Update for the week Thursday, August 28, through Thursday, September 4, 2014

THIS WEEK

VESPERS – There will be a Great Vespers service this Saturday at 5:00 pm.

REGULAR HOURS RESUME – This Sunday, August 31, we resume our regular hours: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
GREETERS AND COFFEE HOUR – We need people to volunteer ASAP to serve as Greeters and to provide Coffee Hours. See Opportunities for Service, below, for details.

ATTENTION COLLEGE STUDENTS – If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a yellow “College Student Address Form” on the Bengarri (desk in Narthex) so that we can send you St. Mary’s church announcements and information about college activities.  Please leave the form on the Bengarii or give directly to Greg or Hannah Hakim (greghakim@gmail.com ).

REMINDERS
TEACHERS/ASSISTANTS MEETING – There will be a meeting of Church School Teachers and Assistants immediately following Divine Liturgy on Sunday, September 7. All Teachers and Assistants, please plan on attending this meeting in the Library.

2015 CONVENTION COMMITTEE – St. Mary will be hosting the 2015 National Convention of the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. The next meeting of the Convention Committee will be on Wednesday, September 10, at 7:45 (note revised time) at the church.

CREATIVE ARTS PRESENTATION - Award ribbons will be given to the children who participated in the Diocese of Worcester and New England Creative Arts Competition, following Liturgy on Sunday, September 14. Please see that your child is present for the award presentation if they were in Grades K/1, 2, 3, 4/5 and 6 last Spring and helped complete the Creative Arts project for their class. The projects will be on display in the Church Hall following the presentation.

WOMENS CLUB – The Women’s Club will meet on Monday September 15, at 7:30 at the church. We welcome all women of the parish to join us in the Women’s Club in September. We do charitable work both locally and internationally and support the Church School, and we would love for you to join us. Call Mary Ellen Mabardy (781-729-6303) or the church office if you have any questions or want to be a part of this wonderful group of women.

“WELCOME BACK" BREAKFAST – This year's “Welcome Back” breakfast is being organized by both the FSJD and the Sunday School Administration.
   WHEN: After Liturgy on Sunday, September 21, 2014
   WHERE: Downstairs in the church hall.
   WHY: 1. To join us in welcoming back visiting Orthodox college students and St. Mary's Sunday School students.
             2. To help showcase all of the volunteer organizations. Be involved at St. Mary's!
   WHO: Everyone is invited to attend!
Important details: There will be a reserved table for college students, and a reserved table for Sunday School students. Besides those, each table will showcase 1-2 groups - each group is bringing a coffee hour food, so be prepared to mingle and partake of this special, church-wide coffee hour. (If you lead a St. Mary's group and haven't yet received an email from Julie Wasilko on signing up for the breakfast, please email her at julie31415pi@gmail.com.)

MEN'S RETREAT WITH BP. JOHN – There will be a Men’s Retreat with His Grace, Bishop John, at the St. Methodios Center in New Hampshire on September 19-21. The retreat will be a four-part call to action addressing Jesus’ final commandment. Cost: $199, includes meals. Contact Jeff St. Jean at 413-348-2878 or mensgroup@stoc.org for more info.

SONIA'S RUN/WALK – The 6th annual Sonia’s 5K Run/Walk., at St. George Orthodox Church, West Roxbury, MA, will be held on Saturday, September 20. The 5k road race is held annually to benefit the Theophany School in honor of beloved friend Sonia Belcher. The proceeds from Sonia's Run go towards Theophany School's "Building on a Dream" campaign, to fulfill Sonia's dream of a permanent home for Theophany School. For details, registration, etc see http://www.soniasrun.org/ or contact Theophany School at 781-444-3058.

ST. THEKLA AND ST. RAPHAEL PILGRIMAGE - Registration is open for the annual St. Thekla & St. Raphael Pilgrimage, held at the Antiochian Village on Friday-Sunday, September 26-28, with His Grace Bishop Thomas of the Diocese of Charleston, Oakland, and the Mid-Atlantic presiding. Lodging for both adults and children is available for the weekend. Registration form and additional information is available at http://www.antiochian.org/sites/default/files/2014_brochure.pdf


OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE
There are a number of ways you can help the Church, your fellow worshipers, and those in need.  Consider serving in one of these ways:

BE A GREETER – If you do not sing in the choir, or chant, serve in the Altar or at the Bengarri, and  are not a Church School teacher,  please consider serving the Church as a Greeter!  Greeters arrive 15 minutes before Liturgy, get a Greeter Name Tag from the Bengarri, pin it on and greet visitors/parishioners at the Church Entrance and direct them upstairs to the Church, or to the cloakroom or restrooms.  Greeting time ends when Communion starts.  Send your name and e-mail address to Buddy Mabardy: buddymabardy@cjmabardy.com or phone him 781-729-6303. Or call the Church office 617-547-1234.

LITURGICAL SERVICE – Each Sunday, members of the congregation are needed to read the Epistle and assist during Communion by holding the Communion Cloths and Blessed Bread.  All Orthodox Christians in the Parish are welcome and encouraged to participate. We usually need one Epistle reader and four people to hold the cloths.  If you would like to read the Epistle or assist during Communion, please contact Jeff Wasilko, 781-820-0882, jeffw@smoe.org
   Also, members of the Church School and others help by carrying the Icon, Candlesticks, and Bread Baskets in procession during the Great Entrance, and presenting the Bread to be blessed during the Liturgy. To volunteer for this service please contact Teva Regule at teva@mit.edu.

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 new signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall or call Barbara Shoop 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 monthly Cornerstone), or ask Barbara 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.
Also - please donate unwanted past issues of Orthodox magazines such as The Word, OCMC or other periodicals to our prison ministry to hand out to inmates.  Please remove any personal mailing address for security purposes and give them to Mitrophan Chin.

VIDEO EDITING – Volunteers are wanted to assist with video editing of sermons and lectures. We are looking for volunteers to assist with some basic video editing to post the sermons and lectures from St. Mary's online. If you have experience with digital video editing, please let Jamil Samara or Erick Straghalis know you are interested - email live@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.

PHOTOGRAPHERS AND GRAPHIC DESIGNERS – Are you a photographer or a graphic designer? Would you be willing to share your talents with St. Mary Church and her ministries? We are looking for you to help photograph the divine services and events and to design promotional material for events and programs at our parish. Please contact Jamil Samara at webmaster@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org with any questions, and to let him know that you are interested in getting more involved.

"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 – Candle Bearers: Panayiotis and Shannon Sakellariou; Icon Bearer: TBD; Bread Baskets: Sophia and Iliana Sakellariou; Adult Supervisor: Panayiotis Sakellariou
Epistle: Ioana Chirieac; Communion Cloth and Blessed Bread holders: TBD

Coffee Hour – No coffee hour again; no one volunteered. (See Opportunities for Service, above)


LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, August 30: Great Vespers 5:00 pm

Sunday, August 31: Regular hours resume – Orthros 8:15 am, Liturgy 9:30 am
Scripture Readings for Sunday, August 31:
   Epistle: Hebrews 9:1-7
Brethren, the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. ... the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.

   Gospel: Matthew 19:16-26
... Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. And Jesus said to his disciples, "Truly, I say to you, it will be hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, 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." When the disciples heard this they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."


LOOKING AHEAD
Monday, September 1: Ecclesiastical Year begins

Saturday, September 6: Great Vespers 5:00

Sunday, September 7: Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; followed by Church School teachers meeting

Thursday, September 11: Bible Study

Sunday, September 14: Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross; Creative Arts awards presentation; Church School registration (for new students and children age 3 and older)

Sunday, September 21: Church School classes start; Welcome Back Breakfast (new format)

Thursday, September 25: Bible study 7:00 pm


REFLECTION
Be at peace with your own soul then heaven & earth will be at peace with you. Enter eagerly into the treasure house that is within you, and you will see the things that are in heaven, for there is but one single entry to them both. The ladder that leads to the Kingdom is hidden within your soul… Dive into yourself and in your soul you will discover the stairs by which to ascend.
   - St. Isaac of Syria

Christianity is a world to explore, not an heirloom to preserve; it is something we enter into and discover therein expansion and newness.
   - Bp. Seraphim Sigrist, A Life Together

The nature of the human flesh must not be despised, for it was worthy to enter into the substance and fellowship of the Holy Trinity through our Lord Christ.
   - St Ambrose of Milan

Adam was heedless as guardian of Paradise, for the crafty thief stealthily entered; leaving aside the fruit -- which most men would covet -- he stole instead the Garden's inhabitant! Adam's Lord came out to seek him; He entered Sheol and found him there, then led and brought him out to set him once more in Paradise.
   - St. Ephrem of Syria

Being thus “lifted up,” He cleansed the air from all the evil influences of the enemy. “I beheld Satan as lightning falling” (Luke 10:18), He says; and thus He re-opened the road to heaven, saying again, “Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors” (Psalm 24:7). For it was not the Word Himself Who needed an opening of the gates, He being Lord of all, nor was any of His works closed to their Maker. No, it was we who needed it, we whom He Himself upbore in His own body – that body which He first offered to death on behalf of all, and then made through it a path to heaven.
   - St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation