VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1 January 2013

Transcription

1 VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1 January 2013 Published Monthly by: Saints Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific 930 Lunalilo Street, Honolulu Hawaii Phone : (808) Fax : (808) FrJohnKuehnle@mail.goarch.org Church Office Manager s SaintsConstantine-HelenHon@mail.goarch.org Parish Web Site: Regular Office Hours are 9 am to 1 pm on Monday thru Friday The Special Day We know from the gospel readings: Matt 3:15-17; Mark 1:9-11 and Luke 3:21 how Christ Jesus came to St. John on the bank of the river Jordan and told him to baptize Him to fulfill all righteousness. So St. John baptized Him. And as Jesus came out of the water, the voice of God the Father was heard from heaven calling Him His beloved Son. And the Holy Spirit in the form of a Dove came down upon Him. This Holy Day is called several different names as discussed in an article elsewhere. The services for this day are like those of Christmas. There is strict fasting on the eve. After vespers there is the great blessing of the waters. A large vessel full of water stands in the middle of the church, with candles around it. In front of it the Cross and the Gospel are laid on a small table. After the water is blessed, the people drink of it and are sprinkled with it as they kiss the Cross. They also take some home. This ceremony is in remembrance of Christ s baptism, and also because in the early Church many learners (cathechumens) were baptized on this day. After the Liturgy, in the Orthodox countries, and in more and more towns in the USA, there are processions to the seashore, rivers, lakes or open wells and the waters are blessed by plunging the Cross into them. This is in memory of an ancient custom in Jerusalem when the Patriarch and people went to the river Jordan to hold this service. So now it is called the procession to the Jordan. 1

2 Faith Matters Question: What does the Orthodox Church feel toward the Coptic Churches? Answer: The Coptic Church derives its name from the Greek form of Egypt. It is the historic Christian Church of Egypt, especially after the Fourth Ecumenical Council (451). The major portion of the Egyptian Church rejected the formulations of the Council regarding the person of Jesus Christ (i.e. fully God, fully human, in one person or hypostasis). The smaller, Orthodox group, remains to this day under the Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria. Technically, they are another church, not sacramentally tied to the Orthodox. They are characterized by strong monastic emphasis, they use the so-called Liturgy of St. Mark. They speak Arabic, but their services are in the ancient Copt language. Over the past few decades the Copts and the Orthodox have been sharing in theological dialogues and have sought to overcome some of the theological differences. Most theologians today believe that the differences, which had their origin in political, as well as doctrinal causes, are not as serious as once believed. The present political persecution of the Copts in Egypt has interrupted these efforts. The Coptic Patriarch is under detention by the government and an irregular form of Church administration has been imposed on the Coptic Church. Rev. Father John Kuehnle Church Staff Frances Delos Santos ~ Office Manager Marina Saikevych ~ Bookkeeper 2012 Parish Council Carlos Moreno ~ President Jim McCoy ~ Vice President Anita Higashi~ Secretary Julie Ličina~ Treasurer Eres Eddy, Elaine Moreno, Lucian Saikevych, Stelio Scordilis, Andrew Tujios Sunday School Directors Alice Malick Sunday School Teachers Alice Malick Philoptochos Board Harriet Medes ~ President Elaine Moreno ~ Vice President Fran Hallonquist ~ Treasurer Anita Akel ~ Recording Secretary Anita Higashi ~ Corr. Secretary Athena Adams ~ Advisor Suzanne Akiona Christina Dimitrion Choir~Chanters Music Director ~ Orest Saikevych Protopsaltis ~ Gregory Malick Parish Ministries Bookstore ~ Eres & John Eddy Greek Dance Groups ~ Dianna Graves Greek School ~ John Giannakopoulos Web Master ~ Peter Hwu Faith Matters is a regular feature of Shorelines. If you have a question or topic for discussion, please send it to our Church Office, via or to our physical address. 2

