Update for the week Thursday, December 11, through Thursday, December 18, 2014
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY'S
SATURDAY, 12/13 – Church School Christmas Pageant dress rehearsal will be Saturday at 2:30pm.
+ No Vespers at St. Mary
SUNDAY, 12/14 – Enquirers Class (St. Ignatius Catechetical Group) 9:00 am; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am, followed by Church School Christmas Pageant. No Church School classes.
Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday
+ All the churches and choirs of the Diocese are invited to join us at 5:00 pm this Sunday for Diocesan Lessons And Carols at St. Mary's, our annual Western Rite service of prayers, scripture readings, and Christmas carols, plus the Hallelujah Chorus. Music will be offered by the Diocese of New England Choir and the Summer Street Brass Quintet.
In addition to parishioners from churches throughout the diocese, we are expecting three very special guests: Bishop JOHN of Worcester and New England, Metropolitan ELIAS of Tyre and Sidon, Lebanon, and Bishop ELIAS of Marmalita, Syria! Please join us in welcoming them to St. Mary’s.
+ After Lessons and Carols, everyone is invited to stay for a festive Advent Potluck Supper. As the host parish, we need everyone's help either setting up the church hall beforehand, or helping us clean up afterward. Please contact Natasha Smith to volunteer your help: nasmith05@gmail.com
Please bring food for the potluck. The Fellowship of St. John the Divine will provide beverages (note change from original announcement), so everyone please bring large quantities of a main dish or salad. Dessert will be provided by the choirs. Thanks for your help!
+ An Ice Skating trip for the teens is planned for this Sunday after church. Cost is $10 per person.
+ 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 Tuesday, December 16, 2014.
WEDNESDAY, 12/17 - The final Paraclesis service this year will be Wednesday at 6:30 pm.
+ The next Parish Council meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday at 7:30 pm at the church.
THURSDAY, 12/18 - The next Bible Study meeting will be Thursday, December 18 at 7:00 pm in the church library, as we conclude our study of Numbers and begin Deuteronomy using the podcasts found at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-part-3/ http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/numbers-and-deuteronomy/
The Bible Study at St. Mary, sponsored by the Fellowship of St. John the Divine, meets every other Thursday (next meeting will be December 18), and is based on a very interesting 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.
THIS WEEK ELSEWHERE
SATURDAY, 12/13 - The Syrian Lebanese Women’s Club will hold their Annual Christmas Party at St. John of Damascus Church, Dedham, this Saturday 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.
+ An anniversary banquet to honor Father Timothy Ferguson of St. George Antiochian Church in West Roxbury will be held this Saturday, on the occasion of the 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.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANK YOU – Thank you to Natasha Smith, Barbara Shoop, James Jabbour, Easton Bourell, and the Chin, Moldovean, Flessas, and Mazzoni families for helping decorate the church last week in preparation for the Nativity.
CHURCH SCHOOL – There will be Church School on Sunday, December 21 (lesson 11). There is no Church School on Sunday, December 28.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION - The the Virgin Mary Society of St. John of Damascus, Dedham, will hold a Centennial Celebration on Sunday, December 21. A celebratory luncheon will be served immediately following Liturgy. Donation: $10; Children 12 and under free. Paid reservations only by December 14th. Contact Louella Cardoos, 617-327-9577 or Sheila Hamwey 781-453-8980 (shamwey@comcast.net)
HOLY THEOPHANY – The Feast of Holy Theophany is Tuesday, January 6. We will celebrate on the eve of the Feast, Monday, January 5, with Divine Liturgy at 6:30 followed by the Blessing of the Waters. There will also be a celebration on Sunday, January 11, with a second Blessing of the Waters.
PARISH MEETING – The Annual Meeting of St. Mary's Parish will be held on Sunday, January 25, immediately after Liturgy. (Snow date: February 1)
CALENDAR – A Calendar of Events for St. Mary's church can be seen on the church website at https://www.stmaryorthodoxchurch.org/news/calendar/
REMINDERS
NATIVITY SERVICES – We will celebrate the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord (Christmas) on the eve of the feast, Wednesday, December 24, with Royal Hours for the Nativity at 9:00 am, Vesperal Liturgy of St. Basil at 11:00 am; Orthros at 6:45 pm, and Festal Divine Liturgy of St. Basil at 8:00 pm. (There are no services on December 25.)
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE - Canned Food Drive continues through Wednesday, 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.
PASTORAL VISIT – His Grace Bishop John will join us for a Pastoral Visit and Hierarchical Divine Liturgy on Sunday, January 4.
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.
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY, December 14
Epistle: Brethren, when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. .... Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
- Colossians 3:4-11
Gospel: The Lord said this parable: "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time of the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for all is now ready.' But they all alike began to make excuses. ... I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen.'"
- Luke14:16-24
REFLECTION
Each one becomes perfect, not by realizing one uniform standard of universal perfection in his own life, but by responding to the call and love of God, addressed to him within the limitations and circumstances of his own peculiar vocation. In fact, our seeking of God is not all a matter of our finding Him by means of certain ascetic techniques. It is rather a quieting and ordering of our whole life by self-denial, prayer and good works, so that God Himself, who seeks us more than we seek Him, can "find" us and "take possession of us."
- Thomas Merton, Life and Holiness
And not only is the operation of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit everywhere one, but also there is one and the same will, calling, and giving of commands, which one may see in the great and saving mystery of the Church. For as the Father called the Gentiles to the Church, saying: "I will call her My People which was not my people, and her Beloved who was not beloved"; and elsewhere: "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations," so, too, the Lord Jesus said that Paul was chosen by Him to call forth and gather together the Church, as you find it said by the Lord Jesus to Ananias: "Go, for he is a chosen vessel unto Me to bear My name before all nations."
- St. Ambrose of Milan, On the Holy Spirit, Book II.
Love never hates anyone, never reproves anyone, never condemns anyone, never grieves anyone, never abhors anyone, neither faithful nor infidel nor stranger nor sinner nor fornicator, nor anyone impure, but instead it is precisely sinners, and weak and negligent souls that it loves more, …, imitating Christ Who called sinners, and ate and drank with them.
- Abba Ammonas
Come now, my brethren - all who have received the name of faith, who have been deemed worthy to be called people of Christ - do not put aside our calling; let us not violate our faith through improper works. It is not enough for someone merely to be known as a believer, so let us show our faith through works.
- St. John of Damascus, Homily on the Withered Fig Tree and the Parable of the Vineyard