Update for the week Friday, September 23, through Thursday, September 29, 2011
THIS WEEKEND
COFFEE HOUR- On behalf of the St. Mary’s community, the Parish Council is sponsoring the Coffee Hour this Sunday to recognize the hard work and dedication of the Oratorical contestants, Theo Smith and Tatiana Dalton; and Bible Bowl participants, Thomas & Anthony Marge and Theo Smith, and Violet Robbat, the Bible Bowl Coach; and to celebrate the tenth anniversary of his ordination to the Diaconate of Dn. Jeffrey Smith.
FSJD ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING – The Fellowship of St John the Divine (FSJD) at St. Mary will have an Organizational Meeting for 2011-2012 this Sunday, September 25th in the Hall during Coffee Hour (around 12:15pm). This meeting is for all current members, officers and all interested persons! Membership in the FSJD is open to all adults in the Parish, as well as Inquirers and their friends, families, etc. Please join us! If you have any questions, contact Tiffany Ann Conroy Moore, FSJD Chair, at trattus1@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/groups/6722916525, and more information is available on the parish website at https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/ministries/fellowship.php
HONOR OUR SEMINARIANS – The Antiochian Women of the Diocese of New England cordially invite you to Vespers and a Celebration honoring the Antiochian Seminarians serving in our parishes, with special guest, Bishop-Elect Rt.Rev. John Abdalah. The event will be held this Sunday, September 25, from 4:00 to 7:00 pm at St. George Community Center, 55 Emmonsdale Rd., West Roxbury. Hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and desserts will be served. Come and enjoy refreshments and fellowship – all are welcome!
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
NO VESPERS - There will be no Vespers at St. Mary next Saturday, October 1.
CHURCH SCHOOL CHANGES - St Mary's Church School is off to a strong start this school year with 92 students registered, age 3 through grade 12! We welcome several new teachers this year including Karen Noonan, Rose Njuguna, Amy Clay and Cassandra Chiriac. In addition, we are pleased to announce a couple of changes to the church school administrative team: Andrea Popa will continue to coordinate church school classes and administrative matters. Lea Crea will be taking the lead on Church School-sponsored events, and Doreen Bargoot will be coordinating opportunities for church school students and families to participate more regularly in liturgy. If you haven't registered your child yet, it's not too late! Classes will run September through May.
CHURCH SCHOOL SUBS STILL NEEDED - Due to the size of our church school enrollment, we are still seeking a two more persons to serve as subs and assistants for certain age groups. Interested in getting involved? Contact Andrea Popa at maryandreapopa@gmail.com.
HELP MAKE SFEEHA – Please come to the church on Saturday, October 22, 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.Come learn some techniques, help and have lunch!
REMINDERS
WOMEN’S CLUB– The next meeting of the Women’s Club will be Tuesday, September 27, in the kitchen. All St. Mary women are welcome.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Wednesday, September 28, at 7:30 pm.
“WELCOME BACK COLLEGE STUDENTS" BREAKFAST – After Liturgy next Sunday, October 2, the Fellowship of St. John the Divine (FSJD) will host a special breakfast to welcome college students back to their "Church home away from home." Please join us in welcoming and supporting students who strive to remain connected to the Church while away from their families. All are welcome! A suggested minimum donation of $5 will be gratefully accepted from non-students.
INQUIRERS CLASS - The St. Ignatius Catechetical Group began meeting last Sunday,September 18th at 9:00am in the library (next door to Fr. Antony’s office). The group is for non-Orthodox adults who are interested in exploring the Christian Faith as it has been - and continues to be - understood, preached, and lived by members of the Holy Orthodox Church, who descend from the early Christian community of Antioch, where “the disciples were for the first time called Christians” (Acts 11:26). Bob Kowalik will be teaching the group, using materials developed and piloted by St. Mary catechist emeritus David Vermette. If you would like to participate, please talk to Bob during coffee hour; or get in touch by phone 617-889-3436 or e-mail r.kowalik@comcast.net. (For those seeking to be received into the Orthodox Church, participation in the group and Fr. Antony’s blessing are required.) It’s not yet too last to join!
DANCING WITH THE STARS - The American Arabic Benevolent Association is having a “Dancing with the AABA stars” on Saturday, October 1, 2011, to be held at Our Lady of the Annunciation Church Auditorium in West Roxbury. Cost is $40.00, by reservation only - please contact either David Franciosi at 617-347-1007 or Olivia Waishek at 617-694-9783. Each parish will have one contestant; St. Mary will be represented by Karen Winstanley Noonan. The winner will be determined based on each entrant’s dancing and the amount contributed by sponsors. Sponsor forms can be found on the Bengarri and given to Mary Winstanley O’Connor. Tickets are sold out, but sponsorships are still available.
SFEEHA AND KIBBEH SALE - The Women’s Club is offering for purchase freshly made Sfeeha (ground lamb-meat pizza pies with onion, pine nuts & seasonings) and Kibbeh (8 ½” x 11” tray made with ground lamb-meat and burghul). Everything is cooked with the finest of ingredients and ready to eat now or freeze for the holidays! Please use the order form in the Sunday bulletin, or contact the church office for a copy. Order deadline is Sunday, October 9. Pick-Up Dates are Sunday, October 23 for Sfeeha, and Sunday, October 30, for Kibbeh.
