Weekly Newsletter for the week Friday, June 15 2007 through Thursday, June 21, 2007
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
HELP WITH PICNIC - The upcoming Parish Life Conference in Plymouth will include a picnic at Miles Standish State Park on Friday, June 29th. The conference organizers are hoping to make it a fun time for all, with music, food, and a nature walk. Our own Socrates Deligeorges is planning to provide the delicious food that's made so many Fellowship breakfasts memorable, but to make the picnic a success, we need a few more volunteers to help out with setup, food preparation, and generally getting people where they need to go. If you are planning to attend the conference and wouldn't mind taking some time on Friday to help with the picnic, we need your help! Even if you aren't going to be at the conference, if you would be able to help on Friday, June 29th, we will arrange to get you a ride to the picnic site that morning, returning late that afternoon. Please contact Michael Decerbo at (617) 312-1321, or by email to mdecerbo@alum.mit.edu.
PILGRIMAGE TO NEW SKETE - The New Skete monastic communities in Cambridge , NY are hosting their 2007 Annual Pilgrimage on Saturday, August 11, with the theme Encountering God through Creation. The day will include services (Matins at 8:30 a.m., Divine Liturgy 9:30, Vigil 5:00 p.m.), talks, food, church tours, hiking, dog training demonstration, exhibits, monastic conversations, time for quiet reflection, and activities for children and teens. To coordinate rides and/or offer to help for the day, call our local contact: Teva Regule at 617-734-0210 or teva@mitlns.mit.edu See flyer on Church Bulletin Board.
VOTE ON COVER FOR NEW BIBLE - If you would like to vote on one of three proposed cover designs for the new Orthodox Study Bible (with O.T. - now due out in February of 2008), you can go to this site: http://www.thomasnelson.com/research/osb-a.htm
REMINDERS
APOSTLES' FAST - the Apostles Fast began Monday, June 4 and continues until the Feast of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, June 29.
HOUSING REQUEST - A female Harvard student (granddaughter of a former parishioner) needs a room to rent from the last week of June until mid August. It must be in the Cambridge area on a bus line. Call the Church Office or see Fr. Antony if you can help.
GRECIAN FESTIVAL - Ss. Constantine & Helen Church, Cambridge , will hold an Outdoor Grecian Festival this Friday through Sunday, June 15 - 17, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Free Admission. Rain or Shine!
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE - The 2007 Diocesan Parish Life Conference will be June 28 through July 1, at the Radisson Hotel in Plymouth , MA . Theme: Missions and Outreach. His Grace Bishop ANTOUN will be the presiding Hierarch, and Fr. Michael Keiser will be the keynote speaker, speaking on Missions and Evangelism. All proceeds will go toward establishing a Mission Endowment Fund for our Diocese. To see the schedule of events and register for the conference, click on www.WorcesterDiocese.net - you can register either online or on paper. To register for the hotel call 508-747-4900. If you have any questions, email conference@worcesterdiocese.net or ask our own Paul Nahass (pnahass@comcast.net) or Michael Marge (Michael_Marge@yahoo.com), co-chairmen.
CHURCH CLOSED - The church offices will be closed, and no services will be held at St. Mary's, during the Parish Life Conference, Thursday, June 28 through Sunday, July 1.
5th ANNUAL TANGLEWOOD OUTING - Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary's as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy on Sunday, July 8. We'll picnic on the lawn and listen to the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing music by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev. (For more information see http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/perf_detail.jsp?pid=24300117 ) The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are just $18. Bring picnic food for yourself and to share, or buy it on the way. For more information and to sign up, especially if you'll need a ride, contact Melissa Nassiff by email (mnassiff@gmail.com) or phone (508 877-7483).
ARCHDIOCESE CONVENTION - The 48th Antiochian Archdiocese Convention will be held in Montreal , Canada , July 23 - 29, 2007, hosted by St. Nicholas Church of Montreal. Download registrations forms and/or register online at www.stnicholasmtl.org
WOMEN'S BOOK CLUB - This summer Women's Club members (and anyone else who'd like to join us) will be reading A Thousand Splendid Suns, by Khaled Hosseini. The author of The Kite Runner takes his storytelling powers to the next level with this instant classic. Following the lives of two Afghan women over 30 years, this beautiful, heartbreaking, and ultimately uplifting novel will sweep you away. We'll be discussing it in September - start your summer reading now!
