ST 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. Father James
K. Graham, Pastor frjamie@earthlink.net
Rev. Protodeacon
Joseph Daratony
248-719-5169
Phone or
email Fr James with items for the bulletin by Thursday night.
Troparion of Pascha
(Tone 5)
Christ is risen from the dead, and by His death He
has trampled upon death
and has given life to those who are in the tombs!
20 April 2014— Holy and Glorious Pascha—The Resurrection of
our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ from the Dead.
Readings
At the New Light:
Apostolos: Romans 6:3-11 Gospel:
Matthew 28:1-20
At Hajmeh:
Gospel: Mark 16:1-8
At the Divine Liturgy:
Apostolos: Acts 1:1-8 Gospel: John 1:1-17
The Paschal Liturgy is
offered for the intentions of those who contributed for the flowers, and for
all the parishioners, living and departed.
Simone
Ayoub for the living & deceased of her family
Naemi
Badawi for Nehm & Faride Badawi, and the living & deceased of the
family
Saideh
Bulos in memory of John Badawy & Nassib Badawy
Boutros
& Nohad Eid in memory of Boulos Eid, Elias Eid, Kataf Bacharah, Rashid
Haddad, Salim Syagha
Siham
Calille in memory of Edward Calille, Daoud Hajj, Rogena Hajj
Barbara
Davis in memory of Daniel Davis
Awatef
Fawaz in memory of Rita Khouri
Georgette
Haeck in memory of Anis & Rosie Bulos
Elias
& Minerva Haidamous for the living and deceased of their family
Charlene
Jones in memory of Keith & Doris Jones
Siham
Khouri for the health & salvation of Maarouf & Family, in memory of
Boutros, Angel & Hiam Khouri
Louis
& Pat Kuri for the living and deceased of their family
Leftar
Manoel for the living and deceased of his family
Monib
& Nelly Mekhayel for the living and deceased of their family
Helene
H. Miller for the living and deceased of her family
Nick
& Kay Nakfoor for the health & salvation of Mary Ann Gamel, in memory
of Nazir & Adela Nakfoor and Simon & Minerva Nama
Fayrouz
Raad & Family in memory of Elias Raad
Elaine
Rashid in memory of Mary & Iasar Zarka and James & Joseph Rashid
Bonita
Saba in memory of Abraham Saba
Nadia
Washington in memory of Joseph & Mary Saad
Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!
Agape Vespers at 7 PM on Bright Monday, 21 April
On Monday 21 April
we will celebrate Agape Vespers for
Bright Monday. At this service, the
Gospel (John 20:19-25) is read in many languages, because Jesus sent His Apostles
to proclaim the Good News to “all nations.”
Fr Tom Marick Will Serve Liturgy on Sunday 27 April
Fr James will go to
California for Easter vacation, 22-30 April.
On St Thomas Sunday, 27 April, Fr Tom Marick will celebrate the Divine
Liturgy. Be sure to welcome and thank
him. In an emergency, call Fr James at
408-910-7543.
Troparia and Kontakion for Thomas Sunday, 27 April
- Troparion of St Thomas, in Tone 1, page 215. Three times.
- Kontakion of Pascha, in Tone 2, page 214.
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 200 people attended the
Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1880 in
the ordinary collection, $25 for liturgies and memorials, $341 for flowers, $75
for the Shepherd’s Care, and $43 for candles.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Fadi Khaled Behnam, Milad Salwan George, and Maryam
Salwan George, who received Holy Communion for the first time on 16 April at
the Divine Liturgy of the Mystical Supper.
NAMY Now Taking Orders for Mother’s Day
Truffles
Our NAMY group is now taking orders for homemade chocolate truffles for
Mother’s Day. They are working to pay
for attending the NAMY Conference.
Help Promote Our Food Festival
The Food Festival, our main annual fund-raising event, will take place
on Thursday and Friday, 1-2 May. If
everyone invites someone who has never come to the Food Festival, we could
welcome about 100 new people. During the
Food Festival, to leave room in our lot for our guests, St Joseph parishioners
should park in the parking lot behind the New Life Victory Center Church International
across the street at 700 Mt. Hope, on the corner of Beal.
Pray With Other Churches for Healing of Our
Land
All congregations in the area are asked to pray for the healing of our
land, according to the words of the Lord in the Second Book of Chronicles, chapter
7, verse 14: “If my people who are
called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear them from heaven, and will forgive their sin and
heal their land.”
Easter
Symbols and Traditions
By
Nimer Haddad, Chair of St Joseph Evangelization Committee
The Easter Bunny or Easter Rabbit is a
fantasy character—a rabbit that brings colored Easter eggs, candy and also toys
in his basket to children. Customarily,
parents spend Holy Saturday decorating Easter eggs and hiding them around the
house and garden. They hunt for them
with the children on Easter Sunday morning. Sometimes parents tell their children that
eggs and other treats such as chocolate eggs or marshmallow chicks and rabbits have
been delivered by the Easter Bunny in an Easter basket that children find
waiting for them when they wake up.
According to sacred Tradition, Mary
Magdalene brought boiled eggs to share with other women at the tomb of Jesus
(cooked eggs are symbols of mourning in Jewish tradition), and the eggs in her
basket miraculously turned red when she saw the risen Christ. The eggs represent the rounded rock of the
tomb of Jesus. Eggs, in general, were a traditional
symbol of fertility and the renewal of life, and thus are a symbol of
resurrection.
The early Christian community of Iraq
stained eggs red in memory of the blood of Christ, shed at his crucifixion and
victory over death. Some say that a
basket of eggs at the foot of the Cross were stained by Christ’s blood. The hard shell of the egg symbolized the
sealed Tomb of Christ. The cracking symbolized
His coming out of the tomb to new life. The Church in the West officially adopted
these customs in 1610 A.D.
In some Mediterranean countries,
especially in Lebanon and Palestine, eggs are boiled and decorated by dye or
painting and used as decoration around the house. Then, on Easter Sunday, children, family
members, and friends hit each other’s eggs with their own and eat the broken
eggs. The one whose egg does not break
is believed to be in for good luck in the future. Easter cookies are baked and offered to guests
who exchange visits and congratulate each other on Easter Sunday, saying,
“Christ is Risen. He is truly risen.”
It seems that the Easter Bunny first
arrived in America in the 18th century with the German immigrants
who told their children about the “Osterhase” (“hase” means “hare,” not “rabbit”).
An ancient belief that a hare could reproduce
without loss of virginity led to an association with the Virgin Mary.
The President and First Lady of the US
host an annual Easter egg roll on the South Lawn of the White House. This is a race in which children push an
Easter egg across the grass with a spoon. However, rolling Easter eggs symbolizes the
rolling away of the rounded rock from Jesus’ tomb before the resurrection.
Above all, the Easter egg, for Christians,
is a reminder that Jesus rose from the grave, and that those who believe will
also experience eternal life. The
resurrection of Jesus is indeed the foundation of Christian faith.
