Update for the week of October 26 - November 2, 2017
Update for the week of October 26 - November 2, 2017
THIS WEEK AT ST. MARY
THURSDAY 10/26 - Bible Study/Adult Education is meeting this evening – Thursday 10/26 – from 7:00-9:00pm. We study the word of God, pray and have fellowship together. Everyone is welcome to attend. For questions, study materials, or to be added to the email list, please contact Ioana Popa at drioanapopa@gmail.com or Steve Walker at smwalk@gmail.com Note: Entrance to the church: through the furthest back door, closest to the parking lot. Please feel free to park in open parking spaces only. We are looking forward to seeing you.
SUNDAY 10/29 – Enquirers’ Class 9:00 am, Orthros 8:45, Divine Liturgy 10:00; Church School lesson 6
+ Deadline for ordering Sfeeha from the Women’s Club (only wait list available now). Pick-Up Date is Sunday, November 5.
NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS
BANQUET - St. George West Roxbury will hold a Founders Day Banquet on Saturday, November 4. The evening will begin with Vespers at 5:30 followed by Reception & Banquet at 6:30pm. Cost: $40/adults, $20/Child to16. For reservations call Hani Al-Dayaaa 978-256-3082.
ENTRANCE OF THE THEOTOKOS LITURGY – Divine Liturgy for the Feast of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple will be celebrated on Monday, November 20 at 6:30pm
SCHOLARSHIP - Students graduating in 2018 from high school who are children of members of St. Mary’s may apply for the Diocese of Worcester and New England Scholarship. Deadline is March 31, 2018. Contact Mary Winstanley O’Connor at 617-523-1010 or email at moconnor@koilaw.com
for more information, including what it means to be a member.
REMINDERS
OCTOBER IS YOUTH MONTH – During the Month of October, at St. Mary and throughout the archdiocese, our teens have been taking an active role in the Liturgy.
HELP MAKE SFEEHA – Please come to the church on Saturday morning, November 4, starting at 9:30 am, to help make meat pies with the Women's Club. Lots of help will be needed – young and old, women and men are all welcome – and it's always lots of fun. Lunch is provided.
CHANTERS, VESPERS, YOUNG ADULTS – On Saturday, November 4, Chant Class will be at 3:30 and Great Vespers at 5:00 pm, followed by Young Adult Fellowship Night. Join the Young Adults for a Coffee House with live music. To learn more or to get involved, send an email to youngadults@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or call/text Jamil (617-501-4427)
SPAGHETTI DINNER – Our Teen SOYO invites you to a Spaghetti Dinner on Sunday, November 5, following Liturgy. The menu will include Spaghetti, Meatballs (Just before the Fast!), Salad, Bread, Dessert and Coffee/Beverage. A suggested donation of $5.00 per person will be greatly appreciated (no charge for Teen SOYO members).
ANGEL TREE – St. Mary's will once again be participating 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. There will be a table set up during coffee hour on Sunday, November 5where you can select a child to support. Thank you for helping with this important ministry! Please see or email Linda or Kate Arnold (katherine.arnold@gordon.edu) if you can help or have questions.
BAZAAR - St. John of Damascus will be holding their Annual Bazaar, Friday through Sunday, November 3-5: Fri. 12pm-9pm, Sat. 10am-9pm and Sunday 12pm- 2pm, 300 West St. , Dedham. Middle Eastern Cuisine, Country Store, Christmas Corner and More.
FALL LITURGY RETREAT – We will have a Fall Liturgy Retreat for Church School Students and Families at St. Mary’s on Friday, November 10 from 9:30 - 3:00. (This is the observed day for Veteran's Day, when most students have the day off of school and some adults from work.) The theme of the retreat will be Liturgy as Healing: The Power of Reconciliation in Christ. Registration: $5/student, $10/family (includes breakfast snacks, lunch, and supplies). To register, contact Doreen Bargoot (dbargoot@aol.com). Activities will revolve around Personal and Communal Healing (group healing service, rite of forgiveness); Sacramental Healing (opportunities for confession, making Prosphora (Holy Bread) for the Church; Spiritual Healing (teens and adults learn about spiritual direction); and Social Healing (assembling and delivering gift bags for the YWCA, decorating cards for our Parish shut-ins, and more). Come and explore the opportunities that the Church gives us for healing and reconciliation within ourselves and with God and neighbor.
BENEFIT FOR THEOPHANY SCHOOL – The 17th annual Benefit for Theophany School will be held Saturday, November 11, at 5:00pm at St. John of Damascus Church, Dedham. The evening includes cocktails, dinner and entertainment. The benefit defrays the cost of tuition by approximately $1000 per student, helping to provide families with excellent, affordable Orthodox education. To become a sponsor or to reserve tickets please contact the Director, Marybeth at 781-444-3058 or office@theophanyschool.org
WOMEN’S CLUB – The next meeting of the Women’s Club will be on Wednesday, November 15, at 7:30.
NATIVITY FAST – The Nativity Fast, also known as the season of Advent, begins Wednesday, November 15. This is the forty days of fasting and prayer in preparation for the Great Feast of the Nativity of Christ.
THANKSGIVING BAKE SALE – The annual Thanksgiving Charity Bake Sale, sponsored by the Women’s Club, will be held on Sunday, November 19 after Liturgy. All proceeds to benefit the Convent of Saidnaya, in Syria. Please volunteer to bake! Call our Chairperson Renay DiFiore @ 617-327-6361 or the church office, if you can bake and/or donate.
AWARDS BANQUET – The Nicholas G. Beram Veterans Association will be holding its 71stanniversary celebration and 51st Scholastic Achievement Awards Banquet on Saturday, November 25, 2017 from Noon to 4:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Dedham. This year our own Father Antony will be honored and receive the distinguished service award. Lukas Nahass and Jessica Winstanley will also be receiving scholastic achievement awards. Tickets for the luncheon are $30.00 and tables of eight may be reserved. You may also honor Father by placing an ad in the program book. Luncheon reservation and ad book forms are available in the narthex.
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, December 3, at 3:00 p.m. Group tickets are just $28. For information or tickets (seats are still available) please contact Melissa Nassiff at mnassiff@gmail.com
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – Help support our Canned Food Drive! From October through December 31, 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.
COFFEE HOUR MADE EASY! - To make sponsoring a Coffee Hour a little bit easier, St. Mary’s offers 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.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR SERVICE
There are a number of ways you can help the Church, your fellow worshippers, and those in need. Consider serving in one (or more) of these ways:
Greeter: Welcome people into the church and help to direct visitors upstairs to the Liturgy, as well as keeping an eye on the vestibule, hallways and entrance ways during Church. To volunteer contact Buddy Mabardy at 781-729-6303 or e-mail: buddy@cjmabardy.com, or call the church office at 617-547-1234
Liturgical Service – Epistle: The Epistle is read each Sunday by a volunteer parishioner. To volunteer please contact Jeff Wasilko, jeffw@smoe.org
Liturgical Service – Procession: Church School children or parishioners carry the candles, icon, and bread baskets in the Great Procession. For information about this ministry contact Teva Regule at teva@mit.edu
Liturgical Service – Communion: Volunteers are needed every Sunday to hold the Communion cloths and the Holy Bread baskets during Communion. To volunteer please contact Jeff Wasilko, jeffw@smoe.org
Choir: The St. Mary Church Choir is open to individuals interested in making a commitment to sing each Sunday at Divine Liturgy. Please feel free to join them and/or introduce yourself to the director, Michelle Mabardy, any Sunday after Liturgy.
Coffee Hour: People are needed every week to provide coffee, juice and cookies, or more if desired, and set it up Sunday morning. To sign up for an available Sunday, please put your name on the signup sheet on the bulletin board outside the Hall, or contact Linda Arnold, our Coffee Hour volunteer coordinator at MMarmee52@aol.com or 978-270-0346, or Barbara Shoop in the Parish Office at secretary@stmaryorthodoxchurch.org or 617-547-1234.
Hospitality Group: St. Mary's Donald D. Fiore Hospitality Group sponsors various events to welcome visitors and newcomers and to foster a spirit of fellowship and caring among all the people who worship here. To join us or to find out more, contact any of our officers: Diana Yousef, President dymartinek@gmail.com, Michael Decerbo, Treasurer michaeldecerbo@gmail.com, Socrates Deligeorges, Head Chef dr.socrates@gmail.com, Melissa Nassiff, eNewsletter editor mnassiff@gmail.com,
Prison Ministry: For information about the Prison Ministry at St. Mary you can subscribe to our mailing list at http://groups.google.com/group/ocpm-concord. If you are interested in helping with this ministry, talk with Fr. Antony or Deacon Jeff. Another way to help is to donate Orthodox books, icon cards, and magazines (for security, please remove any personal mailing address) – Mitrophan Chin collects these to share with the inmates.
"As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me," says our Lord.
REFLECTION
If indeed the flesh possesses no useful function, why did Christ heal it? And why, in particular, did he go so far as to raise the dead to life? What was his purpose? Was it not to show us how the resurrection was to take place? How, moreover, did he raise the dead? Was it souls or bodies? Clearly, it was both together. If the resurrection was to be only spiritual, he would have to have shown, at his own resurrection, his body lying dead on one side, and his soul on the other in its risen state. But he did nothing of the sort. He rose with his body, convinced that the promise of life concerned it too. Why did he rise in his crucified flesh, if not to demonstrate the reality of the resurrection of the flesh? Wishing to convince his disciples who were refusing to admit that he had really risen with his body … he offered himself to be touched by them and showed them the marks of the nails in his hands. But because they still could not admit that it was he, in his own body, he asked to eat with them … and he ate some honey and fish. Thus he proved to them that resurrection would come to our actual fleshly bodies. Furthermore, having declared that our dwelling-place will be in the heavens, he wanted to show that it is not impossible for the flesh to go to "heaven." Indeed, they saw him "taken up into heaven" just as he was, that is to say, in the flesh.
- St. Justin Martyr
Since thou art a divine river of mercy, like unto a fathomless gulf of plentiful sympathy, O Bountiful One, manifest the divine streams of thy mercy, and heal all men. Pour forth abundantly fountains of wonders and cleanse all; for resorting ever unto thee, we fervently implore thy grace.
- Kathisma for Wednesday of Holy Week