February 24, 2019

First and Second Discovery of the Forerunner’s Head

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

The theme of the third Sunday before Lent is RETURN FROM EXILE and the Gospel lesson of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32) is read. We are taught by this lesson that even as we stray from God, a banquet is set for our return. And we find that nothing in this fallen world truly satisfies, and thus we find ourselves on a pilgrimage of repentance – returning to God.

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 15:11-32: The parable of the prodigal son as told by our Lord serves to illustrate how precious in the sight of the Lord is one who repents from his sin and is returned to the fold.

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 St. John: The Forerunner=s sacred head, having dawned forth upon the earth, doth send incorruption=s rays unto the faithful, whereby they find healings of their ills. From on high he gathereth the choirs of the Angels and on earth he summoneth the whole race of mankind, that they with one voice might send up glory to Christ our God.

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 Prodigal Son: Foolishly I sprang away from Thy great fatherly glory, and dispersed in wicked deeds the riches that Thou didst give me. With the Prodigal I therefore cry unto Thee now: I have sinned against Thee, O compassionate Father. But receive me in repentance; make me as one of Thy hired servants, O Lord.

CALENDAR

Sunday, February 24 (1st and 2nd Discovery of the Forerunner’s Head; Sunday of the Prodigal Son)

8:50 a.m. — Orthros

9:00 a.m. — Christian Education

10:00 a.m. — Divine Liturgy

Monday, February 25

Father John’s Day Off

Tuesday, February 26

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

12:00 p.m. — Ladies’ Lunch

Wednesday, February 27

6:30 p.m. — Daily Vespers

7:15 p.m. — Choir Practice

Thursday, February 28

6:00 a.m. — Daily Orthros

Friday, March 1

Saturday, March 2 (Saturday of the Souls)

9:00 a.m. — Orthros followed by Divine Liturgy

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

Sunday, March 3 (Sunday of Meatfare)

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 Davises for the Divine Liturgy this morning.

Eucharist Bread and Coffee Hour Schedule:

Eucharist Bread Coffee Hour

February 24 Davis Baker/D. Root/Dansereau

March 2 (Sat. a.m.) D. Root Sh. Charlotte Algood

(Saturday of the Souls) Koliva: Sh. Margaret Root

March 3 Karam Katool/Davis/Staursky

March 10 Brock POT LUCK MEAL

Set-up: Schelver/Karam/Pacurari

March 17 Baker Algood/Jones/Turner

March 24 R. Root Ellis/Zouboukos/Waites

March 25 (Mon. a.m.) Henderson Kh. Sharon Meadows

(Feast of the Annunciation)

March 31 Algood R. Root/Habeeb/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#

February 24 Mildred Morris II Cor. 4:6-15 163

March 2 (Sat. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows I Thess. 4:13-17 412

March 3 Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver I Cor. 8:8-9:2 273

March 10 Brenda Baker Rom. 13:11-14:4 279

March 17 Sh. Charlotte Algood Heb. 11:24-26; 32-40 281

March 24 Mildred Morris Heb. 1:10-2:3 283

March 25 (Mon. a.m.) Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 2:11-18 376

March 31 Kh. Sharon Meadows Heb. 4:14-5:6 285

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 Chamblee; Aidan Milnor, the Milnor family; Sam and Lamia Dabit and Sammie; Mary Greene (Lee and Kh. Sharon’s sister); Lynda Costas; Fr. Nicholas, Kh. Jan and Angelina Speier; David Morris and his family; Vernie Meadows, Fr. James and Kh. Sharon and their family; Walt and Charlotte Wood and their family; Lou Turner’s cousin Amy and her husband John; Noah and Beth Ann (Baker) Pappas, the Reader Basil and Brenda and all of the Baker family; Chris and Rebecca Dansereau and their daughters; Fr. Leo and Kh. Be’Be’ 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 keep Fr. John Morris and Kh. Cheryl in your prayers. They have both been ill recently.

Calendar Items:

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

* The Ladies of St. Peter 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 Ladies of the parish meet for lunch and fellowship on the last Tuesday of the month.

* We will celebrate the Saturday of the Souls liturgy on Saturday morning, March 2nd, beginning at 9:00 a.m.

* Our next date for serving at the Stewpot is Saturday, March 9th. Our remaining date for the year will be Saturday, September 28th.

* We will have Forgiveness Vespers on Sunday evening, March 10th, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

* Great Lent begins on Clean Monday, March 11th.

* We will pray the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings during the first week of Lent.

* We will celebrate the Presanctified Liturgy on Wednesday evenings in place of Daily Vespers during Lent, beginning at 6:30 p.m..

* On Friday evenings of the Great Lent we will pray the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

* On the morning of Saturday, March the 16th there will be a Creative Arts Festival work-time for the children for their entries for the Parish Life Conference. More information will be provided at a later date.

* Vacation Church School will be held again this year in July. More information will be available once plans and dates have been finalized.

March is Ladies Month in our Archdiocese when we give special attention to the role of women in our parish. Ladies will be reading the Epistle this month. Also, please allow the women to go first for communion during this time.

Sister Olga from the convent of St. Elizabeth in Minsk, Belarus will be giving a presentation on their convent following daily vespers this Wednesday evening. The Convent of St. Elizabeth has a strong ministry to children without parental support and to patients in the nearby psychiatric hospital. Sr. Olga will have icons and other items for sale and all proceeds go toward new construction at the convent. Please make plans to attend.

Unsupervised children in the Kitchen: For health and safety concerns children are not to be allowed in the kitchen unless accompanied by a parent. Please get ice for your children and do NOT allow them to use the icemaker themselves.

Fasting Discipline for February/March

The traditional fasting discipline (no meat, dairy, eggs, fish, wine or oil) is observed on the remaining Wednesday and Friday of February. Following Meatfare Sunday (March 3rd) meat will no longer be eaten until Pascha. During the week following Meatfare Sunday dairy products (milk, cheese, eggs, etc.) are permitted, even on Wednesday and Friday. March 10th is Cheesefare Sunday, the last day that dairy and wine are permitted. Monday, March 11th is Clean Monday, the first day of Great Lent when the traditional fasting discipline is observed on all days of the week until Pascha (except the Feast of the Annunciation on March 25th and Palm Sunday on April 21st, when fish, wine and oil are permitted).

Major Commemorations for February/March

February 17 Sunday of the Pharisee and the Publican

February 24 The Forerunner (1st and 2nd Discoveries)

Sunday of the Prodigal Son

March 2 Saturday of the Souls

March 3 Meatfare Sunday

March 9 Forty Martyrs of Sebaste

March 10 Cheesefare Sunday

March 16 Christodoulos, Wonder-worker of Pamos

March 17 1st Sunday of Lent; Sunday of Orthodoxy

March 24 2nd Sunday of Lent; Gregory Palamas

March 25 Feast of the Annunciation

March 26 Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel

March 31 3rd Sunday of Lent; Adoration of the Holy Cross

For Parents: Children in the nursery during Coffee Hour MUST be supervised just as they are on the playground. This room is used for Sunday School each week. Children who are unsupervised create disarray and use materials set aside for the teaching of Christian Education. This creates extra work for the Sunday School teachers who have to come in and set the room in order before class or who find supplies depleted unexpectedly. A parent must be in the room with their children at all times. Please help us with this! — Fr. John

ead of ManHead of Maonasteries

Quotable: “From directions on inner spiritual life he discovers the necessity of paying attention to oneself, of watching over the movements of the heart. In order not to admit anything bad, it is necessary to preserve the remembrance of God.

And so he sets to work to achieve this remembrance. But his thoughts can no more be arrested than the wind; his bad feelings and worthless impulses can no more be evaded than the stench of a corpse; his mind, like a wet and frozen bird, cannot rise to the remembrance of God.”

St. Theophan the Recluse

Worship: Sunday, March 3, 2019 (Sunday of Meat Fare; Sunday of the Last Judgement)

Scripture: I Corinthians 8:8-9:2; Matthew 25:1-46

Celebrant: Father John

Epistle Reader: Kh. Be’Be’ Schelver

Prosphora: Karam

Coffee Hour: Katool/Davis/Staursky