Update for the week Friday, November 25, through Thursday, December 1, 2011
Update for the week Friday, November 25, through Thursday, December 1, 2011
THIS WEEKEND
NO VESPERS – There will not be Vespers at St. Mary this Saturday, November 26 (Thanksgiving weekend).
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET– The N.G. Beram Veterans Association’s Scholastic Achievement & Distinguished Service Awards Banquet will be held this Saturday, November 26, from 12:30-5:00 pm at the Holiday Inn in Dedham.
NO CHURCH SCHOOL – There will be no Church School this Sunday, November 27.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
PAGEANT REHEARSAL– Rehearsal for the Church School Nativity Pageant will be held Sunday, December 4, during coffee hour. Dress rehearsal will be he Saturday, December 17, at 2:30, and performance will be Sunday, December 18.
BIBLE STUDY – Fr. Antony will lead a Bible study group beginning Thursday, December 15, at 7:00 pm, at the home of Arthur & Beverly Mabbett, 37 Powder House Rd. Ext, Medford (phone 781-391-6530). If you would like to attend, please RSVP to the Church Office, 617-547-1234.
MISSING CAR KEY– If you happened to find a car key last Sunday, please call the Church Office: 617-547-1234.
REMINDERS
NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, began on 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 is a Paraklesis service at 6:30 pm.
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
WOMEN’S CLUB DINNER - The Women’s Club Annual Christmas Dinner will be on Monday, December 5, at Joe’s American Bar & Grill , Rte. 1, Dedham at 7 p.m. All are welcome. Please call Priscilla Goss @ 781-762-1527 or Marilyn in the Church Office 617-547-1234 before Monday, November 28 if you are planning to attend.
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
LESSONS AND CAROLS with POTLUCK - The Fellowship of St. John the Divine cordially invites you to Western Rite Evensong with Lessons and Carols - a service of prayers, scripture readings and Christmas Carols - on Saturday, December 17, 2011, at 5:00 pm. The service will be followed by a festive Lenten Pot Luck Supper. People whose last name begins with A – P please bring a Main Dish or Salad; people whose last name begin with Q – Z please bring Dessert. Drinks will be provided. For more information, contact Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.comor Natasha Smith at nasmith05@rcn.com.
SYRIAN LEBANESE WOMEN’S CLUB – The Syrian Lebanese Women’s Club of Greater Boston will hold its Annual Holiday Party at St. John’s, Dedham, on Saturday, December 17, from noon to 3:00 pm. Donation: $25. All proceeds to benefit Scholarship Program. RSVP by November 24 to Camille Florio 781-344-8469.
NATIVITY PAGEANT – This year the Church School’s Nativity Pageant and Festivities will be held on Sunday, December 18, 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.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
GREETER: Mike Decerbo
LITURGICAL SERVICE: Epistle: Andrea Jabbour; Left Cloth: James and Anna Higgins; Center Cloth: Jeff Wasilko and Julie Jamieson; Right Cloth: Maggie Arnold and Linda Arnold; Left Bread: TBD; Right Bread: Melissa Nassiff
COFFEE HOUR: Brian & Susan Dooley & Family
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, November 26: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, November 27: No Church School (Thanksgiving weekend)
SCRIPTURE READINGS for November 27:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians 2:14-22
So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are
fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus
himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined
together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are
built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.
Gospel: Luke 18:18-27
… And when Jesus heard it, he said to him, "One thing you still
lack. Sell all that you have and distribute it to the poor, and you will
have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But when he heard this
he became sad, for he was very rich. Jesus looking at him said, "How
hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it
is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich
man to enter the kingdom of God."
Wednesday, November 30: Paraklesis service 6:30 pm
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, December 3: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, December 4: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School’s St. Barbara and St. Nicholas festivities
Wednesday, December 7: Paraklesis service 6:30 pm
Saturday, December 10: Great Vespers 5:00 pm
Sunday, December 11: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
Saturday, December 17: Western Rite Evensong with Lessons and Carols 5:00 pm, followed by Potluck Supper
Sunday, December 18: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School Pageant
Friday, December 23: Royal Hours for the Nativity 9 am
Saturday, December 24: Orthros 5:30 pm; Liturgy of St. Basil 7:00 pm
Sunday, December 25, Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, Christmas Day: No Services
INSIGHT
The property of the wealthy holds them in chains . . . which shackle
their courage and choke their faith and hamper their judgment and
throttle their souls. They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is
they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property,
they are not the masters of their money but its slaves.
- Cyprian, 300 A.D.
Instead of the tithes which the law commanded, the Lord said to divide
everything we have with the poor. And he said to love not only our
neighbors but also our enemies, and to be givers and sharers not only
with the good but also to be liberal givers toward those who take away
our possessions.
- Irenaeus, 130-200 AD
Share everything with your brother. Do not say, "It is private
property." If you share what is everlasting, you should be that much
more willing to share things which do not last.
- The Didache
When you are weary of praying and do not receive, consider how often you
have heard a poor man calling, and have not listened to him.
- John Chrysostom, 347-407
Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and
injustice when He could do something about it. But I'm afraid He would
ask me the same question.
– Anonymous