Sunday, January 25, 2009
St Gregory the Theologian
     

Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2:  We read in Hebrews that priests of the New Covenant serve as representatives of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

 

Luke 19:1-10:   In the story of Zaccheus we are reminded of why the Only-begotten Son of the Father became incarnate:  to save mankind from our sin and its consequences.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection: Thou didst shatter death by thy Cross; thou didst open paradise to the thief; thou didst turn the mourning of the ointment-bearing women into joy, and didst bid thine Apostles proclaim warning that thou hast risen, O Christ, granting the world Great Mercy.

 

Troparion of our Holy Father, Gregory the Theologian: The shepherd's pipe of thy theology conquered the trumpets of the philosophers; for since thou didst search out the depths of the Spirit, beauty of speech was added to thee.  But intercede with Christ God, O Father Gregory, that our souls be saved.

 

Troparion of the Chains of St. Peter: O Holy Apostle, Peter, thou dost preside over the Apostles by the precious chains which thou didst bear.  We venerate them with faith and beseech thee that by thine intercessions we be granted the great mercy.

 

Kontakion of the Presentation: Thou, O Christ God, who by your Birth, didst sanctify the Virgin's womb, and as is meet, didst bless Simeon's arms, and didst also come to save us, preserve thy fold in wars, and confirm them whom thou didst love; for thou alone art the Lover of mankind.

 

 

 

Sunday, January 25   (Gregory the Theologian)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group

 

Monday, January 26
 CHURCH OFFICE CLOSED – FATHER JOHN'S DAY OFF

 

Tuesday, January 27   (John Chrysostom)
 6:00 a.m. – Festal Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
  
Wednesday, January 28
 5:00 p.m. – Catechism Class
 6:30 p.m. – Daily Vespers followed by Parish Council Meeting

 

Thursday, January 29
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
  
Friday, January 30   (The Three Hierarchs)
 6:00 a.m. – Festal Orthros
        
Saturday, January 31   (Cyros and John the Unmercenary Healers)
 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

 

Sunday, February 1
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 NO Great Vespers with Litia and Artiklosia (instead we will celebrate Festal Orthros
    for the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple -
   Monday at 6:00 a.m.)

 

 

The Eucharist Bread was offered by the Fahmys for the Divine Liturgy today.

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Mona Fahmy, Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Deborah and Paul Finley, Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman's mother) and the Cushman family (St. John's in Memphis)

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
                 Eucharist Bread      Coffee Hour
January 25         Fahmys             Chamblees
February 1         Meadows           Meadows
February 8         Bakers              Freundts
February 15       Woods              Schelvers
February 22       R. Roots            Fahmys

 

Schedule for Epistle Readers   –  Page numbers refer to the Apostolos (book of the Epistles) located on the front pew.  Please be sure to use this book when you read.
                        Reader       Reading     Page #
January 25  Kh. Be'Be' Schelver Heb. 7:26-8:2 334
February 1  Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 13:7-16 365
February 8  Brenda Baker  II Tim. 3:10-15 258
February 15  Tom Willingham  I Cor. 6:12-20 265
February 22  Walt Wood  I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273

 

Help needed for PLC 2009 Souvenir Journal!!   The PLC committee is starting to sell ads for the souvenir journal for the Parish Life Conference and we need your help! Our goal is to sell $20,000 of ads by May 1. Please consider talking to your employer about donating for a corporate ad, and if you have any suggestions of businesses to go to or people to talk to, please let Anna Kathryn know.

 

New Officers for Ladies of St. Peter: Christina Katool and Sh. Charlotte Algood will take over as the new Co-presidents and Sandy Strain will begin serving as Treasurer.  Many thanks to Charlotte Wood, Rebecca Root and Sh. Margaret Root for their faithful service over the past years!!

 

House Blessings!  A sign-up sheet is available to sign up for your house blessing.  Please schedule these as soon as possible.  Everyone should have their house blessed.  However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not Father John.  No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (March 1st this year).

 

The forms for camping scholarships (to the Village and Camp St. Thekla) have arrived.  We have $700 to be divided among as many as 7 campers.  The deadline for scholarship application is March 1st, and this is a strict deadline.  If you are interested in camping scholarships, please see Father John ASAP.  We will let interested parents know as soon as information about camp registration has been received.

Those hosting Coffee Hour or feasts MUST be sure to place fresh trash bags in the trash cans when cleaning up afterwards.  If this is not done, items get thrown into the empty trash cans and then dumped as is into the cans outside.  The trash people will NOT pick up loose trash from the cans and have even dumped it out in the past.  This means that Father John has to pick these items up by hand and bag them!  Please help us with this!!

 

Pledge letters have been mailed.  Please fill these out and return them in the self-addressed envelope as soon as possible.  This information will help the Parish Council to establish a working budget for the fiscal year 2009.

 

Please supervise your children to avoid spills, ink stains or marks from their writing and drawing on our new chairs.  We also ask that you not allow them to stand on the kneelers.  Thank you for your help with this.

 

 
 * The Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple will be celebrated with Festal Orthros on Monday, February 2nd, at 6:00 a.m.  We will NOT celebrate Great Vespers with Litia and Artoklasia on Sunday evening as previously announced.

 
 * The next meeting for the PLC 2009 Planning Committee will Thursday, February 19th at 7:00 p.m.

 
 * Annual Teen Retreat for the Lower MS Valley Deanery – February 20-22, 2009 at John W. Kyle State Park.

 
 * St. Peter's will be hosting the Parish Life Conference next year.  The dates for the conference will be June 10-14.  This will a wonderful opportunity to showcase our parish.  More information will be available in the future.

 

The Lower MS Valley Deanery's annual teen retreat will be held the week-end of February 20-22, 2009 at John W. Kyle State Park.  Joel Finley, the Youth Director at St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Franklin, will handling registration.  More details will be available at a later date.

 

Fasting Discipline for January
The traditional fasting (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil) is observed on Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.

 

Major Commemorations During January
 Jan 25  St. Gregory the Theologian
 Jan 27  St. John Chrysostom
 Jan 30  Three Hierarchs
 Jan 3  Unmercenaries Cyros and John

 

Quotable: "So in order that we may not destroy the grace we have received, but preserve it to the end and depart this life in possession of the treasure, there is need of something human, of endeavor on our part...  It is neither reasonable nor usual for us to merely be content with having received life....Rather we must see the means of preserving it."

    - St. Nicholas Cabasilas

 

Weekly Quote:  "The English word "repentance" has a rather sorry history. Although it is often used to translate the Greek word metanoia, it carries some negative connotations that the Greek word does not, including mental images of people wallowing in the guilt and self-torment that seem to be favored by certain Western writers. The Greek word, on the other hand, is a very positive one, and denotes a progressive and positive change of attitude on the part of the person concerned. It implies a change of mind, or a change of outlook, and its impetus is entirely forward-looking. In this sense, repentance may (but need not) include the dimension of sadness over past sins, but when it does so, it is in the context of reforming one's outlook in order to avoid making the same mistakes again in the future. Taking steps in a different direction, seeing the world with new eyes, starting over ... these are the important features of repentance. "
    - Fr. Meletios Webber, Steps of Transformation 

 

 Scripture:  Hebrews 13:7-16 (St. Tryphon); Matthew 15:21-28
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father John
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry
 Epistle Reader  Kh. Sharon Meadows
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  Meadows
 Coffee Hour:  Meadows
 Teen Hosts:  TBA