Most Holy Theotokos, save us!

Transcription

1 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 8 August 2017 Most Holy Theotokos, save us! Higher than the heavens above are you, And you are much purer Than the radiance of the sun; You who have redeemed us From the curse which is upon us; The Lady of all people, In hymns, do we honor you. ~From the Service of Intercessory Prayer to the Most Holy Theotokos (Paraklesis) Dearest Spiritual Ohana, As we begin the month of August, we dedicate the first 15 days of the month especially to our Most Blessed and Glorious Lady the Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary, Whose Dormition (Falling Asleep in the Lord) we celebrate and commemorate. She is the greatest and most honored among the Saints and is higher in glory than all the ranks of the Holy Angels. She is our Ever-Fervent Intercessor before Her Son and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You may notice that the Theotokos has a very prominent place in our Church building. When you enter the nave of the Church, you see her icon prominently displayed on the center wall in the altar. This is no coincidence or accident! The Theotokos in bearing the Christ Child in her womb is the human instrument which brought Him, through the Incarnation (taking on of human flesh) into the world. I invite all of you to come to as many of the services you can, during the first 15 days of August, especially to the Paraklesis Services where we can together supplicate the Theotokos to intercede and pray ceaselessly to Her Son for and on behalf of all of us fo r t he he a l i n g a nd wholesomeness of our spiritual lives amidst all of the daily challenges and illnesses of body and soul we face. I can assure you that as you make the effort to immerse yourselves into the services, that you will find true peace and strength in your personal lives. Most Holy Theotokos, save us! Amidst all the challenges we face in life, we may find it difficult to find time to pray. Prayer is often likely to be the last thing we think about or are compelled to do. But to be a Christian, requires of us to open up the capacity of our hearts to have that special connection with God, and this is done by prayer. The True Christian is the one who prays! The (Continued on page 2) 1

2 (Continued from page 1) Kingdom of God is at hand, meaning God can be found close to and within our inner beings. We have the ability to open the portals and doors of our hearts to allow Him entry into them so that He can engulf us with His Love and Mercy. Just as we need wholesome food, drink and exercise to sustain a healthy body, so we need to partake of God daily through our effort towards prayer. Not that God needs our prayers, we need to pray to Him, because we need Him in our lives! He is always present right before us, but it is by our own free will that we allow Him to enter our lives as our God and Savior. In his isermons Series on Ancient Faith Radio, Fr. Theodore Paraskevopoulos offers some thoughts on the importance of prayer: A young woman told Fr. Theodore that she only prays when she feels spiritual and is compelled to pray. In other words, she said that she prays only when she feels the inspiration to do so. Fr. Theodore replied to her, as I summarize what he said: You should pray and force yourself to pray. Prayer is not a luxury or a selfish endeavor we do only when we feel like it. By this, we show that we only do what we want to do. Think of God as you do your relationship with your spouse, not in the romantic way but in the way we show our love and commitment. In our loving relationship with our spouse we communicate. We force ourselves to show our love and commitment to them even when we are tired out, have no more energy within, and feel that we just want to rest and do our own thing. It is the same way with God, when it comes to communicating with Him. We must force ourselves, especially when it is most difficult. And in forcing ourselves we show our love and true commitment to Him. If we wait until the moment that we feel like praying, that moment of prayer in our lives may never come and we will miss out on having that special relationship with God through Whom we find the only true source of fulfillment. Being made in God s Image and Likeness, we have built within us this natural longing for Him which cannot ever be replaced with any other thing. Have a Blessed month of August! And may we have a most successful 2017 Greek Festival! With Love in Christ, +Fr. Alexander Shorelines is published Monthly by: Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific 930 Lunalilo Street Honolulu, Hawaii Phone : (808) Fax : (808) office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Parish Web Site: Regular Office Hours: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday thru Friday Rev. Father Alexander M. Leong fralexanderleong@yahoo.com Church Staff Cris Devine - Office Coordinator office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Erica Jansen - Bookkeeper 2017 Parish Council pc@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Maria Naval, President Trish Kiladis, Vice President Roni Katsikas, Treasurer Christina Dimitrion, Secretary John Kiladis, Cleopatra Kritikos, Nicholas Kyriakakis, Dimitri Nicholas & Andrew Tujios. Sunday School Director Presbytera Nicole Leong Sunday School Teachers Alice Malick, Greg Malick, Maria Naval, George Kalantzis, Dimitri Nicholas, & Mindy Scordilis Philoptochos Board T.B.A., President; T.B.A., Vice President; T.B.A.,Treasurer; T.B.A., Recording Secretary; T.B.A., Corr. Secretary; Alma Chu, Advisor Choir-Chanters Orest Saikevych, Music Director Gregory Malick, Protopsaltis Parish Ministries Stelio Scordilis, Aloha Youth Choir; T.B.A., Bookstore; Dianna Graves, Greek Dance Groups; Stelio Scordilis, Greek School; Julie Ličina Web Master; Anita Higashi, Facebook 2

3 LITURGICAL LIFE OF OUR PARISH WEEKDAY SERVICES IN AUGUST PARAKLESIS SERVICES Tues. 8/1, Thu. 8/3, Fri. 8/4, Mon. 8/7, Tues. 8/8, Fri. 8/11 6:30 pm GREAT VESPERS Sat. 8/5 Vespers 6:30 pm DORMITION OF THE THEOTOKOS Tues. 8/15 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30 am MAUI SERVICES (CANCELLED) Sat. 8/19 Liturgy 10:30 am BEHEADING OF ST. JOHN THE BAPT. Tues. 8/29 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30 am Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) August Parish Council Teams 08/06 Cleo 08/13 Dimitri 08/20 Roni 08/27 Maria Please remember in your prayers Dina Giannakopoulos Suzanne Keyser Julie Licina Alice Malick George Missias John Mitsis & all those who need our prayers Announcements Adult Catechism We have an excellent and complete Adult Catechism available online for those wanting to live, learn and study Orthodoxy. It is a 2-part study program of lectures offered by Fr. Josiah Trenham through Patrisic Nectar Publications. To download the study program, go to and click on the tab, Catechism. If you are unable to download or use this technology, you can meet with Fr. Alexander to listen to the series together. As you progress through the series, please make an appointment to meet with Fr. Alexander to discuss your progress. Learn Greek In addition to our classes after Sunday School, we offer the following classes in the conference room: Elementary: 5:30 PM Advanced Youth & Adults: 6:00 PM 3

4 Library Update The books in the library downstairs are catalogued into categories with the exception of the Greek books. There is a typed reference sheet of the 200+ books on the shelf. The books in each category are not alphabetized. However they are color coded with dots. There is a blue loan book. Please sign your information into the book. When you return the book sign back in and return to the correct color on the shelf. I am off island until after Labor Day. If you have suggestions for buying future books for the library write them down on the last page of blue loan book. Thank you. Trish Kiladis Vice President Parish Council Share your news! Announcements that you would like to see in the September issue of Shorelines should be submitted to the church office by August 15th. Weekly Bulletin announcements should be submitted by noon on Thursday for the upcoming Sunday. Our Vision: To be a beacon of Orthodoxy in the Pacific and proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all people in accordance with the Orthodox Faith Our Mission: To proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all people in accordance with the Orthodox Faith. To sanctify and minister to the spiritual growth and needs of the faithful through liturgical worship and spiritual programs. To safeguard and keep the traditions, values, and faith of the Orthodox Church pure and undefiled. office@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Call: Or drop by with a copy of your announcement. Maui Orthodox Christian Mission reminds those who attend services on Maui to visit or call to verify services. or look for other activities that may be posted. 4

5 Sunday School News Aloha Ss. Constantine & Helen Ohana, It is almost time for our children to go back to school. I hope you have had a memorable, blessed summer with your family. Our Sunday School will start on Sunday, September 10 th, receiving God s blessing with Holy Water. Fr. Alex will bless all the children and the teachers at the end of the Divine Liturgy. The actual classes will begin on Sunday, September 17 th. To plan and prepare the classes better, we would like to have Sunday School Registration on Sunday, August 13 th. There will be a registration table in the social hall during the coffee hour. If you have any question or suggestion, please contact Pres. Nicole in person or send an her to at nicolehleong@gmail.com. Mahalo for your support and prayers for the children! In Christ, Pres. Nicole When: Sunday, September 10 th Evening (TBA) Where: SS. Constantine & Helen Social Hall SS. Constantine & Helen Ohana Night Activities: Pizza Making from Scratch, Playing Games by Team, Singing Church/Hawaiian Songs etc. For Whom?: Everyone! We all are children, adults, uncles, and aunties for on another. You will have an assigned Ohana for activities. Save the Date! Come and Enjoy the Night with your SS. C&H Ohana! The details will be announced. 5

