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. 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 the
Holy Prophet Elias (Tone 4)
The glorious Elias, the angel in body, the pillar
of the prophets and second Forerunner of the coming of Christ,
by sending grace from on high upon Elisha, dispels
diseases, purifies lepers,
and overflows with healings for those who honor
him.
20 July 2014—6th
Sunday after Pentecost. Holy Prophet
Elias the Thesbite. (Tone 5)
Readings Apostolos: James 5:10-20 Gospel:
Matthew 9:1-8
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom
for the health and salvation of Michel Skouri, Samira El-Chaer, Raymond Rashid, Ann Rashid,
Bonita Saba, Griffin Barna, Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph
Farhat, Robert Kuri, Nick Nakfoor, Pam Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Iva Butler, Wayne
Gowdy, Kelsey Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael
Maslowski, Clay Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Dn. Joe Daratony, Fr
John Leonard, Fr Joseph Haggar, Fr James Babcock; in memory of Nassib Badawy & John Badawy (2-year
and 3-year Memorials by Nemri Badawy), Louis
Zarka (Mr & Mrs Joe Khouri) and John
Rashid (Mr & Mrs Elias Haidamous)..
Blessing of Cars at the end of the Liturgy.
26 July 2014—Great Vespers, 5 pm.
27 July 2014—7th
Sunday after Pentecost. Holy Great-Martyr
Panteleimon the Unmercenary Physician. (Tone 6)
Readings Apostolos: 2 Timothy 2:1-10 Gospel: Matthew 9:27-35
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in
memory of Issa Dahoud (1-year
Memorial), Louis Zarka (Deeb Mekhayel), and John Rashid (Naemi Badawi).
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
1.
Troparion of the Resurrection, in Tone 5, Liturgikon, page 189.
2.
Troparion of the Holy Prophet
Elias, in Tone 4.
3.
Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
4.
Kontakion of the Theotokos in Tone 2, page 31.
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 $1252 in
the ordinary collection and $22 for candles.
Blessing of Cars Today after Liturgy
This
Sunday, 20 July, is the feast of the Holy Prophet Elias the Thesbite, who was
taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot at the end of his earthly ministry and
life. Because of this, we bless cars—our
modern “fiery chariots”—on his feast-day.
Fr James will bless cars in the parking lot (and on the nearby street if
the drivers identify them) after the Divine Liturgy today.
Your Church Needs You: Run For a Seat on the Parish Council
Nominations are now open for persons to run for election to the Parish
Pastoral Council. Four seats must be
filled to replace Council members whose terms have expired. Any registered and supporting parishioner over
the age of 21 may serve on the Council.
The election will take place on Sunday 24 August, and new members will
be seated at the September meeting of the Council. The Council has named Dalida Raad and Ed Eid
as the nominating committee. If you wish
to run, please inform either Ed or Dalida.
You may also nominate someone, as long as he or she agrees. The committee will also approach people whose
names have been suggested. Nominations
will be accepted until the meeting of the Parish Pastoral Council on 13 August.
Deacon Joe at Home with Broken Leg
Returning
home from the National Melkite Convention, Deacon Joe Daratony fell and
fractured the femur in his left leg. His
doctor expects that it will take up to six weeks to heal. Please keep Deacon Joe and Diakonissa Marge
in your prayers. Phone calls and/or
cards would be appreciated, too.
Educational Programs Planned for 6 August
and 15 August
St Joseph’s
Church School invites students and parents to the Divine Liturgy, an
educational program, and lunch on the Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord
(Wednesday 6 August) and the Feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Friday 15
August). Each day’s program will begin
at 10 am with the celebration of the Divine Liturgy (all are invited), will
include the traditional blessings of fruits and flowers, and will conclude
after lunch. Contact Esperance Hourani
for more details.
Vision Committee Meetings Tomorrow Night and
29 July
St Joseph’s
Vision Committee will meet in the parish hall on Monday 21 July at 7 pm and on
Tuesday 29 July at 7 pm. Be sure to
email your list of priorities to George Mansour before the meeting.
Summer Festival at Our Lady of Redemption Next
Weekend
Celebrate Middle Eastern culture with Our Lady of
Redemption Melkite Catholic Church at their summer festival next Saturday, 26
July, from 11 am to 11 pm, and next Sunday, 27 July, from 1 pm to 9 pm. All activities will take place on the church grounds,
29293 Lorraine Ave., Warren, MI. Ample
parking available. Games for children
and adults, including a backgammon tournament; delectable, authentic Arabic
food; coffee cup readings; a craft table; a hookah lounge area; henna tattooing;
and debkeh dance lessons. Singers Nasser Deeb and Usama Baalbaki will
perform on Saturday and Sunday at 4 pm, respectively.
The Holy Prophet
Elias the Thesbite
St Elias is usually considered the
greatest of the prophets after Moses. He
was called by God from his orchards to preach repentance and to reproach King
Ahab for deserting the One True God by worshipping idols under the influence of
his pagan wife Jezebel.
In a dramatic demonstration of God’s
power, Elias called down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice he had
offered, while the priests of Baal were unable to get any divine response
despite praying all day. Then Elias had
all the priests of Baal killed because they refused to worship the true
God. Queen Jezebel, furious at the
destruction of her priests, sent soldiers to kill Elias.
He fled into the desert, and in despair
and discouragement told God he was ready to die. God sent an angel to renew his faith and a
raven to bring him food, and God appeared to him on the mountain. He went to Damascus and anointed new kings
and his successor, Elisha.
Elias warned King Ahab that God would
punish him and Queen Jezebel for their evil deeds. Ahab repented, and God allowed him to
live. He died a natural death. His son Ahaziah succeeded him as king,
continuing the idolatry and other evil actions that Queen Jezebel promoted.
Ahaziah was injured in a fall, and sent
troops to ask the idols if he would die.
The Lord sent Elias to tell the troops that Ahaziah would die because he
had abandoned the God of Israel. When
they reported this to the king, he sent more troops to capture Elias, but two
companies of troops were consumed by fire from heaven. Finally Elias accompanied a third company of
troops and delivered the Lord’s message directly to the king, who died.
Soon after, at the end of Elias’ life, God
sent a chariot and horses of fire to take him to heaven in a whirlwind. He left his cloak to Elisha to show that his
spirit would be with Elisha’s prophetic ministry.
The story of St Elias the Prophet is told
in the First and Second Books of Kings in the Old Testament of the Bible.
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