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.
Kontakion of the
Myrrh-bearing Women (Tone 2)
O Christ God, when You greeted the Myrrh-bearing
Women,
You wiped away the tears of our first mother, Eve,
and told the women to bring news
to the disciples that Christ was risen from the
tomb.
4 May 2014— 3rd
Sunday of Pascha: The Holy Myrrh-bearing
Women. Holy Martyr Pelagia of Tarsus. (Tone 2)
Readings Apostolos: Acts 6:1-7 Gospel: Mark 15:43-16:8
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health &
salvation of Dn. Joe Daratony, Griffin Barna,
Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri, Nick
Nakfoor, Pam Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Louise Hajj, Iva Butler, Michel Badawi, Kelsey
Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael Maslowski, Clay
Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Fr John Leonard, Fr James Babcock;
in
memory of Louis Zarka (40-Day Memorial by his Family), John Rashid (Mr & Mrs Nickolas Nakfoor), Abraham Saba (Jeneviev Ferrar), Rizk Eid Haddad.
11 May 2014—4th
Sunday of Pascha: The Paralytic. Holy Martyr Mokios, SS. Cyril & Methodios,
Equals to the Apostles. (Tone 3)
Readings Apostolos: Acts 9:32-42 Gospel:
John 5:1-15
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health &
salvation of Dn. Joe Daratony, Griffin
Barna, Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri,
Nick Nakfoor, Pam Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Louise Hajj, Iva Butler, Michel Badawi,
Kelsey Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael Maslowski, Clay
Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Fr John Leonard, Fr James Babcock;
in
memory of Victoria Hasbany
(One-Year Memorial by Imad and John Hasbany & Families), Louis Zarka (Evonne Alhaddad),
John Rashid (Mr & Mrs Dan Olivett), Abraham
Saba (Joseph Bouban), Rizk Eid
Haddad.
Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!
Troparia and Kontakia for Today
- Troparion of the Resurrection in Tone 2, page 183.
- Troparion of Joseph of Arimathea, in Tone 2 (“The noble Joseph”)
- Troparion of the Myrrh-bearing Women, in Tone 2 (“The angel stood by the tomb”)
- Kontakion of the Myrrh-bearing Women, in Tone 2
- Kontakion of Pascha, in Tone 2, page 214.
Ladies Society, Parish Council Meet This Week
Ladies
Society Meeting, Tuesday 6 May, 7 pm in Church Hall
Parish
Pastoral Council Meeting, Wednesday 7 May, 7 pm in Church Hall
Please Turn in All Shepherd’s Care Contributions Today
Today is the last day to turn in your contributions to
The Shepherd’s Care Lenten charity program.
The donations from all the Melkite churches in the US will be combined
and distributed to charities approved by the bishop.
Thanks to All who Made the Food Festival a
Success!
Our Food Festival was once again a great success, with gross proceeds
of $11,301. Many, many thanks to all who
worked so hard under the leadership of co-chairs Lamia Haddad and Kay
Nakfoor. We welcomed many new and
returning guests, and sold out of the food we had prepared.
NAMY Now Taking Orders for Mother’s Day
Truffles
Our NAMY group is still taking orders for homemade chocolate truffles
for Mother’s Day. The boxes of truffles
will be delivered next Sunday. NAMY will
meet to make truffles and plan activities on Saturday 10 May. They are working to pay for attending the
NAMY Conference.
Albassa Cultural Community Mother’s Day
Party
The Albassa Cultural Community invites everyone to the annual Mother's
Day Party on Sunday 11 May from 6 pm to
midnight at the Grand Ledge Country Club, 5811 East St. Joe Highway. Tickets may be obtained from Nimer Haddad and
Rabiah Eid. The price is $35 for adults
and $25 for children aged 3 to 12. After
dinner, entertainment will be provided by Jad Soudah and his band. The program will honor mothers present and
absent.
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.”
The
Myrrh-Bearing Women
By
Nimer Haddad, Chair of St Joseph Evangelization Committee
The Melkite Church, along with the other
Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox churches, commemorates the Sunday of the
Myrrh-Bearing Women on the second Sunday following Pascha.
When Jesus was going throughout Galilee,
preaching and working miracles, many women believed in Him. They followed Him and funded His ministry out
of their possessions, even until His crucifixion, burial and afterwards,
neither losing faith in Him nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers. Early in the morning on the third day after
His death, they came to the tomb bearing the myrrh oils they prepared to anoint
the Lord’s body.
At this point the Resurrection was
revealed to them, and they were commissioned to go and tell the Apostles. For this reason, the myrrh-bearing women,
especially Mary Magdalene, are sometimes referred to as “Equal to the Apostles.” They were the first to see the empty tomb and
were ordered by the risen Lord to bring the joyful news to the Apostles.
Eight women are identified as the Myrrh-Bearers. The first five are the more prominent and
outspoken.
1. Mary Magdalene
2. Mary, the Theotokos
3. Joanna
4. Salome
5. Mary, the wife of Cleopas
6. Susanna
7. Mary of Bethany
8. Martha of Bethany
The Gospel references to the women are
confusing in that two of the Marys had a son named James. Mary, the wife of Alphaeus, was the mother of
James, one of the twelve Apostles. The
Virgin Mary was called (Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40) “the mother of James and
Joses,” whom some identify as the sons of Joseph by a prior marriage, making
her their step-mother.
Mark 16:1 mentions three Marys: Mary
Magdalene, Mary, mother of James, and Salome (called Mary Salome). John 20:1 mentions only Mary Magdalene. Matthew 28:1 says that Mary and the other
Mary went to see the tomb, and Luke 24:10 speaks of Mary Magdalene and Joanna
and Mary, the mother of James.
We remember today also Joseph of Arimathea
who went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus, and Nicodemus who helped
him prepare the body of Jesus for burial.
They wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and
laid it in Joseph’s own tomb and rolled a great stone to the door of the tomb.
Both men proved to be people of faithfulness and courage, unafraid of being
recognized as His disciples.
At the crucifixion all the Apostles had
fled except one, John, who stood at the foot of the cross with the Mother of
God. Everyone else had abandoned Christ;
only a small group of women came to anoint His body.
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