Update for the week Friday, November 11, through Thursday, November 17, 2011
THIS WEEKEND
FUNDRAISER HAFLI– Come to a fundraiser Hafli featuring Mitchell Kaltsunas and ensemble this Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 7:30 pm, here at St. Mary’s. This event will raise funds to help send our children to Antiochian Village. Your donation of $35.00 per person includes a mazza/appetizer plate, beer, wine and soft drinks. Reserved tables of 8 may be booked in advance ($250.00 per table, prepaid) and are available by calling Mary Winstanley O’Connor at (617) 523-1010, emailing her at moconnor@koilaw.com or calling the church office at (617) 547-1234. Tickets are limited. The evening is donated and all funds raised will be used for camper scholarships.
TEEN SOYO SPAGHETTI DINNER – The Teen SOYO Spaghetti dinner is set to take place on Sunday, November 13th, following Liturgy. Come enjoy a meal of Spaghetti, Meatballs (just before the Fast!), Salad and Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage. Your Goodwill donation will be much appreciated.
NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, begins Tuesday, November 15. This is the forty days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ. Every Wednesday during this period there will be a Paraklesis service at 6:30 pm.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRESENTATION OF THE THEOTOKOS – There will be a service of Festal Vespers with Artoklesia next Sunday evening, November 20, in celebration of the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple.
PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS - Anyone interested in being elected to the Parish Council please see Fr. Antony or Mary Winstanley O’Connor by next Sunday, November 20, 2011.
YOUTH EQUIPPED TO SERVE – YES, a program of FOCUS North America, is coming to Boston Friday through Sunday, December 16-18. For more info and to register go to www.yesnorthamerica.org. If you have any questions you can contact Katrina Bitar, Program Director, at Katrina@focusna.org
REMINDERS
PARISH COUNCIL – The Parish Council will meet this Wednesday, November 16, after Paraklesis (which begins at 6:30 pm).
FAMILY VESPERS and CONFESSION - All Church School families are invited to attend Family Vespers & Confession at 5:00 pm on Saturday, November 19. Pizza will follow in the church hall. Salad and dessert contributions are appreciated. Families are encouraged to bring a canned food item to contribute to the church’s Food for the Hungry People Drive.
BAKE SALE – The Women’s Club will hold a Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale next Sunday, November 20. All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya in Syria. If you can help bake something, please contact Beverly Mabbett at 781-391-6530. Plan on purchasing all your holiday breads, cakes, Arabic pastries, etc.!
DOGS NEED A HOME – Two German Shepherd dogs need a new home, because their owner is about to join the New Skete Monastery and can’t take them with him. Yugi is a 9-year-old male, and Esra a 12-year-old female. Both are well trained and love children and dogs (but not cats). No cost. If you can help, please call Roy Tobin at 207-251-1466.
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET – The N.G. Beram Veterans Association’s Scholastic Achievement & Distinguished Service Awards Banquet will be held on Saturday, November 26, 2011, from 12:30-5:00 pm at the Holiday Inn in Dedham. For adbook information see www.stjohnd.org/ngberamor call 781-784-3341.
ST. MARY PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD – Save yourself time, and let us do the work - let the Women’s Club send a lovely Christmas Card on your behalf to our parishioners. You will receive this card with the names of parishioners, like yourself, who are wishing a Blessed Nativity and a Merry Christmas to all. Use the form in the Sunday Bulletin or send a note, with your check in any amount, to St. Mary Church - Women’s Club, 8 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139. All proceeds benefit the Antiochian Women Project for 2011-2012: The Convent of St. Thekla. Deadline: Sunday, December 4, 2011
FELLOWSHIP OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE – Please consider joining the Fellowship! It’s a great way to meet new people and feel like an integral part of our Parish life. We do not hold regular meetings, but we work together on a variety of projects and events. For example, after coffee hour every Sunday we all pitch in to put away tables and chairs. You can join our members’ email news list by contacting Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com. Also, check us out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/FSJD1
CANNED FOOD DRIVE – The annual FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE Canned Food Drive will be held October through December, 2011. Bring in your canned goods to the Church and place them in the large, blue plastic containers outside the Church Office – they will be distributed to local food pantries in our area. 42 pounds of food will feed a family of four for 3 days - since 1984 we have collected over 3,281,200 pounds of food!
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE – Next year’s Parish Life Conference will be held at The Cliff House, Ogunquit, Maine, June 21-24, 2012. Amazing Room Rate: $149 (Regularly $310) Reservations open October 15: Call 207-361-1000 or visit their website www.CliffHouseMaine.com/attendees User Name: PARISH Password: pa986B
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 at live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
DONATE VIA eGIVE– Did you know that you can make your donations to St. Mary through eGive, and have no 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.com or 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.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
GREETER: Paul Nahass
LITURGICAL SERVICE: Epistle: TBD; Left Cloth: Bob Kowalik and Linda Arnold; Center Cloth: Dimitrios Antos and Greg Hakim; Right Cloth: Anna and James Higgins; Left Bread: TBD; Right Bread: Isabelle Higgins
COFFEE HOUR: Teen Soyo Spaghetti Dinner
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, November 12: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, November 13: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 8; Teen SOYO Spaghetti Dinner
SCRIPTURE READINGS for November 13:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2
Brethren, it was fitting that we should have such a high priest,
holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the
heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices
daily, … Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a
high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the
Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which
is set up not by man but by the Lord.
Gospel: Luke 10:25-37
At that time, a lawyer stood up to put Jesus to the test, saying,
"Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" … "You shall love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with
all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as
yourself.” ... But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And
who is my neighbor?" Jesus replied, "A man was going down from Jerusalem
to Jericho, and he fell among robbers… leaving him half dead. … But a
Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him,
he had compassion, and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on
oil and wine; … Which of these three, do you think, proved neighbor to
the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed mercy
on him." And Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."
Tuesday, November 15: Nativity Fast begins
Wednesday, November 16: Paraklesis service 6:30 pm
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, November 19: Church School Family Vespers and Confession
Sunday, November 20: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 9;
Festal Vespers with Artoklasia for the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple 5:00 pm
Wednesday, November 23: Paraklesis service 6:30 pm
Saturday, November 26: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, November 27: No Church School (Thanksgiving weekend)
Wednesday, November 30: Paraklesis service 6:30 pm
INSIGHT
Our neighbor's cross should be a sword that pierces our soul...
- Mother Maria of Paris
He that loves Me, says the Lord, will keep My Commandments; and
"this is My commandment, that you love one another." He therefore who
does not love his neighbor does not keep the commandment. Nor is he that
does not keep the commandment able to love the Lord.
- St. Maximos the Confessor
When a man begins to perceive the love of God in all its richness,
he begins also to love his neighbor with spiritual perception. This is
the love of which all the scriptures speak. Friendship after the flesh
is very easily destroyed on some slight pretext, since it is not held
firm by spiritual perception. But when a person is spiritually awakened,
even if something irritates him, the bond of love is not dissolved;
rekindling himself with the warmth of the love of God, he quickly
recovers himself and with great joy seeks his neighbor's love, even
though he has been gravely wronged or insulted by him. For the sweetness
of God completely consumes the bitterness of the quarrel.
- St. Diadochos of Photiki, The Philokalia, Vol. 1
Christians love one another. They do not overlook the widow, and they
save the orphan. The one who has ministers ungrudgingly to the one who
does not have. When they see a stranger, they take him under their own
roof and rejoice over him as a true brother, for they do not call
themselves brothers according to the flesh but according to the soul.
- Aristides, early 2nd century
Worthless is the charity of the man who bestows it unwillingly, because
material charity is not his, but God's gift, while only the disposition
of the heart belongs to him. This is why many charities prove almost
worthless, for they were bestowed unwillingly, grudgingly, without
respect for the person of our neighbor. So also the hospitality of many
persons is proven worthless because of their hypocritical vain-glorious
behavior to their guests. Let us offer our sacrifices upon the altar of
love to our neighbor, with heartfelt affection, "for God loves a
cheerful giver."
- St. John of Kronstadt, My Life in Christ