YOU ARE NEEDED - The services of the Church continue all year round, and volunteers continue to be needed throughout the summer!
Coffee Hour - If you've never given a coffee hour before, now's a good time to start. It's never difficult, but it's even easier in the summer. 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 in the Office 617-547-1234 and she'll write your name in. Plenty of help is available if you need it.
Epistle and Communion - Members of the congregation read the Epistle every Sunday, and hold the cloth and Holy Bread baskets during Communion. If you would like to help with these services, please contact Jeff Wasilko at jeffw@smoe.org or 781-820-0882.
Tables and Chairs - Someone needs to take the lead after coffee hour and get everyone to help put away the tables and chairs. Many people are quite willing to help, but someone needs to get the ball rolling each week. To volunteer, please contact Abra Greene at abrayanti@gmail.com
INSIGHT
He who chooses to live well for eternity, will live in discomfort for the present. He will be subjected to all types of troubles and burdens as long as he is on earth, so that in the end he will have divine and heavenly consolation. On the other hand, he who chooses to live well for the present will fare badly in eternity.
- Lactantius (260-330 AD), Institutes
If a man has a friend and he is absolutely certain that his friend loves him, and if that friend does something to cause him suffering and be troublesome to him, he will be convinced that his friend acts out of love and he will never believe that his friend does it to harm him. How much more ought we to be convinced about God who created us, who drew us out of nothingness to existence and life, and who became a man for our sake and died for us, and who does everything out of love for us?
- Abba Dorotheos (+ c. 570)
Endurance is like an unshakeable rock in the winds and waves of life. However the tempest batters him, the patient man remains steadfast and does not turn back; and when he finds relief and joy, he is not carried away by self-glory: he is always the same, whether things are hard or easy, and for this reason, he is proof against the snares of the enemy.
- St. Peter of Damascus
A soul not consciously and completely free from ties and attachments to the visible world is not able to endure serenely the calamities and ravages with which both men and demons assail it. Bound by its attachment to human concerns, it is lacerated by the loss of material things, suffers when deprived of possessions, and is full of distress when its body is afflicted.
- St. Symeon the New Theologian
All the works of our life and its various activities will pass away and disappear... Nothing will remain except these two peculiar acts: God's love for us and our worship of him. These two shall never pass away even after this life is over. They shall last forevermore in the life to come.
- Abba Matthew the Poor
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, June 16: Great Vespers 5:00 P.M.
Sunday, June 17: Orthros 8:45 a.m.; Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.
SCRIPTURE READINGS for June 17:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 5:1-11 ...we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=epistle&code=286&event=857
Gospel: Matthew 6:22-33 You cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=gospel&code=71&event=857&DL=EN )
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, June 23: Great Vespers 5:00 P.M.
Sunday, June 24: Orthros 8:45 a.m.; Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.
Thursday, June 28, through Sunday, July 1: Parish Life Conference - No services at St. Mary's, church offices closed
Sunday, July 8: Summer hours begin - Orthros 8:15 a.m.; Divine Liturgy 9:30 a.m.
Saturday, July 28: No Great Vespers at St. Mary's (Fr. Antony at Archdiocese Convention)
Saturdays, August 4 and 11: No Great Vespers at St. Mary's (Fr. Antony serving at Antiochian Village )
VOLUNTEER SCHEDULES
FOOD PANTRY
Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St. Paul 's RC Church in Harvard Square , Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45. If you are willing to help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or (617) 876-5684.
June 16: Steve Walker, Kern Ormond, and John Rodriguez
EPISTLE READERS
The Epistle each Sunday is read by a member of the congregation. If you would like to be one of the readers, please contact Jeff Wasilko at jeffw@smoe.org or 781-820-0882.
June 17: Tiffany Conroy
COFFEE HOUR
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 in the Office 617-547-1234 and she'll write your name in.
June 17: FSJD
TABLES AND CHAIRS
These volunteers will take the lead each week in getting the tables and chairs put away and the floor swept after Coffee Hour. Please help them - the more people there are doing it, the easier it is for all. To volunteer, please contact Abra Greene at abrayanti@gmail.com
June 10: