INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net Pg. 2

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1 News & Events INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net Pg. 2 News & Events Pg. 3 From the Inter-NET Pg. 5 Around the World Pg. 6 HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH STEUBENVILLE, OHIO JANUARY, 2019 VOLUME XI ISSUE 1 ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: January Calendar Gyro Sale Flyer and Order Form IOCC Health Kit Fundraiser THE MISSION OF THE HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF STEUBENVILLE, OHIO, IS TO BE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST BY SHARING THE JOY OF THE ORTHODOX FAITH THROUGH LOVE, COMPASSION AND CHARITY FOR ALL. 1 The Net January /August 2015

2 Fr. Nick s Net The Net is the Monthly Newsletter of Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church PARISH INFORMATION PARISH PRIEST: FR. NICHOLAS M. HALKIAS PHONE: (740) HOME: (724) FRNICK@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: PATRICIE ALLEN OFFICE@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG PARISH ADDRESS: 300 SOUTH FOURTH STREET P.O. BOX 788 STEUBENVILLE, OH PHONE: (740) FAX: (740) OFFICE@HOLYTRINITYSTB.ORG WEB: Holy Trinity Church is a parish of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Pittsburgh (pittsburgh.goarch.org) and Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ( under the Spiritual Jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople ( Tony Mougianis Nick Riley Pete Caleodis Rikki Kamarados Don Kronstein Joanne McCraley Marianne Balakos Nick Demitras Maria Matzorkis PARISH MINISTRIES PARISH COUNCIL President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Asst. Treasurer Asst. Treasurer George Berris Rana Mahfood Don Richardson Philoptochos... Joanne McCraley Religious Education... Stewardship... GOYA... Rikki Kamarados JOY... Maria Matzorkis HOPE... Maria Matzorkis Choir... Pete Caleodis Library / Bookstore... Louise Kronstein Senior Citizens... Barbara Lee Maragos Chian Society... John Kamarados Pan-Icarian Brotherhood... Stacey Kotsanis AHEPA... Tommy Kotsanis January, 2019 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Christ is Born! Glorify Him! To everything turn, turn, turn. There is a season turn, turn turn This famous song by The Byrds is taken from the Bible. In Ecclesiastes 3:1, the Scripture states, For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven. This is especially true of the church. The church has a season for everything: fasting, no fasting, extra prayer, worship, feasts, almsgiving, love, forgiveness, repentance, mercy We could make this list very long if we wanted to. The point is that sometimes we feel that the time (or season, if you will) for church and worship and prayer is only on Sundays. We might think, I ll be a good and nice person on Sunday; and when I m not in church, I ll be a little more hardnosed. This mentality is why many people surrounding us don t take Christ very seriously. It is because we often don t take Christ very seriously. We think that we can live a cutthroat life outside of church, and think that we can get away with making a good showing of ourselves for the people we see in church on Sunday. Now I m not saying that we should be mean and nasty in church. But it is important to understand that if we give God only a few hours on Sunday morning and nothing else the rest of the week, we are giving God at best only 2.5 % of our week. That is certainly not enough for the One who has given us 100% of Himself. Nevertheless, what does the Bible mean when it says that there is a time for every matter under heaven. It doesn t mean that every matter is blessed by God, but that we will experience every matter under heaven. And later on in the same chapter in Ecclesiastes it speaks about how God will judge the righteous and the wicked. That means that if we take the time to be wicked, we will be judged for it. It also means that just because God has given time for us to be wicked, we don t have to use the time for that purpose. The Bible speaks about the wicked so that we are not scandalized by their wickedness. We are just beginning a new year. This is a good time for us to ask God-centered questions. How am I using my time? Could I give more time for purposes that God would find appropriate? Am I as kind and loving outside of church as I try to be in church? Can I do more for my church? Are there people I need to forgive? Are there people I need to ask forgiveness of? Can I offer more time to prayer and spending time with my Lord? These questions, and others like them, should be entering our minds daily. We can take advantage of the new year and treat this like a new beginning. However, the reality is that there is no better time than right now to begin living a more Christ-centered life not just for one day, but for all days. May God give us all the strength to make these necessary changes to our lives as we seek to love Him more completely. God Bless you all!!! 2 The Net January

