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 Pentecost
(Tone 8)
When the Most Hight came down and confused the
tongues, He divided the nations,
but when He distributed the tongues of fire, He
called all people to unity.
Wherefore we glorify the Holy Spirit with one
accord.
8 June 2014—Holy and
Glorious Pentecost Sunday. The Transfer
of the Remains of the Holy Great-Martyr Theodore.
Readings Apostolos: Acts 2:1-11 Gospel:
John 7:37-8:12
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health &
salvation of Michel Skouri (Awatef
Fawaz), Therese deSpelder (Happy
Birthday!), Griffin Barna, Jim Covello,
David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri, Nick Nakfoor, Pam
Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Iva Butler, Kelsey Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve
Scarborough, Michael Maslowski, Clay Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Dn.
Joe Daratony, Fr John Leonard, Fr James Babcock; in memory of Abraham Saba (6 months by Bonita Saba), Jamil & Rose Souri (Metri & Jacqueline Souri), Louis Zarka (Ed & Ruth Zarka), John Rashid (Georgette Haeck), Rizk Haddad, Richard Wright, James F. deSpelder, and
Fr Sylvester McDermott.
Church School Year-End Ceremony
after the Liturgy, then
Kneeling
Prayers to mark the end of the Paschal Season
14 June 2014—Great Vespers for All Saints Sunday, 5 pm
15 June 2014—1st
Sunday after Pentecost: All Saints. Holy Prophet Amos, Holy Father Jerome, Hermit
of Bethlehem. (Tone 8)
Readings Apostolos: Heb. 11:33-12:2 Gospel:
Matt. 10:32-38, 19:27-30
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in memory of Rizk Eid Haddad (40-Day Memorial by Nohad Eid & Family), Rashid Haddad (Nohad Eid), Louis Zarka (Nimer & Lamia
Haddad), John Rashid (Jenavieve
Ferrar), Abraham Saba (Simone
Ayoub), and Richard Wright.
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
- Troparion of Pentecost, in Tone 8, page 218. Three times.
- Kontakion of Pentecost, in Tone 8, page 218.
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, more than 100 people attended
the Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1859
in the ordinary collection, $95 for liturgies and memorials, $100 in donations,
and $28 for candles.
Many Thanks!
We
are grateful to the Albassa Cultural Community for a generous donation of $100
to St Joseph Church from the proceeds of their Mother’s Day party.
More Thanks!
We
are grateful, also, to Kamil and Najah Al-Haddad of Williamston Florist and
Greenhouses for their gracious loan of the beautiful olive, laurel, and palm
trees decorating the church today for Pentecost.
Ladies Society Schedules Church Cleanup This Tuesday
The
Ladies Society invites everyone to come and help clean the church, the hall,
and the grounds at 3 pm on this Tuesday, 10 June. Bring gloves, tools, rags, etc.—whatever you
will need to do the job.
Women: Sign Up by
15 June for Michigan Princess Cruise
The Ladies Society is planning a Grand River cruise on
the Michigan Princess on the
afternoon of Sunday 27 July. All women
in the parish are invited to sign up for this event. Please register with President Lamia Haddad,
Vice-President Kay Nakfoor, Secretary Su Butler, or Treasurer Dalida Raad by
Sunday 15 June. No reservations can be
made after 15 June.
Vision Committee, Parish Council Will Meet
Next Week
The Vision Committee will meet at 7 pm on
Monday 16 June in the parish hall.
The Parish Pastoral Council will meet on
Wednesday 18 June at 7 pm in the parish hall.
Call Fr James to Come and Bless Your Home or
Business
Although
the traditional season for blessing homes is right after Theophany (6 January),
the weather made it impossible for Fr James to get out to many people’s
houses. Now that the snow is just a
memory, he would like to visit with people and bless their houses and
businesses. Please contact him to make
an appointment to have your home and/or business blessed.
New Book Available: The Melkite Church at
Vatican II
At the
Second Vatican Council, 1963-65, the Melkite Greek-Catholic Church had a great
influence on the whole Catholic Church.
A collection of the speeches, memos, and letters of Patriarch Maximos IV
Sayegh and the other bishops has just been published in English. The cost is $30 per book. Contact Fr James right away if you want a
copy; we have only two available.
Take a Look at our Reactivated Facebook Page
St Joseph parish’s Facebook page is now very active, with fresh
postings of announcements, Bible quotations, photos, and other parish
news. Friend us and invite your friends
to friend us. See what’s happening in
your church!
The
Meaning of Pentecost
By Fr
James
Today is Holy and Glorious
Pentecost Sunday. Ten days after the
Ascension, on Pentecost (which means “the 50th day”), the Holy
Spirit came upon the Apostles, enabling them to preach the Good News of
salvation in many languages, so that all people could understand. This is described in chapter 2 of the Acts of
the Apostles.
Theologically, the Byzantine
Church sees the events of Pentecost as the completion of the revelation of God
as Trinity. Most of the troparia and
stichera for the liturgical offices of this feast (Vespers, Compline, Orthros,
etc.) refer to this.
The various gifts of the Holy
Spirit—wisdom, guidance, understanding, prophecy, healing, forgiveness,
etc.—enable believers who are humble and penitent to become His temple.
Pentecost is also the feast of
the foundation of the Church, of the beginning of the Church’s mission to the
world, and of the unity of Christians within the great diversity of nations,
languages, and cultures.
The coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to
empower the Apostles to preach the Gospel in all languages restores the unity
of the human race that was broken apart when God divided the people of the
world by making their languages different and mutually incomprehensible. (The story of the Tower of Babel, in the Book
of Genesis, chapter 11, verses 1-9.)
The Christian celebration of Pentecost can be seen as the fulfillment of
the Jewish festivity of Shavuot 50
days after Passover, which celebrates the giving of the Law to Moses on Mt
Sinai. Many Jews have the custom of
decorating homes and synagogues with green branches and leaves on Shavuot, and in the Byzantine Church we
wear green vestments for Pentecost; in addition, many Byzantine Churches decorate
for Pentecost with green leaves and branches.
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