May 29, 2016

Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

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 29 (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

Monday, May 30

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, May 31

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Wednesday, June 1 (Justyn Martyr)

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

7:30 p.m. — Parish Council meeting

Thursday, June 2

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

11:30 a.m. — Men’s Lunch

Friday, June 3

Saturday, June 4 (Metrophanes of Constantinople)

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

Sunday, May 22 (Sunday of the Blindman)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Hendersons for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

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.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

May 29 Henderson Algood/Lasseter

June 5 Algood R. Root/Habeeb

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Katool Mary Guy Lockhart

June 12 Schelver Schelver/Lavric/Turner

June 19 Morris Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

June 26 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Meadows Karen Cooper

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 29 Brenda Baker Acts 11:33-12:2 52

June 5 David Turner Acts 16:16-34 58

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood Acts 1:1-8 63

June 12 Walt Wood Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66

June 19 Warren Strain Acts 2:1-11 77

June 26 Mildred Morris Heb. 11:33-12:2 84

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows II Cor. 11:21-33, 12:6-9 389

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.

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 the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; 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; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Lynda Costas; Kevin and Angelina Speier; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Demitrius Zouboukos.

Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.

Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.

Our condolences go to Kh. Susan Cushman of St. John’s in Memphis on the falling asleep of her mother, Effie Johnson, last Sunday. May her memory be eternal! Please keep Fr. Basil, Kh. Susan and their family in your prayers.

Fr. John will be having knee surgery on Friday, June 3rd. For the first few days afterwards, please call Fr. Leo or Fr. James if you need a priest.

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.

* The men of the parish will meet at the church once each quarter for a Saturday morning Father-Son Prayer Breakfast.

* The Leave-taking of Pascha will be celebrated with Paschal vespers on Tuesday evening, June 7th, beginning at 6:30 p.m

* The Feast of the Ascension will be celebrated with Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy on Wednesday evening, June 8th, beginning at 6:00 p.m.

* The remaining dates for serving at the Stewpot Ministries this year are September 17th and November 26th.

* His Grace, Bishop THOMAS will be with us August 12-15th. Be sure to mark your calendars now.

Burial Plots at Natchez Trace Cemetery: There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall for anyone interested in a group of burial plots set aside for St. Peter at the Natchez Trace Cemetery on Highway 51 in Madison. There is a letter detailing a special offer for members of St. Peter for burial plots and funeral arrangements. For those interested we will have a meeting within the next couple of weeks to discuss this further.

Parish Life Conference: This year’s PLC will be hosted by St. Andrew the Apostle in Pensacola, FL, from June 15-18. Registration and information about the hotel is available on the Antiochian website. Please make plans to support our sister parish in their efforts.

Pentecost Feast: We will have a set menu (Southern lunch) pot luck following the Divine Liturgy on Sunday, June 19th. There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall. Anyone wanting to bring outdoor games is encouraged to do so!

Fasting Discipline for June

The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on all Wednesdays and Fridays prior to Pentecost (June 19th). There will be no fasting of any kind during the week following Pentecost. The Apostles fast will begin on June 27th and run through June 29th this year.

Major Commemorations for June

June 1 Justyn Martyr

June 4 Metrophanes of Constantinople

June 5 Sunday of the Blindman

June 8 Theodore the General (transfer of relics)

June 9 Feast of the Ascension

June 12 Sunday of the Holy Fathers of Nicea

June 19 Feast of Pentecost

June 24 Nativity of the Forerunner

June 26 Sunday of All Saints

June 29 Chief Apostles Peter and Paul

June 30 Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles

Quotable: “But there are no limits to man’s repentance. The highest form of repentance for which God bestows an exceptional measure of grace is when man who offers up a cry of repentance for the whole human race and, like another Adam, perceives the cosmic consequences of his own fallen state. We see examples of this kind of repentance in the three Holy Children in Babylon, in the great Apostle Paul, in the humble intercession of all the saints, and last but not least in St. Silouan’s prayer for the whole world: ‘I pray Thee O merciful Lord for all the peoples of the earth, that they may come to know Thee by Thy Holy Spirit.’ The depth of this deceptively simple prayer can be discerned in Adam’s Lament, his personal portrait of universal repentance. ”

The Hidden Man of the Heart

by Archimandrite Zacharias

Worship: Sunday, June 5, 2016 (Sunday of the Blindman)

Scripture: Acts 16:16-34; John 9:1-38

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: David Turner

Prosphora: Algood

Coffee Hour: R. Root/Habeeb

May 22, 2016

Sunday of the Paralytic

In the miracle of the healing of the paralytic at the pool of Bethesda, we see the Son’s power over life and sin, power which becomes fully evident in the Resurrection. The paralytic is a man crippled in body and spirit, for, even as He heals the body, Jesus warns against results of further sin. Christ frees us from our bodies of corruption and grants us flesh glorified in Him; He also frees us from the power of sin and grants us perfection in His Spirit. As the man at the pool accepted God’s grace and found life, so let us walk in His light and come into His presence.

