Update for the week Thursday, November 20, through Thursday, November 28, 2014
THIS WEEK
PRESENTATION OF THE THEOTOKOS - The Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple will be celebrated with Evening Divine Liturgy today - Thursday, November 20, at 6:30pm
LOCK-IN AT ST. JOHN'S IN DEDHAM - On Friday, November 21 at St. John of Damascus Church in Dedham, teens are invited to come stay the night for fun and fellowship with teens from all over the Boston area! Please notify Greg or Hannah (grehakim@gmail.com) if you plan to come.
BAKE SALE –The Women’s Club will hold its annual Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale on Sunday, November 23, 2014 (the Sunday before Thanksgiving). Plan on purchasing all your holiday breads, pies, goodies, Syrian pastries and much more! All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya in Syria. Call Mary Ellen Mabardy at 781-729-6303 if you can help bake or donate something to sell.
CHURCH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - If your child is interested in participating in the 2014 Christmas Pageant, please see Sarah Byrne-Martelli (not Charlie Marge as announced earlier). We also need parents to assist at all rehearsals. First rehearsal will be this Sunday, November 23. Next rehearsal is December 7 after church, with Dress Rehearsal on Saturday, December 13, at 2:30pm. The Pageant will be Sunday, December 14, (note new date) after Liturgy.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 25 at 7:30pm at the church.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
ENTHRONEMENT OF METROPOLITAN JOSEPH - The Enthronement of His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph and related events will take place during the weekend of December 5 through 7, 2014, at St. Nicholas Cathedral in Brooklyn, New York. The actual enthronement will take place in conjunction with a Prayer of Thanksgiving on Saturday, December 6. His Beatitude John X, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, will preside during this weekend. The full schedule can be found here: http://www.antiochian.org/full-schedule-enthronement-weekend-now-available
HELP DECORATE THE TREE - Volunteers are needed to assemble and decorate the church Christmas tree on Sunday, December 7 after Liturgy. Please plan on offering your assistance.
VILLAGE AT HOME - On Saturday, December 13, we will bring a day at Antiochian Village to New England. Village at Home gives our teens and children time to experience the typical routine of a camper. Time and location to be announced.
SYRIAN LEBANESE WORKEN'S CLUB - The Syrian Lebanese Women’s Club will hold their Annual Christmas Party at St. John of Damascus Church, Dedham, on Saturday, December 13, at 12:00 noon. A Middle Eastern Luncheon is planned. Cost is $25. All proceeds will benefit the SLWC Scholarship Fund. Contact Carolyn Ganim at 781-329-0830 for reservations.
CONVENTION COMMITTEE – The next meeting of the National Convention committee is scheduled for Wednesday, January 21, 2015. In case of snow, the meeting will be January 28.
REMINDERS
NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, began last Saturday, 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 except November 26 (Thanksgiving eve) there will be a Paraklesis service at 6:30 pm.
BIBLE STUDY – The next Bible Study meeting will be Thursday, December 4, at 7:00 pm in the church library, as we begin our study of Numbers, using the podcasts found at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-part-1/ and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-part-2/
(Note that there will be no meeting on November 20, because of the Evening Liturgy on that date.)
The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday, and is based on a course originally broadcast on Ancient Faith Radio, entitled Search the Scriptures. For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mailto:mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (mailto:frawhj@gmail.com). New members are always welcome.
DIACONAL MINISTRY CONFERENCE – A conference on "Women and Diaconal Ministry in the Orthodox Church: Past, Present, Future," sponsored by the St. Phoebe Center for the History of the Deaconess, will be held at Union Theological Seminary in NYC on Saturday, December 6, 2014. This conference will focus particularly on women in diaconal ministry – what they have done, are doing, and could possibly do in the future to help build up the Body of Christ – and is open to anyone interested in diaconal work, including men and women, clergy and laity. (Note: one of the speakers will be our own Teva Regule.) For more information and registration, see http://www.orthodoxdeaconess.org
This conference is a particular follow-on to the yearly conference of the Sophia Institute focusing on "Healing, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness in Eastern Orthodox Perspectives," held the previous day – see http://sophiainstitutenyc.org/conference) Participation at both events is encouraged.
ST. MARY PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD LISTING - Save yourself time; let the Women's Club do the work and have all proceeds benefit Antiochian Women Project 2014-2015: Nurturing the Seeds of Orthodoxy (Monastic Communities and Regional Camping and Learning Centers) – 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. Please use the form in the Sunday Bulletin. Deadline: Sunday, December 7, 2014
ANGEL TREE UPDATE - We have so many parishioners interested in participating in the gift purchasing process for the children this year that we have more requests than available children assigned to our parish. What a terrific problem!!!!! Anyone interested in participating is greatly encouraged to do so, using the gift suggestions in the Sunday Bulletin as a guide. If you do not have an assigned child, once you purchase your gift(s) please bring them to church, unwrapped, by December 7th. In that way, we can determine from our information which child or children would most benefit from your added generosity. Thanks so much to everyone for such willing hearts!
ANNIVERSARY BANQUET - A banquet to honor Father Timothy Ferguson of St. George Antiochian Church in West Roxbury, will be held on Saturday, December 13, on the occasion of his 35th Anniversary of his Ordination to the Holy Priesthood. Great Vespers will begin at 5:30pm followed by a reception and banquet in the church hall. $35 for adults and $10 for children up to 18. For reservations contact Amal Hourani, 781-793-0219, ahourani19@comcast.net by December 6th.
DIOCESAN LESSONS AND CAROLS AT ST. MARY'S - Please join us for a Diocesan Christmas Concert, which will be our Western Rite Lessons & Carols service with the Hallelujah Chorus, on Sunday, December 14 at 5:00pm. If you are a singer, join us for rehearsals: Sunday, November 16, 4pm – 6pm @ St. John’s in Dedham; Sunday, November 30, 7pm – 9pm @ St. Johns’ in Dedham; and Dress Rehearsal with brass quintet on Sunday, December 7, 4pm – 6pm @ St. Mary’s in Cambridge. If you would like to sing or have questions, please e-mail Charlie Marge: marge@alum.mit.edu
As the host parish, we need everyone's help either setting up in the church hall beforehand, or helping us clean up afterwards. And please bring food for the potluck after the service:
- People whose last name begins with A – D: Bring water/seltzer/juice.
- People whose last name begins with E – Z: Bring a main dish or salad.
- Charlie is coordinating desserts to be provided by the choirs.
Thanks for your help! For questions or more information, contact Julie Wasilko (julie31415pi@gmail.com)
DONATIONS FOR THE HOLY NATIVITY – If you would like to donate toward the Poinsettias and Nativity decorations please use the form in the Sunday Bulletin to provide us with the necessary information. Donations will be printed in the December 21, 2014 Bulletin. Deadline is December 16, 2014.
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive: October, 2014 – December 31, 2014. Since 1984, we have collected over 3,281,200 pounds of food. Please bring in canned goods ONLY and place them in the plastic bins in the room outside the kitchen. They will be distributed to food pantries in our area.
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
Greeter: Alyssa Shooop
Liturgical Service:
Procession: Toby Chin, Ben Crea, Joachim Chin, Voula Flesas, Ammanuel Kassa, Thanasis Flessas, Danait Teclezghi
Epistle: Cyatharine Alias
Communion: John Odom. Dena Fehrenbacher, Michelle Chin, Anna Higgins, Melissa Nassiff and anoither TBD
Coffee Hour: Women's Club Thanksgiving Bake Sale
LITURGICAL SCHEDULE FOR THIS WEEK
Thursday, November 20: Evening Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation of the Theotokos in the Temple 6:30 pm (no Bible Study)
Saturday, November 22: No Vespers at St. Mary's
Sunday, November 23: Enquirers Class (St. Ignatius Catechetical Group) 9:00 am; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; followed by Church School lesson 9; Women's Club Thanksgiving Bake Sale; Christmas Pageant first rehearsal
Scripture Readings for Sunday, November 23:
Epistle: Ephesians 2:14-22
Christ is our peace, who has made us both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby bringing the hostility to an end ... for through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
Gospel: Luke 12:16-21
The Lord said this parable: "The land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, '... I will pull down my barns, and build larger ones; … And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, be merry.' But God said to him, 'Fool! This night your soul is required of you; … So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."
Wednesday, November 26: No Paraclesis (Thanksgiving eve)
LOOKING AHEAD
Saturday, November 29: No Vespers at St. Mary's
Sunday, November 30: Enquirers Class (St. Ignatius Catechetical Group) 9:00 am; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; no church school. Handel & Haydn Society Messiah 3:00pm at Symphony Hall.
Wednesday, December 3: Paraclesis 6:30 pm
Thursday, December 4: Bible Study 7:00 pm
Sunday, December 7: Church School St. Nicholas Festivities; Christmas Pageant rehearsal
Wednesday, December 10: Paraclesis 6:30 pm
Saturday, December 13: Christmas Pageant dress rehearsal 2:30; No Vespers
Sunday, December 14: Christmas Pageant after Liturgy; Lessons & Carols 5:00pm followed by Potluck Supper
REFLECTION
In the Orthodox Church the Virgin Mary is the image of those who are being saved. If Jesus Christ is the Savior, Mary is, par excellence, the image of the saved. She is, in every aspect of her life, as Father Alexander Schmemann so often said, not the great exception, but rather the great example. From her conception to her dormition, that is, her true and real death, she shows how all people must be when they are sanctified by the Holy Spirit as servants of God and imitators of Christ.
In the festival of the entrance of Mary into the temple we have seen how Christ's mother is continuously hymned as the "living temple of the holy glory of Christ our God." She is praised as the "living ark which contained the Word that cannot be contained." She is glorified as "the temple that is to hold God," consecrated by the spirit to be the "dwelling place of the Almighty." She enters the Holy of Holies to become herself the "animated Holy of Holies," the one in whom Christ is formed, thereby making her, and everyone who is one with her in faith, the "abode of heaven.” ...
Jesus Christ, the Son, Word, and Image of God, is physically and spiritually formed in the body of Mary so that He might be formed in us as well (see Gal 4:19). This is the meaning of Christmas, which is the meaning of life itself: Christ in us and we in Christ, God with us and we with God. The Spirit in our hearts so that the Spirit can flow out from us, sanctifying the world around us. This is not mere symbolism, the high-blown language of the liturgy and the scriptures. This is serious business. It is a matter of life and death. For we are either the living vessels of God-- "earthen vessels" to be sure, to show, as the apostle again affirms, that "the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us" (2 Cor 4:7)-- or we are, to use the apostles language once more, "vessels of wrath" to be destroyed in our wickedness by God's righteous glory (Rom 9:22).
- Fr. Thomas Hopko, The Winter Pascha
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.
The more you love money, the more securely you close the Kingdom of God.
- Saint Basil the Great