Update for the week Friday, December 10, through Thursday, December 17, 2015
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY'S
SATURDAY, 12/12 - There will be no Vespers at St. Mary until further notice.
+ The Syrian-Lebanese Women's Club is sponsoring a Christmas luncheon on Saturday, December 12 at noon at St. John of Damascus Church in Dedham. Donation: $25, with all proceeds going to the Scholarship Fund. Come and join us for an elegant afternoon of fine food, pastries and fellowship. Reservations and questions: Carolyn Ganim, 781-329-0830, or Norma Janvrin, 781-326-5131. Tables of 8 may be reserved.
SUNDAY, 12/13 – Adult catechism 9:00; Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00; Church School lesson 11; Pageant rehearsal #2
+ If you would like to donate toward the Poinsettias and Nativity decorations for the Nativity services please use the form printed in the Sunday bulletin. Please pass it in with your check at the Bengarri on Sunday or mail to: St. Mary Church, 8 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139-2407. Deadline is December 14, 2015. Donations will be printed in the December 20 bulletin.
+ This Sunday is Antiochian Archdiocese Choir and Chanter Appreciation Sunday. Take time to celebrate the ministry and commitment of our choir members and chanters, for all the time and devotion they give to our liturgical services throughout the year.
+ Young Adult Ministry Luncheon & Planning Session (see New Announcements, below)
THURSDAY, 12/17 – The Bible Study group will meet on Thursday, December 17, at 7:00 pm in the church library. Our discussion will conclude our study of Isaiah 53 and go back to the beginning of Isaiah, using the podcasts at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/isaiah-53-part-2/ and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/intro-to-isaiah/
The Bible Study at St. Mary meets every other Thursday, 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:mksayeg@gmail.com ). New members are always welcome.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY LUNCHEON AND PLANNING SESSION - Attention All Young Adults! We are starting a young adult group here at St. Mary's, and we'd love to hear from you about what sort of events and activities we should plan for the coming year! Join us this Sunday after Liturgy in the Church Hall starting at 12:00 for lunch and an activity to begin planning. To learn more, email Jamil at youngadults@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org
POTHOLES ON THE WAY TO BETHLEHEM – The Center for Family Care of the Greek Archdiocese is sponsoring a webinar on Wednesday, December 16 from 1:00-2:00, entitled Potholes On The Way To Bethlehem: Navigating the Stress of the Nativity Season. To register visit https://goarch.zoom.us/webinar/register/9560538e0c6265fdc5b9141539e44ee6
REMINDERS
ANGEL TREE THANK YOU- Thank you to all who helped support the children of parents in prison through the Angel Tree Ministry once again this year. Your generosity is truly appreciated by those whose lives you touch. Deliveries will be made during the upcoming weeks by those who have offered to assist. Thank you for all these aspects of giving here at St. Mary.
CHURCH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - If your child is interested in participating in the Christmas Pageant, please see Sarah Byrne-Martelli or e-mail her at sarahebyrne@gmail.com . We also need parents to assist at all rehearsals, which will take place Sunday, December 13 during coffee hour; and Saturday, December 19, 2:30 – 4:30pm (dress rehearsal). The Pageant will be on Sunday, December 20 after liturgy.
CHRISTMAS COFFEE HOUR - The Church School parents will sponsor the annual Christmas Coffee Hour on Sunday, December 20. We are asking that all Church School parents please bring in a coffee hour item. It can be any of the items listed in the Sunday bulletin, or anything else that you would like to contribute. (We will also take food contributions from non-Church School parents as well!) Please contact Barbara Shoop at barbara@dsaarchitects.com or 617-547-1234 with what you will be bringing. We will need help setting up and cleaning up as well. Please volunteer by letting Barbara know.
NEW YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY – A new Young Adult Ministry (for ages 19-35) is being established in our Archdiocese. The mission of the Young Adult Ministry is to aid in the spiritual growth of the young adults between the ages of 19-35 within the Archdiocese, bringing them to a closer relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To accomplish this mission we will foster a balance among the following areas of living the Orthodox faith in Christ:
Worship through the full life-cycle of the Church including attending weekday services together, gathering at a local parish for its Feast Day, and the combined services at Diocese and Archdiocese gatherings.
Spiritual Renewal and Education through retreats, conferences, speaker series, pilgrimages, and Bible studies which are aimed at the needs of our young adults.
Service through short-term mission trips and volunteer activities on a local level.
Fellowship through social outings, conferences, and gatherings.
We are looking for dedicated and energetic young adults to take on leadership and coordinating roles with our Diocese Young Adults. All interested young adults are encouraged to attend a planning meeting to be held at the Diocese Chancery (2 Lydias Path, Westborough, MA) on Sunday, December 20 at 7:30 pm. At this meeting, we will hear a vision for the Young Adult Ministry in our Diocese from His Grace Bishop JOHN and from Fr. Nicholas Belcher (new Diocese Spiritual Adviser for the Young Adults). Please join us for our this opportunity to gather together with young adults from throughout our Diocese as we begin to develop this new ministry in our Diocese. For more information, please contact Fr. Nicholas Belcher (nbelcher@hchc.edu ), Brendan Ferguson (Diocese Fellowship President brendanferguson76@gmail.com ) or Khalil Samara (NAC Fellowship President khalilsamara@yahoo.com ).
