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 Hypapanty (Tone1)
Hail, O full of grace, Virgin and Theotokos, from you has
arisen the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, enlightening those who stand in
darkness.
Rejoice, too, O just Elder Simeon, for you carried in
your arms
the Redeemer of our souls, who grants us resurrection.
1 February 2014—17th
Sunday of the Holy Cross: The Prodigal
Son. Celebration of the Great Feast of
Hypapanty (the Meeting of the Lord with His People) Holy Martyr Tryphon. (Tone 1)
Readings Apostolos: Hebrews 7:7-17 Gospel: Luke 15:11-32
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine
Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health and salvation of Joseph Mondalek (by Awatef Fawaz), Maarouf Khouri, Dennis Flint, Eleanora Lindo (87th
birthday), 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, Cam, Janice, Jeanne, Wayne Gowdy, Lucy
Palmer, Kelsey, 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 George
Abdelkarim (Kay Nakfoor), Charles
Saba (Ann Rashid), Nickolas
Nakfoor (Nara Carey), Louis Zarka (Siham Calille), Richard Murphy, Michael P. Garten
and Fr. Howard Hall (Fr James) .
7 February 2015—2 pm:
Great Vespers.
8 February 2011—Meatfare
Sunday. Holy Great-Martyr Theodore the General, Holy Prophet Zachariah. (Tone 2)
Readings Apostolos: 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 Gospel: Luke 15:11-32
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in
memory of Nickolas Nakfoor (Ed & Rabiah Eid),
Louis Zarka (Siham Calille), Charles
Saba (Elaine Rashid), Terrence
Parsons & Alfred Hajj (Fr James).
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
- Troparion of the Resurrection, in Tone 1, Liturgikon, page 181.
- Troparion of Hypapanty, in Tone 1, page 238.
- Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
- Kontakion of Hypapanty, in Tone 1, page 238.
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. More than 105 people attended last Sunday’s Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1644 in the ordinary
collection, $215 for memorials and houseblessings, and $38.50 for candles.
Schedule Your House Blessing With Fr James
Fr James is blessing houses
(and places of business) with the “Jordan Water” blessed on Theophany. If possible, he would like to bless several
houses in the same neighborhood on the same day. With thanks in advance for your generous
hospitality, he asks that not everyone offer him food (his doctor has told him
he needs to lose weight!). If you wish
to make an offering for your house blessing, please make it to St Joseph
Church, not to Father James personally.
Contact him after the Liturgy or at home to set the day and time for
your house blessing. There will be no
houseblessings during Great Lent (16 February to 6 April.
Ladies Society Meets on Tuesday
The Ladies Society will meet
on Tuesday 3 February at 7 pm in the Parish Hall.
Ladies Society Plans Meatfare and Cheesefare
Lunches
The Ladies Society will present lunch on Meatfare Sunday (8 February) and
Cheesefare Sunday (25 February).
Choir Will Practice on Fridays of Great Lent
On the Friday evenings of
Great Lent, beginning 20 February, the choir will have a short practice either
before or after the singing of the Akathist Hymn. All members of the choir must make every
effort to participate in the practices, which will concentrate on the chants
for Holy Week and Pascha. Those people
who join the choir only for those services also need to come to the practices.
Bishop Nicholas’ Letter for Great Lent
Dear
Clergy and Laity of the Melkite Eparchy:
On February 16 we enter into the season of
the Great Fast or Great Lent, a period of preparation for the life-saving
events of Christ’s passion, death, and resurrection. It is a time of renewal for each and every one
of us to refocus on our Christian living.
Through repentance we renew our minds, hearts, and deeds to conform to
Christ and His teachings. We are given
these 40 days to joyfully refocus our lives.
In a sense, Great Lent is a “tithe” of the year—we give back to God our
10 percent of the year to return to a good Christian way of living through
prayer, fasting, and almsgiving or good works.
The hymns from Forgiveness Vespers set the
tone of the Great Fast—a season of joy, not gloom: “Let us enter the season of the radiant Fast
with joy. As we fast from food, let us
abstain also from every passion.
Rejoicing in the virtues of the Spirit, may we persevere with love . . . to see the Passion of Christ and his
holy Resurrection.”
Families should increase their prayer life
at home along with Scripture reading.
Good works for others are a necessity and need to be put into action. Fasting is required. The Church provides us guidelines for fasting
and each person may need to adjust the fasting style to his/her particular
needs.
The Eparchial Guidelines encourage the
traditional forms of fasting and abstinence but the minimum is expected:
Fasting from all food and
drink from midnight to noon on the first day of Great Lent and on the last
three days of Holy Week. Abstinence, at
least from meat, is urged during the first week of the Fast, Holy Week, and all
Wednesdays and Fridays until Pascha.
Our liturgical prayers also tell us that a
Fast pleasing to the Lord is “to put away all evil, to control our tongue, to
forbear from anger, to abstain from lust, slander, falsehood, and perjury”
(Vespers, 1st Monday of the Fast).
Parishes are asked to schedule the Liturgy
of the Presanctified Gifts, Great Compline, and the Akathist Hymn every
week. The exquisite Anaphora of St Basil
the Great is offered on Sundays and should be chanted aloud so people may
participate better in the common liturgical action. The icon, relics, and cross processions on
the first three Sundays are celebrated either at the end of the Liturgy or
during the Little Entrance (since historically they were done during the Great
Doxology at the end of Matins).
The Prayer of St Ephrem should be learned
by everyone to pray at home as well as at church.
Times for Confessions should be scheduled
and announced at convenient times. We
renew ourselves by confessing our sins and seeking the spiritual assistance of
our loving God through our parish priests.
The abundant mercy of God abides in the Church by the presence of Christ
who forgives those who come to Him in repentance. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he (Christ) who is faithful and just will
forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:8-9).
I call upon each and every one of you to
make the Great Fast an important “tithe” of your year—to return to the Lord
with a renewed life through prayers, fasting, and good works, at home, in your
local communities, and in our parishes.
Our spiritual life needs this renewal for better Christian living.
Sincerely
in Christ God, X Nicholas, Eparchial Bishop of Newton
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