Resurrection, and shall hear Him saying clearly, 'Rejoice!', as we sing the triumphant hymns!
   - St. John of Damascus

Thou, O Christ, art our God of exceeding praise who didst establish our holy Fathers as luminous stars upon earth, and through them didst guide us unto the true Faith, O most merciful One, glory to three.
   - Troparion of the Holy Fathers of the 4th Ecumenical Council