Acts 9:32-42: Empowered by the Holy Spirit, St Peter heals a paralyzed man and raises a woman from the dead; both acts lead to many people believing in the Lord.

John 5:1-15: Jesus demonstrates His lordship over creation and the Sabbath when He heals a sick man at the pool of Bethsaida.

Troparion of the Resurrection: Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad; for the Lord hath done a mighty act with his own arm. He hath trampled down death and become the First-born from the dead. He hath delivered us from the depths of hades, granting the world the Great Mercy.

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 22 (Sunday of the Paralytic)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

Monday, May 23

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, May 24

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

11:30 a.m. — Ladies Lunch

Wednesday, May 25 (The Forerunner – Third Discovery)

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

7:30 p.m. — Parish Council Meeting

Thursday, May 26

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Friday, May 27

Saturday, May 28 (Constantine and Helen)

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

Sunday, May 29 (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Dn. Richard Roots for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

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.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

May 22 R. Root D. Root/Dansereau

May 29 Henderson Algood/Lasseter

June 5 Algood R. Root/Habeeb

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Katool Mary Guy Lockhart

June 12 Schelver Schelver/Lavric/Turner

June 19 Morris Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

June 26 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Meadows Karen Cooper

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 15 Phillip Lasseter Acts 6:1-7 38

May 29 Brenda Baker Acts 11:33-12:2 52

June 5 David Turner Acts 16:16-34 58

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood Acts 1:1-8 63

June 12 Walt Wood Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66

June 19 Warren Strain Acts 2:1-11 77

June 26 Mildred Morris Heb. 11:33-12:2 84

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows II Cor. 11:21-33, 12:6-9 389

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.

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 the following in your prayers: Steve, Sheryl and Stephen Chamblee; 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; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Lynda Costas; Kevin and Angelina Speier; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Demitrius Zouboukos; Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman’s mother).

Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.

Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.

Fasting Discipline for May

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

Major Commemorations for May

May 22 Sunday of the Paralytic

May 25 The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)

May 29 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

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.

* The men of the parish will meet at the church once each quarter for a Saturday morning Father-Son Prayer Breakfast. The next meeting is Saturday, May 21st.

* The remaining dates for serving at the Stewpot Ministries this year are September 17th and November 26th.

* His Grace, Bishop THOMAS will be with us August 12-15th. Be sure to mark your calendars now.

Parish Life Conference: This year’s PLC will be hosted by St. Andrew the Apostle in Pensacola, FL, from June 15-18. Registration and information about the hotel is available on the Antiochian website. Please make plans to support our sister parish in their efforts.

Burial Plots at Natchez Trace Cemetery: There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall for anyone interested in a group of burial plots set aside for St. Peter at the Natchez Trace Cemetery on Highway 51 in Madison. There is a letter detailing a special offer for members of St. Peter for burial plots and funeral arrangements. For those interested we will have a meeting within the next couple of weeks to discuss this further.

Quotable: “In the early stages of repentance, the believer carries the small cross that God’s Providence, in His discernment and love for mankind, has foreseen in the life of each of us. Our personal cross is shaped according to our specific need to be liberated from every form of passionate attachment, and unless we carry it we will never be able to love God our Creator and Benefactor with a free heart and run His course faithfully and steadily. In other words, we take up our cross in response to the commandment to repent, and it becomes the key to our entry into the great and eternal inheritance, which Christ gained for us through His Cross and Resurrection. ”

The Hidden Man of the Heart

by Archimandrite Zacharias

Worship: Sunday, May 29, 2016 (Sunday of the Samaritan Woman)

Scripture: Acts 11:19-30; John 4:5-42

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Brenda Baker

Prosphora: Henderson

Coffee Hour: Algood/Lasseter

May 15, 2016

Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women

About the beginning of His thirty-second year, when our Lord was going throughout Galilee, preaching and working miracles, many women who had received of His beneficence left their homeland and from then on followed after Him. They ministered unto Him out of their own possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards, neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers, they came to His sepulcher, bearing the myrrh-oils they had prepared to anoint His body. It is because of the myrrh-oils that these God-loving women brought to the tomb that they are called the Myrrh-bearers. Of those whose names are known are the following: first of all the most holy Virgin Mary, who in Matthew 27:56 and Mark 15:40 is called Athe mother of James and Joses@ (these are the sons of Joseph by a previous marriage, and she was therefore their step-mother); Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Cleopas; Joanna, wife of Chouza, a steward of Herod Antipas; Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus; and Susanna. As for the names of the rest of them, the evangelists have kept silence.

On this day we also make commemoration of Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret disciple, and also of Nicodemus, who was a disciple by night. Joseph went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and together with Nicodemus, he gave Him burial out of reverence and love.

