January 15, 2017

Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Colossians 3:4-11: As we read in Colossians, we see St Paul encouraging the Church to practice the virtues of compassion, kindness, and humility. He reminds us that love is the bond which holds us together and calls us to let the peace of Christ to rule us.

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: Let us believers praise and worship the Word, co-eternal with the Father and the Spirit, born of the Virgin for our salvation; for he took pleasure in ascending the Cross in the flesh, to suffer death, and to raise the dead by his glorious Resurrection.

Troparion of St. Paul of Thebes: The barren wilderness thou didst make fertile with the streams of thy tears and by thy deep sighing thou hast given fruit through thy struggles a hundred-fold. Accordingly, thou hast become a star for the universe, sparkling with miracles. Therefore, O righteous Father Paul, intercede with Christ God that our souls be saved.

Troparion of St. John the Hut Dweller: Since thou hadst with fervor longed after the Lord from thy youth, thou leftist the world with its delights and nobly didst strive in valiant ascetic deeds. Thou didst pitch thy hut before the gates of thy parents; thou didst break the demons’ snares, O all-blessed Father. And therefore, as is meet, hath God glorified thee, O John.

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 15 (Twenty-ninth Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

12:00 p.m. — Pot Luck Meal

Monday, January 16 (Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter)

Office Closed — Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, January 17

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Wednesday, January 18 (Athanasios and Cyril of Alexandria)

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

Thursday, January 19

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Friday, January 20 (Euthymios the Great)

Saturday, January 21

10:00 a.m. — Clark Henderson’s Baptism

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

Sunday, January 22 (Thirty-second Sunday after Pentecost)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

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

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.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

January 15 Katool POT LUCK MEAL

(set-up: Pigott/Meadows/Alaeetawi)

January 22 Schelver Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker

January 29 Morris D. Root/Dansereau/Davis

February 1 (Wed. p.m.) Katools (Artoklasia Bread)

(Feast of the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple)

February 5 Jones Algood/Lasseter/Strain/Dabit

February 12 Meadows POT LUCK MEAL

(set-up: R. Root/Habeeb/Pacurari)

February 18 (Sat. a.m.) Davis

(Saturday of the Souls)

February 19 D. Root Schelver/Lavric/Karam

February 26 Karam 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 15 Kh. Sharon Meadows Col. 3:4-11 233

January 22 Mildred Morris I Tim. 4:9-15 252

January 29 Phillip Lasseter II Cor. 6:16-7:1 173

February 5 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver II Tim. 3:10-15 258

February 12 Brenda Baker I Cor. 6:12-20 265

February 18 (Sat. a.m.) David Turner I Cor. 10:23-26 271-272

February 19 Walt Wood I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273

February 26 Warren Strain Rom. 13:11-14:4 279

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

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 Chamblee; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Georgia Buchanan, George and Michael Johns (Georgia’s grandsons) and their 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 and Tom’s stepdaughter, Maria, who has been diagnosed with MS; Peggy (David Turner’s paternal aunt) who is suffering from cancer and related complications; Alexa (Lou Turner’s very close friend) who sustained multiple injuries in a serious car wreck; and George (Dorothea and Daniel Staursky’s uncle) who sustained injuries in a bad fall.

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.

Chanters’ Stand: We are looking into the purchase of a Chanters’ Stand for the church. The ones that are currently under consideration are carved and are similar to the beautiful tables in the nave and narthex. The cost would be somewhere between $2000 and $4000. We are soliciting donations to cover the cost. If you would like to participate, please let Fr. John know.

House Blessings! A sign-up sheet is available in the Fellowship Hall to sign up for your house blessing. You may also e-mail Father John at frjohnc with 3 dates for your blessing. Please schedule these as soon as possible. Everyone should have their home blessed. However, the responsibility for scheduling lies with individuals and not with Father John. No house blessings will be done once Great Lent starts (February 27th this year).

Patronal Feast: We will celebrate the feast of the Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter with a Pot Luck Meal TODAY. There will not be a service on Monday the 16th.

Nick and Carrie Henderson’s son Clark will be baptized on Saturday, January 21st, beginning at 10:30 a.m. Please keep them in your prayers.

Thomas Wood’s wedding is scheduled for Sunday, February 19th in San Antonio, TX. An invitation has been placed on the bulletin board in the Fellowship Hall. Please keep Thomas and Caitie and their families in your prayers!

Pledge Letters have been mailed. Please fill yours out and return it to the office as soon as possible.

If you are the last to leave, please make sure that the doors in the Fellowship Hall, the kitchen and the hallway are all locked.

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.

* Great Lent will begin on Clean Monday, February 27th. More information about the schedule of services will be available in the coming weeks.

* The MS Valley Deanery will hold its annual Teen Retreat February 3-5, 2017 at Camp Hopewell in Oxford, MS. Fr. Daniel Bethancourt, Retreat Master this year, will be addressing issues related to self-esteem. Please mark your calendars now.

Fasting Discipline for January

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

Major Commemorations for January

January 16 The Veneration of the Chains of St. Peter

January 18 Athanasius and Cyril of Alexandria

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

Burial and Funeral Care Instructions forms: These forms are located on the bureau in the hallway outside the nave. There are two forms: one for the church and one for the family (with a copy given to the church). Please fill out your forms and return to the office as soon as possible.

Please be sure to have your forms notarized. The forms will be kept in a file in the office so that we have your instructions should the need arise.

Quotable: “Consequently the Saint—a bearer of Orthodox Spirutality—possesses all three of these memories, which act and function simultaneously without influencing one another. A Saint is the most ‘natural of men.’ He is conscious of the world, involved in various concerns, yet—because his nous has attained to its natural function—‘he lives on earth but is a citizen of heave.’

Therefore the centre of Orthodox spirituality is the heart, within which man’s nous must inherently operate. The energy of the soul—the nous—must return within the soul’s essence—in the heart–; and thus by uniting these powers by the grace of God acquire unity and communion with God the Trinity. A spirituality outside of this perspective is not Orthodox but moralistic, pietistic, abstract and rationalistic.”

Metropolitan HIEROTHEOS of Nafpaktos , Orthodox Spirituality

Worship: Sunday, January 22, 2017 (Thirty-second Sunday after Pentecost)

Scripture: I Timothy 4:9-15; Luke 19:1-10

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Mildred Morris

Prosphora: Schelver

Coffee Hour: Skirtech/Skirtech/Parker