SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX w CHURCH

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SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX w CHURCH 195 N. Main Street Milpitas, Ca 95035 www.sjorthodox.org Sundays Matins 8:00 a.m. Sundays Liturgy 10:30 a.m. The Very Reverend Fr. Jiris Hanna (408) 509-8802 Dcn.

1 SAINT JAMES ORTHODOX w CHURCH 195 N. Main Street Milpitas, Ca Sundays Matins 8:00 a.m. Sundays Liturgy 10:30 a.m. The Very Reverend Fr. Jiris Hanna (408) Dcn. Joseph Kawar (408) Issue No. 692 Sunday May 14 (5/1), 2017 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman Prophet Jeremiah (6 th 7 th Century B.C.) أحد السامرية تذكار القديس ارميا النبي Matins (Eothina VII): John 20:1 10 Epistle: Acts 11:19 26, Gospel: John 4:5 42 The Conversation of Christ with the Soul Sunday of the Samaritan Woman May 14 Christ Is Risen! Truly He Is Risen! This Sunday we are privileged to witness a holy conversation. This conversation is not just between Christ and a woman. It is between Christ and the soul. Now we're waiting upon the Holy Spirit, and as good and faithful disciples, we should be more zealous at this time of year than at any other time. Unfortunately, it is quite the opposite, as the years go by. This is the least zealous time for Christians, but it is the most important time. In many ways, this time is even more important than Great Lent. This is the time for our blessing. God wants to enlighten us. God wants to show us so many things. This period of time is very holy. Unfortunately it is also one of the most ignored times of the year. Now, as it is in many, many passages of scripture, we should put ourselves in this situation. We should consider ourselves as the Samaritan Woman at this point, and wonder how we would react. Where would we need to improve? This woman is great, but she was a sinner, there is no doubt about it: she had had five husbands, she was living in an illicit relationship with another man, and she believed in false religion. So this woman was not a true believer, and she was not living a moral life. But there was a greatness in her soul, because as God revealed Himself to her, slowly, there was awakened in her a great thirst, and a great and a brutal honesty. She was honest. Not just that she told the truth to Jesus, but that when she heard the truth, she accepted it. She had to accept that Christ had the right to tell her things and to look into her soul.

