ST. JOHN'S WEEKLY BULLETIN

Transcript

1 ST. JOHN'S WEEKLY BULLETIN 405 No. Dale St., Anaheim, CA Telephone (714) Proistamenos: Rev. Father John Kariotakis Assistant: Rev. Father Constantine Trumpower Church Website: April 7, 2019 SUNDAY OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS ΑΠΟΣΤΟΛΟΣ -EPISTLE READING Hebrews 6:13-20 Ἀ δελφοί, τῷ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ, λέγων, Ἦ μὴν εὐλογῶν εὐλογήσω σε, καὶ πληθύνων πληθυνῶ σε. Καὶ οὕτως μακροθυμήσας ἐπέτυχεν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας. Ἄνθρωποι μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τοῦ μείζονος ὀμνύουσιν, καὶ πάσης αὐτοῖς ἀντιλογίας πέρας εἰς βεβαίωσιν ὁ ὅρκος. Ἐν ᾧ περισσότερον βουλόμενος ὁ θεὸς ἐπιδεῖξαι τοῖς κληρονόμοις τῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ἀμετάθετον τῆς βουλῆς αὐτοῦ, ἐμεσίτευσεν ὅρκῳ, ἵνα διὰ δύο πραγμάτων ἀμεταθέτων, ἐν οἷς ἀδύνατον ψεύσασθαι θεόν, ἰσχυρὰν παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν οἱ καταφυγόντες κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν, καὶ εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος ὅπου πρόδρομος ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν εἰσῆλθεν Ἰησοῦς, κατὰ τὴν τάξιν Μελχισεδὲκ ἀρχιερεὺς γενόμενος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. B RETHREN, when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore to himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he interposed with an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God should prove false, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to seize the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Epistle Reader: Maria Halfhill

2 ΕΥΑΓΓΕΛΙΟΝ - GOSPEL READING Mark 9:17-31 Τ ῷ καιρῷ ἐκείνῳ, ἄνθρωπός τις προσῆλθε τῷ Ἰησοῦ λέγων, διδάσκαλε, ἤνεγκα τὸν υἱόν μου πρός σε, ἔχοντα πνεῦμα ἄλαλον. καὶ ὅπου ἂν αὐτὸν καταλάβῃ, ῥήσσει αὐτόν, καὶ ἀφρίζει καὶ τρίζει τοὺς ὀδόντας αὐτοῦ, καὶ ξηραίνεται καὶ εἶπον τοῖς μαθηταῖς σου ἵνα αὐτὸ ἐκβάλωσι, καὶ οὐκ ἴσχυσαν. ὁ δὲ ἀποκριθεὶς αὐτῷ λέγει ὦ γενεὰ ἄπιστος, ἕως πότε πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔσομαι; ἕως πότε ἀνέξομαι ὑμῶν; φέρετε αὐτὸν πρός με. καὶ ἤνεγκαν αὐτὸν πρὸς αὐτόν. καὶ ἰδὼν αὐτὸν εὐθέως τὸ πνεῦμα ἐσπάραξεν αὐτόν, καὶ πεσὼν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἐκυλίετο ἀφρίζων. καὶ ἐπηρώτησε τὸν πατέρα αὐτοῦ πόσος χρόνος ἐστὶν ὡς τοῦτο γέγονεν αὐτῷ; ὁ δὲ εἶπε παιδιόθεν. καὶ πολλάκις αὐτὸν καὶ εἰς πῦρ ἔβαλε καὶ εἰς ὕδατα, ἵνα ἀπολέσῃ αὐτόν ἀλλ εἴ τι δύνασαι, βοήθησον ἡμῖν σπλαγχνισθεὶς ἐφ ἡμᾶς. ὁ δὲ Ιησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτῷ τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι, πάντα δυνατὰ τῷ πιστεύοντι. καὶ εὐθέως κράξας ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ παιδίου μετὰ δακρύων ἔλεγε πιστεύω, κύριε βοήθει μου τῇ ἀπιστίᾳ. ἰδὼν δὲ ὁ Ιησοῦς ὅτι ἐπισυντρέχει ὄχλος, ἐπετίμησε τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ λέγων αὐτῷ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἄλαλον καὶ κωφόν, ἐγώ σοι ἐπιτάσσω, ἔξελθε ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ μηκέτι εἰσέλθῃς εἰς αὐτόν. καὶ κράξαν καὶ πολλὰ σπαράξαν αὐτὸν ἐξῆλθε, καὶ ἐγένετο ὡσεὶ νεκρός, ὥστε πολλοὺς λέγειν ὅτι ἀπέθανεν. ὁ δὲ Ιησοῦς κρατήσας αὐτὸν τῆς χειρὸς ἤγειρεν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀνέστη. Καὶ εἰσελθόντα αὐτὸν εἰς οἶκον οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπηρώτων αὐτὸν κατ ἰδίαν, ὅτι ἡμεῖς οὐκ ἠδυνήθημεν ἐκβαλεῖν αὐτό. καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς τοῦτο τὸ γένος ἐν οὐδενὶ δύναται ἐξελθεῖν εἰ μὴ ἐν προσευχῇ καὶ νηστείᾳ. Καὶ ἐκεῖθεν ἐξελθόντες παρεπορεύοντο διὰ τῆς Γαλιλαίας, καὶ οὐκ ἤθελεν ἵνα τις γνῷ ἐδίδασκε γὰρ τοὺς μαθητὰς αὐτοῦ καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς ὅτι ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς χεῖρας ἀνθρώπων, καὶ ἀποκτενοῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ ἀποκτανθεὶς τῇ τρίτῃ ἡμέρᾳ ἀναστήσεται. A t that time, a man came to Jesus kneeling and saying: "Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a dumb spirit; and wherever it seizes him it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able." And he answered them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me." And they brought the boy to him; and when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, "How long has he had this?" And he said, "From childhood. And it has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us." And Jesus said to him, "If you can! All things are possible to him who believes." Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!" And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, "You dumb and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again." And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse; so that most of them said, "He is dead." But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, "Why could we not cast it out?" And he said to them, "This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting." They went on from there and passed through Galilee. And he would not have any one know it; for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, "The Son of man will be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him; and when he is killed, after three days he will rise." Memorials at conclusion of Divine Liturgy. Fellowship in Hall following Divine Liturgy.

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4 RELIGIOUS SERVICES, MEETINGS & EVENTS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 7, 2019 Sun. Apr 7, 2019 SUNDAY OF SAINT JOHN CLIMACUS Orthros 9am / Divine Liturgy 10am ACOLYTES SERVING TODAY TEAM A PARISH COUNCIL NARTHEX TEAM 1 District Oratorical Festival Tues. Apr 9, 2019 Philoptochos Meeting, 6:30pm AHEPA Meeting, 7pm Wed. Apr 10, 2019 PRESANCTIFIED LITURGY, 6pm Followed by light Lenten Meal & Studies in the Faith Greek School, 4pm & 6pm Thur. Apr 11, 2019 Choir Practice, 7pm Pasta Flora baking, 9:30am Greek School, 4pm & 5:30pm Fri. Apr 12, 2019 THE AKATHIST HYMM, 7pm GOYA BASKETBALL Quarter Final Games Today Junior Boys at 2:00 PM Senior Boys at 4:30 PM Games will be played at Assumption in Long Beach 576 East Colorado Street Long Beach, CA April 7 April 10 April 14 April 17 April 20 PROSFORO Maria Tambouris Katerina Tseheridis Lela Bonorris Voula Kitsigianis Elefteria Konstantarakis SO CAL HUNGER STRIKE April at St. Paul s in Irvine Join us for the So Cal Hunger Strike at St. Paul's in Irvine. This is open to Pan-Orthodox youth grades 6th-12th More information is available at ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM ORATORICAL FESTIVAL Orthodox youth from all over Southern California will be presenting speeches on topics relating to the Faith. Speeches will take place in church starting at 12:30 pm. Anna Counelis and Yanni Kouloumbis of our St. John's parish are finalists in the Junior Division. Good luck to all speakers! Next Sunday, April 14th, representatives from our Parish s Oratorical Festival will present their speeches in Church. MYRRH BEARERS- GREAT AND HOLY FRIDAY, APRIL 26 Girls in the 3 rd 6 th grade will have the opportunity to participate in the Holy Friday evening service as myrrh bearers. Information packets will be available in the classrooms. You may also the church school at churchschool@stjohnanaheim.org.

