(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman V.
Rev. Fr. John Troy Mashburn, Jr. Rev. Fr. Donald Berge
Assistant Pastor Pastor
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday, 6:00 p.m. Sunday, 9:00 a.m. Sunday, 10:00 a.m.
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
First
Sunday of Great Lent
Sunday
of Orthodoxy
Epistle: Hebrews 11:24-26,
32-12:2 Gospel: John
1:43-51
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by Margaret
McKelroy.
Welcome
to all those visiting St. John Orthodox Church.
We are honored by your presence.
It is our sincere desire that your participation today in the Divine
Liturgy will draw you closer to Christ and His Church.
If you are from a non-Orthodox background you may
see new things such as icons, incense, the sign of the
cross, the veneration of saints, and a great deal of standing. These can be perplexing to the uninitiated
eye. Rest assured that everything we do
has a solid biblical foundation and a long history among Christian people. Please feel free to participate where you
feel comfortable, and feel equally as free only to observe when you prefer.
The Orthodox Church understands the Eucharist, or
Lord’s Supper, to be – among other things – the paramount expression of
Christian unity. While it is our deepest
hope that Christendom will one day fulfill Christ’s desire for true unity among
all those who claim His name (John 17:21), the unfortunate reality of our day
is that the various segments of Christendom are not unified with the historic
Orthodox faith. Since participation in the Eucharist expresses a unity with all the
dogma and practice of the Orthodox Church, non-Orthodox guests do not receive
Holy Communion. The Holy Eucharist
is reserved for those members of the Orthodox Church who have prepared
themselves by prayer, fasting, and recent confession. All visitors and unprepared Orthodox are
invited to partake of the blessed bread as they come forward to venerate the
cross at the end of the Liturgy. Thank
you for your understanding.
Sunday -
No Teen Group (
-
Young Adult Group, at Fr. John & Kh. Pamela’s home,
Monday - First
Hour, 6:45 a.m.
- Great Compline,
Tuesday - Third Hour, 9:00 a.m.
-
Men’s Lunch,
-
Choir Practice,
-
Catechumen/Inquirer’s Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour, 9:00 a.m.
- Presanctified Liturgy at
-
Great Compline at St. George,
Thursday - Third
Hour, 9:00 a.m.
- Women’s Teaching at
Anne Dugan’s home,
Friday - First Hour Prayer, 6:45 a.m.
-
Third Hour Prayer,
- Stay & Play Group – meet here at the
church after 3rd hour prayer
-
Sixth Hour Prayer,
-
Akathist,
Saturday - Ninth Hour and Great Vespers, 5:50 p.m.
Sunday -
Orthros, 8:55 a.m.
-
- Divine
Liturgy,
- Serving at the Soup Kitchen at First Presbyterian,
Schedule
for Presanctified Liturgy Wednesday, March 19th
PRIEST: Fr. John
DEACON: Dn. James
ALTAR SERVERS: Any who can
READER: Billy
Scrantom
LENTEN MEAL: Amal
Salloum
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday, March 23rd
PRIEST: Fr. John
HOMILY: Fr. Basil
DEACONS: Dns.
Charles & Tim
ALTAR SERVERS: Matthew, Luke S., Alex, Deon
READER: Rd. Leo Schommer
USHER:
HOLY BREAD: Ellie Moore
COFFEE HOUR: Jack &
Serving at the soup kitchen – Mark your calendars! We will serve at the soup kitchen on Western
Easter, March 23. Come help us help others!
COMMEMORATIONS**
March 16: Martyr Sabinos of Egypt;
Venerable Christodoulos the wonderworker of
March 17: Venerable Alexios the “Man
of God;” Theosteriktos the Confessor; Patrick, bishop of Armagh and enlightener of
March 18: Cyril, patriarch of
March 19: Martyrs Chrysanthos, Daria, Jason, Mauros and Diodoros of Rome; Martyr Pancharios
of Nicomedia; New-martyr Demetrios of Constantinople;
Venerable Innocent of Komel.
March 20: The holy fathers slain at the monastery of Mar Sabbas; New-martyr Myron of Crete.
March 21: Venerable-confessor James the New, bishop of
March 22: Hieromartyr Basil of
March 23: Venerable-martyr Nikon of
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY
SCRIPTURE
Sunday Hebrews
11:24-26, 32-12:2 John
1:43-51
Monday Genesis
3:21-4:7 Proverbs
3:34-4:22
Tuesday Genesis
4:8-15 Proverbs
5:1-15
Wednesday Genesis
4:16-26 Proverbs
5:15-6:3
Thursday Genesis
5:1-24 Proverbs
6:3-20
Friday Genesis
5:32-6:8 Proverbs
6:20-7:1
Saturday Hebrews
3:12-16 Mark
1:35-44
Sunday Hebrews
Pray for our catechumens: In
Please remember in your
prayers: His
KEEPING
THE GREAT FAST:
While the hymnography of the Church reminds us of the primary importance of
keeping the spiritual aspect of the Great Fast, it also counsels us
to keep the physical aspect -- reducing our consumption of food
and drink and abstaining from certain categories. From the
first day of the Great Fast which is known as Pure Monday (Monday, March 10th)
we observe the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, cheese,
milk or other dairy products, fish, wine and olive oil) on weekdays
through Great and Holy Friday, while on Saturdays and
Sundays there is katalysis for wine and olive oil.
EXCEPTIONS: On the great feasts of Annunciation (March 25th)
and Palm Sunday (April 20th) there is katalysis
for fish, wine and oil; on Great and Holy Thursday (April 24th)
there is katalysis for wine and oil; on Great and Holy Saturday (April
26th) if we eat anything at all, we observe the traditional fasting
discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, cheese, milk or other dairy products,
fish, and olive oil) with katalysis for wine. We
break the Lenten Fast following the Paschal Orthros and Divine Liturgy
(4/27).
Parish
Life Conference – Information on this years
conference is included in these announcements.
All Saints Orthodox Church in
Pro-life
Corner –
“Scientists from Virginia Commonwealth University
examined 45,500 mothers giving birth and found that women who had a least one
prior abortion were almost three times as likely to have a low weight baby and
70% more likely to give birth prematurely . . .” Choose Life, Jan-Feb 2008
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
Women’s Teaching – led by Fr. John Troy
This Thursday, March 20th -
Upcoming Book Club Dates:
Monday, May 12th – My Journey with Father
Alexander
by Juliana Schmemann
Monday, June 2nd – The Pilgrim’s Inn ~ The
Herb of Grace
by Elizabeth Goudge
Lenten Meals – Anyone
interested in making Lenten meals (or part of a meal) to be served after
Presanctified Liturgies please contact Kh. Martha Berge at 340-2787.
It's a boy!!!
The Antiochian Women of
are
invited to a Baby Shower for Jodi Elliott
on
Saturday, March 22 at
at
the home of Claire vanDrimmelen, 1944 Vinton,
Jodi
is registered at Babies R Us. If you would like to contribute to a group gift,
please
contact Elizabeth Cameron at 327-5595 or e.cameron@earthlink.net
Note from Church Office: Please be sure to mark in the memo section of your checks
what the amount is for. If you are contributing to your tithe, please mark
‘tithe.’ Likewise, if purchasing something from the bookstore, please mark
‘bookstore.’ This allows for easy accounting of your tithes, offerings and
other purposes. Thank you.
LIBRARY
LINES – You know what we do on the Sunday of Orthodoxy, but
do you know why? Our tradition dates
back to events in the 8th century. Visit
St. John Library and read about the Iconoclast controversy. Look for The First Seven Ecumenical Councils
by Leo Davis (HIS/DAV) and Bible and Church History by Fr. Thomas Hopko (CAT/GEN/HOP). They are on the display cart.
Do you need Lenten reading
to feed your soul and body? Check the books on display among the bookshelves
and on top of the reference section. You’ll see works
about the Great School Of Repentance written by the
fathers and wise men of our Church as well as practical aids and cookbooks for
the fast.
St.
Nikolai Velimorvich (3/18) is a “recent” church father.
His wisdom is recorded in a variety of St. John Library holdings. See the
bulletin board for a list of holdings by and about him.
