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 the Holy Relics (Tone 2)
O victorious witnesses of the Lord, blessed is the earth
fertilized by your blood
and holy are the heavenly places that opened to your
souls.
You have vanquished the enemy in the stadium and
proclaimed Christ with courage.
We beg you to intercede with Him who is all good that He
may save our souls.
1 March 2015—Second
Sunday of Great Lent: St Gregory
Palamas, the Holy Relics. Holy Martyr
Eudokia. (Tone 5)
Readings Apostolos: Hebrews 1:10-2:3 Gospel: Mark 2:1-12
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine
Liturgy of St Basil the Great for the health and salvation of Fr Charles Aboody, Fr Brendan McAnerney, Nimer Haddad, Joseph
Mondalek, Maarouf Khouri, Dennis Flint, Eleanora
Lindo, Mikayla Slocum, Michel
Skouri, Samira El-Chaer, Awatef Chahine, Raymond Rashid, Bonita Saba, Griffin
Barna, Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri,
Pam Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Iva Butler, BJ and Liz, Cam, Janice, Jeanne, Wayne
Gowdy, Lucy Palmer, Kelsey, Kathleen Edwards, Barbara Fager, Edgar &
Katherine Fickenscher, David & Sandi, Kamal & Eugenie Neimat, Clay Thomas, Michael Maslowski, Antonio
Carvalho, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael Harmuth, Elias
Haggar, Dn. Joe & Marge Daratony, Fr Joseph Haggar; in memory of Iskandar Indraous (Ed & Rabiah Eid), Iham Sakr (Adel & Nadia Badawi), Bechara Saba (Simone Ayoub), Nickolas Nakfoor (Leonard & Marilyn
Peters), Louis Zarka (Salim Saad), Fr James Straukamp & Fr Philip Azoon (Fr
James).
Procession at the end of the
Liturgy.
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
- Troparion of the Resurrection, in Tone 5, Liturgikon, page 189.
- Troparion of St Gregory Palamas, in Tone 8, page 203.
- Troparion of the Holy Relics, in Tone 2, page 203.
- Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
- Kontakion of the Annunciation, in Tone 8, page 240.7 March 2015—2 pm: Great Vespers.8 March 2015—Third Sunday of Great Lent: The Holy Cross. Holy Confessor Theophilactos of Nicomedia. (Tone 6)Readings Apostolos: Hebrews 4:14-5:6 Gospel: Mark 8:34-9:110:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)11 am Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great in memory of Iskandar Indraous (Siham Calille), Ilham Sakr (Simone Ayoub), Nickolas Nakfoor (Elaine Rashid), Louis Zarka (Rosette Kalouche), Fr Larry Tozzeo, OFM, and Msgr Bryan T. O’Rourke (Fr James).
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. About 85 people attended last Sunday’s Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1707 in the ordinary
collection, $105 for liturgy intentions, and $26 for candles.
Ladies Society Meets This Tuesday
All women of the parish are
invited to the meeting of the Ladies Society at 7 pm this Tuesday, 3 March, in
the parish hall.
NAMY Meets Next Sunday
All youth of the parish,
ages 13-18, are invited to the meeting of the Youth Group next Sunday, 8 March,
in the parish hall.
Lenten Services on Wednesdays and Fridays at
6 PM
This Wednesday we will
celebrate Great Compline; come and of our faith that God, the Lord of Powers,
is with us. On Friday we will sing the
third part of the Akathist Hymn. Lenten
(meatless) suppers will follow the Akathist on 6 March and 20 March. Fr James will be available to hear Confession
after these services.
Lenten Evenings of Reflection, 6 & 20 March
Two
evenings of Spiritual Reflection, on the topic “Our Vision: What Our Church Should Be,” will be held on 6
and 20 March after the Akathist. In the first session, Jim deSpelder will
introduce the idea of vision and our parish Vision Statement. In the second session, Fr James will take us
through the Vision Statement and explain what each part means. At each session, there will be time for
questions and discussion.
Choir Will Practice on Fridays of Great Lent
On the Fridays of Great
Lent, the choir will have a short practice either before or after the
Akathist. All choir members must join in
the practices, which will concentrate on the chants for Holy Week and
Pascha. People who sing only for those
services also need to come to the practices.
New Directory Is Here
Our new parish photo
directory, long awaited, has arrived.
Pick up your copy from Su Butler in the parish hall after the Liturgy.
Set Aside Money for The Shepherd’s Care
The Shepherd’s Care is our
nationwide diocesan Lenten charity collection.
All of the money donated to The Shepherd’s Care is distributed to
charities here and overseas. Please use
the Mite Box you have received to give something every day in Great Lent for
charity. Remember,
the Mite Boxes are not just for children.
Patriarch Gregory Deplores Latest Tragedies
Patriarch Gregorios III
telephoned Mor Yacub Behnan Hendo of the Syrian Catholic Church to ascertain
the situation in Hasakah. His Beatitude
also called Mar Afram Nathaniel of the Assyrian Church on 25 February to
express his condolences, solidarity and prayers for the safety of the people
there. Mar Afram told His Beatitude
about the situation:
- The attack took place on 23 Feb. at 3:30 a.m. and about 900 families were displaced from 35 villages around Al Khabur River.
- About 300 persons were captured.
- Formerly, the number of habitants there was 5,000 families, but many had emigrated, the majority to Europe and Lebanon.
- 1,500 families still remained there, some of whom had been allocated houses abandoned by their owners when they themselves had been displaced to Hasakah and Qamishli.
“When will the whole world,
both overseas and Arab countries, unite and stand together in order to
eliminate this epidemic that is a shame to humanity in the 21 st
century?” wonders Patriarch Gregorios.
“This issue has gone beyond
the Syrian crisis and its tragedy and the war on Syria. It has become a global earthquake! In the words of the Second Vatican Council, ‘The
joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age,
especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and
hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ.'”
With these feelings, His
Beatitude launches this appeal:
- “Shame on countries’ powerlessness to stem these crimes!
- “Shame on the European Union for its inaction!
- “Shame on the League of Arab States for its inaction!
- “Shame on Christians and Muslims for their indifference!
- “Shame on the International Community for being incapable of defeating takfiris, those barbarous and inhumane extremists, and for refusing to stop arming and supporting them.
- “Is there an international conspiracy? Or widespread falsehood?
“It is impermissible for
these criminals to continue terrorising everyone and making our God-created
world a world of sin, killing, and terrorism, and reducing humans to slavery to
greed and malice.
“As the Holy Father said in
his Lenten message, there is a ‘globalization of indifference,’ so we have to
work together as His Holiness said toward a globalization of solidarity and of
Arab solidarity. So we appeal with hope:
‘Countries of the world, unite to save human civilization, the civilization of
love!’ God willing we will overcome this
epidemic of hatred with love!”
