St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Sterling Heights, MI

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1 St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Sterling Heights, MI Volume 26 Issue 2 Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1 February 2019 By: Christos Strubakos, PhD The month of February in the Orthodox Church usually has two distinctive liturgical observances: the Presentation of Christ in the Temple which is celebrated every year on February 2 nd ; and, the start of the Triodion, the period of preparation for Pascha which varies each year depending on the date of Pascha. This year, the Presentation of Christ and the Triodion fall almost on the same day (Triodion begins February 1 st ). Both of these observances speak to us Christians about the most important facet of our spiritual lives: faith. Forty days after His birth, the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph brought the infant Christ to the Temple, as was the Jewish custom. This was a ceremony of dedication to God that all male babies participated in. St. Luke tells the story of the family bringing Christ to the temple and encountering Simeon who had been promised by God that he would not see death until he saw with his own eyes the Messiah. Simeon was a very old man by the time Christ was presented, and had spent the majority of his life waiting in the Temple, no doubt looking at each child that was brought, with hope that this might be the one that was promised. He was a man of faith: unquestioning faith in God, as well as faith that what had been promised to him would one day be fulfilled. What we learn from St. Simeon is that faith is not an easy thing. Faith is not a simple intellectual openness to something that might exist. Faith is the willful choice to reject what the world offers as comfortable and secure for something that cannot be proven to exist. And here is where choice comes in: to believe, to be a faithful Christian, means every second of every day to reject the security that we are told by the world to embrace. Did Saint Simeon know that he would see the Messiah? No he did not. But, regardless, he sat day and night in the Temple waiting for the fulfillment of the promise. No doubt his countrymen thought he was a deluded old man, but he chose freely to believe. He had no proof. He had no logical arguments. All he had was the conscious choice to believe what was said to him. Our choice as Christians is whether to believe or disbelieve, whether to accept or reject a moral life based on that belief, and whether that moral life would cause us to pursue good or evil. While we believe that having a choice in matters of faith is a good thing, it also gives us an enormous responsibility because choosing to believe in God opens our lives to uncertainties and hardships. Ours is a faith of paradoxes: the Almighty God is held in the arms of an old man as a baby; and to believe in that child, to worship that child, to allow that child to influence our lives so that we become something more than mere bone and muscle, we must reject the security that the world offers and take up our crosses and follow Him. There will be doubts, there will be hardships, there will be failure, but God asks nothing from us other than a simple choice; a choice that we make and remake every second of our lives. The month of February is truly a blessed month, beginning with St. Simeon who teaches us that faith is hard and brings no immediate rewards. But there is optimism in St. Simeon s story: he receives from the Panagia herself the infant God. May all of us be worthy of receiving Him because of our faith.

