INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net

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1 News & Events HOLY TRINITY GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH STEUBENVILLE, OHIO MAY, 2017 VOLUME IX ISSUE 5 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Fr. Nick s Net Parish News & Events From the Inter-NET Around the World Pg. 2 Pg. 3 Pg. 5 Pg. 6 ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS ISSUE: May Calendar May Parish Assembly Agenda, Previous Minutes & Documents Mother s Day Name Sheet Memorial Day Name Sheet 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 July /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: KARIN EWING 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 ( PARISH MINISTRIES Tony Mougianis Marianne Balakos Pete Caleodis Rikki Kamarados Don Kronstein Joanne McCraley Maria Matzorkis George Berris John Josai PARISH COUNCIL President Vice President Secretary Treasurer Asst. Treasurer Asst. Treasurer 2 The Net May 2017 Steve Pahides Connie Shea Tina Van Dijk Philoptochos... Rikki Kamarados 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 May, 2017 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Christ is Risen! Truly He is Risen! Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη! Ἀληθὼς Ἀνέστη! The news of the Resurrection is ringing in our ears. The joyful news of Christ s defeat of death is our ultimate victory against anything that this life throws at us. Have we yet begun to truly feast this year yet? Or have we simply just stopped fasting? There is a difference. Simply stopping a fast, for many, is a small change of lifestyle or diet. Some aspects of fasting, after all, should never be very long absent from our lives. Extra prayer time, more care of others and general watchfulness of our souls these are all beautiful parts of fasting that shouldn t be neglected simply because the Church calls for feasting time. Or do we truly think that the Church is asking to abandon all spiritual or physical discipline during a non-fasting period? The purpose of a feasting period in the Church is to allow the different aspects of the feast to really deepen our understanding of the feast itself. How else better that can be achieved except through the continuation of the worshipping of Christ during the feast itself? So a feasting period, first of all, will have specific church services attached to it. Because if we truly are allowing for a little extra indulgence of food in our lives, we must always be aware of what that will do to our souls if it is not accompanied with an active worship schedule. We will be led into a sinful state, and allowing our souls and bodies to indulge in other ways, many of which are not healthy for us. If we are honest with ourselves, then we must admit that this negative affect can t be the Church s purpose for a feasting time. Watchfulness, prayer, and caring for others are not aspects of our lives that can stop at any time; otherwise, we become self-centered. So the Church never lets a non-fasting period to last for too long, or else we risk our spiritual state in a Church-sponsored period of drunkenness. Consider the following: What if our lives and souls were required for us on Pascha itself? How likely would we be to give our lives for Christ if we weren t spiritually sober enough to do so? We cannot fool ourselves into thinking that this won t happen. St. Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople, was pulled from the Paschal liturgy fully vested and hung at the gate of the Phanar in Six thousand Georgian Monastics & Christians, in the 17th Century, were brutally tortured and killed on Pascha night, some during candle procession. Most recently, in 1993 three Russian monks were stabbed and killed during the ringing of the Paschal bells. As brutal as these stories and accounts are, and as much as we cringe at the thought of these holy people ending their lives on Pascha, we must also be awake to the reality of our lives: This life will end someday. Just like Jesus, we are not going to live in this state forever. We know that St. Mary Magdalene tried to hang onto Christ, as did the Apostles; but Jesus showed us through His experiences after the Resurrection that our final destination was with God in heaven. That our lives, in their current state, will end on this earth is a forgone conclusion. How our lives end on this earth is entirely up to us. May the joy in the Risen Lord, Who has defeated sin and death, give us the courage to see all of our decisions as leading us, even in this festal and joyous period, to eternal life with Him! Christ is Risen!!! Truly He is Risen!!!

3 News & Events WORSHIP SCHEDULE Sunday Worship... May Our regular schedule for Sunday Worship is that Orthros will begin at 9:00 A.M. and Divine Liturgy will begin at 10:00 A.M. Wednesday Paraklesis Services... May Paraklesis Services will be offered every Wednesday evening at 6:00 P.M. unless otherwise stated. MAY These are the services for the month of May. Please check your schedules and plan to attend. Monday, May 8... St. John the Divine 9:30 A.M. Orthros & Liturgy - Wheeling Wednesday, May Mid-Pentecost 6:00 P.M. Paraklesis Saturday, May All Saints Centennial with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios 3:00 P.M. Great Vespers Sunday, May All Saints Centennial with His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios 8:30 A.M. Orthros 10:15 A.M. Divine Liturgy Thursday, May 18 11:00 P.M. Confession Wednesday, May Leave-taking of Pascha 5:45 P.M. Ninth Hour 6:00 P.M. Great Vespers Thursday, May Holy Ascension 8:30 A.M. Orthros 9:30 A.M. Divine Liturgy Monday, May Memorial Day Cemetery Visits 9:00 A.M. Fort Steuben 10:30 A.M. Union Cemetery HAPPY BIRTHDAY The following people will be celebrating their birthday in the month of May: Gage Strickler 5-02 Vasso Espinosa 5-15 Richard Mahfood 5-03 Sophia Panagis 5-21 Alan Locascio 5-05 Marie Economos 5-22 Stella Parikakis 5-05 Charles Rebon 5-23 Pete Atsalis 5-10 James Rebon 5-23 Katelyn Rebon 5-10 Mark Al Kaed 5-24 Thomas Apesos 5-12 John Tressler 5-24 Luke Zorne 5-12 Darryl Shekas 5-26 Alexandria Caras 5-14 Enza Tsouris 5-26 Faye Christ 5-14 Erik Van Dijk 5-26 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... TBA The Bible Study normally meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 10:00 A.M. Bible Study will not meet for the month of May. Please check the monthly calendar and weekly bulletins for times and changes. THEOLOGY ON TAP & OPA... May 11 Theology on Tap is our Men s and Women s study group. Theology on Tap & OPA will be having a live interaction with Fr. Barnabas Powell as we continue working on our Journey to Fullness. You don t need to be Orthodox to come. Hope to see you there! PARISH GROUPS AHEPA... TBA The AHEPA Society will now have their meetings scheduled through our Notify-Now system. CHOIR... TBA Rehearsals are held whenever possible and the times vary. Anyone who would be interested in joining the Choir is welcome to do so. Please contact Pete Caleodis if you are interested in joining. Thank You. PARISH COUNCIL... May 9 Parish Council meetings are held the 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 P.M. at the church unless otherwise stated. PHILOPTOCHOS... May 4 The Philoptochos Ladies will have their monthly meeting on Thursday, May 4, at 6:30 P.M. at Theo Yianni's Restaurant in Weirton. THEOLOGY ON TAP & OPA On Thursday May 11, Theology on Tap & OPA will be fortunate to have a live video conference with Fr. Barnabas Powell. Fr. Barnabas Powell, himself, will be attending the meeting and interacting with us as we continue 3 The Net May 2017

4 News & Events working on our Journey to Fullness. We are honored and excited for this wonderful opportunity to work with him as we continue our Journey to Fullness. We hope everyone will please make every effort to attend. ALL SAINTS CENTENIAL CELEBRATION All Saints Centennial is May We will be closing Holy Trinity on May 14 to join All Saints in their centennial celebration. Saturday, May 13, at 3:00 P.M, will be the Great Vespers service. On Sunday, May 14, Orthros will begin at 8:30 with Divine Liturgy following at 10:15 A.M. We feel both honored and humbled to have His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios celebrating with us on Saturday and Sunday. His Eminence has a very busy schedule leading over one and a half million Greek Orthodox faithful, yet he made time to join us for the All Saints Centennial For questions, call the church office at or centennial@allsaintswwv.org COME WORK WITH US! Christos Anesti! Our local transit company has a familiar slogan, Come ride with us! For festival purposes, I d like to change it to Come work with us! It s hard to believe, but we have come full circle; and it s nearly festival time again. With Pascha behind us, it is now full speed ahead! During the brief respite, our never-relaxing chairman, John Scavdis, and his band of merry men cleaned the ovens and kitchens in preparation for the final days of baking and the beginning of food preparation. Meanwhile, our president, Tony Mougianis, informs me that he has contracts for seven vendors this year. In addition, at the last meeting, the parish council selected A Caring Place Child Advocacy Center for our community donation from the 2017 festival income. This organization has served thousands of children and their families since 2002 certainly a worthy cause. In the meantime, we hope you are planning to join the activity this year in whatever capacity. Stacie Kotsanis is scheduling workers for the food lines, and Tommy Kotsanis is scheduling workers for the gyro area. Don t wait for them to call you; call them today, and you can get first choice on times and days. The numbers are Stacie: , and Tommy: l Our next Net will be in June festival month! Are you ready? I hope so. We need you because this one is going to be bigger and better than 4 The Net May 2017 ever. So COME WORK WITH US! Believe me, you will feel great, if you do. Pete Thomas Caleodis, Festival co-treasurer. FESTIVAL BAKING Festival baking is in full swing. Anyone who is able to help would be greatly appreciated. Please note that these dates are subject to change. You will be notified through your weekly bulletin if there is a change. We will be baking the following dates: Tuesday, May 2 Raisin Cherry Cookies Wednesday, May 3 Pastistio Friday, May 5 Pastistio Saturday, May 6 Assembling Pastistio Thursday May 18 Souzoukakia PARISH ASSEMBLY MEETING The Parish Assembly meeting will be on Sunday, May 21, 2017, following Divine Liturgy. Please review the enclosed meeting minutes from the Winter Parish Assembly for approval at the meeting. every effort to attend this meeting. GRADUATE PICTURES Please make The Holy Trinity family is very proud of all our graduating seniors. If you have a graduate and would like to share his or her graduation picture for publication, please bring a small one to the office. Also include a note with the graduate s name, current school and intended school s name. Thank you and May God bless all graduates. SUNDAY SCHOOL Sunday School will finish May 21 and resume in the fall. MEMORIAL DAY We will be celebrating Memorial Day with a visit to Fort Steuben Burial and Union Cemetery. Fort Steuben will begin at 9:00 A.M. with Union Cemetery following at 10:30 A.M. Please join us as we pray for and remember the departed. MARCH FINANCIALS February weekly income $ February weekly expense $

5 BOTT RADIO NETWORK PULLS 'BIBLE ANSWER MAN' SHOW The Bott Radio Network (BRN) has reportedly pulled the "Bible Answer Man" show, following the conversion of the program's host, Hank Hanegraaff, to the Eastern Orthodox Church. BRN, which broadcasted the show since 1980s, before Hanegraaff joined the show in 1989, cited its concern about biblical accuracy in removing the show from its programming. "We want to make sure that our listeners know that the programming that we have on Bott Radio Network is thoroughly biblical," said BRN President Richard P. Bott II, a member of Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, Kansas. The network announced that Hanegraaff's show will be replaced by new late-afternoon programming featuring evangelical pastors like Jack Graham of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. Hanegraaff, who is also the president and chairman of the Christian Research Institute, joined the St. Niktarios Greek Orthodox Church in Charlotte, N.C. on Palm Sunday, April 9. He said that he was compelled to attend an Orthodox Church over two years ago after seeing how deeply in love Christians in China were with the Lord. He confirmed his conversion to Orthodoxy during a radio broadcast, but he claimed that his teachings remain unchanged and faithful to Scripture. "I am as deeply committed to championing 'mere Christianity' and the essentials of the historic Christian AFTER HOST'S CONVERSION TO ORTHODOXY Jardine Malado - April 20, 2017 From the Inter-NET faith as I have ever been," the radio host said during his April 10 broadcast, according to the Baptist Press. "People are posting this notion that somehow or other I've walked away from the faith and am no longer a Christian. Look, my views have been codified in 20 books, and my views have not changed," Hanegraaff said in another broadcast. Despite his claims, several prominent evangelical figures have raised concerns about his decision to become a member of the Orthodox Church. R. Philip Roberts, director for international theological education with the Global Ministries Foundation in Tennessee, noted that "the roots of Eastern Orthodox theology go back centuries." However, he pointed out that there are problems with its teachings because there had been changes in its interpretations of biblical doctrines over the centuries. Roberts said that although it has its roots in the ancient church, its ceremonies and theology have developed gradually throughout the centuries. Other Christians welcomed the news of Hanegraaff's conversion to Orthodoxy. "The Benedict Option" author Rob Dreher, who converted to Orthodoxy from Roman Catholicism, congratulated the radio host, saying: "What astounding news! Many evangelicals seek the early church; well, here it is, in Orthodoxy." Despite its removal from the Bott Network, the "Bible Answer Man" broadcast is still available at equip.org. -Taken from The Net May 2017

