January 20, 2013
Thirtieth Sunday after Pentecost
St. Euthymius the Great
II Corinthians 4:6-15: From our reading in II Corinthians we hear St Paul discuss how his and the other apostles' sufferings have brought forth life in the people of God.
Luke 17:12-19: In the reading from St Luke we see the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ as He heals ten lepers, only one of whom thanks the Lord for being healed.
Troparion of the Resurrection: O compassionate One, thou didst descend from the heights; thou didst submit to the three-day burial, that thou might deliver us from passion. Thou art our Life and our Resurrection, O Lord, glory to thee.
Troparion of St. Euthymios the Great: Be glad, O barren one, that hast not given birth; be of good cheer, thou that hast not travailed; for a man of desires hath multiplied thy children of the Spirit, having planted them in piety and reared them in continence to the perfection of the virtues. By his prayers, O Christ our God, make our life peaceful.
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.
CALENDAR
Sunday, January 20 (Thirtieth Sunday after Pentecost)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
1:00 p.m. -- Young Adults
Monday, January 21
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, January 22
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Wednesday, January 23
6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers
7:30 p.m. -- Choir Practice
Thursday, January 24
NO Daily Orthros
Friday, January 25 (Gregory the Theologian)
NO Daily Orthros
Saturday, January 26
7:30 a.m. -- Bible Study with Breakfast
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour Prayers followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, January 27 (Sunday after Theophany)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
5:30 p.m. -- Youth Group
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Bassingers for the Divine Liturgy this morning.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
January 20 Bassinger R. Root/Abraham/Davis
January 27 Freundt Henderson/Baker/Lockhart
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 20 Walt Wood II Cor. 4:6-15 163
January 27 Warren Strain Heb. 7:26-8:2 334
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
Please be reminded of the following:
Be very careful with the Blessed Bread when you take it after communion. Because this bread has been blessed, we should take care not to let crumbs fall on the floor. Parents, especially, please help your children to choose a small piece and treat it carefully.
Also, at the end of the liturgy, maintain a prayerful disposition during the veneration of the cross as the prayers of thanksgiving after communion are still underway. Please exchange your greetings with each other in the Fellowship Hall during Coffee Hour.
Please remember the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; Amy and Brantley Oliver; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Georgia Buchanan, George Johns (Georgia's grandson) and his family; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon's sister); Fr. Stephen Tewfik; Sh. Gail Shannon; Dn. Sidney and Sh. Mary Elliot.
Many thanks for your prayers on behalf of Jenna Skirtech and Kh. Sharon. Both are doing better.
Please be reminded that the Sacristy/Vestry which is adjacent to and behind the altar in our church is considered by the Orthodox Church to be part of the Sanctuary (Altar area) and should not be entered without the blessing of the priest for a specific purpose. If you need to speak with a member of the clergy while they are in the Sanctuary, please ask them to come to you in the nave.
House Blessings! A sign-up sheet is available in the Fellowship Hall to sign up for your house blessing. Please schedule these as soon as possible. Everyone should have their home blessed. However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not Father John. No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (March 18th this year).
Fr. John, Stephanie Baker and Kh. Sharon will be in Jacksonville Thursday through Sunday for the Mid-Winter Delegated Meeting of the Archdiocese. Please keep them in your prayers as they travel there and home again. Please contact Fr. James or Fr. Leo if you need a priest in Fr. John's absence.
Pledge Letters were mailed last week. Please fill these out and return them to office as soon as possible. Your pledges make it possible to plan a budget for the coming fiscal year.
Calendar Items:
* The Men of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the first Thursday of the month.
* Deanery Youth Retreat is scheduled for February 15-17, 2013. More details later.
The Deanery Youth Retreat is scheduled for February 15-17, 2013. Sister Magdalene from the Monastery of St. John in England will be the speaker. Sister Magdalene will also be speaking at St. Peter's for two evenings around the time of the retreat. More details will be available at a later date. But be sure to mark your calendars now for the retreat and Sister Magdalene's talks!!
Coffee Hour guidelines have been posted on the refrigerator in the kitchen. These list the items to be set out for Fasting and Non-fasting Coffee Hours along with guidelines for setting out the food and for storage afterwards. Please be sure that the power switch on the dishwasher is turned off when you are through with clean-up.
Fasting Discipline for January
The traditional fasting discipline(no meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, wine or oil) is observed on the remaining Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.
Major Commemorations for January
January 20 Euthymios the Great
January 25 Gregory the Theologian
January 27 John Chrysostom
January 30 The Three Hierarchs
January 31 Cyros and John the Unmercenary Healers
When you host Coffee Hour or the meal for a Feast, please make sure that the oven, warmer, and coffee maker are turned off afterwards. On several occasions in the past, the cleaning ladies have found the oven still on when they came in to clean later during the week.
Happy Anniversaries in January:
January 10 -- Bob and Georgia Buchanan (#26!)
January 17 -- Chris and Rebecca Dansereau (#4!)
January 19 -- Ramzi and Jean Kafoury (#10!)
Happy Birthdays in January:
January 1 -- Dn. Richard Root
January 5 -- Sarah Anne Milnor
January 10 -- Georgia Buchanan
January 11 -- Nicholas Henderson
January 12 -- Cheryl Pigott
January 13 -- Nader Dabit
January 19 -- Saliba (Sam) Dabit
January 20 -- Alfred Katool
January 22 -- Tatiana Lavric
January 24 -- Oliver Yeatts
January 30 -- Chris Dansereau
Building Fund: As we proceed with the plans for the approval by the City of Madison and Metropolitan PHILIP for our addition/renovation, we are reviewing our Building Fund. We currently have over $150,000 in the fund and are regularly adding to it. The Parish Council has decided to apply cash donations from the Sunday offering to the Building Fund – UNLESS it is specified or otherwise apparent that these are intended as a regular tithe/donation. Of course, other donations by check, etc., specified for the Building Fund are always welcome! So feel free to chip in a little (or lot!) extra as you are able. With God's grace, we look forward to this next phase of our building program and beyond to the next phase of building a new main church building/temple.
Quotable: "The pledge of the kingdom of heaven is the comfort that springs from sorrow. According to the apostle, 'Faith is the assurance of things hoped for,' and the comfort that comes to the souls that mourn from the enlightenment of the Spirit is a visitation of God. Upon them He bestows the reward of a humble mind, which is called 'the seed' (Lk. 8:5) and the 'talent' (Mt. 25:15ff), for when it grows and multiplies in the souls of those who struggle it bears fruit for God 'thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold' (Mk. 4:20), the holy fruit of the gifts of the Spirit. Where there is unfeigned humiliation there is also the depth of humility, and, where there is humility there is also the enlightenment of the Spirit. Where there is the enlightenment of the Spirit there is the outpouring of the light of God, there is God in the wisdom and knowledge of His mysteries. Where these mysteries are to be found, there is the kingdom of heaven and the experience of the kingdom and the hidden treasures of the knowledge of God (cf. Col. 2:3), which include the manifestation of poverty of spirit. Where poverty of spirit is perceived, there is also the sorrow that is full of joy. There are the ever-flowing tears that purify the soul that loves these things and cause it to be completely filled with light."
St. Symeon the New Theologian
Worship: Sunday, January 27, 2013 (Thirty-first Sunday after Pentecost; St. John
Chrysostom)
Scripture: Hebrews 7:26-8:2; Luke 18:35-43
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Warren Strain
Prosphora: Freundt
Coffee Hour: Henderson/Baker/Lockhart