Teen Group Events
Today, Sunday, March 16th – No Teen Group
–
Sunday, March 23rd – Soup Kitchen at First
Presbyterian, after Liturgy;
Followed by trip to Tasty Buffet
Available in the Parish
Hall:
Diakonia
– Copies of the Spring 2008 Diakonia, Antiochian Orthodox Christian Women of North America’s
Newsletter are now available in the parish hall.
New Phone Directories – There are more copies now available in the parish
hall. Please remember that these directories are for personal use only. Also remember that the directories are only
as good as the information given to us. If there are any changes or corrections
that need to be made, please let me know.
– Meribeth
Handouts for Great Lent –
There are copies of a number
of handouts downstairs for your taking:
Comments on the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts
The Lenten Prayer of St. Ephrem
the Syrian
Reflections on the Akathist Hymn
The Sundays of Great Lent
The prayer of repentance used at Forgiveness Vespers
The schedule of services for the Great Fast through
Bright week
“The Rules of Fasting” - by Bp KALLISTOS
“The Four Canonical Fasting Seasons” – by Bp BASIL
Fasting Guidelines – Some nice comments on fasting
LENTEN ALMS-GIVING
FOOD PANTRY
Each week of the Great Fast
we will all have an opportunity to add to the food pantry with specific items.
There will be a table set-up in the parish hall to receive these items.
Week 1 – Sunday, March 16th
– Jars of Peanut Butter
Week 2 – Sunday, March 23rd – Cans of Soup
and Crackers
Week 3 – Sunday, March 30th
– Cans of Fruit and Individual Serving Fruit/Applesauce
Week 4 – Sunday, April 6th
– Toiletry Items – Toilet Paper, Lotion, Soap
Week 5 – Sunday, April 13th
– Canned Meat, Cans of Chili, and Cans of Beans
Week 6 – Sunday, April 20th
– Rice, Pasta & Boxed Meals
FOOD FOR HUNGRY PEOPLE – COIN BOXES
As in the past, coin
collection boxes for Food for Hungry
People are in the parish hall. This
is an excellent way for children (and
grown-ups) to participate in giving alms this Lenten season. Take a box (or two) for your home! At the end of Great Lent, parents should then
help their children count the coins and turn in the collected amount,
preferably with bills or a check for the collected amount.
THE BELCHER FAMILY
Please pray for Chuck Belcher, a former member of our
parish. He was diagnosed in October with
ADL, fatal disease, and is probably in his last six months of life, if
that. They now live in
OTHER CONTINUING ALMS-GIVING
OPPORTUNITIES
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity Orthodox
Church –
St. Barbara Monastery – for the benefit of Sister Thekla (Anne Marie Harrison)
From
the Fathers
“Should
you see your neighbor commit a sin, see that you think not only of his sin,
but that you also think of what he does, and has done
well, and doing this you will often times find that he is better than you are;
for God does not judge a man on a part of his life only.
He
says: ‘I know their works and their thoughts; I come that I may gather
them together.’” (Is. lxvi. 18)
- St. Basil the Great
“A different pattern of
behavior is exhibited by a small number of people who are pleasing to
God. They have become the masters of their own wealth. And they
have used it, as if it were their faithful slave, to feed the hungry, to clothe
the naked, to free the debtors who are insolvent and in prison. Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Job, Joseph, David acted like this. Money was not the
master of these people; they were the masters of their money.”
St. Philoxenus of Mabbug
“To Thee, O Victor pierced with nails on the cross, who calleth out to sinners
saying: ‘Come, receive forgiveness freely’ --
to Thee I unrelentingly pray, O my Savior: turn
Thine eyes from my lawlessness, and by Thy sufferings heal my sores that I might glorify Thy kindness.”
St. Ephraim the Syrian
“‘But
I cannot pray,’ he said to me. ‘I think that the moment that I begin to
pray God will destroy me.’
“Nonsense, brother! Such thoughts are from the evil one. God is infinitely merciful and sympathizes with the
sinner; He is eager to forgive anyone who
repents. If you know the Jesus Prayer, that is ‘Lord Jesus Christ, have
mercy on me, a sinner,’ then say it without
ceasing.”
from The Pilgrim Continues His Way