6 Around the World FORGIVENESS: MUSLIMS MOVED AS COPTIC CHRISTIANS DO THE UNIMAGINABLE Jayson Casper - April 20, 2017 CAIRO Twelve seconds of silence is an awkward eternity on television. Amr Adeeb, perhaps the most prominent talk show host in Egypt, leaned forward as he searched for a response. The Copts of Egypt are made of steel! he finally uttered. Moments earlier, Adeeb was watching a colleague in a simple home in Alexandria speak with the widow of Naseem Faheem, the guard at St. Mark s Cathedral in the seaside Mediterranean city. On Palm Sunday, the guard had redirected a suicide bomber through the perimeter metal detector, where the terrorist detonated. Likely the first to die in the blast, Faheem saved the lives of dozens inside the church. I m not angry at the one who did this, said his wife, children by her side. I m telling him, May God forgive you, and we also forgive you. Believe me, we forgive you. You put my husband in a place I couldn t have dreamed of. Stunned, Adeeb stammered about Copts bearing atrocities over hundreds of years, but couldn t escape the central scandal. How great is this forgiveness you have! his voice cracked. If it were my father, I could never say this. But this is their faith and religious conviction. Millions marveled with him across the airwaves of Egypt. So also did millions of Copts, recently rediscovering their ancient heritage, according to Ramez Atallah, president of the Bible Society of Egypt which subtitled and recirculated the satellite TV clip. In the history and culture of the Copts, there is much taught about martyrdom, he told CT. But until Libya, it was only in the textbooks though deeply ingrained. The Islamic State in Libya kidnapped and beheaded 21 mostly Coptic Christians in February CT previously reported the message of forgiveness issued by their families and the witness it provided. Since then, there has been a paradigm shift, said Atallah. Our ancestors lived and believed this message, but we never had to. This history returned with a vengeance in 2010, when the Two Saints Church in Alexandria was bombed on New Year s Eve. Copts poured out into the streets in anger, presaging the Arab Spring. In the months that followed, Muslims rallied around them and defended their churches. Nearly seven years later, the nation has grown weary. The Palm Sunday twin suicide bombings killed more than 45 people and are the second ISIS attack on Christian sanctuaries in five months. Twenty-nine people were killed in a suicide bombing at the papal cathedral in Cairo in December. This week, ISIS attacked the famous St. Catherine s monastery on the southern Sinai peninsula. All three Christian denominations canceled Easter Sunday festivities. The state declared a three-day period of mourning and held an Easter service for the injured in a military hospital. Muslims reacted in shock and sympathy. But even in death, the Copts forgive. For example, the night of the bombings, Orthodox priest Boules George said he thanks and loves those who did this crime. Speaking to a congregation in Cairo s Cleopatra neighborhood, his words were broadcast on the popular Coptic TV station Aghaby. I long to talk to you about our Christ, and tell you how wonderful he is, said George, addressing the terrorists. But then turning to the church, he said, How about we make a commitment today to pray for them? If they know that God is love and experience his love, they could not do these things never, never, never. Clearly the Coptic heritage and Jesus teaching have an impact on the aggrieved. But will the never ever come? Is the scandal of forgiveness wasted? When people see this attitude from Christians and the church, they ask themselves, What kind of power is this? [a local bishop] said. But with this witness we must also declare the message of Christ, which we are fulfilling literally. We may not see the response immediately. But we will in the near future. -Excertped from 6 The Net May

7 The NET-Minders The Parish of Holy Trinity would like to thank the following benefactors for making this Monthly Newsletter possible: Place your AD Here Place your AD Here In Loving Memory Of Nicholas Mougianis Place your AD Here 7 The Net May 2017

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 DO NOT TOUCH ME FOR I HAVE NOT YET ASCENDED TO MY FATHER Why does Jesus ask Mary Magdalene not to touch Him, and then allow Thomas to touch Him later in the locked room with the disciples? Here are some false reasons: 1.) Mary Magdalene was a woman and unclean; 2.) Mary Magdalene was prostitute (not true by the way); 3.) Jesus wasn t a full human any more after the resurrection, so Mary literally would not have been able to touch Him. Here is the Orthodox understanding: Do not touch me is a bad English translation. The Revised Standard Version (RSV) translation will clear the doubt. "Do not hold me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." The NEB translation is 'do not cling to me.' Mary Magdalene had already caught hold of the feet of Jesus and would not let Him go due to her devotion to the Lord and Savior, and due to her excitement at the Lord s reappearance after His gruesome death. Jesus was telling her that He had to ascend to the Father and should not be hung on to so as to prevent Him from His glorious ascension. He also gave her a message to be carried to the brethren; 'but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." The physical life of Jesus on earth was not designed to be everlasting, but Mary in her utter devotion wanted it. Jesus taught her a lesson and gave her mission. -Paraphrased from: