SAINT
JOSEPH THE BETROTHED
Melkite-Greek Catholic CHURCH
725 W. Mt.
Hope Ave, Lansing, MI 48910 517-575-6264
FMailing Address: 921 Westover
Circle, Lansing, MI 48917E
Rev. Protodeacon Joseph Daratony
248-719-5169
Phone or email Fr James with items for the
bulletin by Thursday night.
Troparion of SS Cyrus and John (Tone 5)
O Christ our God, You granted us your holy martyrs’
miracles as a stronghold and protection.
Through their prayers, strengthen our public authorities
in every good deed,
for You alone are merciful and the Lover of All People.
31 January 2016—Third Sunday of the Triodion: Meatfare/The Last Judgement. Holy Moneyless Wonderworking Healers Cyrus
and John. (Tone 3)
Readings Apostolos: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2 Gospel:
Matthew 25:31-46
10:30 am Orthros
(Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health and salvation of Wayne Gowdy, Eleanora Lindo, Ralph Farhat, Nemri
Badawy, Ann Rashid, Laina Graham, Ruth Zarka, Violet Albertson, Ina Samra,
Leila Abdallah, Nadia Badawi & Family, Dan & Nancy Logan, Glen Gardner,
Mona, Zaina, Gary, Charlotte, Laure, Fares, Maroun,
Dennis, Max, Angel,
Simone, Mikayla Slocum, Raymond Rashid, Bonita Saba, Griffin Barna, Jim
Covello, David Georges, Robert Kuri, Isaac Salim, Iva, Alessandra, BJ & Liz, Cam, Janice, Jeanne, Kelsey,
Kathleen, Edgar &
Katherine, Kamal & Eugenie,
Clay, Michael, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Antonio, Elias Haggar,
Marie Dahdouh, Dn. Joe & Marge Daratony, Fr Dennis Howard, Fr Charles
Aboody, Fr Joseph Haggar, Fr Damon Geiger, Fr James Babcock, Fr Basil Samra,
Fr Michael Skrocki, Fr Maximos; in memory of Awatef Chahine (Fayrouz Andrawes & Family),
Maarouf Khouri (Nimer & Lamia Haddad), Elias Atallah (Mr & Mrs Sami Fawaz), Nickolas Nakfoor (Yvonne Rahme), Louis Zarka (Mary Randal), Lucy Palmer,
and Fr Howard Hall.
7 February 2016—Fourth Sunday of the Triodion: Cheesefare/Forgiveness
Sunday. Holy Father Parthenios of
Lampsacos. (Tone 4)
Readings Apostolos: Romans 13:11-14:4 Gospel: Matthew 6:14-21
10:30 am Orthros
(Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in memory of
Awatef
Chahine (George Ayoub), Maarouf Khouri (Leftar Manuel), Elias Atallah (Adnan Jahshan), Nickolas Nakfoor (Khalil & Violet
Rahme), Louis Zarka (Antoinette
Raad), Michael P. Garten, and Terry Parsons.
The
Rite of Mutual Forgiveness will be celebrated at the end of the Divine Liturgy.
Music for Today
1.
Troparion of the Resurrection in
Tone 3, Liturgikon, page 185.
2.
Troparion of SS Cyrus and John,
in Tone 5.
3.
Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone
4, page 30A.
4.
Kontakion of the Last Judgement,
in Tone 1, page 200.
5.
Kontakion of Hypapanty, in Tone
1, page 238.
Our Offerings to the Lord
The collection taken in the Liturgy is part of our
worship. We offer the Lord our lives,
our prayers, our gifts of bread and wine, and our financial gifts. Last Sunday, about 90 people attended the
Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1091 in
the ordinary collection, and
$19 for candles. Not everyone can make
an equal gift, but everyone can make an equal sacrifice. Please make a generous sacrifice to support
your church in proportion to the many blessings God has given you.
Vespers for Hypapanty Before Our Ladies Society Meeting Tomorrow
On 2 February the Church celebrates the Feast of Hypapanty or the Encounter of the Lord with His People when He was
presented in the Temple at the age of 40 days.
We will celebrate Vespers for the Feast this Monday, 1 February, at 6
pm, before the monthly meeting of Our Ladies Society. Note
that Our Ladies Society meeting has been changed from Tuesday evening to Monday
evening for this month only.
Season of Preparation for Great Lent Has
Begun
Because Pascha will be very early this year—on 27 March—we have already
begun the time of preparation before Great Lent. This Sunday is Meatfare Sunday, the last day
before Pascha when eating meat is permitted.