3 News & Events WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Worship... January Our fall schedule for Sunday worship: Orthros begins at 9:00 A.M. and Liturgy begins at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Paraklesis Services... January Paraklesis Services will be offered every Wednesday evening at 6:00 P.M. unless otherwise stated. JANUARY These are the services for the month of January. Please check your schedules and plan to attend. Saturday, January 5... Eve of Theophany 8:30 A.M. Orthros 9:30 A.M. Liturgy w/blessing of the Waters 6:00P.M. Great Vespers Monday, January 7... St. John the Baptist 8:30 A.M. Orthros 9:30 A.M. Liturgy Tuesday, January 8 4:00 P.M. Confession Wednesday, January Eve of St. Anthony 6:00 P.M. Great Vespers Thursday, January St. Anthony 8:30 A.M. Orthros 9:30 A.M. Liturgy 11:00 A.M. Confession Sunday, January Pan-Orthodox Service 3:00 P.M. Blessing of the Ohio River Steubenville Marina Friday, January St. Gregory 8:30 A.M. Orthros 9:30 A.M. Liturgy Wednesday, January Three Hierarchs 9:00 A.M. Orthros 10:00 A.M. Liturgy HAPPY BIRTHDAY The following people will be celebrating their birthdays in the month of January: Christine Joyce Carmen Alexander Stephanie Kamarados Angie Kirsch Kayla Koehnlein Kay Bellas Maria Calfa Nina Xidis JANUARY Mary Markis George Sergakis Hope Halkias Eurydice Kamarados Angie Mahfood Jake Bostaph Nick Cheruvathoor If your name was not listed and you had a birthday during this month, please contact the office; and we will be happy to place it on our roster for next year. RELIGIOUS EDUCATION BIBLE STUDY... January 9 & 23 The Bible Study normally meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of the month at 10:00 A.M. Please check the weekly bulletins for any changes. We will be continuing the study of Isaiah. THEOLOGY ON TAP & OPA... January 24 Theology on Tap is our Men s and Women s (OPA) study group. For the month of January, Theology on Tap & OPA will meet at 6:30 on Thursday, January 24. We will be starting a new study on The Revelation; you don t need to be Orthodox to come. Hope to see you there! Do you know anyone interested in Orthodox Christianity? Contact Fr. Nick to learn how to have an introduction to Orthodoxy in your home! Invite your friends, and show them the faith of our ancestors! PARISH GROUPS CHOIR... January 7 Choir rehearsals will be held on the first Monday of each month at 5:00 P.M. (Changes will be made through the Notify-Now System). Anyone interested in joining the choir is welcome to do so. Please contact Pete Caleodis if you are interested in joining. Thank you. PHILOPTOCHOS... January 3 The Philoptochos Ladies will be having their meeting at 12:00 P.M. at Murray s in Wintersville, OH. 3 The Net January 2019

4 News & Events PARISH COUNCIL... January 8 Parish Council meetings are normally held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 P.M. at the church unless otherwise stated. AHEPA... TBA The AHEPA Society will now have their meetings scheduled through our Notify-Now system 4 The Net January 2019 GYRO FUNDRAISER Philoptochos will be holding a Gyro Fund-raiser on Tuesday, January 8 from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. This event is open to the public. Gyros are $7.00 each. There will be a $.25 up charge for extra tzatziki sauce. Koulourakia (twist cookies) are $6.00 a dozen. There will be free delivery for orders of four or more Gyros. Everyone is welcome to either eat with us, carry out, or to help us with this event. Please join us. GOYA BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT Our Parish GOYA along with the entire Holy Saints GOYA is once again going to basketball tournaments this year! In January, the weekend is January 11-13, at St. Paul, North Royalton. Please contact Rikki Kamarados if you are planning on coming to either of these weekend tournaments. HOLY SAINTS TOURNAMENT - HELP NEEDED The youth groups of our churches, known as the Holy Saints, will be holding a basketball tournament from Friday, February 1 through Sunday, February 3, There will be between 400 and 500 participants, advisors, coaches, clergy, and chaperones attending this event in our city. We invite all parishioners to come and enjoy the festivities of the tournament. Help is still needed for our tournament. If you have the ability to help on Friday for the welcome event at our parish, please contact John Scavdis. If you have the time to give during our games on Saturday or Sunday as a time keeper or a score keeper, please contact Nick Demitras. We are still accepting donations for the ad book. To donate or for general help, contact Rikki Kamarados. THE BOOK OF REVELATION We are pleased to announce the Theology on Tap / OPA groups will be moving from their Journey to Fullness with Fr. Barnabas Powell to the most controversial book in the Bible: The Book of Revelation. Come and see what this most incredible book means! Explore its imagery, and feel free to ask questions. We will meet for this next part of our growth on Thursday, January 24 at 6:30 P.M. All are welcome and you don t need to be Orthodox to come! PHILOPTOCHOS CHRISTMAS PARTY The Holy Trinity Philoptochos met for their annual Christmas party on Thursday, December 6. We started with a delicious dinner from Maryland Market. It was a wonderful time. Of course, we didn t forget to play our annual Christmas grab bag game. It was taught to us by our very own Vi Buffone! NOVEMBER FINANCIALS November weekly income $ November weekly expense $

