Weekly Newsletter for the week of Friday, October 19, 2007 through Thursday, October 25, 2007
ST. MARY UPDATE
Weekly Newsletter
for the week
Friday, October 19, 2007 through Thursday, October 25, 2007
THIS WEEKEND
SATURDAY
FOOTLAMPS - The first lecture in the 2007-2008 Footlamps series, sponsored by the Diocesan Fellowship of St. John the Divine, will be this Saturday, October 20, at St. George Church in West Roxbury (not here at St. Mary as originally announced). The topic will be The Spirit of Mission, with Fr. Luke A. Veronis. All are invited to attend. Vespers begin at 5:00 p.m. followed by the lecture and light refreshments. Suggested donation $5. RSVP to Ghada Khouri at 781-275-7244 or nerfellowship@yahoo.com. Plan to go early and visit the St. George parish Bazaar.
There will be no Vespers at St. Mary's on October 20.
SUNDAY
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION SUNDAY - This Sunday parents are asked to go downstairs with their children and visit their children's Sunday School classes. Lunch will be provided for them afterwards.
SFEEHA AND KIBBEH SALE - The Women's Club is offering for purchase freshly made Middle Eastern Sfeeha (ground lamb meat pies with onions, pine nuts & seasonings) and Kibbeh (ground lamb meat with burghul). If you ordered Kibbeh, please pick it up this Sunday in the kitchen. Any orders not picked up will be frozen.
Orders and checks must be received by this Sunday, October 21 for Sfeeha. Plan to come to the church next Saturday morning, October 27, to help make the meat pies. Pick-up is next Sunday, October 28.
SPECIAL OLYMPICS AWARENESS DAY - This Sunday Teen SOYO members throughout the Archdiocese will be taking a special collection to enable them to sponsor the 28th Annual Special Olympics Sports Camp at the Antiochian Village . For more information see http://www.antiochian.org/soyo_special_olympics
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
FOOD PANTRY NEEDS FOOD - St. Paul's Food Pantry, where we have volunteers helping every Saturday, is in dire need of the following items: pasta and rice, boxes of macaroni and cheese, canned soups and stews, peanut butter, jelly, canned meat and chicken, canned tuna fish, canned vegetables, boxes of cereal, parmalat milk. If you can help please contact Christian Alcala, our Food Pantry Coordinator, at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com or 617-876-5684.
TEEN SOYO SPAGHETTI DINNER - On Sunday, November 11, following Liturgy, the teens invite you to a Spaghetti Dinner featuring Spaghetti, Meatballs (just before the fast!), Salad, Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage. Your goodwill donation will be much appreciated.
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 2, at 3:00 p.m. Reduced second balcony tickets are just $15.00. 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 whom we normally may not encounter.
Good seats go fast - please contact Melissa Nassiff at 508 877-7483 or email mnassiff@gmail.com by Sunday, November 11, to reserve a ticket with the group.
REMINDERS
CANNED FOOD DRIVE - October 16, 2007 was World Food Day, a worldwide event designed to increase awareness, understanding and informed, year-around action to alleviate hunger. The Antiochian Archdiocese is one of its sponsoring organizations. During October through December this year, please bring CANNED GOODS ONLY and place them in the container outside the Church Office. Our Teens will then weigh them and the canned goods will be given to the CEOC Food Pantry at 11 Inman St. for distribution. Please be generous - it takes 42 pounds of food to feed a family of four for 3 days.
