June 7, 2009
Pentecost Sunday
 
  In several senses, Pentecost marks for us the end of many months of anticipation, commemoration, and celebration and the beginning of the fullness of the life and faith we share.  It is a day bringing our focus on the Holy Spirit, the embodiment of divine grace, the supreme gift, the ongoing presence of God in our lives; yet, it is a day directing us to the praise of the Trinity, the three divine persons, and the historical and spatial relationship God's people have with Him.  For the disciples, the day marks their spiritual maturity.  Their faith began in their nationality, for they were of the nation that God the Father chose to glorify Him.  The faith was completed in their confrontation with God the Son, through His presence and the nourishment He gave.  The fullness of the faith came with the coming in power of God the Spirit.  The disciples had grown in spirit and were ready for their work; the birth of the Church was imminent; the Bride was to be made ready.  In the cycle of the calendar, we now stand ready to do likewise, and all weeks from now until our preparation for Advent are the weeks of Pentecost.  In the picture of the birth of the Church there are symbols beyond mention here; the unity in the common tongue, the Light that shines brighter than day, the bold proclamation to all men of the Gospel.  We look forward from this day to weeks without special celebrations, to days without reference to past days of enormous import--to normal, uneventful days.  But these are not uneventful days; they are the days for which we have prepared, the days of the Church, the days of our maturity and growth, the days when, through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, we run the good race and cross the finish to bring praise and glory to our glorious God, the eternal Trinity.

 

Acts 2:1-11:  In the reading from Acts we see the pouring out of God's Spirit on the apostles, the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, and the beginning of the Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.

 
John 7:37-52, 8:12:  Our Lord calls those thirsting for righteousness to Himself, promising to eternally quench their thirst by the gift of the Holy Spirit.  The Pharisees, however, view Jesus as a threat to their authority and seek for ways to undermine His authority.

 

Troparion of Pentecost:  Blessed art thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise, having sent upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them thou hast fished the universe, O Lover of mankind, glory to thee.

 

Kontakion of Pentecost:  When the high One descended, confusing tongues, he divided the nations.  And when he distributed the fiery tongues he called all to one unity.  Wherefore, in unison we glorify the most Holy Spirit.

 

 

Sunday, June 7
 8:50 a.m. –  Orthros
 10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy, followed by PICNIC
 6:30 p.m. -- Kneeling Vespers of Pentecost

 

Monday, June 8
 Office Closed – Father John's Day Off

 

Tuesday, June 9
 6:00 a.m. – Daily Orthros
  
Wednesday, June 10  --  PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE BEGINS.  All the events listed for the remainder of the week will take place at the Jackson Hilton.  There will be NO services here at St. Peter's until after the Conference.
 6:00 p.m. – Vespers
 7:30 p.m. – Teen Gathering & Pizza Party

 

Thursday, June 11   (Apostles Bartholomew and Barnabas)
 8:00 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 5:00 p.m. – Vespers
 6:00 p.m. – Dinner Buffet
 8:00 p.m. – Bible Bowl (come support our Teen and Adult teams)

 

Friday, June 12
 8:00 a.m. – Orthros
 9:00 a.m. – Divine Liturgy
 12:00 p.m. – AOCWNA Luncheon (Meeting begins at 10:30 and will continue
    through lunch)
 5:00 p.m. – Vespers
 6:00 p.m. – St. Ignatius Reception
 7:00 p.m. – Dinner Buffet
 9:00 p.m. – Dance

Saturday, June 13 
 8:00 a.m. – Orthros (NO Divine Liturgy this day)
 9:30 a.m. – Oratorical Competition and Creative Arts Awards
 12:00 p.m. – St. Ignatius Luncheon
 2:00 p.m. – Father Michael Dahulich speaking
 5:00 p.m. – Vespers
 7:30 p.m. – Grand Banquet
 
Sunday, June 14
 9:00 a.m. – Orthros
 10:00 a.m. – Hierarchical Divine Liturgy

 

The only events listed in the Calendar above are the liturgies, meals, competitions and evening events.  Please see the schedule posted on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall for all other activities (i.e. Choir practice, Teen outings, Organizational meetings, Workshops and Childcare). 

 

 

 

Eucharist Bread: ...was offered by the Joneses for the Divine Liturgy this morning and by the Morrises for the Liturgy of Saturday of the Souls yesterday.

 

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
               Eucharist Bread               Coffee Hour
 June 14 PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE
 June 21         Milnors                              Pigotts
 June 28         Joanna Meadows               Dansereaus
 June 29 (Monday Morning) Meadows       Meadows
                Feast of Ss Peter and Paul

 

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 #
June 7                    Warren Strain              Acts 2:1-11                   77
June 14   PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE
June 21                   Kh. Sharon Meadows  Rom. 2:10-16                 90
June 28                   Mildred Morris             Rom. 5:1-10                   96
June 29 (Mon. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows   II Cor. 11:21-33; 12:6-9   389
 
Please remember the following in your prayers: Jack and Ginny Henderson (Fr. John's parents) and their family; Reader Basil's family (Dad, Bill; Mom, Cleo; sister Betty; and uncle and aunt, James and Sarah Powell), Ken Jones' mother (recovering from hip 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) Jared and Stacy Autrey and their daughter Olivia Kate (St. Ignatius in Franklin).

 

St. Peter shirts....several of you placed an order for one of the shirts with our name on them.  They have arrived and the cost is $30.  If you ordered one of these, please see Fr. John.  We do have a few extras if someone wanted one but was unable to order it.

 

 * We will have the Kneeling Vespers of Pentecost tonight , beginning at 6:30 p.m.

 
 * Parish Life Conference at the Hilton, June 10-14!! (See below)

 
 * The Fast of the Apostles begins next Monday, June 15th and continues through June 28th.

 
 * We will celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul with Divine Liturgy (only) beginning at 6:00 a.m. on Monday morning, June 29th .  There will be a coffee hour following the liturgy.

 

The Parish Life Conference is here!!  Today is the last day that you can register for meals!!  You may do so by check and one of the registration forms on the table in the hall, or by going to our website www.stpeterorthodox.com and registering online.  We must turn in our final numbers to the hotel tomorrow. If you cannot come to all the events, please come to as many as you can, especially the Grand Banquet on Saturday evening.  Also, there are the Bible Bowl on Thursday evening and the Oratorical contest on Saturday morning.  There is a mandatory registration fee of $10 that we must send to the archdiocese.  Otherwise, there is no cost to attend these two events or the daily liturgies.  We are hosting this conference and it is important that our members support it too.

 

We apologize for the delay in getting out the new Directories.  We will be printing them as soon as possible following the Parish Life Conference.  There are several families that have not turned in their updated information. When we print the new Directories we will be using the old information for any that have not been returned.

 

Fasting Discipline for June:
The traditional fasting (no meat, fish, dairy, wine or oil) is observed on Wednesdays and Fridays of June,  apart from the week following the Feast of Pentecost on Sunday, June 7th, during which there is no fasting.  The Apostles' Fast this year extends from Monday, June 15th until the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul on Monday, June 29th.

 

Major Commemorations During June
 June 7   Feast of Pentecost
 June 8   Monday of the Holy Spirit
 June 24  Nativity of the Forerunner
 June 29  Apostles Peter and Paul
 June 30  Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

 

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.

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!!

 

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.  If you have overridden the programmed setting, please be sure to restore it to the original setting.  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.  
   
Quotable: An elder was teaching his grandson about life:
 "A fight goes on inside me," he said to the boy.  "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves.  One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, doubt and ego.  The other is good – he is peace, joy, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.  This same fight goes on inside you – inside every person, too."
 The grandson thought about his grandfather's words for a minute and asked: "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?"
 The grandfather simply replied, "The one you feed."
    - Selected

 

    - St. Diadochus of Photike

WORSHIP: Sunday, June 14, 2009
  Scriptures:  From Website
 Celebrant:  Bishop ANTOUN
 PARISH LIFE CONFERENCE