2 Dear Friends is an in-print outreach effort to the Orthodox Christian community of St. John as well as the community at large. This monthly publication aims to inform, edify, and serve as a witness to its readers of the Truth of Jesus Christ as confirmed in the Holy Gospel. Dear Friends is a ministry of: St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church Metropolitan Parkway Sterling Heights, MI Phone: (586) parish@stjohngoc.net Clergy: Fr. Nicholas Kyritses, Proistamenos Chanter: Christos Strubakos, PhD Office Staff: Orsalia Kostakis Church Maintenance: Nicholas Makrides Parish Council President: Dr. Steve Kotsonis Philoptochos President: Kim LaForest Senior Citizens President: Nick Prantzalos Choir Directors: John Tangalos & Dr. Andy Kotsis Altar Captain: Matthew Vasilakis Sunday School: Tara Kosmides, Sophia Papastamatis, & Dr. Zoy Patouhas-Gilbert Little Angels Advisors: Popi Stavrou, Becky Patouhas, & Erin Papakonstantinou Hope & Joy Advisors: Irene Kourtesis, Dimetra Mansoor, & Peggy Marselis College Connection: Cathy Kondoleon & Dina Demetriou Greek School: Elli Patouhas GOYA President: Mary Kotsonis GOYA Advisors: Angela Kotsonis, Angie Stathakios, Maria Souris, & Sky Bastounis Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. -Thomas Merton Human trafficking affects individuals across the world. It is commonly regarded as the second largest criminal enterprise after drugs and affects every community across age, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds. It is a form of modern-day slavery in which people profit from the control and exploitation of others. This crime occurs when a trafficker uses force, fraud, or coercion to control another person, usually women for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex acts or soliciting labor or services against his/her will. Victims include children and adults who are forced, deceived, or coerced. This is happening right here, right now in Detroit. We are blessed to have a local organization, All Worthy of Love that is committed to saving as many victims as possible. They have trained teams that go out into the streets hoping to build relationships with these women. They may give them something to eat or a bag filled with toiletries and an encouraging note. If the woman is willing, they will pray with her. The hope is that one day, as scared as she Philoptochos News is, she will accept the offer of help to get off the streets. Just last week AWOL received a call on their emergency hotline from a woman their team had been praying with during outreach. They responded immediately and secured safe housing for the night. The next morning, a long time AWOL survivor accompanied them to take her to long term restorative care. During the car ride, the two shared stories, tears, and encouragement. Praise God! And these stories continue with the good work this group is doing. On January 28 th here at church, Philoptochos organized an event to pack lunches and health kits for AWOL members to use during outreach. Our goal was to make 20 lunches and 20 health kits, but the parishioners of St. John blew that goal out of the water, by donating enough supplies to make 100 health kits. The lunches, kits and notes of encouragement were delivered to the team the following day. Thank you to all who donated and to those who came to pack and assemble. Please keep the victims as well as the volunteers of AWOL in prayer. In Christ s Love, Zoi Seremetis and Mary Tangalos PAGE of St. John

3 February s Major Feasts Continued Triodion; In the Orthodox Church one of the themes that permeates the writings of the Fathers and the liturgical poetry is the notion of χαρμολύπη or, joyfulsadness. This is an expression that is very rich in meaning and based in the soul s experiences of the spiritual life. While we do not regularly discuss the book of Revelations, nor do we read it aloud during services, a quote comes to mind from this book that relates directly to joyful-sadness and the period of the Liturgical calendar into which we are entering this month: yet I hold this against you: you have abandoned your first love. (Revelations 2:4). The period of Triodion which begins on February 5 th and ends on Holy Saturday (April 15 th ) is one of discovery and it is one of passage. It is a journey into our remembering of the faint and distorted and barely discernable capacity to desire our first love. And in this journey the soul of the Saint ultimately experiences joyfulsadness: joy at having found Him whom she seeks, and sadness at realizing how far from Him she really is. We have indeed abandoned Him and replaced Him with all manner of transience and superficiality and we are now invited to begin the journey to the Cross, the journey up Golgotha, the journey into our own joyful-sadness. Ours is a faith of paradox: the closer one to gets to God, the farther one perceives that he is from Him. The Triodion therefore has the Cross at its center because it is in and through the suffering of the Cross where self-awareness finally occurs. The Cross is the point at which the ultimate descent and revelation of the Word of God merges with the ultimate ascent and divination of mankind. Through the Cross joy has come to all the world we read every Sunday. Joy through suffering, sadness juxtaposed with hope, life through the grave. The Triodion, then, is a service book that we use in Church that begins nine Sundays before Pascha and also contains the services of Holy Week. Each Sunday has a theme; each week urges us to come to know ourselves, to come to remember our first love, to walk the lonely path of the Christian life. In what follows we shall discuss what each Sunday of the Triodion mean and how we can use this service book and the services which are contained within it to truly prepare ourselves for Pascha 2017, but also for our own personal Pascha; that is, our own death and resurrection. Sunday February 17: The Sunday of the Publican and the Pharisee Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee, and let us learn humility in sorrows from the Publican, crying out to the Savior: Have mercy on us, only Compassionate One. Kontakion of the Feast On this Sunday the Triodion opens and is thus its first Sunday. The Church has begun to invite us to prepare for Great Lent and Pascha. The Gospel reading from this day is taken from Luke 18:9-14 and tells the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican. The one, believed he was better than everyone because he followed the letter of the law. The other, recognizing his sinfulness could not even lift up his eyes to heaven and simply sat in the corner groaning and praying, Lord, have mercy on me the sinner. We are taught on this Sunday that humility and repentance are the way, not arrogance or self-justification. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. February 24: The Sunday of the Prodigal Son I have mindlessly squandered your paternal glory, the riches you have given me in evil things. Therefore with the voice of the Prodigal I cry out: I have sinned before you, merciful Father, accept me in repentance and make me as one of your servants. Kontakion of the Feast The second Sunday of the Triodion tells the Parable of the Prodigal Son. The Gospel reading is taken from Luke 15: This is the great story of God s mercy and forgiveness. A man has two sons and one day the younger of the two asks for his share of the inheritance and leaves his father and squanders his money on every imaginable pleasure. One day, left penniless and starving among the pigs he remembers that his father s servants are treated better than he is so he comes to his senses, he awakens, and goes to his father and begs to be taken back. Now while he still a ways off his father, seeing him, ran to him, hugged him, kissed him, put a ring on his finger and killed the fatted calf to celebrate his return. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who have no need of repentance. Luke 15:7. The Church is urgently telling us that we must repent and return to God. We must remember our first love, come to our senses and go back to Him without shame and He, seeing us coming, will run to us. of St. John PAGE 3

4 Little Angels, Hope, & Joy (Under 4 years old) (K-2nd grade) (3rd - 6th grade) Hello everyone! We hope that 2019 has been great for you all so far! Hope and Joy took a short break from our monthly events in January, but we will be continuing our outings together starting again in February. We plan to either go bowling or have a day of fun at Lifetime Fitness. The details and date of the events are still being worked out. We will inform everyone as soon as the final plans are made. In March we plan to visit the Holy Trinity monastery in Smith s Creek. We feel that visiting the monastery during Lent would be a very special event. This will most likely be at the end of March. In April we have our annual Easter egg hunt and craft on the Saturday of Lazarus. May is still open for ideas, although if we do not do bowling at any other time, we will plan to go in May. In June we will wind down our events with an ice cream outing. We hope you can all join these next few months! Sincerely, The Hope, Joy, & Little Angels advisors St. John NEWS Hi! My name is Athanasia Nezeritis and I am the Vice President of GOYA. This is my last year apart of GOYA since I am a Senior and will be graduating in June and attending College in the fall. I have had so many amazing memories in GOYA over the years. From the bonfires to Haunted Houses, Holiday Hoops, lock-ins, gift wrapping at the Senior Home and along the way I made lifelong friendships. GOYA does all these fun activities but they also do events like feeding the homeless. GOYA recently went to St. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Detroit to feed the homeless. Thank you to our amazing advisor and parents who cooked the delicious meal. As I was there serving the people, I was very humbled. I saw babies to Seniors Citizens that were so appreciative of a hot meal. I heard of a young child that was going to be taken away by social services on Monday. I was trying to process it all. This was something I was not use to seeing. Before we served the food, the priest said prayer and sang a hymn and all joined in to sing and that is where I saw GOD. The love that the priest and staff have for these people is God Love. It was so amazing to see the smiles as they were singing. Smiles of hope. Faith is hope that something good is going to happen. I saw Faith in that hall. The priest and his volunteers have faith that every week they will have food to feed the people. They have faith that God will provide. Not only do they feed the people, they take them to the hospital, reach out to them in prison, help them with day to day living. That is God. As I am very grateful for my home, I sometimes take it for granted. I was truly appreciative of the time I spent at St. Perter and Paul. I felt as God s humble servant. As there are a few months left as GOYA Vice President I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you. St. John s GOYA has impacted my life and left me with wonderful memories. I encourage all to join GOYA and patriciate. PAGE of St. John

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6 St. John To my fellow St. John parishioners, Greetings! My name is Penelope Patsarikas and I am currently a student at Oakland University. I am in my second year at Oakland, and I am majoring in Health Sciences with a Pre-Health Professional concentration. I am currently undecided about the career path that I would like to pursue, but I am very excited to narrow down my options. Growing up I always had a feeling that I would go to Oakland University. This feeling stemmed from the fact that all my older siblings graduated from Oakland. That is not to say, though, that I was 100% set on attending Oakland University. At first, as a freshman, I was a bit unsure about attending Oakland because my friends were going away to college. However, as time went on and as the semesters passed, I had realized that Oakland University was the right choice for me because everything seemed to fit in place. Oakland University is a great college for me and for many others because of all the great opportunities the school offers. For example, there are excellent programs and classes that are offered, there are many opportunities to get involved, and the school is always improving itself. Just this year, Oakland opened its newly expanded student center and a new residence hall. It seems like Oakland is always improving itself in order to keep its students happy with their surrounding environments. There are two other major factors that helped me conclude that Oakland was the right choice for me: church and my relationship with God. Being able to stay in touch with the Orthodox Christian faith has always been a top priority of mine. I think that prioritizing God and my relationship with Him is the key to happiness and success in life. Therefore, I knew that I needed to make sure that God was always a priority in my life, especially while in college. Going to Oakland has helped me sustain my relationship with God especially because of how close the school is to St. John. The proximity has made it easy for me to attend church on a regular basis. In addition to how close Oakland is to church, having a few friends that attend Oakland who are also of Greek Orthodox faith makes school feel all the more welcoming. Even though there is not a large Greek Orthodox population at Oakland, knowing that there are just a few others with the same background as me is comforting. To sum up my college experience thus far, Oakland University has treated me very well, and I am very excited to see what the future holds! Some advice I would give to current high school seniors is to have a balance in life. You have to work hard for what you want, but you also have to enjoy life. It may seem difficult at first, but you will eventually find your rhythm! Good luck to the class of 2019! With love in Christ, Penelope Patsarikas PAGE of St. John

7 St. John Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones - Psalm 33:1-3 All are welcome! If you love to sing, come and join us in the Choir. All voices are welcome and encouraged to participate. Please be in church no later than 9:50AM and come up to the choir loft! We look - John Tangalos & Dr. Andy Kotsis, Choir Directors of St. John PAGE 7

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9 February is already here and it is time for more events for our Greek School. In February our school offers parent/teacher conferences. The parents are invited to come to school, meet the teachers, discuss the progress of the students and receive the report card. The parents are always welcome to stop by and ask the teachers any question they may have. March is always a special time in our school because we are getting ready for the Greek Independence Day celebration. This great event will be celebrated by the St.John Greek Afternoon School on Tuesday, March 26 in the afternoon. Our students will learn songs, poems and Greek dancing. Everybody is invited to see the beautiful show and celebrate with us our history and heritage. Dates to remember for the year 2019 February: March: April: May: Tuesday 12 & Thursday 14 Parent/teacher conferences and report cards Tuesday 19 & Thursday 21 No school/midwinter break Tuesday 26 Celebration for the 25 th of March Tuesday 2 & Thursday 4 - No school/spring break Sunday 14 Greek Independence Day Parade Tuesday 23 & Thursday 25 Holy Week/No school (Happy Easter) Thursday 16 - Graduation! of St. John PAGE 9

10 St. John We welcome all boys to join us in the Altar. Whether you come once in a while or every Sunday, we would love to have you and teach you how we serve God. Thank you to all of those who do serve and please come see me if you would like to join or - Matthew Vasilakis, Altar Captain On February 7th we will have our Senior Citizen s lunch and meeting at the Royalty House. All seniors are encouraged to attend. Please let us know if you need a ride and we will find someone to bring you along! We meet the first Thursday of each month. See you all soon! - Nick Prantzalos, President PAGE of St. John