5 Every male of you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. A child who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised and my covenant shall be in your flesh as an everlasting covenant. (Genesis, 17:10-13) When our forefather in faith Abraham was ninety-nine years of age, the eternal Son and Word of God came to him and made covenant with him. He commanded that, as the defining sign of that covenant, Abraham and his seed be circumcised. Throughout succeeding centuries, Israel dutifully kept this Law and even took it as a cause for boasting (Galatians 6:14). It was to fulfill this divine commandment that our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth according to the flesh from His pure and ever-virgin Mother Mary. This event receives but passing notice in the Gospel: And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21) Yet, laden with great significance, Christ s circumcision proved to be both the fulfillment of God s commandment in the Law and a prophetic sign of future events. The Savior s circumcision was the occasion of the first shedding of His precious blood. The Cross overshadowed the Lord Jesus even while He lay in a crib by swaddling bands bound. The knife which cut the Lord s flesh on that day foreshadowed the centurion s spear which would pierce His side, releasing the saving torrent, the blood and water (John 19:34). That torrent drowned the Law s type and shadow and gave birth to the font. Circumcision prefigured the saving stream of holy baptism through which we Christians enter the new and eternal covenant of salvation as St. Paul proclaimed: In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh in the circumcision of Christ; and you were buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead. (Colossians 2:11-12) In circumcision a blade wielded by the hand of man cut away flesh; in baptism the blade of the Holy Spirit cuts away sin. The Spirit-blade cuts deep, rooting out the sin of our forefather. In the blood of Christ s Passion sin is THE FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE LORD Fr. Daniel Griffith From the Inter-NET drowned together with death s might and Hades (Hosea 13:14; I Corinthians 15:55). Through the water from His side a fertile seed of immortal life and incorruptibility is firmly planted in the soul and flesh of each one who issues from the font. The metal blade of circumcision marked the flesh of Jewish males; the Spirit-blade of baptism marks the soul and body of each and every Christian with the Seal of the gift of the Holy Spirit. Before this new and mighty sign, the cherubim with fiery sword who guard lost Paradise, which of old was in Eden (Genesis 3:25), give way that the children of the new Covenant may, like the Good Thief (Luke 23:43), pass within to rest until the final consummation of God s eternal plan. Of old God in the Law commanded Israel: circumcise your hardheartedness, and be stiff-necked no longer. (Deuteronomy 10:16) Now we who have undergone the very real surgery of baptism, must circumcise our hearts as well. St. Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria (+444), says that we, the faithful, who have been established in grace through holy baptism, must cut away and mortify the tumultuous risings of carnal pleasures and passions by the sharp surgery of faith and by ascetic labors; not cutting the body, but purifying the heart, and being circumcised in the Spirit, and not in the letter [according to the letter of Mosaic Law]; whose praise, as the divine Paul testifies (Romans 2:29), needs not the sentence of any human tribunal, but depends upon the decree from above. Thus we learn the significance of Christ the Savior s eighthday circumcision, that: the name which is above every name (Philippians 2:9) was given; His fulfillment of the Mosaic law; the foreshadowing of His saving Passion and of our participation therein through holy baptism; the taking up of the cross and (Luke 9:23), the daily circumcision of our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit through ascetic effort. The all-good God was not ashamed to be circumcised with the circumcision of the flesh, but provided Himself as an example and pattern for all, for their salvation; for the Creator of the Law fulfilled the prescriptions of the Law and the predictions of the Prophets concerning Himself. O Lord, who holdest all things in the palm of Thy hand and was wrapped in swaddling-clothes, glory to Thee (from aposticha of the feast). -Taken from: The Net January 2019

