SAINT NICHOLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH P.O. Box 777 Barton, OH

Transcription

1 A Parish of the American Carpatho-Russian Orthodox Diocese Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople Follow our Diocese online: Diocesan Website: Camp Nazareth: Facebook: Twitter: You Tube: Very Rev. Father Michael C. Kabel Pastor & Dean OFFICE PHONE (740) Church Hall Phone (740) WEB SITE: PARISH FACEBOOK: ACRY FACEBOOK: MYSTERY OF HOLY CONFESSION: Before & after Saturday evening Vespers. Other Sacraments by appointment. GOING TO THE HOSPITAL? Please notify Father when you are admitted if you want him to visit. Kindly notify Father also when you are discharged. SUNDAY, MAY 21, 2017 DIVINE LITURGY 10:00 AM CHRIST IS RISEN! CHRISTOS VOSKRESE! SAINT NICHOLAS ORTHODOX CHURCH P.O. Box 777 Barton, OH INDEED HE IS RISEN! VOISTINNU VOSKRESE! THE SUNDAY OF THE MAN BORN BLIND: Regular Sunday Antiphons. 3 rd Antiphon of Pascha on pp Other Propers as given on pp The Angel Exclaimed on p. 195 is sung throughout the Paschal Season. EPISTLE: Acts of the Holy Apostles 16: GOSPEL: John 9:1-38. SCHEDULE OF DIVINE SERVICES For the week of May 21: Sun., May 21: (After Liturgy) Panachida in memory of +Jeanette Bella. Requested by Tony, Janice, Stephen and Daniel. Tues., May 23: (6:30 PM) Moleben to the Most Holy Theotokos at the Prayer Garden. Wed., May 24: (6:00 PM) Great Vespers with Litija for the Great Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven.

2 8:30 AM: Preparation Prayers for Holy Communion. ASCENSION THURSDAY, May 25: 9:00 AM: Divine Liturgy for the Great Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord Jesus Christ into Heaven. Special Antiphons and all Propers can be found on pp There will be Mirovanije (festive anointing) at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy. Sat., May 27: (6:00 PM) Great Vespers for the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Sunday, May 28: Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council 9:30 AM: Preparation Prayers for Holy Communion. 10:00 AM: Divine Liturgy for the Sunday of the Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council. Antiphons, Glorification & Irmos from the Ascension on pp Other Propers as given on pp There will be Mirovanije (festive anointing) at the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy in honor of the Ascension. THE ETERNAL LAMP burns in memory of +Jeanette Bella. Requested by Tony, Janice, Stephen and Daniel. THE LEFT SIDE ALTAR LAMPS (Prothesis) burn with prayers for Laney & Anna Ross. Requested by Laney & Cindi Ross. THE TETRAPOD LAMPS burn with prayers for Special Intentions. Requested by Theresa Reese. TODAY S SUNDAY BULLETIN is sponsored in memory of +Jeanette Bella. Requested by Laney & Cindi Ross. CONGRATULATIONS & WELCOME to the newest member of our Saint Nicholas Orthodox parish family, Karen Marie Zavatsky, who was received into the Orthodox Faith by Chrismation and Confession of Faith last Thursday, May 18. Karen will receive the Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist for the first time at the Divine Liturgy TODAY. May God bless her richly, and grant her peace, health and salvation! Christ is Risen! OUR MONTHLY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING will be held TODAY, after the Pot-Luck Coffee Hour. All Council members should be present for this meeting. LEAVE-TAKING OF PASCHA. Our 40-day celebration of the Resurrection concludes on Wednesday of this week. After this, we no longer sing Christ is Risen. The Plaščanitsa and the Grave are put away. However, we continue to stand for all of our prayers until the Kneeling Prayers on Pentecost Sunday. CAMP NAZARETH FAMILY DAY RAFFLE TICKETS are still available for a donation of $ Top prize is $10,000 cash. Drawing will be held on Family Day at Camp Nazareth on Sunday, June 11, See Pan i Kelley if you would like to purchase a ticket. GRAVE BLESSINGS preceded by a Panachida and the Reading of the Diptychs of the Departed will take place at our parish cemetery next Sunday, May 28, 2017, following the Coffee Hour. Other local graves will be blessed by request only. MEMORIAL DAY SERVICES. If the schedule remains the same as in previous years, services will be held at the Barton Memorial across from the Post Office at 10:00 AM on Monday, May 29. Father Michael will serve a Panachida for the departed veterans at our parish cemetery on Monday, May 29 between 10:30 and 10:45 AM. Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend both services. CAMP NAZARETH FAMILY CAMP will be held from Friday, June 9 thru Sunday, June 11, The theme is Your Family s Sacred Story. Register online at campnazareth.org ASAP. FAMILY DAY at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA will be held on Sunday, June 11. All parishioners are strongly encouraged to join the rest of our Diocesan Family for this yearly event of prayer & fellowship. Divine Liturgy at

