Update for the week Thursday, November 17 - Friday, November 25, 2016
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY'S
THURSDAY, 11/17 - The Bible Study group will meet tonight - Thursday, November 17 - at 7:00 pm in the church library. For more information contact Fr. Antony (frawhj@gmail.com). The meeting after this will be two weeks later, Thursday, December 1. New members are always welcome.
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY, 11/18-19 – St. George Cathedral in Worcester will host “Village at Home.” Village at Home gives our teens and children (ages 9 and up) a chance to experience the typical routine of a camper at Antiochian Village. Contact Rassem El Massih for more information at 781-738-6107.
SUNDAY, 11/20 – Orthros 8:45 am, Divine Liturgy 10:00 am; Church School lesson 9
+ Enquirers’ Class 9:00 am in the library (next door to Fr. Antony’s office).
+ This Sunday, the Sunday before Thanksgiving, the Women’s Club will be holding its annual Charity Bake Sale. All proceeds will benefit the Convent of Saidnaya, in Syria. Please call our chairperson Renay DiFiore @ 617-327-6361 or the church office, if you can bake and/or donate.
+ If you signed up to participate in the Angel Tree Prison Ministry, which provides Christmas gifts to children in our local community on behalf of their parent serving time in prison, please be sure to bring to church your wrapped gift with angel tree tag attached this Sunday November 20. This will insure the timely delivery by our wonderful volunteers. Many thanks! Please see or email Linda or Kate Arnold (katherine.arnold@gordon.edu) if you have questions.
THURSDAY, 11/24 – Happy Thanksgiving! Next week’s e-Newsletter will be issued on Friday, 11/25.
FRIDAY, 11/25 - Lexington Boy Scout Troop 160 cordially invites you to attend the Eagle Scout Court of Honor for Anthony Charles Marge on Friday, November 25, 2016 at 4:00 pm, at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church,17 Meriam Street, Lexington, MA. Reception follow in St Irene’s Hall. RSVP by November 21 to Marge@alum.mit.edu or Lanciani@alum.mit.edu
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
THANK YOU – The Liturgical Service Ministry Coordinators and Supervisors (Doreen Bargoot, Diana Iovan, Elana Jabbour, Teva Regule, and Panayiotis Sakellariou) want to THANK all the parents and friends who came to help with our Fall Liturgy Retreat this year – "Christmas Traditions: The Liturgies of Christmas." We had nearly 100 church school students, family members, and friends attend the day. We were able to explore the various ways that we ritually prepare and celebrate the birth of our Lord – in our immediate family, our Church family, and in the liturgical Tradition of the Church. We thank especially all the individuals who are named in the Sunday Bulletin, for all their help in coordinating and supervising the various activities. Look for pictures to be posted on the website soon. And mark your calendars for next year!
CHANT CLASS/REHEARSAL – At 3:30pm on Saturday, December 3 (prior to Vespers), there will be a Chant Class & Rehearsal. Topics will be Tone 7 and the special hymns of Sts. Barbara & John of Damascus. Questions? E-mail Charlie.Marge@verizon.net
REFLECTIONS ON MARRIAGE - Bishop John will offer Reflections on Marriage and Our Marriage Ceremony at the Chancery, 2 Lydia's Path, Westborough, MA, on Saturday, December 3, 2016 from 10 AM- 3PM. Registration is $15 per person and includes lunch. Make your reservation with His Grace at frjpa@aol.com. Questions can be directed to Bishop John at 724.518.5788. This seminar is offered especially for all recently married parishioners and for those planning to marry in 2017. Of course, all married couples are invited - please plan to join us.
WOMEN’S CLUB - The next meeting of the Women’s Club will be Monday, February 6, 2017 at the church. Call Marilyn (781-729-3033) or the church office (617-547-1234) if you have any questions or want to be a part of this wonderful group of Women.
TEEN SOYO CD - Grace Shining Forth, a new music CD featuring Teen SOYO members in attendance at the Sacred Music Institute’s Youth Music Ministry (YMM), is available for order now in the SOYO Shop https://TeenSOYO.org/Shop . Shipping will be in December 2016. Also available for digital download on CDBaby.com later in December 2016. More information here: https://teensoyo.org/Music/
REMINDERS
N.G. BERAM AWARDS BANQUET – The Nicholas G. Beram Veteran's Association will hold its 70th Anniversary Celebration and 50th Scholastic Achievement Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 26 at the Holiday Inn, Dedham, 12noon-4pm. Banquet reservation forms can be found at www.stjohnd.org/ngberam. Among the award recipients this year are our own Anthony Marge and Rachel Bargoot.
