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 Mid-Pascha
(Tone 8)
At the middle point of this festive season, give
my thirsty soul to drink
of the waters of true worship, for You called out
to all men: “Whoever is thirsty, let him
come to me and drink.” O Christ God,
Fountain of Life, glory to You!
18 May 2014— 5th
Sunday of Pascha: The Samaritan Woman. Holy Martyrs Peter, Denis, and their
Companions. (Tone 4)
Readings Apostolos: Acts 11:19-30 Gospel: John 4:5-42
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom for the health &
salvation of Dn. Joe Daratony, Griffin
Barna, Jim Covello, David Georges, Elias Atallah, Ralph Farhat, Robert Kuri,
Nick Nakfoor, Pam Nakfoor, Isaac Salim, Louise Hajj, Iva Butler, Michel Badawi,
Kelsey Andrews, Elaine & Eva-Genevieve Scarborough, Michael Maslowski, Clay
Thomas, Michael Harmuth, Elias Haggar, Fr John Leonard, Fr James Babcock;
for those endangered by wildfires; in memory of Louis Zarka (Nick & Nickie Joseph), John Rashid (Mr & Mrs Ron Albert),
Abraham Saba (Deeb Mekhayel), Rizk Eid Haddad, and Douglas R. Smith (1 Year by Fr James).
25 May 2014—6th
Sunday of Pascha: The Man Born Blind. Third Finding of the Head of the Prophet,
Forerunner, and Baptist John. (Tone
5)
Readings Apostolos: Acts 16:16-34 Gospel:
John 9:1-38
10:30 am Orthros (Morning Prayer)
11 am Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom in memory of Louis Zarka (Nadia Washington), John Rashid (Metri & Jacqueline
Souri), Abraham Saba (Monib
Mekhayel), and Rizk Eid Haddad.
Thanks for Your Gifts to The Shepherd’s Care
This year the people of St Joseph parish contributed
$453.40 to The Shepherd’s Care Lenten charity program. We hope to have more complete participation
next year, with a more generous total to help those who are needy and suffering.
Christ is Risen! He is truly Risen!
Troparia and Kontakion for Today
1. Troparion of the
Resurrection in Tone 4, page 187.
2. Troparion of Mid-Pascha,
in Tone 8, p. 216.
3. Troparion of St
Joseph, in Tone 4, page 30A.
4. Kontakion of Pascha,
in Tone 2, page 214.
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 120 people attended
the Liturgy. Our offering totalled $1445
in the ordinary collection, $50 for liturgies and memorials, $183 for the NAMY
truffle sale, and $26 for candles.
Great Lakes Protopresbyterate Clergy Retreat This Week
The Melkite priests and deacons of the Great Lakes
Protopresbyterate (Western New York, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and
Wisconsin) will make their annual retreat Monday-Friday 19-23 May at the
Capuchin Retreat Center in Washington, MI.
Fr James will go on the retreat, but may be reached by cell phone (408-910-7543)
in case of an emergency.
Patriarch’s Prayer for Peace in Syria, Help
for Refugees
His
Beatitude, Patriarch Gregory III, visited the US last week to seek help for the
suffering people of Syria and to promote the cause of peace and justice in all
the Middle East. He offered the
following prayer and asked that all people of good will pray it also:
Almighty
and merciful God, just as you made yourself known
to
Saul on the road to Damascus,
grant
that you may soon convert hearts to peace in Syria
and
that its people who have fled may soon return to their homeland.
We
ask your blessing on those who, like your Son,
have
become refugees and have no place to call their own.
Look
with mercy on those who, today,
are
fleeing from danger, homeless and hungry.
Bless
those who work to bring them relief,
and
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts,
through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Parish Vision Committee Will Re-start 27 May
The
Vision Committee will meet to re-start at 7 pm on Tuesday 27 May in the parish
hall. Mr George Mansour has agreed to facilitate
our effort to envision the future direction of our parish. We will review our work to date, define our purpose
and goal, and agree on a process for moving forward.
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 by our diocesan
Sophia Press. The cost is $30 per
book. Contact Fr James right away if you
want to order; only a limited edition was printed.
Saint
Peter the Apostle
By
Nimer Haddad, Chair of St Joseph Evangelization Committee
Peter’s true and original name
was Simon. He was born in Bethsaida at
the north end of the Sea of Galilee (Tiberias). Simon settled in Capernaum where he lived with
his wife and children and mother-in-law in his own house. He possessed his own
boat (Luke 5:3). According to tradition,
when seeing his own wife led to die, he called to her encouragingly and
comfortingly, addressing her by name and saying, “Remember the Lord.”
Peter pursued his trade as a
fisherman with his brother Andrew. Walking
by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus called them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of men” (Matthew 4:18-20). Peter and Andrew
were the first to leave everything and follow Jesus. With the other disciples, they remained with
Jesus for some time and accompanied Him to Galilee to attend the marriage at
Cana, where He worked His first miracle.
After preaching the sermon on
the mount and curing the slave of the centurion in Capernaum, Jesus came to
Peter’s house and cured his mother-in-law who was sick with fever (Matthew
8:14-15).
Peter the Apostle is one of
the most prominent characters in the Gospels. He became the chief of the twelve Apostles. On various occasions Peter speaks in the name
of all the Apostles (Matthew 15:19-27). When Christ’s words are addressed to all the
Apostles, Peter answers in their name. Peter, along with James and John, accompanied
Christ on certain occasions such as the raising of the daughter of Jairus from
the dead (Mark 5:37 ) and
the Transfiguration (Mark 9:2).
On other occasions Christ
favored Peter above all the others. He
enters Peter’s boat on the Sea of Galilee to preach the multitude on the shore
(Luke 5:3). When He was miraculously walking
upon the water, He called Peter to come to Him across the lake ( Matthew 14:25-29).
Journeying with His disciples,
Jesus asked them, “Who do men say that the son of man is?” The Apostles answered, “Some say John the
Baptist, and others Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say I
am?” and Simon said, “You are the Christ, the son of the living God” (Matthew 16:15-16).
Jesus then told him, “You are Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.” (Jesus called him Kipha, an Aramaic word meaning “rock”; the
Gospel was written in Greek, so the Greek word for rock, petros, became the Apostle’s new name, Peter.)
To be continued next Sunday