Acts 6:1-7: In the reading from Acts we see the establishment of the office of diaconate as an order of Church government with a purpose of serving the people and caring for their needs.

Mark 15:43-16:8: St Mark describes how Joseph of Arimathea claims the body of our Lord from Pi­late to place it in his own tomb. On the third day, the three women learn from an angel that the Lord has risen from the dead.

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!

Troparia of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers: The pious Joseph, having brought down thy pure body from the Tree, wrapped it in fine linen, embalmed it with ointment, provided for it, and laid it in a new tomb. But thou didst truly rise, after three days, O Lord, granting the world the Great Mercy.

Verily, the angel came to the tomb and said to the ointment-bearing women, The ointment is meet for the dead, but Christ is shown to be remote from corruption. But cry ye, The Lord is risen, granting the world the Great Mercy.

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 15 (Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. — Coffee Hour Honoring High School Graduates

Monday, May 16

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, May 17 (Apostle Simon the Zealot)

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Wednesday, May 18

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

Thursday, May 19

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Friday, May 20

Saturday, May 21 (Constantine and Helen)

8:30 a.m. — Father-Son Breakfast followed by Workday at the Church

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

Sunday, May 22 (Sunday of the Paralytic)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

Eucharist Bread …was offered by the Meadows for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

May 15 Meadows Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker

May 22 R. Root D. Root/Dansereau

May 29 Henderson Algood/Lasseter

June 5 Algood R. Root/Habeeb

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Katool Mary Guy Lockhart

June 12 Schelver Schelver/Lavric/Turner

June 19 Morris Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

June 26 Jones Henderson/Baker/Lockhart

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Meadows Karen Cooper

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 15 Phillip Lasseter Acts 6:1-7 38

May 22 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver Acts 9:32-42 45

May 29 Brenda Baker Acts 11:33-12:2 52

June 5 David Turner Acts 16:16-34 58

June 8 (Wed. p.m.) Sh. Charlotte Algood Acts 1:1-8 63

June 12 Walt Wood Acts 20:16-18, 28-36 66

June 19 Warren Strain Acts 2:1-11 77

June 26 Mildred Morris Heb. 11:33-12:2 84

June 28 (Tues. p.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows II Cor. 11:21-33, 12:6-9 389

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.

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 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; 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; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Lynda Costas; Kevin and Angelina Speier; Tom and Kathy Willingham; Demitrius Zouboukos; Effie Johnson (Kh. Susan Cushman’s mother).

Please continue to pray for the health of His Grace, Bishop ANTOUN.

Please remember Fr. Joseph and Kh. Joanna Bittle, and their daughter Abigail, in your prayers.

We will be having a special Coffee Hour today to honor Alexia Parker and Anastasia Osborne who will be graduating from high school!

Fasting Discipline for May

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

Major Commemorations for May

May 15 Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-bearers

May 21 Constantine and Helen

May 22 Sunday of the Paralytic

May 25 The Forerunner (3rd Discovery)

May 29 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman

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.

* The men of the parish will meet at the church once each quarter for a Saturday morning Father-Son Prayer Breakfast. The next meeting is Saturday, May 21st.

* The dates for serving at the Stewpot Ministries this year are September 17th and November 26th.

* His Grace, Bishop THOMAS will be with us August 12-15th. Be sure to mark your calendars now.

Parish Life Conference: This year’s PLC will be hosted by St. Andrew the Apostle in Pensacola, FL, from June 15-18. Registration and information about the hotel is available on the Antiochian website. Please make plans to support our sister parish in their efforts.

Burial Plots at Natchez Trace Cemetery: There is a sign-up sheet in the Fellowship Hall for anyone interested in a group of burial plots set aside for St. Peter at the Natchez Trace Cemetery on Highway 51 in Madison. There is a letter detailing a special offer for members of St. Peter for burial plots and funeral arrangements. For those interested we will have a meeting within the next couple of weeks to discuss this further.

Quotable: “To begin with, man repents of his sins. But as the grace of repentance increases, his estrangement from eternal life is healed and the wisdom of God’s pre-eternal design with regard to man opens before him. The image (cf. John 5:37) of his Archetype, Christ, is gradually formed in his heart as he perceives ever more clearly his calling to become like Him, ‘after the image of him that created him’ (Col. 3:10) and he no longer compares himself with mortals, but with the eternal God. This vision leads him to the fullness of repentance, that is, repentance on the ontological level, which, according to Fr. Sophrony, has no end upon earth. ”

The Hidden Man of the Heart

by Archimandrite Zacharias

Worship: Sunday, May 22, 2016 (Sunday of the Paralytic)

Scripture: Acts 9:32-42; John 5:1-15

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

Prosphora: R. Root

Coffee Hour: D. Root/Dansereau