The theme of the third Sunday before Lent is RETURN FROM EXILE and the Gospel lesson of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is read.  We are taught by this lesson that even as we stray from God, a banquet is set for our return.  And we find that nothing in this fallen world truly satisfies, and thus we find ourselves on a pilgrimage of repentance - returning to God.
      
I Corinthians 6:12-20:  In our reading from I Corinthians we hear St Paul remind us that we have been bought with a price and that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit; therefore we should turn from immorality and glorify God.

 

Luke 15:11-32:  The parable of the prodigal son as told by our Lord serves to illustrate how precious in the sight of the Lord is one who repents from his sin and is returned to the fold.

 

Troparion of the Resurrection:  When thou, O immortal Life, didst humble thyself unto death, then didst thou destroy death by the brightness of thy Godhead; and when thou didst raise the bowels of the earth, then all the heavenly powers exclaimed, O Christ, thou art the Giver of life!  Glory to thee, O our God!

 

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 Prodigal Son: Foolishly I sprang away from Thy great fatherly glory, and dispersed in wicked deeds the riches that Thou didst give me.  With the Prodigal I therefore cry unto Thee now: I have sinned against Thee, O compassionate Father.  But receive me in repentance; make me as one of Thy hired servants, O Lord.

 

 

Sunday, February 15   (Sunday of the Prodigal Son)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 6:00 p.m. – Young Adults 

 

Monday, February 16
 Office Closed – Father John's Day Off

 

Tuesday, February 17
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
 6:30 p.m. – Choir Practice
  
Wednesday, February 18
 6:30 p.m. – Daily Vespers

 

Thursday, February 19
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
 7:00 p.m. – Parish Life Planning Committee Meeting
  
Friday, February 20
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
 Teen Retreat Begins – Friday thru Sunday
        
Saturday, February 21
 8:30 a.m. – Workday at the Church
 (Please Come!  Many Hands Make Light Work!!)
 6:30 p.m. – Great Vespers

 

Sunday, February 22   (Sunday of Meat Fare)
 8:50 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Sunday School
 10:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:30 p.m. – Youth Group

 

 

 

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

 

Please remember the following in your prayers: Karen Cooper (recovering from knee surgery), Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family, Penny and Dean Bruner and their 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
February 15         Woods                   Strains
February 22         R. Roots                 Fahmys
March 1               Hendersons            Pigotts & Teens
March 8               Algoods                 Dansereaus
March 15             Katools                  D. Roots
March 22             Schelvers               Morrises
March 24 (Tuesday evening) Morrises  Katools
 Feast of the Annunciation
March 29             Joneses                 Schelvers

 

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 #
February 15  Tom Willingham           I Cor. 6:12-20             265
February 22  Walt Wood                  I Cor. 8:8-9:2              273
March 1       Sh. Charlotte Algood    Rom. 13:11-14:4         279
March 8       Warren Strain              Heb. 11:24-26, 32-40   281
March 15     Mildred Morris              Heb. 1:10-2:3             283
March 22     Kh. Be'Be' Schelver      Heb. 4:14-5:6             285
March 24 (Tues. eve.) Brenda Baker Heb. 2:11-18              376
March 29     Kh. Sharon Meadows    Heb. 6:13-20             287

 

Welcome and Many Years!!.to Sophia Grace Skirtech who was baptized yesterday.

 

We are in need of some men volunteers to help our ladies with some service projects at Amy Oliver's house.  Please see Christina Katool.

 

Our Teens will be holding a fund-raiser meal for the Sunday of Cheese Fare on Sunday, March 1st .  Please make plans to participate in this worthy cause.

 

If you are the last to leave the building, please make sure that the heating and cooling unit in the Fellowship Hall is set to the optimum temperature for the building when unoccupied.  We are trying to keep our utility costs down.  If you do not know how to operate the thermostat, please consult with either Father James or Deacon Richard for instruction. 

 

Father Jacob Myers, the pastor of St. John the Wonderworker Orthodox Church in Atlanta, Ga., will be speaking this coming week at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton.  Father Jacob's topic will be "Developing a Divine Relationship with God and the Heavenly Hosts."  The talks will be held in their Parish Hall Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, beginning at 7:00 p.m.  Flyers are available in the foyer.

 

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 2nd 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 have also received the applications for this year's camp.  They are located in the foyer.

 

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.

 

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.

 

The Lower MS Valley Deanery's annual teen retreat will be held next week-end, 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.

 

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 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.

 
 * Teen Fund-raising Dinner on Sunday, March 1st (Cheese Fare Sunday)

 
 * Great Lent will begin on with Pure Monday on March 2nd

 
 * 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.

 

Fasting Discipline for February:
   The traditional fasting (no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine and oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month until Monday, February 9th.  The week following the Sunday of the Publican and Pharisee (February 8th) is a fast-free week.  Sunday, February 22nd is Judgment Sunday (Meat Fare Sunday), the last day until Pascha that meat poultry, and fish are permitted.  But during the following week, beginning Monday, February 23rd, dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday.  March 1st is Forgiveness Sunday (Sunday of Cheese Fare), the last day until Pascha that cheese, dairy and wine (some also include oil) are permitted.  Monday, March 2nd, is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 12th, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

 

   On days when the Holy Eucharist will be received at the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts, no food or drink should be taken until after the Liturgy.

 

    Major Commemorations During February
 February 15  Sunday of the Prodigal Son
 February 21  Saturday of the Souls
 February 22  Sunday of Meat Fare
 February 24  1st and 2nd Discoveries of the Head of the Forerunner
 March 1  Sunday of Cheese Fare (Forgiveness Sunday)
 March 2  Clean Monday (First Date of Great Lent)

 

Quotable: "The name of Jesus, once it has become the center of our life, brings everything together."
    - A Monk of the Eastern Church

 

Weekly Quote:  "We have no excuse, however, when we don't want to repent and confess, but rather we prefer to remain stuck in the mud.  Some people do not confess because they have the impression that they will fall into the same sins.  This simply means that they add more and more layers on top of the old layers of mud.  Yet, when they stain their clothes, they wash them and take care not to soil them again; and when they are stained again, they clean them once again."

    - Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain

 

 Scripture:  I Corinthians 8:8-9:2; Matthew 25:31-46
 Celebrant:  Father John
 Homily:  Father John
 Deacon:  Deacon Terry
 Epistle Reader  Walt Wood
 Acolytes:  TBA
 Prosphora:  R. Roots
 Coffee Hour:  Fahmys
 Teen Hosts:  TBA