6 Around the World THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS MARKS A NEW BEGINNING FOR ST. NICHOLAS GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH AND NATIONAL SHRINE AT THE WTC Stavros Papagermanos December 10, 2018 NEW YORK On the feast of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Dec. 6, 2018, His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America administered the solemn Affirmation of Office to the first Board of Trustees for the new St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church and National Shrine at the WTC. This historic and emotional moment took place in the Archdiocesan Chapel of St. Paul, and marks a new beginning in the life of this sacred church. The members appointed (in alphabetical order) are: Richard Browne (Managing Partner, Sterling Project Development), Stephen Cherpelis (Past Vice Chairman of the Direct Archdiocesan District Council), Anthoula Katsimatides (Vice President, Family Relations at Lower Manhattan Development Corp. and sister of 9/11 victim), George Mihaltses (Vice President for Government and Community Affairs, New York Public Library), George Tsandikos (Vice Chairman of the Archdiocesan Council), Michael Psaros (Former Treasurer of the Archdiocesan Council). Additionally, members selected from the original parish board (in alphabetical order) are: Elizabeth Dimonekas-Brody, Joan Dimonekas (Lifelong member), Regina Katopodis, Theodore P. Klingos (Financial, Cash and Budgeting Executive), Stamatios Lykos (Architect), Olga Pavlakos (Attorney at Law) and Peter Zaharatos (Architect, Design Z, LLC). Finally, the Ex-Officio members are: Fr. Mark Leondis (President, Archdiocesan Presbyters Council), Dr. Anthony Limberakis (National Commander of the Archons), Maria Logus, (President, National Philoptochos), George E. Loucas (President, AHEPA), Argyris Vassiliou (President, L100), and a President s designee from the FAITH Endowment. Speaking at the conclusion of the Affirmation of Office service, Archbishop Demetrios shared with the new board his earlier visit that afternoon to St. Nicholas Church at the WTC where he offered prayers for the new board and blessed the interior of the structure with Holy Water from Bari, Italy where the holy relics of St. Nicholas currently rest. At the conclusion of his visit, the Archbishop placed an icon of St. Nicholas in the church and was captivated by the space inside the church edifice and the surrounding area including Liberty Park, the 9/11 Memorial, and the cutting-edge architecture of all the surrounding buildings. The Archbishop commented, St Nicholas Church is a gift from heaven that God has established for all our faithful and for all peoples. We have a sacred mission to do everything possible for its swift and proper completion. Immediately following the ceremony, the board convened for its first meeting and the officers were appointed: President, George Mihaltses; Vice President, Olga Pavlakos; Secretary, Elizabeth Dimonekas-Brody; and Treasurer, Theodore P. Klingos. The overwhelming sentiment of the new board was that God had called each of them, at this historic moment, to assume the great responsibility of completing the most important house of worship built anywhere in the world following the tragic events of 9/11. -Taken from: 6 The Net January

7 The NET-Minders The Parish of Holy Trinity would like to thank the following benefactors for making this Monthly Newsletter possible: YOUR AD HERE In Loving Memory Of Nicholas Mougianis 7 The Net January 2019

8 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church P.O. Box South Fourth Street Steubenville, OH NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE P A I D STEUBENVILLE, OH PERMIT NO. 83 Submissions for THE NET are to be submitted by the 20 th of each month About the Icon on the Cover THE CIRCUMCISION OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST On the eighth day after His Nativity, our Lord Jesus Christ was circumcised in accordance with the Old Testament Law. All male infants underwent circumcision as a sign of God s Covenant with the holy Forefather Abraham and his descendants [Genesis 17:10-14, Leviticus 12:3]. After this ritual, the Divine Infant was given the name Jesus, as the Archangel Gabriel declared on the day of the Annunciation to the Most Holy Theotokos [Luke 1:31-33, 2:21]. The Fathers of the Church explain that the Lord, the Creator of the Law, underwent circumcision in order to give people an example of how faithfully the divine ordinances ought to be fulfilled. The Lord was circumcised so that later no one would doubt that He had truly assumed human flesh, and that His Incarnation was not merely an illusion, as certain heretics had taught. In the New Testament, the ritual of circumcision gave way to the Mystery of Baptism, which it prefigured [Colossians 2:11-12]. Accounts of the Feast of the Circumcision of the Lord continue in the Eastern Church right up through the fourth century. The Canon of the Feast was written by Saint Stephen of the Saint Sava Monastery. In addition to circumcision, which the Lord accepted as a sign of God s Covenant with mankind, He also received the Name Jesus [Savior] on the eighth day after His Nativity as an indication of His service, the work of the salvation of the world [Matthew 1:21; Mark 9:38-39, 16:17; Luke 10:17; Acts 3:6, 16; Philippians 2:9-10]. These two events -- the Lord s Circumcision and Naming -- remind Christians that they have entered into a New Covenant with God and are circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ [Colossians 2:11]. The very name Christian is a sign of mankind s entrance into a New Covenant with God. -Taken from