6 A Few Quotes on Stewardship 1st Corinthians 9:7 teaches us: So let each one give as he purposeth in his heart, not grudgingly or out of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver. Note the emphasis on cheerful giving, not paying dues. And of course we cannot forget the indicting message of Luke 16:11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches of heaven? So it keeps coming back to giving in proportion to the blessings God has given you. ~Bill Marianes Good stewardship shapes the proper life of a Christian in the Church. It allows the Christian to stand before the Holy Trinity in a state of profound gratitude. Good stewardship also shapes the proper relationship between a Christian and his or her possessions. In the practice of good stewardship the Christian is freed from the debilitating fear of insufficiency and the avariciousness that results from feeling deprived. The joyful freedom of life in expanding, unending abundance is the gift of God to the good steward. Corporate good stewardship in a parish improves the quality of spiritual life for the community. It allows the parish to fulfill its mission in fidelity to the gospel through a proper alignment of values and priorities ~Archpriest Anthony Scott Prayer Group Meeting We are planning to have a prayer group meeting once every other week at the Church from September. We will pray for the infirm, for children, for peace and for whatever people request. We ll probably pray inside of Church for 30 to 45 minutes and have about a half-hour fellowship with refreshments and coffee. Please contact Fr. Alex or Pres. Nicole if you are interested. We will choose a day and time after reviewing each other s schedules. 6

7 Dance Group News The Dance Group Meeting for FDF 2018 is Sunday, August 6 at 11:30 a.m. in the Social Hall Partition Room. For those interested dancers and parents, we will discuss FDF and decide that day if either or both groups will go to FDF If you cannot make the meeting, I assume you are not interested in FDF. If you are interested, you must see me before August 6. Those not familiar with FDF, please Google yourfdf.org and view videos of Nisiotes Friday and Saturday on the website plus Nisiopeda Saturday Division IV Exhibition. Read about the Folk Dance and Choral Festival.) All Greek Festival dancers should be present at the meeting. We will also discuss the rules of the Dance Group at Greek Festival. We will have dance practice that day on August 6 after the meeting for both groups. Recycle please, but please tell Dianna or Barry if you have recyclables for the Dance Group so we can retrieve them right then. Someone left a bag of recyclables by the trash bin and it was not there when we went to retrieve it; perhaps someone may have thrown it in the trash bin? Just a friendly reminder: Please, no wine bottles, metal soup cans or metal vegetable cans. These should be taken home to your own recycling bins, or thrown away in the Kitchen s trash bin. Only HI 5 cans and bottles should go in our blue recycle bin. Ask Dianna if in doubt. See you at the Greek Festival with your dancing shoes on. Opa! Dianna Graves, Dance Ministry Director A child s Foustanella costume was left by the Church office in a bag with no note. Was this a donation to the Dance Ministry? The Foustanella skirt waistband says Crocker Donation ; the vest says Louis Columbus. Please call the Church office at to leave your name and number if this is a donation, so that you may be properly thanked. C O F F E E H O U R Each individual/ family is requested to sponsor a coffee hour one Sunday per year. Sign up on the calendar posted outside the Social Hall or contact Suzanne A. or Frances R. Instructions/tips for sponsoring a coffee hour are available in a 3-ring binder in a cupboard in the hall. The Ladies of Philoptochos appreciate any donations of coffee supplies, including paper supplies to help defray some of the coffee hour expenses. If you are hesitant to prepare and serve a coffee hour 7 yourself, consider making a monetary donation. Please do not bring non- Lenten food including cake & ice cream during fasting periods. Thank you to our June & July Sunday Coffee Hour sponsors! 2017 Coffee Hour Sign-up Calendar posted outside the Social Hall. Please sign up to host a Sunday. 6/4 Austin Vali; 6/11 & 18 Philoptochos; 6/25 Stavrue-Pe ahi; 7/2 Frances Rizzo; 7/9 Papadinoff & Eddy; 7/16 Julie Sormark; 7/23 Saikevych; 7/30 Tracy Boval

8 The Greek Festival is fast approaching on August 26 and 27 at McCoy Pavilion. We need volunteers for all booths, as well as set-up assistance on August 25 and breakdown assistance on August 28. People can contact or Anita Higashi at 8