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12 Meetings ADULT GREEK SCHOOL Tuesdays and Thursdays 6:30pm -7:30pm Call the church office if interested GOYA (7-12 grade) Goya Meeting after Sunday School - February 3 Every Monday Basketball Practice at 6:30pm at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse St. John GOYA Ski Retreat February 8 HOPE and JOY & LITTLE ANGELS To be announced GREEK SCHOOL Tuesdays and Thursdays 4:30pm-6:30pm PARISH COUNCIL 2nd Tuesday of every month Tuesday, February 12, Meeting at 7:00pm PHILOPTOCHOS 2nd Monday of every month Monday, February 11 at 7:30pm SENIOR CITIZENS 1st Thursday of every month Meeting & Luncheon at Royalty House Thursday, February 7 at 12:00pm SUNDAY SCHOOL Every Sunday Baptisms Saturday, February 23 Andre Leo VanOpdenbosch & Dominic Taso VanOpdenbosch Boys of Derek & Stephanie VanOpdenbosch Baby Antwan and Ntina Hall son Prayers and Condolences to the family and friends of Fr. Nicholas Kyritsis On the death of his mother in Greece Nicoleta Salonikas & Kathy Konon on the death of their aunt in Canada Maria Moskos Evangelia Caruso and Ted & Costas Pozios on the death of their sister Fotoula in Greece. May their memory be eternal These are your opportunities to get involved

13 Father Nicholas Kyritses Metro Parkway Sterling Heights, Michigan Office: Fax: Emergency: Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 Presentation of our Lord Divine Liturgy 9:30 am St. John s Dinner Dance 3 16th Sunday of Matthew Orthros 9:00 am Divine Liturgy 10:00 am 4 Basketball Practice at Joe Dumars 6:30 pm 5 Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm 6 7:00pm Paraklesis - Supplication Service Lecture by Dr. Strubakos 7 Senior Citizens Meeting and Luncheon - Royalty House 12 noon 8 St. John GOYA Ski Retreat 9 GOYA Meeting after Sunday School Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm 10 Sunday of the Canaanite St. Haralambos Orthros 9:00 am Divine Liturgy 10:00 am 11 Basketball Practice at Joe Dumars 6:30 pm Philoptochos Meeting 7:30pm 12 Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm Council Meeting 7:00 pm 13 7:00pm Paraklesis - Supplication Service Lecture by Dr. Strubakos 14 Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm Sunday of the Publication and Pharisee Triodions Begins 18 Basketball Practice at Joe Dumars 6:30 pm 19 No Greek School 20 7:00pm Paraklesis - Supplication Service Lecture by Dr. Strubakos 21 No Greek School Orthros 9:00 am Divine Liturgy 10:00 am 24 Sunday of the Prodigal Son Orthros 9:00 am Divine Liturgy 10:00 am 25 Basketball Practice at Joe Dumars 6:30 pm 26 Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm 27 7:00pm Paraklesis - Supplication Service Lecture by Dr. Strubakos 28 Greek School 4:30 pm Adult Greek School 6:30 pm

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16 Dear Friends St. John Greek Orthodox Church Metropolitan Parkway Sterling Heights, MI Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Sterling Heights, MI Permit No. 4 CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Introducing the Orthodox Church Classes at St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church, Sterling Heights, MI. By christos strubakos, phd Every Wednesday evening following Paraklesis service. Service at 7:00pm, lecture immediately following. February 6: The Sacraments: Marriage and Ordination February 13: The Sacraments: Unction and Confession February 20: What we believe about the Old Testament: Salvation and Prophesies February 27: What we believe about the New Testament March 6: What we believe about prayer March 13: What we believe about fasting March 20: How to prepare to receive Holy Communion March 27: The Lenten Services Part 1: Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts April 3: The Lenten Services Part 2: The Salutations to the Theotokos April 10: Holy Week Explained Part 1: Iconography of Holy Week April 17: Holy Week Explained Part 2: Hymnography and Services of Holy Week PAGE of St. John