COME SEE THE MESSIAH - Join friends from St. Mary’s for the Handel and Haydn Society’s annual performance of Handel’s Messiah, on Sunday afternoon, November 27, at 3:00 pm. Note: Tickets are just $23, because there are enough of us going now to qualify for group rates! We will carpool to (or meet at) Symphony Hall after Liturgy and have lunch together at a nearby restaurant before the concert. Those who have done this before have thoroughly enjoyed it - not only do we hear a world-class orchestra and chorus with famous soloists singing glorious words (taken directly from the Bible), but we also have an opportunity to spend time getting to know some fellow parishioners we normally may not encounter. Some seats are still available - please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com.
HOLIDAY POPS & SING-ALONG - Metropolitan Wind Symphony presents Holiday Pops and Sing Along on Saturday, December 3, 6:0pm-9:00pm, at St. John of Damascus Church, Dedham. Purchase tickets online at www.stjohn.org/pops. This event sells out every year, so get your tickets early.
CHURCH SCHOOL CHRISTMAS PAGEANT - If your child is interested in participating in the Christmas Pageant this year, please see Sarah Byrne-Martelli. We also need parents to assist at all rehearsals. Rehearsal #1: Sunday, December 4, during coffee hour. Rehearsal #2: Sunday, December 11, during coffee hour. Dress Rehearsal: Saturday, December. 17, 2:30 – 4:30pm. The Pageant will be Sunday, December 18 after liturgy.
PARISH CHRISTMAS CARD – Let the Women’s Club send a lovely Christmas card on your behalf to our parishioners. Save yourself time, let us do the work, and have all proceeds benefit the Antiochian Women’s Project 2016-2017: Strengthening the Ministries of our Church. 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 order form in the Sunday bulletin, and donate whatever amount you choose. Deadline: Sunday, December 4.
LESSONS AND CAROLS – Join us on Saturday, December 10 from 5:00-6:30pm, for our annual Western Rite Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. This year we are pleased to welcome guest choir Belle Voci, of Orlando Florida.
+ If you can accommodate two girls from this choir the weekend of December 9-11, please contact Ashley Hodge at purpleashes@gmail.com for details.
+ The service will be followed by a festive Lenten potluck supper. People whose last names begin with A-P, please bring a main dish or salad. People whose last name begins with Q-Z please bring desert. Drinks will be provided. For more information, contact Kailen Hodge, kailen.hodge@gmail.com.
PARISH COUNCIL – The next meeting of the Parish Council will be Wednesday, December 14, at 7:30pm
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – Our Canned Food Drive will go from October through December 31, 2016. Bring in canned goods and place them in the plastic bins in the room outside the kitchen. (Canned goods only, please.) They will be distributed to food pantries in our area.
AABA VILLAGE - Applications are available for Market Value, Tax Credit and Section 8 apartments in AABA Village in West Roxbury. Please call Tom Chapman or Dorothy McNerny at 617-325-1913 and an application will be mailed out.
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, $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 hummus/Syrian bread, juice and coffee for $160. Menu two will include: bagels, juice and coffee 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. 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!
REFLECTION
No Passion is so ... ridiculous as avarice, "the root of all evils" (I Tim. 6:10), for those who with great labour mine silver, and then hide it in the earth again, remain without any profit. That is why the Lord says, "Do not store up treasures on earth" (Matt. 6:19); and again "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matt. 6:21). For the intellect of man is drawn by longing towards those things with which it habitually occupies itself, whether these be earthly things, or the passions, or heavenly and eternal blessings.
- St. Peter of Damascus
The more you love money, the more securely you close the Kingdom of God.
- Saint Basil the Great
But how can those who are tethered to their inheritance be following Christ? And those who are weighed down by earthly desires be seeking heaven and aspiring to the heights above? 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. The Apostle was pointing to our times and to these very men when he said: "For they that will become rich, fall into temptation and into snares and into many hurtful desires, which drown a man into perdition and destruction. For the desire of money is the root of all evil; which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows." (1 Timothy 6:9-10)
- St. Cyprian of Carthage, The Lapsed
If a man does not keep himself from covetousness, he shall be defiled by idolatry, and shall be judged as one of the heathen.
- The Epistle Of Polycarp To The Philippians
The one who knows God will follow the Lord's footsteps, bearing the cross of the Savior. It is said, "The world is crucified to him and he to the world." The Lord says, "He who loses his life will save it." … Dying to ourselves means being content with the necessities of life. When we want more than these necessities it is easy to sin.
- St. Clement of Alexandria