Update for the week Friday, June 4, through Thursday, June 10, 2010
Update for the week Friday, June 4, through Thursday, June 10, 2010
THIS WEEKEND
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, FR. ANTONY! – Fr. Antony’s birthday is this Saturday, June 5. God grant him many years! Join us for birthday cake on Sunday.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
SPECIAL PARISH MEETING – Next Sunday, June 13, 2010, there will be a meeting in the Church following Liturgy to discuss financing for Church and Parish Home restoration projects. It is important that all members of St. Mary Church attend this meeting.
MUSEUM OF RUSSIAN ICONS – St. George Church, West Roxbury, is sponsoring a trip to the Museum of Russian Icons on Saturday, June 26, 2010. The cost of trip, $20 per person, includes transportation by van leaving St. George Church, West Roxbury at 10:00 am and leaving the Museum at 3:00 pm. Lunch not included. Call Evelyn Easa by Friday, June 18 at 617-266-0065 for (reservations).
GRECIAN FESTIVAL – Ss. Constantine & Helen Church, Cambridge, will have their annual Grecian Festival June 18 – 20, 2010, from 11:0 am to 11:00 pm. Admission is free. Proceeds will benefit the Church Building Fund. For more information, call 617-876-3601.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next regular meeting of the Parish Council will be Wednesday, June 30, at 8:30 pm.
SUMMER HOURS – Starting Sunday, July 4, St. Mary will change to summer hours – Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am.
REMINDERS
PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE - The 72nd Annual Parish Life Conference of the diocese will be hosted by St. George Cathedral Worcester, the weekend of June 18-20 at the Sturbridge Host Hotel (www.sturbridgehosthotel.com). Rooms start at only $98 - call 508-347-7393 to book yours today. Conference registration, schedules, and other information can be found at www.stgeorgeworcester.org/2010plc.html Note: Early Bird Registration deadline has been extended to June 7.0
APOSTLES FAST - The Fast of the Holy Apostles began on the day after All Saints' Sunday, which this year was Sunday, May 30, and continues until the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, which is always on June 29.
VACATION CHURCH SCHOOL - St. George Church, West Roxbury announces Vacation Church School - 2010, Monday, June 29 through Thursday, July 2, 8:45 am-1 pm. Theme: "Growing up with the Saints". Registration is open to preschoolers (at least 3 yrs old and potty trained) through 4th grade. Contact St. Mary Church Office for registration form; Please submit ASAP. Contact Elisabeth Lourie (elisabeth@stgeorgeofboston.org) if you have any questions or would like to help.
SEEKING VIDEO STREAMING VOLUNTEERS – The video streaming ministry has been a GREAT success! A special THANK YOU to Erick Straghalis, Marc Patacchiola, and Nadia Abuelezam who have been instrumental in making this possible.
Marc and Erick are looking for more volunteers who can help set up the streaming service prior to Liturgy on Sunday mornings and potentially during other events (speakers, vespers, etc.). Volunteers would rotate weekly, taking turns setting up the camera, computer and microphones each week. Some technical expertise may be required, but training will be provided. If you are interested, please contact Erick Straghalis (estraghalis@gmail.com). Thank you!
CARE PACKAGES FOR “OUR” MARINE – Fr. Antony's "spiritual son" Scott is still in the Marines, and has been deployed to Afghanistan. The Fellowship of St. John the Divine is once more helping collect items for care packages for him and his fellow Marines. Thanks to the generosity of St. Mary parishioners, the Fellowship has been able to send two care packages already. We hope to send a box every month or so, so please continue to donate the items he needs. He has especially asked for Gatorade powder (dark blue kind if possible), Tuna, Beef jerky, Sunflower seeds, Sour skittles, Protein bars, Non perishable food, and Long white socks.
A box has been set up outside the church offices for your donations, and we would also welcome monetary contributions to help with postage, shopping, etc. - make checks payable to Fellowship of St. John the Divine or to St. Mary Church (earmarked FSJD), and give them to any member of the FSJD Steering Committee (Tiffany Conroy, Mike Decerbo, Melissa or Peter Nassiff, Socrates Deligeorges or Steve Walker), or mail them to the Church. Thank you for your caring concern and prayers for Scott and his fellow Marines!
CHILDREN’S CLINIC IN HAITI - In her presentation a couple of weeks ago, Dr. Arielle Adrian from the Boston-Haiti Health Support Team, described the Sante Timoun child wellness program in rural Petite-Riviere, Leogane. This program provides nutritional, medical and psychological support to malnourished children who have lost parents in the earthquake as well as children who are at risk for malnutrition. The program will also provide their families with training to grow healthy vegetables to combat malnutrition.
A list of specific things they need is posted in the hallway downstairs. Monetary donations for the purchase of large items may be made to the Rasin Foundation; all donations are tax deductible. Please contact Dr. Adrian by email at adrienmd2000@yahoo.com or by telephone at 857-234-1670. In addition, they need items such as powdered milk, peanut butter, Lego’s, coloring books, and arts and crafts items - these can be given to Juliet Burch. Feel free to contact Juliet for an expanded project summary and additional info about The Rasin Foundation, at jburch@brandeis.edu or by phone at 617-797-8036.
COFFEE HOUR VOLUNTEERS NEEDED – Many Sundays are available in the next few months. To sign up, 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 or ask Marilyn at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
STREAMING VIDEO - Divine Liturgy at St. Mary is broadcast live every week! Do come to church… but if you can’t, then join us on your computer. To see live broadcasts go to https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/livestream. Divine Liturgy starts at 10:00 am every Sunday.
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 not block 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:
PARTICIPATION
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 reader and eight 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.
VOLUNTEERING
Holy Resurrection Open Doors - The Holy Resurrection Open Door Meal Ministry in Allston needs volunteers every Monday evening (there is a special need in the summer). The official hours of the project are 4:30 pm-7:30 pm, but it is fine to come anytime and leave any time. Best times would be 5:30-5:45 to 7:15-7:30 pm. You can serve meals, coffee and tea to the people who arrive for dinner (6-7 pm) or just stay behind the scenes doing set-up and clean-up. It is a very rewarding, hands-on, face-to-face way to serve the community with (mostly) other Orthodox Christians—we even chant the Our Father together before the meal begins. Church info can be found at http://hrocboston.org. Questions? Please contact Liz Straghalis at liztutella@gmail.com phone 617-974-5005, or Tiffany Conroy at trattus1@gmail.com.
St Paul’s Food Pantry - Two to four volunteers help each week in the food pantry at St Paul 's Roman Catholic Church in Harvard Square , Saturday mornings from 9:30-11:45. If you are interested in helping, please contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
DONATIONS
Food and Clothing – Holy Resurrection in Allston takes donations of non-perishable food items and clothing to distribute at the Open Door Ministry on Monday evenings. You can bring your donations by on Monday nights between 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm or contact Tiffany Conroy, trattus1@gmail.com, for more information.
- St. Paul ’s Food Pantry in Harvard Square , where volunteers from St. Mary help every Saturday, depends upon regular donations of canned and packaged foods. To help, contact Christian Alcala at cmalcala1989@yahoo.com, or (617) 876-5684.
"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 – Epistle: Maria McDowell! Left Cloth: TBD; Center Cloth: Maria McDowell and Teva Regule; Right Cloth: TBD; Left Bread: Maggie Arnold; Right Bread: Linda Arnold
COFFEE HOUR – The Fellowship of St. John the Divine and The Women’s Club
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Saturday, June 5: Great Vespers
Sunday, June 6: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am
SCRIPTURE READINGS for June 6:
Epistle: St. Paul's Letter to the Romans 2:10-16
Brethren, glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. … For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.
Gospel: Matthew 4:18-23
At that time, as Jesus walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, June 12: Great Vespers
Sunday, June 13: Orthros 8:45 am; Divine Liturgy 10:00 am, followed by Special Parish Meeting
Friday – Sunday, June 18-20: Parish Life Conference in Sturbridge, MA – Church offices closed; NO Vespers Saturday, NO Liturgy Sunday at St. Mary
Sunday, June 20: Hierarchical Divine Liturgy at Parish Life Conference, Sturbridge Host Hotel 10:00 am
Monday, June 28: Evening Liturgy for Ss. Peter & Paul 6:30 pm; Apostles’ Fast ends
Saturday, July 3: No Vespers at St. Mary
Sunday, July 5: Summer Hours Begin – Orthros 8:15 am, Divine Liturgy 9:30 am
INSIGHT
The testimony of deeds is more likely to be believed than the testimony of words.
- Saint John Chrysostom
It is better for a man to hold his peace, and be, than to say he is a Christian, and not to be.
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
True morality is not a system of law which, if obeyed, makes one a moral person. It is necessary to have such laws for the sake of society, but that has little to do with the change of a person’s heart and an inner transformation into the image of Christ’s love. Morality is not a form of bondage but a path of liberation. When we speak of "the law of God, " we are not speaking of an ordinary, worldly notion of "law. " God’s law is not given to repress us but to protect us. If we are driving along a dangerous highway and the signs warn us to slow down because there is a dangerous curve in the road, that is a "law. " The speed limit is set by law. If we disregard that law and crash over a cliff because we are driving too fast, we do not claim that the government punished us by making us crash. On the contrary, the government tried to save us from serious injury or death by making that law. This is precisely the meaning of the "law of God, " of our system of morality. God has revealed to us a manner of life that can keep us from much pain and suffering and from many disasters. He has called upon us to realize that his law is a law of love, and that we should obey it out of love and trust in him, not from fear of punishment. Moreover, such true morality constrains us to imitate God’s love in our dealings with the world. This is the essence of true morality.
- Archbishop Lazar Puhalo
It is necessary, therefore, that we be prompt in the practice of good works. For He forewarns us, "Behold, the Lord comes and His reward is before His face, to render to every man according to his work."
- St. Clement of Rome
A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.
- St. Basil