2 Many people proclaim Jesus as the Christ, and that truth doesn't save them. When we accept Jesus as the Christ in our hearts, when we accept that He has rights to tell us how to live, then we are on the road to salvation. Our life is full of many, many moments, when God tries to reach out and touch us. Many of these moments we have missed, sometimes because we have other things to do, other priorities. Sometimes because we are just bouncing around with that narcotic kind of wave of life, we don't listen and don't hear. Christ engages this woman in conversation, which was amazing to her. Not only is she a woman - it was not usual for a man to engage a strange woman in conversation - but she was a Samaritan. The Jews clearly hated Samaritans, and the feeling was mutual. Why would this man be talking to her? But He awakened in her a thirst, and this thirst is what saved her soul. And He cleansed the unclean life that she was leading, and the unclean belief she had had all her life, and the arguments, and the hatred that she had toward the Jews, and everything else. Jesus said to her, "Give me to drink." She said, "Sir, why would you want to talk to me?" And then He brings in the idea of water, living water, and the woman begins to pursue after this idea. She started to understand things - only in a figure, only a little bit - but that's because the conversation continued. She desired this water greatly. And what is this water? The living water that Christ talks about. Not from a spring, nor from a river, it is the Holy Spirit that God wells up in a man. This is what Christ is promising to the woman, but she doesn't understand yet. This woman was living in sins, and they were dulling her intellect. Indeed she had quite a bright intellect, because eventually she became St. Photini, equal to the apostles, and a martyr. She evangelized the entire town. She must have been aflame with the knowledge of Christ at this point, and she communicated it because she believed it. But she had to start thinking spiritually, and in order for that to happen Christ had to show her what was wrong with her life. So He skillfully turns the conversation to her by asking an innocent question. "Go, call thy husband." "I don't have a husband." "Thou hast spoken truly. Thou hadst had five husbands, and the one that thou hast now is not your husband." Now with the vast majority of people in the world, the conversation would have ended there. She would have come irate: how dares He? She would have stomped off, or become belligerent in the conversation, and what God wanted to give her wouldn't have been given. She would have cut if off right there. Consider how we would react to the revelation of our sins in this manner. We do react in this manner. We cut off our conversation with God. We do not continue to ask questions, we do not continue to listen to the Master. We have our own priorities, our things we do. We don't say our prayers very often, we don't come to church, except occasionally. We don't commune or confess very often. These are all parts of the conversation. And we don't even know what we've missed. If this woman had become angry because of what Christ said, or at any other point in the conversation, if she had cut it off, she would not have found out about the living water, and she wouldn t have known. It would not have occurred to her that she had God before her, and she had sinned. She wouldn't have noticed it. She would have gone on with her life, and lived and died. And never known what she'd miss. What a tragedy! This is what happens to us, too. God wants to shed grace upon us abundantly, yet we cut off the conversation. We don't even know what it is that He wants to give us. This intense conversation is what we must have, and what we so seldom do, because we have our own priorities. We just seem to be so unpracticed at the ways of piety. We say our prayers so infrequently, and such a small amount. We watch ten times more television than we pray. We read things that are either unholy or useless, rather than the Holy Scriptures. We say we don't have time for this, or the drive is too long. And we don't even know what we missed. People do not like to know what's really wrong with them. They get very, very prickly when things are too exposed. But this conversation that Christ had with the Samaritan woman took time. Gradually her sins were exposed to her. When it was time for Christ to show her that He absolutely knew all about her, she was ready to accept it. But that was only because of the effort that she had put into the conversation up to that point. We must put effort into this conversation. This is the only thing that is important in our lives - the dialogue of Christ with our soul. Nothing else matters. When we make bad decisions, when we are lazy, when we don't come to church, when we don't say your prayers, when we decide to eat some nibble of food that is not fasting, all these things are breaking the conversation. What a glorious thing it is to be promised living water, never to be thirsty again. Never to be sad. Never to be hungry. Not to have anything wrong with us. No wounds. No incompleteness. No imperfections. No longer pain and longing. This is what He promises us. It is only realizable, though, if we are participating with Him. It is only possible if we continually participate. Consistency Saying your prayers consistently, keeping the fast consistently, coming to the services consistently. Not just most Sundays. All of them.

When you don't want to say your prayers, or when you don't feel like coming to church, or when you're bored in church and leave early or when you have some other thing to do, it s purely and simply

May God help us to continue the conversation. To the end of our life, not omitting one detail. God will enlighten us if we continue this conversation. Amen.

3 When you don't want to say your prayers, or when you don't feel like coming to church, or when you're bored in church and leave early or when you have some other thing to do, it s purely and simply because if this conversation is broken you will make no progress. So Satan does what he can to break the conversation. And we are too willing to allow the distractions to occur in our life. May God help us to continue the conversation. To the end of our life, not omitting one detail. God will enlighten us if we continue this conversation. Amen. ١٤ ايار األسبوع الخامس للفصح - أحد السامرية - في هذا األحد الخامس للفصح. ن عي د ل لقاء رب نا وإله نا وم خل ص نا ي سوع المسيح بالمرأة السامري ة التي كانت تستقي ماء من البئر. فإذا بالسي د ي روي ظ مأها بماء الحياة وي نير ها بع بادة اآلب بالروح والحق. في هذا اللقاء إشارة واضحة إلى ماء المعمودي ة وإلى الع بادة بالروح الق د س يدعو التقليد هذه المرأة السامرية باسم "فوتين" أو "فوتيني" أي "م نيرة" ألنها استنارت بالمعرفة اإللهي ة. كما يذكر أنها است شه دت مع أوالد ها السبعة في عهد نيرونز فبشفاعة شهيدتك "م نيرة" أي ها المسيح إله نا ارحمنا. آمين Wednesday 5/10 (4/27) Mid-Pentecost Christ God, the Creator and Master of all Cried to all in the midst of the Feast of the law: Come and draw the water of immortality! We fall before You and faithfully cry: Grant us Your bounties, for You are the Fountain of our life! في انتصاف العيد الناموسي قلت للحاضرين ايها المسيح األله السيد والصانع الكل. هلم وا استقوا ماء عدم الموت ألجل ذلك نجثو لك ونهتف بإيمان قائلين. هب لنا رأفتك وتحننك ألنك انت ينبوع حياتنا. Services This Week Saturday 5/14 at 10am Holy Apostle James, the Brother of St. John the Theologian Happy Mother s Day To All The Mothers On Your Day This Sunday! God bless you all through the intercessions of our Mother, the Most Holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary.

4 May 2017 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat pm Choir meeting & practice 6 10am St. George the Wonderworker 7 Sunday of the Paralytic 3 rd & 9 th Day Trisagion Jabra Asfour Apostle & Evangelist Mark Mid-Pentaccost 11 7:30pm Board Meeting am Apostle James, the brother of St. John the Theologian 14 Sunday of the Samaritan Woman pm Choir practice 20 St. George Special Lunch & Celebration Mother s Day 21 Sunday of the Blind Man Apostle & Evangelist John the Theologian am Ascension of Our Lord Sunday of the Holy Fathers Notes:

5 ROOTS by Fr. Allan Boyd An old farmer and his beloved grandson were talking about their family s crop of corn one day. The boy was excitedly chattering about this year s crop and how quickly it had come to tower over everything else on the farm with the constant rains they d been having. But the grandfather warned the boy saying: "That glut of rain we ve had makes our crops especially vulnerable. Now, even the smallest drought just a little hot, dry spell could kill off our entire crop" But Grandpa the boy countered, look how tall and strong and green it all looks. It looks healthy enough to survive any drought now! The old grandfather explained that while very frequent and abundant rains may look like a benefit the over-watered plants don t have to push their roots very deep into the soil searching for water. Since the roots remain shallow, a drought would find the plants unprepared and quickly kill them. Some of us receive frequent and abundant rains of what we consider to be life s blessings. Everything is doing fine. We find no reason sink our roots more deeply into God, because life seems to be going good for us on our own. We feel like we ve got things all under control. Yet when a period of drought of stresses and great difficulties enter our lives, we often wither further away from God imagining Him as being unfaithful in His care for us. We don t have the depth to deal with the difficulties that life can throw at us. The problem is that our roots have never pushed much below a superficial relationship with God. Remember this: Only those roots that have grown deep into our Lord Jesus Christ will help us endure times of drought in our lives. So how do we prepare for those times of drought? Be sure to attend regularly and sink your roots deeply into all of the worship services of the Church purposefully engaging the words of the hymns and prayers. Make the Jesus Prayer or, The Prayer of the Heart Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a part of your every breath. Put some daily effort into memorizing and meditating upon a bit of the scriptures. As God has rained down much of His blessings on you allow yourself not to be overwatered with them realize that they re not all meant for you alone choose the asceticism of fasting, and stretching your budget to give a good portion of those blessings to the poor, and give generously to the Church without expecting a personal agenda to be fulfilled learning to live selflessly. In these ways you begin growing into His likeness becoming one with Him in His ministry here on earth. Then when those scorching stresses and great struggles arrive (and we all get them at one point or another), our deep roots will keep us from withering away into hopelessness so that someday we may bear forth a bumper crop of Christ s love into the world.

Special celebration next Sunday 5/14 for the feast of Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George We will have a special procession to the church hall where a special lunch will be served for

Next Practice Friday May 19 If any parishioner is interested in joining St. James choir please attend these practices.

6 Special celebration next Sunday 5/14 for the feast of Greatmartyr, Victory-bearer and Wonderworker George We will have a special procession to the church hall where a special lunch will be served for this occasion Choir Meeting & Practice ALL CHOIR MEMBERS Please attend Choir Practices every other Friday starting at 7pm sharp. We should be done by 8:30pm. Next Practice Friday May 19 If any parishioner is interested in joining St. James choir please attend these practices. Young adults and Youth are highly encouraged to attend if you have the interest in chanting. In many parishes the faithful touch the priest s vestments during the Great Entrance. This tradition is associated with the account of the woman who received healing by touching the hem of Christ s garment. It has become a pious custom by which our prayers are attached and carried into the altar at the Entrance of the Holy Gifts. Special care should be taken not to grab or tug on the vestments or trip the priest when reaching out. We do not touch the acolytes; of the deacon s vestments, and it is never appropriate to touch the sacred vessels (chalice and discos) directly in this procession. Exercise caution. Accidents can happen. Scrip Scrip Scrip For Moms & Grads Graduations and Mother s Day are just around the corner. Please consider buying Scrip gift cards for your graduates and moms. Big variety of restaurants and department stores. Complete list of retailers at Scrip Retailers Please allow one week for delivery. See or call Lilian (408) to place your order early. Fr. Giris Calendar If you need to schedule a baptism, engagement, or wedding appointments with Fr. Giris, please DO NOT CALL Fr. Giris directly. Hanan Aboujudom is managing Fr. Giris calendar. Calling Fr. Giris directly for appointments may cause a conflict with other appointments as Fr. Giris may not have his calendar with him all the time. Hanan Aboujudom can be reached at her cell phone (408) Sunday School Summer Break Sunday June 11 is the last day Sunday School classes will be on break June September Mark Your Calendar St. James 12 th Annual Food Festival September 15, 16, 17 sjoc@earthlink.net for your bulletin personal announcements, comments, or feedback.

من المزامير الروحية للقديس افرام السوري المزمور رقم 14 يا فادي الكل خلصني وامنحني دموعا تغسل الجدار الذي يفصلني عنك السبح للصالح الذي نزل من أجلنا وصار مثلنا وشفى قروحنا بجسده المقدس الكل ودمه المقدس

افتح لي باب الرقة يا ربنا يا من هو مليء بالرحمة امدد يدك الي أيها الصالح الرحيم وأعدني الى حظيرة خرافك لكي أمجد حنوك. خطاياي جدار بيني وبين صالحك.

7 من المزامير الروحية للقديس افرام السوري المزمور رقم 14 يا فادي الكل خلصني وامنحني دموعا تغسل الجدار الذي يفصلني عنك السبح للصالح الذي نزل من أجلنا وصار مثلنا وشفى قروحنا بجسده المقدس الكل ودمه المقدس الكل! ليرنم الكل تسابيح له! الشكر للرؤوم القلب الذي يحمل دائما حملنا رغم أنه يعرف شرنا الذي خلقنا ويطعمنا والذي يأمر شمسه أن تشع علينا! لنسبح صالحه! افتح لي باب الرقة يا ربنا يا من هو مليء بالرحمة امدد يدك الي أيها الصالح الرحيم وأعدني الى حظيرة خرافك لكي أمجد حنوك. خطاياي جدار بيني وبين صالحك. اهدمه لكي أقترب من رقتك الحنون اسكب محبتك علي وارفعني الى ارتفاعاتك. لكن جدار خطاياي ال يهدم اال بالدموع واالنسحاق لذا امنحني كل ايام حياتي أن انوح باجتهاد على خطاياي وأن اجمع الثمار التي ستخدمني حسنا في يوم الدينونة. CORRECTION Condemn yourself and try to correct yourself. But we cannot correct ourselves if we do not begin with self-reproach (and not reproaching others) and with forcing ourselves to be obedient to our elders. - St. Anatoly Saints This Week Monday 5/8 (4/25) Holy Apostle and Evangelist Mark When you received the grace of the Spirit from on high, O Apostle, you broke the snares of the philosophers and gathered all nations into your net, bringing them to your Lord, O glorious Mark, by the preaching of the divine Gospel. من األعالي اخذت نعمة الروح فحللت مشكالت الخطباء واقنتصت األمم اجمع ايها الرسول وقدمتهم لسيد الكل لما كرزت باألنجيل األلهي ايها المغبوط مرقس الشائع الذكر.

8 ر/ ر, س$ د$ س 6 ر$ ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE THE VICARIATE FOR Palestinian /Jordanian ORTHODOX COMMUNITIES IN AMERICA Monthly Schedule Sheet May 2017 The Very Rev. Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne Dr. DAMASKINOS ALAZRAI ٢٠١٧ "?>0 أر(*+ -. ا 32"10 ا 3#6154 ذ 915% + د. ا;زر= 3 أ- &%$#"! Sunday, May 7th, 2017 Divine Liturgy AL BISHARA Orthodox Church 2525 Etiwanda Ave. San Bernardino CA :00 am Sunday, May 14th, 2017 Divine Liturgy AL BISHARA Orthodox Church 2525 Etiwanda Ave. San Bernardino CA :00 am Sunday, May 21st, 2017 Divine Liturgy St. James Orthodox Church 195 North Main St. Milpitas CA :00 am Wednesday, May 24th, 2017 Divine Liturgy For Leave Taking The Resurrection وداع :5/ ا!;>= "The Life Giving Spring Orthodox Mission" 640 S Orchard Ave, in Ukiah, CA For More Information About The Time Please Contact Father Nektarios Thursday, May 25th, 2017?5-> ا!>@ Ascension Thursday اCB!A St. George Orthodox Church 7311 College View Dr. ~ Rohnert Park CA :00 am Saturday, May 27th, 2017 Fifth Annual Festival St. Stephen Orthodox Church Hirschfeld Way, Rancho Cardova CA 11:00 am - 9:00 pm Sunday May 28th, 2017 Divine Liturgy Saints Peter & Paul Orthodox Church 1924 Trinity Ave. Walnut Creek CA :30 am To contact The Very Rev. Archimandrite Damskinos 10 ذ) 543. Tel: Damaskinosalazrai@yahoo.gr اYou May The Lord Be With )( ا*ر,-. #"! ا$ '&

9 Orthodox Church Dress Code With the warm spring and summer days already here, we naturally tend to wear less and lighter clothes to chruch. Please keep in mind the following Orthodox Church Dress Code and guidelines: The exact dress code that any Orthodox Church has will vary from church to church. However, there are a few things to remember when going to any Orthodox Church. There are several standards of dress that should be met in order to show respect to the church and to its members. Men s Clothing: When attending a service in an Orthodox Church, shorts or flip-flops are never appropriate. Shorts are not considered to be respectful in these churches, and they should be left at home. For men, any dressy pair of pants with a button-up shirt is respectful enough. Many people wear a full suit, including a jacket and tie. Make sure the shirt has long sleeve. Wear appropriate shoes. Tennis shoes are almost never appropriate for a church service. Women s Clothing For women, there are many options that are appropriate for an Orthodox Church service. The main idea for women s dress is to keep it modest. Many Orthodox Churches have dress codes that call for modest clothing. To achieve this, remember not to show too much skin. The shoulders cannot be shown in the church, so avoid anything strapless or with thin straps. Keep your tops and dresses high cut and with long sleeves. Wearing a simple dress is a nice way to show respect to the church. The dress should not be too tight and it should not have a shirt hemline. Keep the dress long, coming to the ankle or to the lower calf. Many Orthodox Churches have a dress code that specifies that skirts and dresses must come below the knee. Others ask that no leg be shown. If you aren t sure which is appropriate, it may be best to wear an ankle-length dress or skirt. Make sure the dress or the tops have long sleeve. Tennis shoes, flip-flops and stiletto heels are all inappropriate footwear for an Orthodox Church. Keep your jewelry and makeup simple when going to a service. Some Orthodox Churches frown upon lipstick being worn if communion is to be taken. Keep makeup simple and neutral and wear only small, understated jewelry. Long, dangly jewelry may bring unneeded attention to yourself. Keep necklaces and earrings small and tasteful in order to keep your look respectful. Attention Parents and Friends of 2017 Graduates! *** 5 Weeks Until Deadline *** You can post a FREE personal congratulation message to your graduates in the bulletin. Just your greetings to sjoc@earthlink.net Graduates: Please your graduation picture or regular pictures to sjoc@earthlink.net to be posted in the bulletin. Graduates pictures and greetings will be posted during the week of June 12. William Ammari 5/8 Samer Barance 5/10 Maureen Elsousou 5/10 George Anagnastopoulos 5/11 Samer Zeidan 5/12 George Swaiss 5/12 Issa Saydawi 5/12 Sophie Khadder 5/12 Constantine Menesez 5/13 Joachim Perry 5/14 Zeid Shehadeh 5/14 عقبال المئة سنة!!!

ST. JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCHATE Vicariate of the Palestinian & Jordanian Orthodox Communities in the U.S. ST. JAMES ORTHODOX CHURCH 195 N. Main Street; Milpitas, CA 95035 sjorthodox.org 408.934.1794 (Office) Very