3 LITURGICAL LIFE OF OUR PARISH WEEKDAY SERVICES FOR THE MONTH St. Basil/Circumcision of Our Lord Tue, 1 Liturgy 9:00 AM Maui Liturgy Sat, 5 Liturgy 10:00 AM Synaxis of John the Baptist Mon, 7 Liturgy 9:00 AM St. Anthony the Great Thu, 17 Liturgy 9:00 AM Synaxis of The Three Hierarchs Wed, 12 Liturgy 9:00 AM House Blessings Please contact Fr. John directly ( or frjohnkuehnle@mail.goarch.org) to schedule the blessing of your home or business at a time when all family members can be present. At the time of the visit/blessing, please turn off televisions and music, and arrange candles and an icon on the dining room table for the Service. Any un-blessed icons should be placed on the table for blessing as well. The Unrepentant Resentful Woman There once was a woman who lived in fasting and prayer. Outwardly she appeared pious, but she had much pride and believed she was a saint. She also had such resentment, that, if she argued with another woman, not only did she not forgive her, but she didn t even want to see her again before her eyes. At one point she became sick and invited her spiritual father, but she didn t confess completely - this is something often done by superficial Christians who hide their great sins and reveal only the small ones. In the end, when the priest brought forward the Holy Gifts that she may commune, she turned her head to the wall and could not even confront the Sacred Pearl. At the same time, with Divine concession, she confessed with a loud voice: Just as I, out of pride, did not forgive whoever I blamed, but I turned away from them, so now the Lord turns away His face from me and does not want to enter my unworthy soul. I will not see Him in the heavenly kingdom, but I will burn in eternal hell! And with those words, she died. Monk Agapios Landos in (The Salvation of Sinners) Worth Considering Martin Luther took 7 books (Tobit, Judith, Wisdom, Sirach, Baruch, 1 & 2 Maccabees) out of the Old Testament. He also had trouble with verses such as James 2:24 See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. So he inserted the word alone in Romans 3:28 to make it read For we hold that a man is justified by faith alone. 3

4 A Book Review: The Arena by Bishop Ignatius, Holy Trinity Monastery, 1997 Many saints over the ages have written about spiritual warfare. The Ladder of Divine Ascent, The Philokalia, and Unseen Warfare are classics in Orthodox literature on battling temptation. To this esteemed list should be added The Arena by Bp. Ignatius (Brianchaninov). His Grace lived in the 19 th century and spent most of his adult life as the Superior at St. Sergius Monastery in St. Petersburg, Russia. There are three things that are exceptional about Bp. Ignatius book. First, he was exceedingly learned about Scripture and so he quotes from the Holy Bible extensively. In fact, he views studying the Bible as foundational to a Christian s struggle in becoming holy. He who has based his life on the study of the Gospel and the practice of the commandments of the Gospel has based it on solid rock. In whatever predicament he is placed by the circumstances of life his task is always with him. He is constantly active, constantly struggling, constantly progressing, although his activity, his struggle and progress are unnoticed and incomprehensible to others. (p.8) Second, His Grace places considerable emphasis on bowing both from the waist and full prostrations. He sees the practice of these bodily disciplines as essential for creating a deeper sense of humility and devotion. The last section of his book largely consists of rules for a monk as to when, where, and how many bows to make throughout the monastic day. However, Bp. Ignatius recommends this practice for lay Orthodox believers as well. 4 Bows tire and warm the body to some extent and reduce the heart to a state of contrition; in such a state, the ascetic prays with greater zeal, warmth and attention. The prayers have quite a different taste when they are read or said after bows. (p.73) Finally, Bp. Ignatius is adept at identifying the subtle ways the demons can influence us to sin, for example: idle conversations, spending time in secular places without having a spiritual purpose for being there, making excuses to oneself to disregard the fasts, defending your actions to others, and even paying too much attention to one s dreams. Regarding the latter, His Grace said, He who believes in dreams is completely inexperienced. But he who distrusts all dreams is a wise man. Only believe dreams that warn you of torments and judgment. But if despair afflicts you, then such dreams are also from demons. (p.212) The Arena is not a light and easy read; rather, it is a serious manual for Christian soldiering. As such, the contents are meant to be received carefully with a lot of reflection. However, Bp. Ignatius book is well worth studying as an instructive guide toward becoming Christ-like and perfected. It is highly recommended that every Orthodox Christian who is zealous about the Faith own this book. NOTE: The above book is available for purchase at, or can be ordered from, our parish bookstore.

5 Theophany Celebration The observance of Theophany (Epiphany) will be extra special this year as we receive Metropolitan Gerasimos in our midst. From his arrival on the islands on Friday, January 4, 2013 to his departure the following Tuesday, there will be a variety of activities and events with His Eminence and opportunities to meet and greet him. Fri. 1/4 5:30 pm Metropolitan Gerasimos arrives in Maui Sat. 1/5 10:00 am Divine Liturgy and Vasilopita Cutting with Maui Mission Parish 6:30 pm Great Vespers at SS Constantine & Helen, reception following Sun. 1/6 8:00/9:00 am Orthros/Divine Liturgy/Agiasmos (Blessing of Waters) 11:30 am Blessing of the Waters, Waikiki Beach, at Hale Koa Hotel 12:00 pm Theophany Luncheon 4:00 pm Youth Choir Concert at Musicians Union Hall, 909 Kapiolani Blvd Mon. 1/7 9:00 am Divine Liturgy Synaxis of the Forerunner Tue. 1/8 12:00 pm Metropolitan Gerasimos departs Honolulu for San Francisco 2013 Parish Directory To be included in the Parish Directory any additions or changes to your Parish Directory information must to be given to the office by Jan. 25th Name: Address: City, State & Zip: Phone: Mobile: PLEASE PRINT Work: RETURN TO OFFICE BY JANUARY 25TH 5

6 Reading Holy Texts: A solution for busy orthodox Why read Scripture? Certainly important reasons are as numerous as readers; however, the simplest answer comes from Christ, Himself. Almost all of His words come from ancient Jewish scriptures. To look more like Him, we have to do as He did. Understood in this way, embracing Scripture makes us more Christ-like. Still, isn t it true that the Bible has been hyped, interpreted, reinterpreted, and misused many times so much so that it seems to cause more confusion than it solves? Is there something a little dangerous about it? This is also true. So Reading God s word should be intimidating for us, or more accurately, utterly awesome. In fact, the Church continuously participates in a profound discipline of study, reflection, wonder, patience, and humility before the words of God in Scripture. However, the modern critical intellect is slippery and trained to question this 6 received reverence. We can t casually sidestep significant issues: Is the Bible fallible or infallible? Is it history or myth? poetry or an instruction manual? Did God write it or not? Wouldn t I have to be a fanatic or a saint or a Greek professor to read it? Why does the Bible have such unpredictable effects? The Church s answers fill libraries, largely because the concerns are not new. Debates have raged around them for two thousand years. Unfortunately, the vastness of this discussion only worsens our modern dilemma. How can busy Orthodox Christians really hope to figure it all out? Where do we begin? In this context, The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox, edited and compiled by Johanna Manley, comes to the rescue. Inside one convenient cover, the text offers readers a solution that has been used throughout Orthodox history. (Continued on page 7)