3 Camp is at 10:00 AM. You need to come and see the wooden church and all of the other additions and improvements to our Diocesan Camp! Divine Liturgy here will at 8:00 AM on June 11. BIBLE STUDY / ADULT EDUCATION. Please sign-up on the sheet on the bulletin board if you would like to participate. *************************************************************************************************************************** A FOND FAREWELL to John and Marilyn Brady, who will be moving to their new home this week. We thank John and Marilyn for all of their dedicated service to our parish. They have been such a blessing in so many ways! We wish them the best in their new endeavors, and may God bless them abundantly! Many Years & God Bless! Christ is Risen! Here is their new address. Cell phone numbers and addresses remain the same: 105 Zoa Ave, Apt #1 Johnson City, NY May the Lord watch between you and me when we are absent one from another. Genesis 31:49 CHURCH CLEANING COMMITTEE. A cleaning committee has been formed to oversee the bigger general cleaning of the church. The committee is looking for members to help in this task. The goal of the committee is to oversee the work, not to be the individuals who do all the work. We will be meeting soon to comprise a list of all cleaning tasks that need to be done throughout the course of the year. BASEMENT CLEANERS NEEDED. A sign-up sheet has been posted in the back of the church for basement cleaning. We need weekly volunteers. Everyone is encouraged to sign-up for a week, and to be committed to cleaning if they sign-up. A list of tasks that need to be done has also been posted. CHURCH ATTENDANCE Saturday Evening Vespers (5/13) 4 Sunday Divine Liturgy (5/14) 95 UPCOMING EVENTS IN 2017 Please mark your calendars now! Thursday, May 25 Ascension. Sunday, May 28 Memorial Day Weekend and the Blessing of Graves. Sunday, June 4 Pentecost Sunday. Friday, June 9 thru Sunday, June 11 Family Camp at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA. Sunday, June th Annual Family Day Celebration at Camp Nazareth in Mercer, PA. Sunday, June 18 Father s Day.

4 CAMP NAZARETH ANNUAL FAMILY DAY SUNDAY, JUNE 11, 2017 Fellowship & fun all day Music entertainment, swimming, craft activities, games and the Raffle Drawing 10am -- DIVINE LITURGY Lunch/Picnic following Liturgy MENU: Barbeque Beef Sandwich Barbeque Chicken Roasted Potatoes Pasta Salad Tossed Salad Chips/Dip Homemade Desserts Drinks Vegetarian Option: Grilled Vegetable Wrap ADULTS: $10.00 Children under 13 : $6.00 Children under 5: free FAMILY PRICE: $30.00 (includes 2 parents & all children under age 13) Don t Forget About Family Camp June 9-11, 2017 Register at

5 On Stewardship and the Orthodox Life Part 141: Spiritual Education (4/09/17) By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciple. (John 15:8 RSV) Most Orthodox Christians, actually all Christians, fall into the trap of I don t need to know more! I learned all about Orthodoxy, Theology and being saved when I was in Sunday school! Sound familiar? How many of you have attended an adult education class or adult Bible class at your parish in the past year? In the past year, how many read the scriptures daily or have read a book about the Saints or a Spirituality book? Many of you read the newspaper every day or read articles on the internet or read a novel? How many of you are concerned enough about your salvation and that of your brothers and sisters to further your spiritual education? As Orthodox, we have a tendency to shy away from talking about our faith. Or, we say, we are right, and you are wrong! That doesn t help anyone. The primary reason we react this way is that we do not know enough about our faith to be able to express it or live it. Our faith is confined to two hours on Sunday! We talked in previous blogs about being in communion with God and our brothers and sisters in Christ and sharing the gifts God has given us with each other that we might assist each other to Theosis. How can we do that if we fail to educate and understand ourselves? If the majority of the parish fails to be educated and fails to understand their faith, how can we make disciples to go out and help others? The good news is that God has given us the abilities to learn, understand, remember and speak. He has given us the gifts that we need on our journey to Theosis as well as helping others on that same journey. He has given us the ability to make disciples, and He has commanded us to use those gifts for that specific purpose. Can you say that you are using your gifts as God commanded? If not, why not? The Church offers you the opportunity to come and see, to learn, to teach. God has given you the gifts to accomplish that, will you take advantage of what He has given you in order to obtain what He has promised you? Or will you continue to be that two hour Sunday Orthodox Christian! ** Part 142: Christ Is Risen! (4/16/17) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:7 RSV) Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen! This most glorious of Christian feast days is celebrated with great joy, peace, and love! We have experienced the resurrection of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and He has brought salvation to us. What a wonderful and spiritually rewarding time this week and this day have been for us! When our clergy walk up and down the aisles proclaiming, Christ is Risen with the throng responding, Indeed He is Risen the smiles and joys are on the faces of all. The fast is over, and now the feast begins, but for how long is this joy with us? We become intoxicated living and remembering what Christ has accomplished, for us! How long does it take us to once again become intoxicated with the opportunities to fill up our lives once again with distractions of the secular world forgetting that my life has only one goal: to know God! Fr. Barnabus Powell in his blog, Faith Encouraged Daily, states that when we forget that our true life is a gift from God, our abilities are a gift from God, our world is a gift from God, we start forgetting our dependence on God for our very breath. We slip into choices and behaviors that lead us back into the self-centered life that we have just forgotten on this wonderful and glorious day of Our Lord s Resurrection. Our forgetfulness directs us once again into ungratefulness and into believing that we can do it all ourselves. Christ has defeated the power of death. He has, Trampled down death, by death! We have no excuses, no distractions, no forgetfulness to bind us. There is no reason for us to go back to putting our secular lifestyles before our Christian life. The Holy Spirit fills us, is promised to us, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and your children and to all that are far off, every one whom the Lord our God calls to him (Acts 2:38-39). We are also told that the Holy Spirit is all truth and knowledge. So on this Holy and wonderful day of Our Lord s resurrection let us pray that we continually remember what this day means to us and that we use those gifts that He has given us to change our lives that we might be in communion with God and also use them for helping others on the path to Theosis. We have but one physical life to live. Let us use it and the gifts God has given us to be perfect as God is perfect. Let us be servant stewards and serve others as Christ serves us. Christ is Risen. Indeed He is Risen! This weekly series of brief thoughts on stewardship and Orthodox life is brought to you by your Diocesan Stewardship Commission.