5 Please note that in the spirit of Christian inclusiveness the church will accept more than one donor for a specific item. We don t want to exclude or to deny anyone the opportunity to participate. PLEASE SUBMIT DONATIONS TO THE CHURCH OFFICE

6 John Climacus the Righteous, author of The Divine Ladder of Ascent Fast. The memory of this Saint is celebrated on March 30, where his biography may be found. He is celebrated today because his book, The Ladder of Divine Ascent, is a sure guide to the ascetic life, written by a great man of prayer experienced in all forms of the monastic polity; it teaches the seeker after salvation how to lay a sound foundation for his struggles, how to detect and war against each of the passions, how to avoid the snares laid by the demons, and how to rise from the rudimental virtues to the heights of Godlike love and humility. It is held in such high esteem that it is universally read in its entirety in monasteries during the Great This Saint gave himself over to the ascetical life from his early youth. Experienced both in the solitary life of the hermit and in the communal life of cenobitic monasticism, he was appointed Abbot of the Monastery at Mount Sinai and wrote a book containing thirty homilies on virtue. Each homily deals with one virtue, and progressing from those that deal with holy and righteous activity (praxis) unto those that deal with divine vision (theoria), they raise a man up as though by means of steps unto the height of Heaven. For this cause his work is called "The Ladder of Divine Ascent." The day he was made Abbot of Sinai, the Prophet Moses was seen giving commands to those who served at table. Saint John reposed in 603, at eighty years of age. See also the Fourth Sunday of the Fast... ST JOHN THE BAPTIST ORTHODOX BOOKSTORE Visit the St. John s Orthodox Bookstore after service! Here you will find lovely icons, a variety of religious articles, delightful Christian books for adults & children, and beautiful bibles. You re sure to get gift ideas for your loved ones! The Bookstore is also available during the week by contacting the Church Office at

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11 FESTIVAL PASTRY BAKING SCHEDULE Join the baking crew as we prepare the pastries for the 2019 OC Greek Fest. Thursday, April 11 9:30am Thursday, April 18 9:30am Thursday, May 9 9:30am Tuesday, May 14 9:30am Thursday, May 16 10am May Bougatsa FATHER HADJIS SCHOLARSHIP Pasta Flora Koulourakia Diples Honeying Diples & Melomakarona Boxes Need Volunteers in Pastry Booth To be announced Applications are now available in the Church Office, on the Church website or you can contact Connie Adraktas-Zepeda at or cjzepeda@sbcglobal.net. Applications will be due on April 30th! OC GREEK FEST Event Program Book Here is another great opportunity to support the 2019 OC Greek Fest. Forms for our 2019 Event Program Book are available at the Festival Table. Take forms to your friends and neighborhood businesses. For more information, please contact Dawn Davis ( ) or Raza Kitsigianis ( ). Deadline is May 1st. TSOUREKI (EASTER BREAD) CHURCH SCHOOL FUNDRAISER APRIL 21 Support our Church School and order your delicious Tsoureki for Pascha! Please see Nancy Foxhall or Lea Kiapos following Divine Liturgy in the Fellowship Hall to place your paid orders $10 each. Pre-orders will take place today and April 14. Available for pickup on Palm Sunday, April 21. Thank you! PHILOPTOCHOS GENERAL MEETING TUESDAY, APRIL 9TH AT 6:30 PM You are invited to join Philoptochos on Tuesday, April 9th for our General Meeting. Following a brief meeting, our very own Sophia Konugres will lead us in a fun U-Jam fitness class so pack your sneakers and your energy. Following our U-Jam class, we will stuff Easter bags with candy and school supplies for the needy children of the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim and Child Shuttle. You can drop off your donations at the Philoptochos Table on Sunday during the Fellowship or bring to the Philoptochos meeting. Thank you so much for participating in Philoptochos service projects to help needy families. May God Bless you for your kindness and generosity. LUMINARY CANDLES Stop by the Philoptochos Table TODAY to order your Luminary Candles for Holy Friday & Holy Saturday.

12 Join GOYA for their annual Palm Sunday Luncheon on Sunday, April 21. If you would like to donate to, or support the luncheon, please contact Louisa Pieratos at WELCOME VISITORS We welcome all visitors to St. John s. If you are non-orthodox and are interested in learning who we are and what our beliefs and practices are, we invite you to any of our Bible Study classes and of course the Class on the Orthodox Faith. On the other hand if you are an Orthodox Christian and are not a member in another Orthodox Church we invite you (and your family) to join our parish. (Note: While all may receive the Andidoron, the bread which is given at the conclusion of services which of course is not consecrated, only Orthodox Christians in good standing can receive Holy Communion and other Sacraments.)