Parish Life
Welcome to the Parish Life section of Saint Peter Orthodox Church website. This is where we post news, events, photographs and more.
Welcome to the Parish Life section of Saint Peter Orthodox Church website. This is where we post news, events, photographs and more.
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Homily for May 3, 2015
5/3 announcements
Homily for April 26, 2015
4/26 announcements
Homily for April 19, 2015
Homily for April 5, 2015
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Saint Peter Antiochian Orthodox Church
Madison, Mississippi
Wednesday, May 06, 2015
5/10 announcements
May 10, 2015
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
After-feast of Mid-Pentecost
This Sunday concludes the week which includes mid-Pentecost. The scriptures for that day make reference to the great and final feast and the Lord's words concerning fountains of living water and the nourishment of the spirit. The episode of the Samaritan woman at Jacob's Well and Jesus's further description of Himself as living water continue this theme. There are innumerable nuances to the message of this episode, ranging from the allusion to the patriarch Joseph to the faith of those who believe without seeing, but let us concentrate on the woman who comes into the presence of her God. Christ asks service of her, asks her to ignore their traditional enmity, confuses her with parables, confronts her with her sins, and claims to be her Messiah and Lord. She enters the scene with skepticism, but she does not let circumstances blind her, for the words of the man before her ring with unmistakable authority and truth. Whether she wants to or not, she must believe herself to be in the presence of the Son of God; she not only believes, but she quickly bears witness to the others of her town. We join her in her faith, and we, too, partake of the Water of Life.
Acts 11:19-30: Reading in Acts, we see the establishment of the first predominately Gentile church in Antioch under the leading of Barnabas and Saul.
John 4:5-42: In Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman we see our Lord's concern with the truth, both in our dealings with others and in our worship of God. We also see that spreading the eternal gospel of the Kingdom is a corporate action and not that of just one or two.
Troparion of the Resurrection: Having learned the joyful message of the Resurrection from the angel, the women Disciples cast from them their parental condemnation, and proudly broke the news to the Disciples, saying, Death has been spoiled. Christ God is risen, granting the world Great Mercy.
Troparion for mid-Pentecost: In the midst of this Feast, O Saviour, give my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of true worship; for thou didst call out to all, saying, Whosoever is thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. Wherefore, O Christ our God, Fountain of life, glory to thee.
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 Pascha: When Thou didst descend into the grave, O Immortal, Thou didst destroy the power of Hades. In victory didst Thou arise, O Christ God, proclaiming ARejoice@ to the myrrh-bearing women, granting peace to Thine apostles and bestowing resurrection on the fallen.
CALENDAR
Sunday, May 10 (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman)
8:50 a.m. -- Orthros
9:00 a.m. -- Christian Education
10:00 a.m. -- Divine Liturgy
12:00 p.m. -- Pot Luck Meal honoring High School Graduate Tiffany Strain
5:30 p.m. -- Youth Group
Monday, May 11
Office Closed -- Father John's Day Off
Tuesday, May 12
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Wednesday, May 13
6:30 p.m. -- Daily Vespers
7:15 p.m. -- Choir Practice
Thursday, May 14
6:00 a.m. -- Daily Orthros
Friday, May 15
Saturday, May 16
5:45 p.m. -- Ninth Hour followed by Great Vespers
Sunday, May 17 (Sunday of the Blindman)
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 Katools for the Divine Liturgy today.
Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:
Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour
May 10 Katool POT LUCK MEAL
(set-up: Pigott/Dabit/Strain)
May 17 Schelver Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
May 20 (Wed. pm) Morris Kh. Janet Henderson
(Feast of the Ascension) Mary Guy Lockhart
May 24 Jones D. Root/Dansereau
May 30 (Sat. am) Meadows Brittany Salisbury
(Saturday of the Souls) Koliva:
May 31 Davis POT LUCK MEAL
(Feast of Pentecost) (Set-up: Elizabeth Root
Brittany Salisbury)
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.
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#
May 10 Mildred Morris Acts 11:19-30 52
May 17 Phillip Lasseter Acts 16:16-34 58
May 20 (Wed. pm) Kh. Be'Be' Schelver Acts 1:1-12 63
May 24 Brenda Baker Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66
May 30 (Sat. am) David Turner Acts 28:1-31 72
May 31 Tom Willingham Acts 2:1-11 77
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 continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.
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.
Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.
Vivian Haddad from Holy Resurrection Orthodox Church in Clinton is at home again, having been hospitalized earlier with a stroke. She and her husband Charles have been dear friends of many here at St. Peter. Please keep them and their family in your prayers.
Parish Life Conference 2015: This year St. Ignatius Orthodox Church in Franklin, TN will be hosting the Parish Life Conference for our Diocese on June 10-14. His Grace, Bishop JOHN Abdallah will be the speaker. Registration forms are available in the office or you can go online at www.saint-ignatius.org to register. The Conference will take place at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs and the last day to book the special conference rate is May 20th.
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 the 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.
* We will be serving at the Stewpot on Saturday, May 23rd, along with members of Holy Resurrection and Holy Trinity/St. John the Theologian Orthodox Churches.
* Vacation Church School will be held Thursday, July 2nd through Saturday, July 4th.
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, May 17th and June 7th and 21st.
Our Pot Luck Meal today is also a Special Coffee Hour to honor Tiffany Strain our graduating High School Senior!
Fasting Discipline for May
The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) will be observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays of the month.
Major Commemorations for May
May 10 Apostle Simon the Zealot
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
May 17 Sunday of the Blindman
May 21 Feast of Ascension
Sts Constantine and Helen
May 24 Sunday of the holy Fathers of Nicea
May 25 The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)
May 30 Saturday of the Souls
May 31 Feast of Pentecost
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 May:
May 5 -- Dale Cooper
-- Joanna Davis
May 7 -- Tiffany Strain (#18!)
May 8 -- Kh. Janet Henderson
May 10 -- Fr. Leo Schelver
May 11 -- Meghan Brock
May 15 -- Tom Skirtech
May 21 -- Jacob Skirtech (#8!)
May 24 -- Paul Katool
-- Daniel Root
May 26 -- David Turner
-- Julian Dabit (#3!)
May 27 -- Luke Habeeb (#10!)
May 30 -- Dn. Terry Algood
May 31 -- Stephen Chamblee
Happy Anniversaries in May:
May 12 -- Cliff and Anna Kathryn Stewart (#8!)
May 19 -- Jay and Joanna Davis (#3!)
May 25 -- Nicholas and Carrie Henderson (#1!)
May 30 -- Tom and Jennifer Skirtech (#38!)
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 when you leave the building that both thermostats are set to 80 degrees in warm weather or 60 degrees in cold weather.
Quotable: "How Should We Conduct Ourselves in the Morning?
In the morning, conduct yourself in the following manner:
Right after this, or at the same time, get out of bed. Getting out of bed quickly is often very unpleasant for our flesh, because our flesh, like a lazy servant, always likes to lie and sleep or to luxuriate and remain idle. Every single morning act against the basic desires of your flesh. Let this opposition to the flesh be your first sacrifice to the Lord God. Among other reasons, quickly getting up in th morning is very beneficial for the soul because (as all who fervently strive for salvation have long observed) when we lie in bed for a long time after waking, impure tendencies very easily arise in our bodies, and impure thoughts and desires in our souls. Later in the day these easily cause the careless to fall into serious sins and into great danger of losing their salvation. But whoever bravely opposes the wishes of his flesh in the morning will resist temptations besetting him during the day and evening, even very serious ones. But if you have been watching after yourself to any degree, you already know this."
How to Live a Holy Life by Metropolitan GREGORY of
St. Petersburg
Worship: Sunday, May 17, 2015 (Sunday of the Blindman)
Scripture: Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38
Celebrant: Father John
Epistle Reader: Phillip Lasseter
Prosphora: Schelver
Coffee Hour: Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker
