Sunday, March 19, 2017 To all who are present with us this morning, Welcome, and thank you for being here! Please join us for “coffee and…” in the Fellowship Hall following Divine Liturgy. You May Find the Text of the Divine Liturgy beginning on the bottom of page 91 of the Service Book (gold embossed cross on the reddish brown cover) or in the green-spiral-bound book; sheet music can be found in the 8.5” x 11” large, spiral-bound booklet. At the Kiss of Peace our practice is for each of us to greet the person to our right and left with the bowing of our head, hands held in a prayerful clasp or crossed on the chest, while offering each other the seasonal Christian greeting, “Christ is in our midst!” and responding, “He is and shall be!” Please remember that Holy Communion is reserved for those Chrismated Orthodox Christians who have appropriately prepared themselves through prayer, fasting and Confession to receive the Holy Mysteries of the Church. The bread (anti’doron, which means ‘in place’ of the gifts) which we share after Communion and at the end of the Liturgy is for all. Being mindful we are in church, let us always remember to… ...be quiet and attentive. Let us sing, pray, stand, sit, kneel and respond where responses are indicated. Let us not talk, look around, text message, play games, etc. Especially let us work at this in the Communion line and when in line to venerate the Cross and depart. If we cannot hear the post- Communion prayers being chanted during our church departure, we are way too noisy. ...refrain from eating, drinking or chewing gum. (most obviously and especially if you will be receiving Holy Communion). ...stay put. Except in rare cases, there are few of us who cannot stay in one location for two hours (actually less, for most of us). St. Michael’s Orthodox Christian Church 1182 Ashland St., Greensburg, PA 15601 Diocese of Charleston, Oakland and the Mid-Atlantic Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. (See the back cover for detailed contact information.)
Transcript
Sunday, March 19, 2017 To all who are present with us this morning,
Welcome, and thank you for being here! Please join us for “coffee and…”
in the Fellowship Hall following Divine Liturgy.
You May Find the Text of the Divine Liturgy beginning on the bottom of page 91 of the Service Book (gold embossed cross on the reddish brown cover) or in the green-spiral-bound book; sheet music can be found in the 8.5” x 11” large, spiral-bound booklet.
At the Kiss of Peace our practice is for each of us to greet the person to our right and left with the bowing of our head, hands held in a prayerful clasp or crossed on the chest, while offering each other the seasonal Christian greeting, “Christ is in our midst!” and responding, “He is and shall be!”
Please remember that Holy Communion is reserved for those Chrismated Orthodox Christians who have appropriately prepared themselves through prayer, fasting and Confession to receive the Holy Mysteries of the Church. The bread (anti’doron, which means ‘in place’ of the gifts) which we share after Communion and at the end of the Liturgy is for all.
Being mindful we are in church, let us always remember to… ...be quiet and attentive. Let us sing, pray, stand, sit, kneel and respond
where responses are indicated. Let us not talk, look around, text message, play games, etc. Especially let us work at this in the Communion line and when in line to venerate the Cross and depart. If we cannot hear the post-Communion prayers being chanted during our church departure, we are way too noisy.
...refrain from eating, drinking or chewing gum. (most obviously and especially if you will be receiving Holy Communion).
...stay put. Except in rare cases, there are few of us who cannot stay in one location for two hours (actually less, for most of us).
St. Michael’s Orthodox Christian Church
1182 Ashland St., Greensburg, PA 15601 Diocese of Charleston, Oakland and the Mid-Atlantic
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America.
(See the back cover for detailed contact information.)
The Mission of Our Church The mission of St Michael’s Antiochian Orthodox Christian Church is to tend the flock of our Lord Jesus Christ and to spread the Good News of Christ to those outside the flock. This mission is to be accomplished by a) living a full liturgical and sacramental life, b) proclaiming the Orthodox Christian faith to all people, c) providing effective charitable and social programs, and d) establishing strong spiritual leadership and resources. ___________________________________________________
The Holy Cross
SYRIAN CHRISTIAN RELIEF As the Syrian crisis continues, we continue to accept donations to do what we can to help ease the suffering there. Checks may be written to “St. Michael’s” with the note “Syrian Relief.” The following is a link to International Orthodox Christian Charities ((IOCC) “Response to the Crisis in Syria” page with more information on what you can do to help:
Greeting: Christ is in our midst! Response: He is and shall be! Third Sunday of Great Lent; Veneration of the Precious and Life-Giving Cross; Martyrs Chrysanthos, Daria, and those with them of Rome; Martyr Pancharios of Nicomedia; New-martyr Demetrios the joiner of Constantinople; Venerable Innocent of Komel.
THE EPISTLE READING St. Paul to the Hebrews (4:14-5:6)
B RETHREN, since we have a High Priest, Who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we have not a high priest
who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One Who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. Because of this he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not take the honor upon himself, but he is called by God, just as Aaron was. So also Christ did not exalt Himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by Him Who said to Him, “Thou art My Son, today I have begotten Thee”; as He says also in another place, “Thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.”
THE HOLY GOSPEL According to St. Mark (8:34-9:1)
T HE LORD SAID, “If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses
his life for My sake and the Gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of man also be ashamed, when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” And Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Kingdom of God come with power.” ___________________________________________________________
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY A day, a year, a lifetime. Each day may prayerfully lead us from here to eternity. Each year may liturgically leads us from here to eternity (especially during seasons like the Great Lent). Each of our lifetimes should lead us from here to eternity, building from our first day, to today, to months, years and decades, to the final and complete entry into the time and place when we will fully know the meaning of here to eternity. To recoil from the above statements or to be dully disinterested in what they might mean is to show that we have bought into the materialistic cultural “reality” at the expense of life-saving, liberating Truth. To spend our time missing, or worse yet, consciously ignoring the reality of our journey, is to have wasted our lives. It is to not even have lived our lives. Hence, our nominal participation (“I have all the time in the world…”) in everything having to do with life, death, the invisible, the beyond, god, God’s Kingdom, etc., is delusional at best and nihilistic (self-annihilating) at worst. Being physically born as a human person begins each of these cycles intended to lead us to spiritual awakening, begun here in this life. We are not meant to merely live physically, do the best we can, perhaps leave some sort of mark, and then be gone. We are here to be here and live life. Great Lent offers us an opportunity to wake up, exit the fog, be raised from our deadness and begin to live.
If you have never found yourself thinking about your Orthodox Faith in such a manner, now might be your time to begin. If you have little or no idea what this short bulletin blurb is trying to say, but find yourself at least curious, hang around in church after the dismissal for some conversation on the matter. ________________________________________________________
Church Clean-up (and palm cross making) after Lazarus Saturday Divine Liturgy on April 8
Come and help prepare yourself and our church building for entry into the profound mystery of the Passion of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Great Fast ends on Friday evening, April 7. Holy Week begins with the celebration of the Raising of Lazarus from the Dead on Saturday, April 8. Following 9:00 AM Divine Liturgy on Saturday, April 8, we will break the Communion fast in the Fellowship Hall, then return to the church to clean. Many hands will lighten the load, and our preparing our church will begin preparing our souls for entry into the Mystery of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection. Come and help! _____________________________________________________________
Hempfield Area High School Presents...
Fiddler on the Roof March 29 — April 1, 2017 (Our own Rachel Capar plays Hodel in the Thursday
and Saturday night performances.)
For Tickets, call 724.850.2050, visit tickets.hasdtheater.org or stop by the Auditorium Lobby on March 8, 9, 15, 16, 22, 23 from 6 to 8 PM
or in the Main Lobby on March 14 or 21 from 11:30 AM to 1 PM
Antiochian Women Easter Bake Sale order forms are available outside the entrance to the church.
Order deadline is Sunday, March 26th. Pickup is on Saturday, April 8th from 10 AM and 12 noon.
Orders must be prepaid.
CALEB’S CUPBOARD is always in need of contributions.
The ‘Cupboard’ is the big chest you see as you come through the main entrance of our church. It is a very simple way to help our neighbors in need. If you could bring in a few cans of food, cereal, pasta, paper goods or other nonperishables when you come to church, you will be making a big difference for someone in need. Donations of personal care items such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, toothbrushes, diapers, wipes and feminine hygiene products are particularly needed!
FULL TIME POSITION AVAILABLE Administrative Assistant for the Order of St. Ignatius (OSI)
Office at Antiochian Village, Bolivar, PA. Monday—Friday from 9-5
Answer calls, schedule meetings, basic bookkeeping, financial reports, tech savvy (WORD, ACCESS), day to day
communications, some travel obligations. Contact Amy for more information and application
IS YOUR BAKELESS BAKESALE DONATION sitting ina pile of outgoing mail on your desk or kitchen table waiting to be taken to the post office or carried to church? If so, please attend to that as soon as you can. Thank you.
Saturday morning, March 25. Following Divine Liturgy, our Chu rch School families are especially invited to participate in the Sacrament of Holy Confession.