NATIVITY FAST - The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, continues through December 24. This is the forty days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
NATIVITY SERVICES – On Thursday, December 24, Christmas Eve, we will have 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 will be no services at St. Mary on Christmas day.
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – Once again St. Mary's is holding its annual Canned Food Drive: October through December 31, 2015. 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.
WOMEN'S CLUB MEETING - The next meeting of the Women's Club will be Monday, January 11, at 7:30, at the church.
PARISH COUNCIL - The next Parish Council meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, January 13 at 7:30 pm at the church.
ANNUAL MEETING – The Annual Meeting of St. Mary's Parish will be held on Sunday, January 24, 2016 (snow date: January 31.) At this time we will vote on the budget for 2016, among other things. It is important that all members of St. Mary’s Church attend this meeting. Note: Only members of the parish may vote. If you are a parishioner but not yet a member, please consider becoming a member and pledging. See Fr. Antony, Deno Takles or Barbara Shoop for a Member Packet or if you have any questions. Member packets are also available on the wall to the right of the Bengarri.
TEEN SOYO PROJECT: Health and Hygiene Kits for Syrian Refugees - The teens of St. Mary's are looking for your support. Throughout the month of December and into early January, our teens will be collecting items and putting together hygiene and health kits to send to refugees in Syria. We are in need of the following donations:
- Individual hand towels & washcloths
- Combs
- Metal nail files and/or nail clippers
- Bars of soap
- Toothbrushes
- Band-Aids
Basic items like this may seem small, but putting them together can have a major impact to those in need. Please bring and place donations in the marked bins located in the room next to the church kitchen. If you have any questions, please ask a member of Teen SOYO.
FAMILY SHELTER: PLEASE HELP - The Women’s Club provides the Cambridge YWCA Family Shelter with baskets filled with household goods, to help residents ready to move to their own apartments. We ask for your help by providing monetary donations to offset the cost of the items. Please give your donation to Marilyn Robbat or Barbara Shoop or mail it to the Church office c/o the Woman’s Club.
COFFEE HOUR MADE EASY! - To make sponsoring a Coffee Hour a little bit easier, St. Mary’s will be offering a delivery service through “Instacart”, for the basic foods necessary to host a Coffee hour. Simply select a date, mail a check to the office and we will order the food and have it delivered to the church on that Sunday between 9:00 and 10:00 am. You will need to be at the church to accept the order and you will be required to set up for the coffee hour and clean up both the kitchen and hall at the end of the coffee hour. Two menus will be offered. Menu one will include: bagels, mini muffins, fruit, hummus/Syrian bread, juice and coffee for $160. Menu two will include: bagels, juice and coffee for $70. Prices DO NOT include a 20% tip for delivery and are subject to change based on current market pricing of items. Cream cheese, peanut butter, jam and coffee creamer are included with each menu. As usual, St. Mary’s will provide the plates, cups, napkins, utensils, serving platters, and sweetener for coffee. If you are interested in taking advantage of this service and signing up for a coffee hour please contact the office at 617-547-1234 or e-mail secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org.
THIS WEEK'S VOLUNTEERS
Greeter: Deno Takles
Liturgical Service:
Epistle: Nancy Preis
Procession: Easton Bourell,Micaela Mazzoni, Alex Bourell, Nicholas Bourell, Peter Bezzerides, Eleanor Bourell, Nico Bezzerides, Tycho Traumann-Davis
Communion: Aura Brosnan, Greg Flessas, Diana Iovan, Melissa Nassiff, Bill Dalton, Kera Dalton
Coffee Hour: Sebastien & Ioana Popa Falardeau
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY
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. ...now put them all away; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 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. … Then the householder in anger said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and there is still room.' And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. For many are called, but few are chosen.'"
- Luke 14:16-24
REFLECTION
The triumph of sin, the main sign of its rule over the world, is division, opposition, separation, hatred. Therefore, the first break through this fortress of sin is forgiveness: the return to unity, solidarity, love.
- Alexander Schmemann, Great Lent
Love sinners and do not despise them for their faults. Remember that you partake in an earthly nature, and do good to all. Let your manner be always courteous and respectful to all. For love does not know how to be angry or lose its temper or to find fault with anyone out of passion.
- St. Isaac of Syria
The nature of things is measured by the interior disposition of the soul; that is, the kind of person one is will determine what he thinks of others. He who has attained to genuine prayer and love no longer puts things into categories. He does not separate the righteous from sinners, but loves all equally, and does not judge them, just as God gives the sun to shine and the rain to fall both on the just and the unjust.
- St. Nikitas Stethatos, from the Philokalia
God is a consuming fire. He alone can refine us like gold, and separate us from the slag and dross of our selfish individualities to fuse us into this wholeness of perfect unity that will reflect His own Triune Life forever. As long as we do not permit His love to consume us entirely and to unite us in Himself, the gold that is in us will be hidden by the rock and dirt which keep us separate from one another. As long as we are not purified by the love of God and transformed into Him in the union of pure sanctity, we will remain apart from one another, opposed to one another, and union among us will be a precarious and painful thing, full of labor and sorrow and without lasting cohesion.
- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
Let us praise with reverent hymns of peace the Divine Peace, which is the source of all mutual attraction. For this quality it is that unites all things together and begets and produces the harmonies and agreements of all things. And hence it is that all things long for it, and that it draws their manifold separate parts into the unity of the whole and unites the battling elements of the world into concordant fellowship.
- Dionysius the Areopagite, On the Divine Names