December 16, 2007 Church Bulletin

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Sunday, December 16th 

TWENTY NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST - SUNDAY OF THE HOLY FOREFATHERS 

VARIATION IN TODAY'S DIVINE LITURGY 

At the entrance (Service Book page 97): 

1)       TROPARION OF THE RESURRECTION - Tone 4:  When the women disciples learned the joyful message of the Resurrection from the angel, they cast away parental sin, and proudly told the message to the disciples, proclaiming that death hath been spoiled and Christ, our God, hath risen, granting to the world great mercy.

2)       THE ENTRANCE HYMN:  O Come, let us worship and fall down before Christ.  O son of God, who art risen from the dead save us who sing unto thee:  Alleluia.

3)       Repeat #1 above.

4)       TROPARION OF THE FOREFATHERS - Tone 2:  Thou hast justified by faith the ancient forefathers and through them thou hast gone before and betrothed unto thyself the Church of the Gentiles.  Let the saints, therefore, take pride in glory; for from their seed sprouted forth a noble fruit, and she it was who gave birth to thee without seed.  Wherefore, by their pleadings, O Christ God, save our souls.

5)       TROPARION OF ST. GEORGE - Tone 4:  As deliverer of captives and defender of the poor, healer of the infirm, champion of kings, victorious, Great Martyr George, intercede with Christ our God for our soul's salvation.

6)       KONTAKION FOR THE PREPARATION FOR THE NATIVITY - Tone 3:  Today the Virgin cometh unto the cave, to give birth to the Word, who was born before all ages; begotten in a manner that defies description.  Rejoice, therefore, O Universe, if thou shouldst hear, and glorify with the angels and the shepherds, (glorify) Him who by His will shall become a new born babe, and who is our God before all ages.

Prokeimenon:  Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our Fathers. For you are just in all you have done.  EPISTLE:  The reading is from St. Paul's Letter to the Colossians(Chapter 3:4-11.) 

BRETHREN, when Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you:  fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  On account of these the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.  In these you once walked, when you lived in them.  But now put them all away; anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth.  Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.

 THE HOLY GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. LUKE(Chapter 14:16-24.) 

The Lord spoke this parable:  "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for all is now ready.'  But they all alike began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have married, a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So the servant came and reported this to his master.  Then the householder in anger said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.'  And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'  And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.  For many are called, but few are chosen.'"

 Special note:  Except for those who are elderly and/or disabled, please remain standing during Holy Communion. 

NEXT WEEK'S HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT:  Hebrews 11:9-10, 17:23, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-25. 

 ARABIC TRANSLATOR NEEDED We would like to have several volunteers to translate articles for our new WEB PAGE from English to Arabic.  Must be computer literate with Arabic text in Unicode.  Please contact Father Timothy if you can assist with this important task.  Thank you.   

URGENT! St. George Orthodox Church of Boston is made possible through the generous contributions of faithful people like you.We are thankful for all the families who support St. George Parish through our Annual Pledge Program - our Pledge is the foundation of our budget and all that we are able to accomplish here at St. George.  This year, unfortunately, our Pledges are lagging behind and, as it looks now, we will not meet our needs by the end of the year.  Please help out now.

• If you made a Pledge and haven't contributed on it yet - we ask you to please do so now - we urgently need your commitment and financial support before the close of the year [just a few weeks away].
• If you are contributing on your Pledge and have a remaining balance - now is the time to send it in.
• If you did not made a Pledge and appreciate and benefit from all the community has to offer you and your family - we urge you to make a donation of support now - your assistance is urgently needed.

PLEDGE FORMS and ENVELOPES are at the Candle Stand

Guide for Proportional Giving to St. George Orthodox Church of BostonIf you are Pledging for the first time, please consider starting with a pledge of 2% of your income.  If you are already a Pledging Member of St. George parish, we hope you will increase your pledge by at least 2% of your income.Your proportionate Annual Pledge would be:

Total Pledged $220,834.16

Total Received $200,495.42

Difference 20,338.74

Received 91% Percent

HUMANITARIAN APPEAL"When you give alms, your left hand must not know what your right is doing; your almsgiving must be in secret, and your Father who sees all that is done in secret will reward you." [Mt. 6:3-4]

Funds are requested to assist several members of the community who have experienced recent hardships.  The funds will assist with rent, utilities, clothing and household items.  Out of respect for privacy the distribution will be made confidentially through the Pastoral Discretionary Fund of the Church.  If you wish to donate to a very worthy cause, please make your tax-deductible contribution to St. George Church with the memo ‘Pastoral Discretionary Fund'.  Your assistance with this appeal is a great blessing, Thank You!

MEMORIAL DAY A Message from Father Timothy: On Monday, May 28^th, Memorial Day, we will be at the following cemeteries at these times: MT. HOPE - 9:00-9:45AM (@ 9:00AM we will meet at the grave of Fr. George Maloof) GETHSEMANE - 10:15-10:45AM (@ 10:15AM we will meet at the grave of Fr. Elias Hamaty) MT. BENEDICT - 11:00-11:30AM (@ 11:00AM we will meet at the top of the hill) A Trisagion Service will be held at each cemetery, following which we will be available to visit as many graves as time permits. Please use the following to list any names you wish to be remembered at the service      TO HONOR IS TO REMEMBER(Kindly return this form to Father Timothy TODAY

Christ is risen from the dead; trampling down death by death, and to those in the tombs bestowing life.

Al Maseeh qam min bain il amwat, wa wati al mawt bil mawt, wa wahabal hiyat lil la dhina fil qoobur.Christos anesti ek nekron thanato thanaton patisas, kai tis en tis mnimasi zoin, charisamenos.   

ALL SAINTS MISSION CAN DRIVE:  Just a reminder that we are still collecting empty, clean soda cans or if you have cashed them in, the money to send to All Saints Mission in Weymouth.  There will be a jar for the money and a black bag for the cans at the Bookstore each week.  

Each year, the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America are able to award scholarships, usually in the amount of $500 each, to help women continue their education in order to improve their circumstances and those of their families.  The qualifications for the scholarship are as follows:  The applicant must be a female over 25 years of age; must be a member in good standing of a parish of the Antiochian Archdiocese, must be actively involved in her parish, must be applying for or registered in an academic or trade program of study, and must demonstrate financial need.  Deadline for filing is June 1, 2007.  Applications may be obtained in the church office.  Any questions, call Laila Ferris (915) 565-1088.

Each year, the Nicholas G. Beram Veterans Assn. and its Auxiliary are able to awards scholarships in the amount of $1,000 to deserving recipients at their Awards Banquet in November.  This Scholastic Achievement Awards Program is now in progress.  It is most important that all interested high school seniors get their applications in early.  Deadline for filing is June 1, 2007.  Applications and instructions are available at the church office or you can download an application from the website, www.stjohnd.org. 

Please remember that the box next to the Coke Machine is intended for empty cans only.  The money from these cans goes to the Mission.  So please do not throw garbage into this box.  Please deposit dirty napkins, plates, cups and utensils into trash barrels.  Thank you!