But during this week other foods, such as milk, cheese, yogurt, eggs,
olive oil, and wine, are still allowed.
After Cheesefare Sunday (February 7), Great Lent begins and, according
to the strict traditional fast, no meat, animal products, olive oil, or wine
should be consumed until Pascha.
Great Lent Will Begin
Monday 8 February
During Great Lent we are called to practice even more the three main
disciplines of our Christian faith:
prayer, fasting, and works of charity.
To help us pray more intensely, the Church celebrates three services on
the weekdays of Great Lent: Great
Compline, the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy, and the Akathist Hymn. The parish council decided to schedule
services on Wednesdays and Fridays at 4 pm so that parishioners who do not like
to drive after dark can more easily come and pray. We apologize that this will be more difficult
for others, especially those who are working or going to school. Great Compline and Pre-Sanctified Liturgy
will be celebrated on alternate Wednesdays starting 10 February, and the
Akathist Hymn will be sung every Friday beginning 12 Feb. During Great Lent, we will also celebrate
Great Vespers every Saturday at 5 pm.
NAMY Thanks You for Your Support of Concert
and Soup Lunch
St Joseph NAMY members and friends thank the community very much for
supporting last Sunday’s concert and the Third Annual Soup Lunch. Your generous donations added $346 to NAMY’s
savings for the annual NAMY Conference, which will be held in Manchester, NH,
at the end of June, just before the beginning of the 50th National
Melkite Convention hosted by the Annunciation Cathedral. If our NAMY members and their families will
not be attending the convention, we hope to have a day for sightseeing around
Boston.
Get Tickets for Interfaith Day 2016; Fr
James Will Be a Speaker
Now is the time to buy your tickets for the 46th annual
Interfaith Day program, “Superheroes of our Faiths, Past and Present,” hosted
on Tuesday 23 February by Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church, 1701 E.
Saginaw Street, Lansing. The event will
begin at 9 am and will be completed by 2:30 pm. The cost is $10 per person, which includes
lunch. Please also bring a box of
healthy breakfast cereal for the Greater Lansing Food Bank. For more information and tickets, see Kay
Nakfoor or Su Butler downstairs after the Divine Liturgy. We will be sending in our count at the end of
the week.
Interfaith Day is an annual event helping people of various religious
traditions in the Lansing area understand one another better. Each year Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and
Jewish speakers (and sometimes Muslim and others) address a chosen theme and explain
how each faith tradition approaches it.
This year our own Fr James, the first Melkite priest to address the
group, will represent the Catholic faith,
speaking about two Melkite “super-heroes,” Patriarch Maximos IV Sayegh and
Archbishop Joseph Tawil.
Prayer Breakfast Honoring Dr Martin Luther
King Next Saturday
Last year the tickets sold out, so get yours now for the Dr Martin Luther
King Prayer Breakfast on 6 February from 9 to 11 am. The breakfast is organized by ACTION of
Greater Lansing. The main speaker will
be the dynamic director of the Gamaliel National Network, Ana Garcia Ashley. ACTION will be celebrating accomplishments in
areas of immigration, children’s health, disabilities rights, and more. The breakfast will take place at Union
Missionary Baptist Church at the corner of St Joseph Hwy and MLK Blvd. Tickets and more information are available
online at www.actionofgreaterlansing.org.
Make an Appointment with Fr James to Have
Your Home Blessed
According to the tradition of our Church, the priest blesses the homes
and businesses of parishioners with the holy water from Theophany. Weather permitting, Fr James will be very
happy to come to bless your home or business.
Please see him or call him (517-575-6264) to make an appointment. If you wish to make an offering for your
house blessing, please make the offering to St Joseph Church, not to Fr James
personally.
Holy Water from Theophany Still Available to
Take Home
The Holy “Jordan” Water blessed at the Great feast of Theophany is still
available for you to take home for drinking, using in cooking, blessing your
family, etc. You will find small holy
water bottles on the cabinet at the rear of the church. If necessary, you can fill empty bottles from
the Holy Water urn on the cabinet.
50th National Melkite Convention in Boston 30 June-3 July
The 50th National Melkite Convention will run from
Thursday 30 June through Sunday 3 July at the Boston Quincy Marriott Hotel in
Quincy, MA. This Convention marks 50
years of the Melkite diocese in the USA. For hotel reservations ($124 per night,
up to 4 people per room), call (888) 236-2427 and ask for “50th National
Melkite Convention.” For event tickets and
packages use the forms in SOPHIA.