7 (Continued from page 6) Unlike a Bible, this volume presents Scripture passages in an order appointed by the Church for prayer and meditation each day for a year. In this sense, it is a lectionary. Over time, two sorts of lectionaries developed in the Greek Orthodox church. The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox Christians principally follows the Synaxarion and therefore is based on the liturgical cycle in which the Church continually represents Christ s life from Pascha through Holy Week. Three appendices add elements of the Menologion, which contains readings for various saints and Church festivals on the Byzantine civil calendar, beginning September 1. In turn, the commentaries on each text are simply this: windows into the minds of saints. No higher recommendation can be attempted. Though individually brief as a collection the passages reveal an ever-flowing tide of Orthodox theological thought, consistent in terms of rationality, faith, and love, but highly diverse in terms of pulse and tone. Consider, for example, these poignant words from Saint John of Damascus, reflecting on the paradoxes of existence: God made man a sort of miniature world within the larger one, another adoring angel earthly and heavenly, passing and immortal, visible and spiritual, halfway between greatness and lowliness (Saturday in the Third week of Great Lent). In contrast, the same paradox moves Saint John Climacus to brittle irony: He who has lost sensibility is a self-contradictory windbag, a blind man who teaches others to see He praises prayer but runs from it like the plague. He blesses obedience, but he is the first to disobey. He praises detachment, but is not ashamed to be spiteful and to fight for a rag... 7 All the time he is his own accuser, and he does not want to come to his senses I will not say cannot (Thursday of the same week). In general, however, the straightforward, clear explanations of Saint John Chrysostom dominate, providing overall continuity and thoroughness to this introduction to patristic thought. Nevertheless, the book s Index of Holy Fathers and Authors notes more than sixty commentators representing Orthodox thought from Saint Justin the Martyr (+165 AD) through our own time. What the commentaries lack in completeness by being excerpted, they more than make up for in ease of use and access. Beyond that, references and study helps provide a solid starting point for further inquiry. Serious Orthodox who have time and leisure will prefer to read these selections and others not represented from original, unabridged sources, but for the majority The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox provides a much-needed resource for daily study of Scripture within the Orthodox tradition. As a caution, The Bible and the Holy Fathers is not a substitute for a Bible. Bible study within the Church is vitally important for understanding the theology, history, personalities, and complexities of Scripture as a whole. This text is, however, an outstanding devotional aid and highly recommended for any Christian, especially read prayerfully in conjunction with Church worship, sacraments, and hymnody. The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings and Commentary for Orthodox Christians. Compiled and edited by Johann Manley. Menlo Park, California: Monastery Books, From the American Orthodox Journal Praxis, v.2.

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10 The History of the Celebration of Theophany The commemoration of the day Jesus accepted baptism in the River Jordan by St. John the Baptist is mentioned in all four Gospels (Matthew 3:1-17; Mark 1:1-13; Luke 3:1-12; John 1:1-34). The great event was observed very early in the Church. In the 2 nd century AD, and perhaps even earlier, Clement of Alexandria, one of the Apostolic Fathers, writes about it. It was first introduced in the churches of the East, specifically in Palestine and Syria and later it was celebrated in the West. According to Clement, the Christians gathered on January 5, the night before Theophany, and read passages from the Holy Bible. They remained throughout the night in the house of worship, praying, chanting and glorifying the Lord. In the 4th century AD, Archbishop Theophilos of Alexandria tells us that the Christians observed the Theophany from the day before, abstaining from every food. The services started on the eve at 3 p.m. After the services on the eve, the new catechumens were baptized. Because of this, water is blessed both on the eve of Theophany and on the day itself. For a long time this day, the Baptism of Jesus, was celebrated more than was Christmas or the Nativity of Christ. In fact, the Christmas, celebrated by the Apostolic Church, is really a celebration of the combined days. Slow Down As we travel at great speed down a highway, we may see a sign which warns us Slow down, Lower speed ahead. In much the same way we see the Sunday of Zacchaeus on the calendar and we take it as a warning. Slow down, Great Lent ahead. This year, the Sunday of Zacchaeus comes on the last Sunday of January the 27 th. We read about Zacchaeus in Luke 19:1-10. This Sunday looks directly to the coming fast, describing how Zacchaeus climbed a tree beside the road where Christ was to pass. We note Zacchaeus sense of eager expectation, the intensity of his desire to see Our Lord. We should have this same sense as we prepare for Great Lent. There should be real eagerness in our hearts, if we have an intense desire for a clearer vision of Christ. Our hopes will be fulfilled during the Lent, and, like Zacchaeus, we shall receive more than we expect. Each of us is a house in which sin dwells, while Christ is far away and to which salvation comes as He draws near. Whether Christ is able or not to draw near to our house depends on us. How eagerly do we await Him? We see that Christ did not force an entry into Zacchaeus house, but came as a warmly invited and eagerly awaited guest. We must seek Him eagerly to find Him. Let s slow down and get ready and invite Him. 10

11 2012 Stewards of SS Constantine & Helen Many thanks to all of our pledged Stewards for calendar year Through your generous gifts of Time, Talent, and Treasure you have helped make a difference - supporting the work of the Church locally and throughout the world. May God bless you all in abundance! Aaron, Patricia & Carl Adams, Athena Adonis, John & Marietta Akiona, Suzanne Anasis, George & Angeliki Anastasopoulos, Theodore Banasihan, Manuel & Rhodora Book, Mary Bressem, Michael & Debra Toy Bukes, George & Catherine Bukes, Jim Bukes, Stanley (Butch) & Janet Chadwick, Malia Lynn Chu, Cliff & Alma Chun, Robert Cooper, Russell & Lauren Cuca, Kathryn Dankevich, Anna Dell, Michael & Cynthia Dimitrakoupoulos, Tom & Janine Dimitrion, Dana Dimitrion, Marissa Dimitrion, Michael Dimitrion, Peter Eddy, John & Eres Elliot, Miriam Emerson, Laura Fancher, Joseph & Margo Galeotos, Sam & Stacey Galifianakis, Alex & Amy Garifalakis, Isidoros & Maria Giannakopoulos, John & Dina Glisic, Marija Graves, Barry & Diana Gribbon, Richard & Barbara Hallonquist, Hal & Fran Hamamoto, Eugene Higashi, Anna Higashi, Patrick & Anita Hirasuna, David & Eleni Hoadley, Jordan Holgersen, Kathryn Hwu, Peter Josephides, Andrew June, Rodney & Paraskevi Katsikas, Peter & Roni Keehu, Ioane & Athena Keyser, Suzanne Kiladis, John & Patricia Klimenko, Michael & Marianna Kodelsky, Maria Koutouzos, George Kritikos, Konstantinos & Cleo Kuehnle, Father & Presbytera Kyriakakis, Nicholas Kyriannis, Justin Levas, John Ličina, Julie Malick, Gregory & Alice Mann, Christopher & Sooka Manthos, Matina Mass, William & Regina McCoy, Jim Medes, Peter & Harriet Michaelidis, Michael Michaelidis, Symeon & Mary Ellen Mkheidze, Shota Moreno, Carlos & Elaine 11 Naval, Marc & Maria Nicholas, Alexander Nicholas, Chris Nicholas, Dionisios & Keiko Ovcharuk, Yaroslav & Natalia Papastergiou, George Papayoanou, James & Mitsu Proskefalas, Fannie Rasmussen, Mark & Joan Rauliuk, Robert & Nancy Rezents, Anzinetti Rizzo, Frances & Lee, Michael Saikevych, Lucian Saikevych, Orest & Marina Scordilis, Stelio & Mindy Semerdjiev, Krasimir & Svetla Shahan, Brian & Sara Shaindlin, Peter & Susan Shive, Clifford & Despina Shive, Mary Sofos, Tom & Susan Soileau, Stuart & Anita Solyar, Ludmyla Spathas, John & Katie Striebich, Maria Strongosky, Greg & Toni Tachopoulou, Olympia Tan, Terpsi Thomson, Antonette Tujios, Andrew & Lucy Tuohy, Thalia Turchman, Sophia Vali, Austin & Linda Xixis, Dimitrios Ziegenfuss, Mark & Jamie

12 Dance Party with Balkan/Slavic music band Sviraj Friday, January 11, :00 to 9:30 pm Suggested Donation $10 Bring a Pupu Potluck Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific The Nisiotes/Nisiotoupoula Dancers are sponsoring a dance party with visiting band Sviraj on Friday, January 11, 2013 from 7:00 to9:30 pm in the church hall. The event will be a mini-fund raiser for the dance group with a suggested donation of $10.00 (half of the door receipts will go to pay the band). Bring a Pupu Potluck. The funds will help with the expenses to participate at the Greek competition Folk Dance Festival on the West Coast in Sviraj is one of the best known tamburitza bands in the U.S. Tamburitza is the great multi-ethnic instrumental and vocal music tradition of the central Balkan peninsula that found its deepest roots among Croatians, Serbians, Roma, and Hungarians and it reflects the deep soul, emotion, and melancholy of these peoples. The group also plays music from other southern European countries including Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania. The members of Sviraj are life-long friends who grew up together in ethnically diverse Steelton, Pennsylvania. They learned the music of their Slavic culture and others through many, many performances, jam sessions, and encounters with folk musicians from ethnic communities in the U.S. and the Balkans. Sviraj will also be performing on Saturday, January 12, 2013 at Hawaii Public Radio s Atherton Studio. For more information about the band go to 12

13 The Temptation of Life's Unforeseen Circumstances By Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra We have a continuous temptation before us. The unforeseen constantly occurs in our life. You come to the monastery to find spiritual life, and you encounter evil. This is unforeseen. You ask for a cell on the side of the monastery where there is no humidity, you acquire it, but you believe the sea brings on allergies, so that you have no joy night or day. Immediately your thoughts will tell you, "get up and leave". This is unforeseen. I approach you with the idea that you are a good person, and I see that you are upside down. This is unforeseen. The unforeseen constantly presents itself to us, because we have will and desires. The unforeseen are contrary to our will and desires, which is why they appear to be unforeseen, but in essence they aren't. Because a person who loves God expects anything and always says: "Thy will be done". Rain, storms, hail and lightning come? "Blessed be the Name of the Lord". Because these things cost our fleshliness, this is why we see them as unforeseen. To prevent agitation, therefore, every time you get upset, so that you do not have anxiety and get troubled, expect anything, so you can endure whatever comes. Always say - "welcome sickness", "welcome failure", "welcome martyrdom". This will bring gentleness, without which there is no spiritual life. Scandalized By the Happiness of the Impious and Faithless By Archimandrite Aimilianos of Simonopetra Many times believers are scandalized by the happiness of the impious and faithless. Indeed, when we take a look around us, we see that God, according to human logic, very unfairly distributes His good things. Where He should be giving happiness He gives misfortunes. Where He should be giving riches He gives poverty, and where He should have given poverty He gives riches. When we await His blessings, then He gives us a heavy blow, while simultanously He maintains a perpetual smile on others. We are led to say, using a modern phrase, that God always discriminates. We are scandalized by this. Why? Simply because our heart is directed towards all these things, is stuck on them, loves them, and longs for them. But the release from catastrophy should be sought elsewhere. We should not seek the removal of this apparent discrimination of apparent injustice. The change should occur within us. We must become total strangers towards everything human, towards human logic and human thought, and towards all good things. We must be indifferent towards everything. When estranged from everything, then God can be everything for us, for God alone to remain with us. This will give us the deep peace from within. Otherwise, even if there is something in our heart which is not of the other life but of this one, we should know that we will be continuously tormented. 13

14 PARISH ORGANIZATIONS AND THEIR NEWS Ladies Philoptochos Society News Monthly Benefit Garage Sale 1st Sat of each month $20 to reserve your space Bring your own table Keep your own profits Saints Constantine & Helen Book Store is Open Scheduling an Event? BEFORE scheduling meetings, parties, or any other event at church -social hall, kitchen, or office rooms, PLEASE be sure to clear your event with the Church Office at least 2 weeks in advance. Doing so will ensure that our church facilities are available for all to use, as well as prevent confusion and double-bookings. Please be aware also that there are rental forms to be completed by anyone wishing to use our facilities - organization, member or non-member. DANCE GROUP NEWS Come check out the latest arrivals. We have some great new books, gift item, and articles for personal devotions. See Eres after services on Sundays or weekdays by appointment. Park Aloha! As you know, parking is always a challenge in the church lot. As a courtesy, please display your name & cell number on your windshield when you double park. Please do not park on the playground. There has been recent damage to the playground because people are parking vehicles in that area. Be aware that the side gate in the parking extension blocks the emergency exit to the apartment complex. Please close all gates when you enter or exit the parking lot extension. Also, please do not park in Father John's space. Mahalo for your kokua! 14 Mahalo to the volunteers for the general election who donated their stipends of money to the dance group for FDF Efharisto to Eres and the parish council for the mirror for our dancers-the wait was worth it -we appreciate it very much. Watch for information in this bulletin for a potluck glendi coming Friday January 11, 2013 at Church with a live band Sviraj (means to play) 7-9:30 pm It will be a mini fundraiser for the dance group with a suggested donation price at the door of $ We will be inviting the Russian Church, Coptic Church, and the IFDH (International Fold Dances of Hawaii) and our Canadian and other visitors. Come a little early and we will teach you a dance or 2. Dancers please keep recycling for our continual fundraiser for FDF If any parishioner would like to contribute we accept cleaned/rinsed HI5 plastic, aluminum and glass. Please see Dianna Graves.

