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 Cross (Tone 1)
O Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance.
Grant victory to our country over its enemies and
preserve your community
by the power of your Cross.
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 8:34-9:1
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine
Liturgy of St Basil the Great for the health and salvation of Fr Brendan McAnerney, Fawaz Fawaz, Joseph Mondalek, Maarouf Khouri, Dennis Flint, Eleanora Lindo, Mikayla Slocum, 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, 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 (Siham
Calille), Ilham Sakr (Simone Ayoub), Nickolas Nakfoor (Elaine Rashid), Louis Zarka (Rosette Kalouche), Fr Larry Tozzeo, OFM, & Msgr Bryan T.
O’Rourke (Fr James).
Procession and Veneration of the
Holy Cross at the end of the Liturgy.
14 March 2015—2 pm:
Great Vespers.
15 March 2015—Fourth
Sunday of Great Lent: St John
Klimakos. Holy Martyrs Agapios & His
Seven Companions. (Tone.7)
Readings Apostolos: Hebrews 6:13-20 Gospel: Mark 9:17-31
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St Basil the Great in
memory of Iskandar Indraous (Michael Skouri),
Nickolas Nakfoor (Aleen Jabo),
Louis Zarka (Rosette Kalouche), Mitzi
Mogannam & Gladys Lemmons (Fr James).
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
- Troparion of the Resurrection, in Tone 6, Liturgikon, page 191.
- Troparion of the Holy Cross, in Tone 1, page 204.
- Troparion of St Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
- Kontakion of the Annunciation, in Tone 8, page 240.
NAMY Meets Today
All youth of the parish,
ages 13-18, are invited to the meeting of the Youth Group this Sunday, 8 March,
in the parish hall after the Liturgy.
Fr James Will Be Away This Week
Fr James will be away for a
mid-Lent break this week, returning on Friday night. In case of emergency, call his cell phone,
408-910-7543.
Parish Pastoral Council Meets Monday 16
March
The Parish Pastoral Council
will meet at 6:30 pm on Monday 16 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 fourth
part of the Akathist Hymn. The cantors
will lead these services in Fr James’ absence.
A Lenten (meatless) supper will follow the Akathist on Friday 20
March.
Second Lenten Evening of Reflection, 20 March
The
second evening of Spiritual Reflection on the topic “Our Vision: What Our Church Should Be” will be held on 20
March after the Akathist. Fr James will take us through the Vision
Statement and explain what each part means.
At this session, there will be time for questions and discussion. The proposed Vision Statement of St Joseph
Church is printed on the back of this bulletin and is posted on our parish
website and Facebook page.
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
donations to The Shepherd’s Care are given to charity. 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.
The Third Sunday of Great Lent—The Holy
Cross
In his classic book Byzantine Daily Worship, Archbishop
Joseph Raya writes about the Sunday of the Holy Cross: “Every major effort
brings pain and fatigue. Discouragement sometimes appears before the work is
done. Since now, with the grace of God, we have reached the mid-point of Lent,
and lest we be overcome by its burdens, the Church, our compassionate mother,
reveals to us the Cross of Christ as a source of power and inspiration, as the
support of the just and the hope of the sinner. The Cross is planted in the
midst of Lent like the Tree of Life in the midst of Paradise, like the Rod of
Moses in the midst of the Camp, in order that anyone looking upon it may find
health, strength, and the courage to pursue his course.”
At Vespers for this Sunday,
the chants tell us about the significance of the Cross:
O Cross of the Lord to which
the world aspires, let the light-giving flashes of your grace life up the
hearts of those who honor you and welcome you with divine love, O you through
which the dismay of tears has passed away, and by which we have been saved from
the snares of death and carried up into imperishable joy. Through your Cross, O Lord, reveal to us the
splendor of your beauty, granting the prize of abstinence to your servants who
ask in faith for your generous help and your great mercy.
Books About Great Lent Now Available
We have two excellent books
about Great Lent available in our bookstore at the amazing price of $1
each. Great Lent, by Fr Alexander Schmemann, looks at the history,
practices, and spirituality of the season.
The Lenten Spring, by Fr
Thomas Hopko, offers reflections on the services and hymns of Great Lent. These classic books are informational and
inspirational.
Proposed Vision Statement of St Joseph
Church
At our Evening of Reflection
after the Akathist on Friday 20 March, Fr James will present and lead
discussion of the Proposed Vision Statement for our parish. It is printed here so that you can read it,
think about it, and pray about it before that night. Remember that a Vision Statement says what we
believe our church should be. It does
not lay out a plan for what our church will do.
And it is not a criticism of what we are now or what we are doing now.
St Joseph Melkite-Greek
Catholic Church envisions itself to be
a self-sustaining, always-renewing
Christian community
in which all people are welcomed and included
so that they can use their gifts of time, talent, and treasure
for sharing
the Good News of Jesus Christ;
for
building up the Body of Christ
through worship, education, service, and social activities
according to the Holy Tradition of Byzantine Christianity;
and
for working
together with other Churches with whom we have so much in
common.
common.
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