ORTHODOX INSTITUTE - The Archdiocesan Department of Christian Education is sponsoring its annual Orthodox Institute at the Antiochian Village , November 1 through 4. This year's theme is Orthodox Unity, and the keynote speaker will be The Very Rev. Fr. Peter Gillquist, Director of the Department of Missions and Evangelism. There will be courses for teachers, church school directors, and those wanting to learn more about Orthodoxy. For more information see http://www.antiochian.org/node/16413
BENEFIT DINNER FOR AL-KAFAAT - His Eminence Metropolitan PHILIP and the churches of the Diocese of Worcester and New England invite you to a benefit dinner to support the work of the Al-Kafaat Foundation (www.al-kafaat.org), one of the leading vocational rehabilitation facilities in the Middle East, on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church, 55 Emmonsdale Road, West Roxbury, MA. Cocktails at 5 pm; Dinner at 6 pm. Donation is $100 per person. For tickets, please see your parish priest or call St. George at 617.323.0323. Please make your checks payable to the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese, earmarked "Al-Kafaat"
SOUP KITCHEN - Three or four St. Mary's volunteers are needed to help each week at the Open Doors Meal Ministry at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Allston, Mondays any time between 4:00 p.m. and 7:30. Contact Liz Tutella at 617-974-5005 or ETutella@sovereignbank.com.
ATTENTION COLLEGE & UNIVERSITY STUDENTS - If you are a new or returning college or university student, please fill out a white 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.
UPDATE YOUR PROFILE - Does your St. Mary Update have a colored banner across the top, with a picture of the church? If not, you may want to update your profile on Topica, our distribution service. For a more attractive version of the Update (if your email supports HTML formatting), click on Update Profile at the bottom of this email. When you're connected, choose HTML for your Content Format. And while you're at it, please make sure we have your first and last name as well as your email address.
INSIGHT
Faith and love which are gifts of the Holy Spirit are such great and powerful means that a person who has them can easily, and with joy and consolation, go the way Jesus Christ went. Besides this, the Holy Spirit gives man the power to resist the delusions of the world so that although he makes use of earthly good, yet he uses them as a temporary visitor, without attaching his heart to them. But a man who has not got the Holy Spirit, despite all his learning and prudence, is always more or less a slave and worshipper of the world.
- St. Innocent of Irkutsk , Indication of the Way into the Kingdom of Heaven
Hold faith and humility fast within you; for through them you will find mercy, help, and words spoken by God in the heart, along with a protector who stands beside you both secretly and manifestly. Do you wish to obtain these things, which are a fountain of life? From the very onset take hold of simplicity. Walk before God in simplicity and not with knowledge. Simplicity is attended by faith; but subtle and intricate deliberations, by conceit; and conceit is attended by separation from God.
- St. Isaac the Syrian, Ascetical Homilies
...while the Lord's victory is certainly an accomplished fact, my personal participation in that victory is as yet far from complete...My trust is therefore in Christ, not in myself, and I am confident that Christ is faithful and stands firm.
- Bp. Kallistos Ware, How are We Saved?
It is true that God, in His unbounded mercy, often does good to men without their faith; but in seeking faith from men, God lays emphasis on the dignity of men as free and rational beings. How is man free and rational if he, on his part, is not ready to contribute to his own salvation? God seeks of men the least that it is possible to seek: faith in the living God, in His love for men and His constant readiness to give to man, and do for him, all that works towards his good.
- Bp. Nikolai Velimirovic, Homilies
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, October 20: NO Vespers at St. Mary; Vespers at St. George, West Roxbury 5:00 p.m. followed by Footlamps
Sunday, October 21: Orthros 8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.
Christian Education Sunday (parents visit their children's classes), followed by lunch
SCRIPTURE READINGS for October 21:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Galatians 2:16-20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=epistle&code=206
Gospel: Luke 8:26-39 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with [Jesus]; but he sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (The entire reading may be found at http://www.goarch.org/en/chapel/lectionary.asp?type=gospel&code=203&event=939&DL=EN )
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, October 27: Great Vespers 5:00 p.m.
Sunday, October 28: Orthros 8:45 a.m., Divine Liturgy 10 a.m.
No Church School ; Share Our Harvest coffee hour
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.
October 20: Louis Demos and Nadine Rebovich
LITURGICAL SERVICE
The Epistle each Sunday is read by a member of the congregation, and six members of the congregation 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.
October 21: Teens of the parish (Youth Month)
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.
October 21: Sobhy Mabardy 40 Days, Lunch donated by his family
October 28: Donna Boyko 40 Days, Share-Our-Harvest Coffee Hour assisted by her family
November 4: Peter and Melissa Nassiff
November 11: Teen SOYO Spaghetti Dinner