15 Religious Education News Religious Education classes are off to a good start this year! We thank all moms and dads from bring their children to church first, then to Sunday School. Our religious education cannot be separated from the experience of worship, so it is very important that all school-age children be present at the Liturgy as Christians, we learn by doing. The most important lesson is worship. At the same time, we wish to thank all the adults who are making our high school-adult class such a success! While the one-room-schoolhouse concept makes for a bigger class, our highschoolers and adults both have something to offer to the conversation and learning. Adults: if you re still interested in joining the class, please peak with Fr. John about what you may have missed Religious Education Calendar (subject to change) Apr. 28 May 5 Jun. 9 NO CLASSES - Palm Sunday NO CLASSES - Pascha/Easter Last Class - End of Year Celebration Greek Language Class The adult Greek Class may be resumed if there is enough interest. If you would like to attend and learn how to read, write, and speak Greek then contact John Giannakopoulos. COFFEE HOUR 1. Thank you to our November Sunday Coffee Hour sponsors! The Ladies Philoptochos & The Kravchuk Family* Michael & Debra Bressem The Scordilis Family *The Kravchuk Family wanted to thank our parishioners for supporting Nataliia Kravchuk to compete at the triathalon in Australia 2. The 2012 and new 2013 Coffee Hour calendars are posted outside of the Social Hall. If you have a special date that you would like to reserve, sign up early to secure the date before it is reserved by someone else. 3. You may sign up directly on the calendar or contact Elaine Moreno or Mary Book. 4. Instructions for sponsoring a coffee hour are on the blackboard in hallway of the social hall and in Chirgotis Hall itself. 5. The Ladies Philoptochos would appreciate any donations of coffee, powdered juice, powdered coffee creamer, coffee cups, paper plates, and napkins to defray some of the coffee hour expenses. Donations may be given to Mary Book or Suzanne Akiona. 15

16 Sts Constantine & Helen Greek Orthodox Cathedral of the Pacific 930 Lunalilo Street Honolulu, Hawaii NON - PROFIT ORG. U.S. POSTAGE PAID HONOLULU, HI. PERMIT #1108 Return Service Requested If you no longer wish to be on our mailing list, just let the office know by phone, fax, mail, or Future Announcements Don t wait until the last minute to share your news! If there are any announcements that you would like to see in the February bulletin, be sure to let the office know by the deadline, January 15th. This allows for enough time for approval, editing, printing, and mailing out the bulletin to be received by the 1st of the month. You can send an (SaintsConstantine-HelenHon@mail.goarch.org), call the office ( ), or drop by with a hard copy of your requested announcement. GOING ELECTRONIC In an effort to keep everyone better informed, our Office is now offering the monthly bulletin Shorelines electronically. The format and contents will be the same, and subscribers can choose to read online, download and save, or print a hard copy. Further, we hope to use this service in the future to make notification of upcoming events at Ss Constantine & Helen and to share important news items. To begin receiving your bulletin electronically, simply send an to Frances in the Church Office, at: saintsconstantine-helenhon@mail.goarch.org, with Bulletin Electronic Subscription in the subject line. 16