ST. GEORGE WEEKEND - St. George Orthodox Cathedral of Worcester invites you to join them for the weekend of October 13-16, for the celebration of St. George weekend with a visit from his Eminence, Metropolitan PHILIP, the Bishops of our Archdiocese, and members of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees. Thursday night is a women’s fashion show, Saturday Vespers will be followed by a grand banquet, and Sunday Hierarchical Divine Liturgy followed by a luncheon. The one-year anniversary of Fr. Milad’s ordination to the priesthood will also be celebrated. This weekend is sponsored by the University of Balamand Education Foundation to benefit the Metropolitan PHILIP Saliba Scholarship Fund. For more information and registration form, see http://www.stgeorgeworcester.org/st-george-weekend/site-content/articles/st-george-weekend.html Note that there will be no Vespers at St. Mary that weekend.
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 4, at 3:00 p.m. Tickets are just $20. 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 we normally may not encounter. Good seats go fast - please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com by Sunday, October 16, or order your own tickets online at http://www.handelandhaydn.org.
ORTHODOX INSTITUTE – The Orthodox Institute for 2011 will be held at Antiochian Village Thursday through Sunday, November 3-6. Topic: Scripture through the lens of the Holy Land. Keynote Speaker will be Fr. Thomas Hopko and Tour Guide Dr. Maria Khourey. Additional speakers will be our own Dr. Ann Bezzerides, as well as Kh. Gigi Shadid, Dr. Nicolae Roddy and Kh. Myra Kovalak. For more information see www.antiochian.org/christianeducation/oi2011
COLLEGE STUDENTS AND PARENTS - Students: If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a pink 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. Parents: 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 College Student Address Forms and return it to Marilyn Robbat.
2015 CONVENTION – The 52nd Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will be held at the Sheraton Boston Hotel from Sunday, July 19 through Sunday, July 26, 2015, hosted by St. Mary Church, Cambridge, MA! The convention co-chairs will be Mary Winstanley O’Connor and Raymond Sayeg. Mary and Ray are looking for volunteers to assist with a number of committees – see the list in the Sunday Bulletin. The Parish Council will need all parishioners to provide their time and talent to make this convention a significant success. Please contact Mary at her office (617-523-1010 or moconnor@koilaw.com) or Ray at his office (617-742-1184 or rsayeg@dennerpellegrino.com) with any questions or with your willingness to participate.
REGULAR REMINDERS
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 – Did you know that you can make your donations to St. Mary through eGive, and haveno more envelopes or checks to worry about ? If you have not yet set up an account, you can do it at www.egive-usa.com, or contact Charlie Marge (marge@alum.mit.edu) for help. The Recipient Organization is “St. Mary’s Orthodox Church.”
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:
BE A GREETER - The Parish Council is continuing the Greeter Program, similar to other churches, to greet and aid parishioners, guests and visitors into the Church 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, arriving at Church at 9:45 am. Greeting time ends when Communion starts. We need volunteers. If you would like to be a Greeter, a Sign-Up Sheet is posted on the Church Bulletin Board. If you have any questions, please contact Buddy by e-mail buddy@cjmabardy.comor call him at 781-729-6303. “I was a stranger, and you invited me in………” (Matthew 25:35)
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.orgor 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 read the Epistle or assist during Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org.
COFFEE HOUR: Parish Council
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, September 24: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, September 25: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 2
SCRIPTURE READINGS forSeptember 25:
Epistle: St. Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians 4:6-15
Brethren, it is the God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," who
has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen
vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to
us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not
driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed…
Gospel: Luke 5:1-11
… And when [Jesus] had ceased speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into
the deep and let down your nets for a catch." And Simon answered,
"Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will
let down the nets." And when they had done this, they enclosed a great
shoal of fish … But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus'
knees, saying, "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord."
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, October 1: NO Great Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, October 2: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 3
Saturday, October 15: No Vespers at St. Mary’s. Vespers at St. George Cathedral with Metropolitan PHILIP at 6:00 pm.
INSIGHT
Never
rely on your own wisdom or might or on human strength in any of your
works. Otherwise your mind will become dim and your insight blurred,
thus blocking the way for grace to enter you and show you the way of
God. You will thus be led astray from the truth and fall into the
enemy’s trap. At the end you will be enslaved by your own ego and to the
desires of other people.
- Fr. Matthew the Poor
...although expecting no good from ourselves and not relying on
ourselves is the work of God in us, we on our side must make every
effort to acquire this disposition, doing all we can, all within our
power. And so, my brother, I offer you here four activities, by means of
which, with God's help, you may end by acquiring disbelief in yourself,
and learn never to rely on yourself in anything. (a) Realize your
nothingness and constantly keep in your mind the fact that by yourself
you can do nothing good which is worthy of the kingdom of heaven...(b)
Ask for God's help in this with warm and humble prayers; for this is His
gift...(c) Accustom yourself to be wary and to fear your innumerable
enemies whom you cannot resist even for a short time...(d) If you fall
into some transgression, quickly turn to the realization of your
weakness and be aware of it. For God allows you to fall for the very
purpose of making you aware of your weakness...This is the foundation
and beginning of true humility, since it is based on realization, by
experience, of your impotence and unreliability.
- Lorenzo Scupoli, Unseen Warfare
There are said to be five reasons why God allows us to be assailed by
demons. The first is so that, by attacking and counter-attacking, we
should learn to discriminate between virtue and vice. The second is so
that, having acquired virtue through conflict and toil, we should keep
it secure and immutable. The third is so that, when making progress in
virtue, we should not become haughty but learn humility. The fourth is
so that, having gained some experience of evil, we should 'hate it with a
perfect hatred' (cf. Ps. 139:22). The fifth and most important is so
that, having achieved dispassion, we should forget neither our own
weakness nor the power of Him who has helped us.
- St. Maximos the Confessor, Second Century on Love no. 67
Bread, produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God is
no longer common bread, but the Eucharist. It consists of two
realities, earthly and heavenly. So also, when our bodies receive the
Eucharist, they are no longer corruptible, since they have the hope of
the resurrection to eternity.
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies