HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 IS HERE!

Transcription

1 VOLUME 26 NUMBER 1 January 2017 HAPPY NEW YEAR 2017 IS HERE! Dearest Spiritual Ohana, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We welcome the ringing in of the 2017 Year. How quickly 2016 went by, with all the celebrations throughout the year and all the joys and sorrows and everything in between we experienced. With 2017, we open a new chapter in our lives, filled with an array of experiences and challenges we may or may not foresee. I would like to share with you some special resolutions I found which we, as Orthodox Christians, can implement into our daily lives to benefit us in our faith s journeys. 1) Arrive for Church Services on time! We take for granted the Divine Liturgy at the best of times. Often we believe that as long as we are there for the Gospel, Sermon and Communion we have had a good enough dose of God for the week. Partaking of the Matins or Orthros service and the full Divine Liturgy will prepare you fully for stepping up to the precious and life giving Chalice of Christ. This will in turn fortify your spiritual journey into the world for the coming week. Our responsibility to Our Lord is to respect the schedule laid out for us, at least once a week. 2) Ask for forgiveness from our family, friends and Christian brothers and sisters in our parish. Forgiveness is a difficult virtue to put into practice and even more difficult to use regularly. Let us therefore use the virtue of forgiveness as a basis for our continued commitment to theosis and by regarding our earthly relationships with one another as truly important. Let us practice forgiveness, as it is the first step in preparing for Holy Confession and Holy Communion each and every Sunday. 3) Learn about praying and prayers. We tend to use the prayers we were taught as children. There are many prayers available for parishioners to use: check the prayer book and ask your Priest, he can assist by providing prayers that pertain to your specific situation(s). Pray often, more than once a day. If you do not have a prayer corner set up in your home, ask your Parish Priest to assist you in setting one up. 4) Become a steward in your parish and community. Become an active, involved, caring Orthodox Christian. Donate to your Parish, become, if not already, involved in keeping our environment clean (God placed us on this earth to care for His creations!!!), donate to food banks, school lunch programs, etc. Create an organized community outreach for the less fortunate residents of your area. As stewards of humanity, it is incumbent upon us, as Orthodox Christians to lead by example. 5) Attend more than one (1) Church Service per Month. Don t be a C & E (Christmas & Easter) Parishioner. Place prayer, worship and Church Services (Continued on page 2) 1

2 admit our faults to our families and our desire to renew our relationships. We must remember, we are not perfect, we all have faults and we never know when we may be called by God to return home. (Continued from page 1) on your list of priorities, above all other recreational activities. The benefit of a fulfilling spiritual life will lead you to many rewards in the future. 9) Experience the life of the Church and her many gifts to heal you. Attend Church services; come to Confession and Communion on a regular basis. We were born unto this earth dependent upon our Lord. Use Confession to unburden your sins and Communion to heal you. Rely on your Parish Priest to be your Father Confessor and Spiritual Guide. 6) Put your God-given Talents to use. We all have hidden talents, or talents not used to their full potential. Recognize them, ask for guidance from Our Lord and put them to use for the benefit of God s Holy Church. 7) Invite your children, grandchildren, siblings and friends to Church Services. Become a host to your own family. Guide them and explain to them that the One Holy Universal and Apostolic Church is the One True Church. Explain that Orthodoxy offers all to its faithful. Bring one guest to Church per year at least and allow God to do His work. 10) Recognize that we are tested by Our Lord and tempted by the devil himself, daily. We are put to the test daily, as in school, so in life. Pray frequently, ask for guidance, see beyond the test, look for the good only in all situations. Avoid temptations that are too good to be true. Recognize that we are accountable for all of our thoughts, actions and deeds. 8) Contact your family members that have stepped away from your family; or if you have stepped away, call your family. Practice patience, understanding and forgiveness. We are on this earth but once. We have one opportunity to practice forgiveness and ask for it as well. It is never wrong to come back home, even after a lengthy absence. We should never be embarrassed to 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 Leong fralexanderleong@yahoo.com - Resolution borrowed from Fr. Stephen Lourie With Love in Christ, +Fr. Alexander Church Staff & Jeanie Stavrue Pe ahi Amanda Jackson - Office Coordinator Philoptochos Board amanda@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Alma Chu, President; Anita Akel, Vice Erica Jansen - Bookkeeper President; Marina Saikevych,Treasurer; 2017 Parish Council Alice Malick,Recording Secretary; pc@greekorthodoxhawaii.org Valentina Yarovaya, Corr. Secretary; Christina Dimitrion, Roni Katsikas, John Harriett Medes, Advisor Kiladis, Trish Kiladis, Cleopatra Kritikos, Choir-Chanters Nicholas Kyriakakis, Maria Naval, Orest Saikevych, Music Director Dimitri Nicholas & Andrew Tujios. Gregory Malick, Protopsaltis ***Officers will be elected on Parish Ministries January 8, 2017*** Stelio Scordilis, Aloha Youth Choir; Sunday School Director T.B.A., Bookstore; Dianna Graves, Presbytera Nicole Leong Greek Dance Groups; Stelio Scordilis, Sunday School Teachers Greek School; Julie Ličina Web Master; Alice Malick, Greg Malick, Maria Naval, Anita Higashi, Facebook George Kalantzis, Shawn Chu, Dimitri Nicholas, Mindy Scordilis 2

3 LITURGICAL LIFE OF OUR PARISH WEEKDAY SERVICES IN JANUARY EVE OF THEOPHANY w/bless. of Waters Thu. 1/5 Vesper/Liturgy 9am THEOPHANY w/blessing of Waters Fri. 1/6 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30am ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST Sat. 1/7 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30am ST. ANTHONY THE GREAT Tue. 1/17 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30am ST. GREGORY THE THEOLOGIAN Wed. 1/25 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30am MAUI SERVICES Sat. 1/28 Liturgy 10am THREE HIERARCHS Mon. 1/30 Orthros/Liturgy 8:30/9:30am January Parish Council Teams 01/01 Cleopatra Kritikos 01/08 Maria Naval 01/15 Christina Dimitrion 01/22 Nicholas Kyriakakis 01/29 T.B.A. Please remember in your prayers Dina Giannakopoulos Suzanne Keyser Julie Licina Alice Malick John Mitsis & all those who need our prayers Announcements Blessed ever be the way, the way on which you walk this day, for there is prepared for you a place of everlasting rest. Kaleope (Kelly) Locke 9/23/16 Linda Vali 11/29/16 Anargyros (Theodore) Anastasopulos 12/10/16 May their Memory be eternal! God grant rest to their souls! Epiphany Celebration & Cross Throwing Sunday, January 8th Pancake Breakfast following services Buses depart for Magic Island for Throwing and Retrieving of the Cross after Breakfast 3

4 C Philoptochos News C Happy New Year 2017! We, the ladies of Philoptochos Aloha Chapter, would like to thank everyone who gave unselfishly and generously to help us in our campaigns last year to reach out (into our community and beyond) to meet the needs and help relieve the suffering of others. Whether it was adults and children with cancer or other illnesses that required medical treatment off-island, to abused women and children, outreach to fulfill the Great Commission through OCMC, Mochas for Missions, St. Nicholas Church and Shrine fundraiser, feeding the hungry and many more, you helped us fulfill our pledges and Christ was glorified! There are women in our chapter who give of their time and talents to bless our own church family, who bake the prosfero and vasilopita, who bake Greek pastries and fulfill orders, who write thank you and condolence cards, who bring meals, who help our youth, etc., these are our mentors that we should look up to because they do everything with love, and for the love of Christ. We can t forget those in our parish who left us last year--ted Anastasopulos, Linda Vali and Kelly Locke--may their memory be eternal. Let us continue to pray for those suffering illnesses and reach out to them with a visit, call or card. Obviously, we couldn t do everything, but this sobering thought remains, to start again with renewed faith and vigor, and when we see a need that we can fulfill, do it--even if it s a little thing. May God bless you all in the New Year and remember--together, we can do more! Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33) God bless, Alma Chu Share your news! Announcements that you would like to see in the February issue of Shorelines should be submitted to the church office by January 15th. Weekly Bulletin announcements should be submitted by noon on Thursday for the upcoming Sunday. 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 Aloha & A Happy New Year to All! We finished the year celebrating the Holy Birth of Christ with our family and friends. We, Orthodox Christians, continue celebrating His Birth for over a week. We do not fast until January 5 th. So, actually, we start the New Year still celebrating His Holy Birth. But, why do we celebrate Christmas even after the Holiday itself already passed? When a baby is born, don t people come to see him or her, call the parents to congratulate them, send a card and a gift, and so on for a couple of weeks? As well, we celebrate His Birth for more than one day. Then, we have the Big Holy Day, Theophany (Epiphany), to celebrate right after New Year s Day. Originally, Theophany was one of the bigger celebration, in magnitude, next to Pascha and Pentecost. Our children know how to celebrate Christmas and Pascha(Easter) since many people around them enjoy these Feast Days. However, they do not have the opportunity to experience the importance of Theophany unless we teach them. I understand many parents are obligated to work on the day of Theophany. If possible, please make an effort to bring your child/children to Church on Theophany. Let s try to talk to them about Christ s Baptism and receiving Holy Water. We can show our kids different beautiful Theophany services found online. I want to share part of a blog post by Elissa Bjeletich, Teaching Theophany Raising Saints below. There is so much to teach in Christ s baptism there s John s preparation and fasting, his message of repentance, Christ s sanctification of all water, creation s praise and we haven t even reached the Theophany! This word means the revelation of God, and we call the feast of Christ s baptism the Theophany because of what comes next: Matthew writes, When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. At this remarkable moment, as all of the water, the life blood of our entire earth, is sanctified by Christ Himself, Christ emerges and the heavens open up! The Son stands there in the flesh, the Holy Spirit appears as a dove, and the Father s voice booms down from the heavens, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Holy Trinity is made manifest, all three in one accord and in one place together, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As creation lurches up in joy, the Holy Trinity reveals itself and God confirms the goodness of His beloved Son. We can well see how heaven opens up and comes down to earth, just as all of creation is rising up in praise everything connected in the joy of Christ s baptism! This feast is an amazing convergence of everything, as human history has all lead up to this moment! Generations of prophets have prepared human beings to receive the Messiah and here He is, being baptized by the last prophet and beginning His public ministry with the express blessing of God the Father in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Let s make sure that the children in our families and our parishes are understanding Theophany in all of its complexity and beauty. This isn t simply Holy Water Day, it s a glorious feast, and every year, we should teach them about another of its glorious aspects. There is so much to say about Theophany that it cannot be confined to a single forty-five minute class period or to one conversation over dinner indeed, we d better start the conversation now, because it could go on forever. So as we live these twelve lovely days of Christmas, we ll move from seeing Christ born in a manger and in our hearts, to receiving Him with the Father and with the Holy Spirit, sanctifying all of creation with His holiness. Let s show our children how we will stop and fast on the eleventh day, to prepare ourselves even in the midst of a great feast, to celebrate the Holy Theophany, hoping to receive that revelation of the Trinity in our own, prepared hearts. In Christ, Pres. Nicole, Sunday School Director 5

6 Dance Group News Dance Fundraiser Workshop Tuesday, January 3rd, 7-9 p.m. with Bessie Grosso from Chicago free for Dance Groups/$10 per hour for all others. Aloha Youth Choir News The Aloha Youth choir with the Phaeacian Ensemble and Karol's Karolers hosted our annual Christmas concert on December 18th. Christmas spirit ever present, Greek and international carols filled our Cathedral. A video was sent to Metropolitan Gerasimos who is so supportive of the Youth Choir. The concert was well attended, primarily by outsiders and Youth Choir Member families. Regrettably, many members of our Ss Constantine & Helen Orthodox community, could not to attend, with some exceptions. Thanks to Father Alex, Regina Mass, Suzanne Akiona, Georgia Vouloumanos, Tanda Shiroma, Shota Mkheidze, Peter Hwu, Fran Rizzo and Stelios Tzavellas for being with us at that wonderful occasion. The Aloha Youth Choir is forging ahead now, and preparations have started for our our upcoming trip to San Diego for the 2017 FDF competition. MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! 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 Scheduling an Event? Before scheduling meetings, parties, or any other event in the social hall, kitchen, or office rooms, please be sure to clear your event with the church office at least 2 weeks in advance. This will ensure that our facilities are available for all to use, as well as prevent confusion and double bookings. Rental forms must be completed by anyone wishing to use our facilities, including church members. 6

7 A New Year s Prayer ~Anonymous~ May God make your year a happy one! Not by shielding you from all sorrows and pain, But by strengthening you to bear it, as it comes; Not by making your path easy, But by making you sturdy to travel any path; Not by taking hardships from you, But by taking fear from your heart; Not by granting you unbroken sunshine, But by keeping your face bright, even in the shadows; Not by making your life always pleasant, But by showing you when people and their causes need you most, and by making you anxious to be there to help. God s love, help, peace and joy to you for the year ahead. 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. 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 December Sunday Coffee Hour sponsors! 2017 Coffee Hour Sign-up Calendar posted outside the Social Hall. Please sign up to host a Sunday. 12/04 Sophia Turchman 12/11 Herrera 12/18 12/25 Alma Chu

8 C Stewardship NewsC HOW MUCH DO I OWE? Abbreviated Excerpts from Bill Marianes Article How much do I owe asked the parishioner. For what? I asked. You know, for my church dues. I truly did not know what to say next, so I asked a simple question: How much have you been blessed? A lot they said, but what has that got to do with anything? I just want to know how much of my money I have to give to the church as dues to be a member? And that was when I finally realized that, among other things, they got the pronoun wrong. They weren t really dealing with their assets. They are all His (i.e., God s). They failed to understand that Christ s church does not sell memberships or charge dues and that everything they had was really a gift from God, their Father. Everything! Their life, their talents, their genetic composition, their life experiences, the people who loved them, the opportunities presented them for greatness, the chances to make a difference in the world, their stuff and even their money. None of it was really theirs. They were merely a temporary steward (caretaker) of God s gifts. They didn t get it and just wanted me to give them a magic number as if it were written in some golden tablets My definition of stewardship is relatively simple. I believe stewardship is what you do with all of the gifts God gave you. All of those gifts. So if you want to be judged as a great steward, than be generous with all the gifts that have been given to you by your Father. Or you can choose not to live the kind of life Christ taught and you can just do whatever you want to do. So each day you get to look in the mirror and assess your life as a steward (caretaker) of all of the many gifts and blessings God has given and entrusted to you, and ask yourself: How much does God owe me, and how much do I owe Him? The choice is yours. As are the consequences. That is the beauty of free will. You know what you need to do to choose wisely! May God bless you as you pursue your own unique stewardship calling. Stay on The Path and enjoy the journey. ***To read the full article, please go to the following link: 8