Update for the week Thursday, July 14 - Thursday, July 21, 2016
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY'S
THURSDAY, 7/14 - The Bible Study group will meet this evening - Thursday, July 14 - at 7:00 pm in the church library. We will discuss the podcasts found at http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/isaiah-9 and http://orthodoxbiblestudy.info/messianic-prophecies-and-the-fall-of-satan. For more information contact Marianna Sayeg (mksayeg@gmail.com) or Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com). The next meeting will be Thursday, July 28. New members are always welcome.
SUNDAY, 7/17 - Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am.
+ Trisagion prayers of mercy (40 days) will be offered for Pete Takles, father of Deno Takles
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
DORMITION FEAST - Come join us on Sunday, August 14 after Divine Liturgy for a Dormition Feast meal, sponsored by the Hospitality Group. We will need 5 volunteers - if you can help, please contact Socrates Deligeorges at dr.socrates@gmail.com. Cost is $8 per person/$16 per family; make checks payable to St. Mary's Church with "Hospitality Group" on the memo line. We look forward to seeing you there!
SIGN UP FOR COFFEE HOUR - Please sign up to provide a coffee hour in 2017- Signup sheets are on the bulletin board downstairs outside the Hall, or contact Linda Arnold (mmarmee52@aol.com) or the Church Office(Secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234).
Note that there are several Sundays still available in 2016 as well.
SONIA’S RUN – The 8th Annual Sonia’s 5K Run/Walk and fall fair will be held at St. George Orthodox Church, West Roxbury, MA, on Saturday, September 17. The 5k road race benefits the Theophany School in honor of our beloved friend Sonia Belcher. The proceeds from Sonia's Run go towards Theophany School's "Building on a Dream" campaign, to fulfill Sonia's Dream of a permanent home for Theophany School. Be a sponsor, volunteer or vendor. For more information and how you can help visit the website http://www.soniasrun.org.
REMINDERS
TANGLEWOOD OUTING – Join your music-loving friends from St. Mary’s as we carpool out to Tanglewood after Liturgy next Sunday, July 24, 2016. We’ll picnic on the lawn and listen to music by Ginastera, Mozart and Beethoven, featuring violinist Veronika Eberle, with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Juanjo Mena. For more information see https://www.bso.org/Performance/Detail/77811. The concert starts at 2:30; lawn tickets are $21.00 - pay at the door; children are free. Bring lawn chairs if you want them, and picnic food for yourself and to share. For more information and to let us know you're coming, especially if you'll need a ride, contact Melissa Nassiff by email (mnassiff@gmail.com) or phone (508 877-7483).
CHURCH SCHOOL TEACHERS STILL NEEDED – A new teacher and an assistant are still needed next fall for the Grade 2-3 class. If we have no volunteers to teach this class we will not be able to have a class for the 2nd and 3rd grade children. Please contact Barbara Shoop at barbara@dsaarchitects.com to volunteer or to learn more.
DORMITION FAST – The fast in preparation for the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos begins Monday, August 1 and continues through Sunday, August 14.
TRANSFIGURATION LITURGY – Vesperal Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration will be held at St. Mary’s on Friday, August 5 at 6:30pm
NEW SKETE PILGRIMAGE – The annual New Skete Pilgrimage is set for Saturday, August 6 this year - Transfiguration. This year is extra special as they will be celebrating their 50th Anniversary! (Metropolitan Tikhon will be there.) In years past, a number of St. Mary people have gone out for the weekend to help the Communities with this event - to be extra sets of "helping hands" for the day. They are hoping a number of us will do so again this year. In the past, this has been a wonderful community building activity for all of us. Moreover, if you have never been to the monastery, this may be a good way to be introduced to their life and work. In addition to the services, there are tours of the church and talks by various members of the communities about their lives. There are also the dogs, great hiking trails, nearby tubing, etc. Once again, Teva Regule (teva@mit.edu) will be coordinating the Boston helpers and as much housing as she can. (In particular, any women wanting to "camp out" at the nuns’, let her know. The Emmaus house is now a guest house - anyone wishing to stay there should contact Br. Gregory directly at brgregory@newskete.org)
DORMITION – There will be a Paraclesis service for the Dormition of the Theotokos on Wednesday, August 10, at 6:30 pm.
+ On Sunday, August 14, we will celebrate the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos, our patronal feast day. Note the Dormition Feast meal after Liturgy (see New Announcements, above)
VESPERS – While monthly Saturday Vespers will not be held at St. Mary’s on the first Saturday of August, as announced previously, note that there will be a Great Vespers service on Saturday, August 13.
FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN - On Thursday-Saturday, August 18-20 at St. George Orthodox Cathedral in Worcester volunteers from all over the Diocese will be measuring and scooping 100,000 meals of MannaPack Rice, a scientifically formulated food that is culturally acceptable worldwide, for starving children. Organizations in nearly 70 countries distribute these meals to children in greatest need. We need 500 volunteers on that day as well as donations to help meet the $22,000 goal for the cost of the MobilePack Rice. This Humanitarian project is being conducted in conjunction with Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) a Christian non-profit organization committed to feeding God’s children hungry in body and spirit.
• Volunteers - Registration will be live 6 weeks prior to the event at www.fmsc.org/mobilepack.
• Donations - Donate online at www.fmsc.org/mobilepack. Also, checks made out to FMSC, Memo line Mobil Pack #1608-054, can be given at the Bengarri or church office.
Please consider volunteering and/or making a donation to this worthy cause. If you would like to learn more you can contact Fr. Milad Selim at St. George Worcester 508-752-9150 or fr.milad.selim@gmail.com
ORTHODOX YOUNG PROFESSIONALS - The Orthodox Young Professionals Conference is a four day conference hosted by the Young Adult Ministry of the Antiochian Archdiocese. Young Orthodox Christians from across the country and all jurisdictions are invited to join together in fellowship and fun. The conference committee has been working since 2015 to plan an amazing opportunity for spiritual growth, future friendships, lasting memories and more. The gathering will be held in New Orleans at the Drury Inn and Suites, from Thursday-Sunday, August 18-21, 2016.
A Young Professional is a young adult who is beyond the college years navigating through the daily struggles of life as an Orthodox Christian in their mid-twenties through thirties. Visit the Website: http://www.oypc2016.com
RIDES TO CHURCH FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS - Do you live near a college or university? Are you able to offer a ride to and from St. Mary Church for a student? Are you a college student in need of a ride? Contact St. Mary’s Young Adult Ministry at 617-564-3344 or rides@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org to sign up or to learn more!
COFFEE HOUR MADE EASY! - To make sponsoring a Coffee Hour a little bit easier, St. Mary’s is 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.
+ In addition to the sign-up sheet, our contact Barbara in the church office and the Instacart option, we also have LINDA ARNOLD serving as our volunteer Coffee Hour Coordinator. Her contact information is MMarmee52@aol.com and 978-270-0346. Please feel free to let her know of your interest and be open to hosting a coffee hour especially if you have not done so in the past. She will be happy to guide you through the process!
SCRIPTURE READINGS FOR THIS SUNDAY
Epistle:
Titus, my son, the saying is sure. I desire you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to apply themselves to good deeds; these are excellent and profitable to men. But avoid stupid controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels over the law, for they are unprofitable and futile. As for a man who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned. When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. And let our people learn to apply themselves to good deeds, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not to be unfruitful. All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.
- Titus 3:8-15
Gospel:
The Lord said to His Disciples: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father Who is in heaven. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
- Matthew 5:14-19
REFLECTION
Christ manifested Himself to the world; He filled it with light and joy; He sanctified the waters and diffused His light in the souls of men.
- St. Proclus
On Mount Tabor divine glory shone through Christ’s humanity. His humanity, without ceasing to be humanity, was transformed by and suffused with divine glory: Christ’s humanity was deified. This showed forth his deity as the Son of God incarnate, in confirmation of St. Peter’s confession a few days earlier (Mt. 16:16). However, the glory manifested was not simply the glory he had from eternity as the Son of God; rather, as the last Adam, he had so acquired likeness to God that divine light shone forth through his humanity itself.
- James R. Payton, Jr., Light from the Christian East
Do not deceive yourself; God is fire and when He came into the world, and became man, He sent fire on the earth, as He Himself says; this fire turns about searching to find material—that is a disposition and an intention that is good—to fall into and to kindle; and for those in whom this fire will ignite, it becomes a great flame, which reaches Heaven.... this flame at first purifies us from the pollution of passions and then it becomes in us food and drink and light and joy, and renders us light ourselves because we participate in His light.
- Saint Symeon the New Theologian
As a magnifying glass concentrates the rays of the sun into a little burning knot of heat that can set fire to a dry leaf or a piece of paper, so the mystery of Christ in the Gospel concentrates the rays of God’s light and fire to a point that sets fire to the spirit of man. … Through the glass of His Incarnation He concentrates the rays of His Divine Truth and Love upon us so that we feel the burn, and all mystical experience is communicated to men through the Man Christ.
- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation