Parish Life

Homily for September 14, 2014

posted by Daniel Root at 6:15 PM Parish Life

9/21 announcements

September 21, 2014

Leave-taking of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Galatians 2:16-20: We hear from St Paul's letter to the Galatians that we are justified by faith in Christ, not by works of the Law; and that we now live our lives by faith in the Son of God.

Mark 8:34-9:1: In our reading from the gospel of Mark we hear our Lord tell His disciples that self-denial is required for true spirituality.

Troparion of the Resurrection: When Mary stood at thy grave looking for thy sacred body, angelic powers shone above thy revered tomb, and the soldiers who were to keep guard became as dead men. Thou led hades captive and wast not tempted thereby. Thou didst meet the Virgin and didst give life to the world; O thou who art risen from the dead! O Lord, glory to thee.

Troparion of the Holy Cross: O Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance, granting our believing kings victory over the Barbarians, and by the power of thy Cross preserving thy commonwealth.

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 Holy Cross: Do thou, who of thine own good will wast lifted up upon the Cross, O Christ our God, bestow thy bounties upon the new nation which is called by thy Name; make glad in thy might those who lawfully govern, that with them we may led to victory over our adversaries, having in thine aid a weapon of peace and a trophy invincible.

CALENDAR

Sunday, September 21 (Sunday after the Elevation of the Holy Cross)

8:50 a.m. -- Orthros

9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education

10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy

5:00 p.m. -- Young Adults

Monday, September 22

Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off

Tuesday, September 23 (Conception of the Forerunner)

6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros

11:30 a.m. -- Ladies' Lunch

Wednesday, September 24 (Proto-martyr Thekla)

6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers

7:30 p.m. -- Choir Practice

7:30 p.m. -- Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, September 25

Friday, September 26 (Apostle John the Theologian)

Saturday, September 27

5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers

Sunday, September 28 (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

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 Katools for the Divine Liturgy today.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

September 21 Katool Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

September 28 Schelver Karam/Stewart/ Meadows

October 5 Morris Ellis/Zouboukos/Fahmy

October 12 Jones POT LUCK MEAL

set-up: Pigott/Brock/Strain

October 19 Meadows Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker

October 26 Davis D. Root/Dansereau

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#

September 21 * Sh. Charlotte Algood * Gal. 2:16-20 193

September 28 * Kh. Sharon Meadows * II Cor. 6:1-10 168

October 5* Warren Strain* II Cor. 6:16-7:1 173

October 12 Mildred Morris Titus 3:8-15 322-323

October 19 Phillip Lasseter II Cor. 11:31-12:1-9 183

October 26 Kh. Be'Be' Schelver II Tim. 2:1-10 328

* (Please note that these assignments differ from the Quarterly Schedule)

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 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.

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;

Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Tom and Jennifer Skirtech and their family; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Athena and Anthony Zouboukos and their family.

Continue to pray for Metropolitan Paul (who is also the brother of our Patriarch) and the Syriac Archbishop John of Aleppo who were abducted while on a humanitarian mission in Syria.

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.

Calendar Items:

* The Men of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the first Thursday of the month.

* The Ladies of St. Peter will meet at 10:00 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month to pray the Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children. Those who are able will go out for lunch and fellowship afterwards.

* Fr. John and Kh. Janet will be in New Orleans the week-end of October 3-5 for the memorial of the falling asleep of Fr. Stephen Hardy who was a long-time pastor at St. Basil Orthodox Church.

* Fr. John will be in Franklin, TN the weekend of October 17-19^th for the consecration of the new temple at St. Ignatius Orthodox Church.

* We will be serving a meal at the Stewpot Ministries on Saturday, October 25^th in conjunction with members of Holy Resurrection and Holy Trinity/St. John the Theologian Orthodox Churches. St. Peter will be providing casseroles for the meal. We will also be serving a meal with them on Saturday, November 29^th.

* Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon will be speaking at Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton on November 4-6^th. His topic will be Christ in the Old Testament.

* The enthronement of His Eminence, Metropolitan JOSEPH is scheduled for the weekend of December 5-7^th at the Cathedral in Brooklyn, NY. Fr. John and Kh. Janet will be attending.

Young Adults Study Group: The Young Adults agreed to begin meeting twice a month. One of these meetings will feature a teaching by Fr. John on various aspects of the Orthodox Christian faith. Topics will include education, ethics and parenting children. The next meetings will be Sunday, September 21^st and October 5^th for fellowship and October 19^th for teaching.

Lower Mississippi Valley Teen Retreat: The Teen Retreat will be February 13-15, 2015 at Roosevelt State Park. The speaker for the retreat will be Heiromonk Benedict (Josuah Armitage). His topic will be "Dealing with Doubts about God." We are very excited to have Fr. Benedict come to address this important topic with our teens! Be sure to mark your calendars now.

Fr. Nikolai from St. John Orthodox Church in Memphis has been reassigned to serve as the pastor/protos of St. George Orthodox Church in New Hartford, NY. He, Kh. Jeanette and their children will probably be leaving sometime before the 10^th of October.

Supper Clubs: If you are interested in participating in a Supper Club this year, please sign the sheet located in the Fellowship Hall.

Fasting Discipline for September

The traditional fasting (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.

Major Commemorations for September

September 23 Conception of the Forerunner

September 24 Proto-martyr Thekla

September 26 Apostle John the Theologian (repose)

September 28 Venerable Chariton

Parents, please supervise your children with food in the Fellowship Hall. We are getting stains on the new carpet (and also the chairs in the nave).

Happy Birthdays in September:

September 1 -- Adelina Lavric (#2!)

September 3 -- Lee Greene

-- Hannah Strange (#8!)

September 4 -- Fr. John Henderson

September 8 -- Nikki Lasseter

September 9 -- Rebecca Dansereau

September 10 -- Dorin Lavric

September 12 -- Alvin Buckles

September 15 -- Lynda Costas

September 17 -- Jeffrey Schelver

September 18 -- Carolina Lavric

September 25 -- Rick Carlton

September 30 -- Laura Yeatts

Happy Anniversaries in September:

September 4 -- Ben and Jenna Skirtech (#13!)

September 15 -- Tom and Kathy Willingham (#24!)

September 26 -- Rod and Emily Parker (#10!)

Thermostats in the Fellowship Hall: There are two thermostats in the Fellowship Hall—one in the main room to control the air in the main room, and a second one in the Nursery room that controls the air in all four of the Sunday School rooms. Please be sure that both thermostats are set to 80 degrees when you leave the building

Suggestions on use of the Cry Room:

-- Please remember you're in liturgy when you're in the cry room.

-- Its main purpose should be a place for parents to take their children if they're being disruptive during liturgy, staying for 5-10 minutes (or until the child is calmed down) and then returning to liturgy.

-- It should not be used as a main sitting area during the liturgy.

-- Children should not be eating snacks or watching electronic devices while in the cry room.

Quotable: "Remember the fall of the mighty, and be humble in your virtues. Recollect the grievous transgressions of those who of old trespassed and repented, and the sublimity and honour of which afterwards they were deemed worthy, and take courage in your repentance. Be a persecutor of yourself, and your enemy will be driven from your proximity. Be peaceful within yourself, and heaven and earth will be at peace with you. Be diligent to enter into the treasury that is within you, and you will see the treasury of Heaven: for those are one and the same, and with one entry you will behold them both. The ladder of the Kingdom is within you, hidden in your soul. Plunge deeply within yourself, away from sin, and there you will find steps by which you will be able to ascend."

St. Isaac the Syrian

Worship: Sunday, September 28, 2014 (Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost)

Scripture: II Corinthians 6:1-10; Luke 5:1-11

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Kh. Sharon Meadows

Prosphora: Schelver

Coffee Hour: Karam/Stewart/Meadows

posted by Daniel Root at 11:15 AM Parish Life

9/14 announcements

September 14, 2014

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

This feast is celebrated as one of the most important in the Church Year because it commemorates two events of great significance. After St. Helen had found at Jerusalem the cross upon which Christ was crucified, she built a Church on Mount Calvary to hold the precious relic. The Christians held the Holy Cross in such high regard that they soon began to celebrate this feast in honor of the finding of the Cross.

In the year 614, the Persians invaded the Empire and took Jerusalem, and sent the case containing the Cross back to their country. For fifteen years the Greek Emperor Heraclius waged war against the Persians, and finally in 629 defeated them, forcing them to make peace, and to restore the Holy Cross to him. It is said that the case containing the sacred relics was returned to him with the seals still unbroken. The Relics were replaced in the Church with great rejoicing, and to the original Feast in honor of the finding of the Cross was added another, in honor of its safe return to Jerusalem.

A special feature of the Church Services on this day, is the procession in which the Cross is borne aloft on a tray of flowers and placed in the midst of the Church; the Priest then elevates it to the four corners of the compass, blessing thrice with it as he does so, and praying that God will protect and preserve the President and the Civil Authorities of our country and the Armed Forces, and guard and guide the Hierarchs and clergy of the Church, and protect and preserve all His faithful people from every evil.

I Corinthians 1:18-24: On this day as we exalt the Cross of Christ we read in St. Paul's letter to the Corinthians that the word of the cross is the power of God and the means by which we are saved.

John 19:6-35: In the reading from St. John's Gospel we read of Jesus' trial before Pilate and of His subsequent crucifixion and death on the cross.

Troparion of the Holy Cross: O Lord, save thy people and bless thine inheritance, granting our believing kings victory over the Barbarians, and by the power of thy Cross preserving thy commonwealth.

Kontakion of the Holy Cross: Do thou, who of thine own good will wast lifted up upon the Cross, O Christ our God, bestow thy bounties upon the new nation which is called by thy Name; make glad in thy might those who lawfully govern, that with them we may led to victory over our adversaries, having in thine aid a weapon of peace and a trophy invincible.

CALENDAR

Sunday, September 14 (Elevation of the Holy Cross)

8:50 a.m. -- Orthros

9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education

10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. -- Pot Luck Meal (Lenten dishes, please)

5:30 p.m. -- Youth Group

Monday, September15

Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off

Tuesday, September 16

6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros

Wednesday, September 17

6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers

7:30 p.m. -- Choir Practice

7:30 p.m. -- Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, September 18

Friday, September 19

Saturday, September 20

8:30 a.m. -- Workday at the Church

5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers

Sunday, September 21 (Sunday after the Elevation of the Holy Cross)

8:50 a.m. -- Orthros

9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education

10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy

5:00 p.m. -- Young Adults

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Hendersons for the Feast of the Nativity of the Theotokos this past Monday morning and by the Algoods for the Divine Liturgy today.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

September 14 Algood POT LUCK MEAL [Lenten dishes]

set-up: Schelver/Lavric/Turner

September 21 Katool Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

September 28 Schelver Karam/Stewart/ Meadows

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#

September 14 * Walt Wood * I Cor. 1:18-24 311-312

September 21 * Sh. Charlotte Algood * Gal. 2:16-20 193

September 28 * Warren Strain * II Cor. 6:1-10 168