(901)
274-4119
www.stjohnmemphis.org
V.
Rev.
Pastor
Assistant Pastor
V. Rev. Fr. Basil Cushman Rev.
Fr. Donald Berge
Associate
Pastor
Attached
GREAT
VESPERS ORTHROS and
Saturday,
Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of
“…the
Disciples were called Christians first in
Commemoration of St. Gregory the Theologian
Epistle: Hebrews 7:26-28; 8:1-2 Gospel: Luke 19:1-10
The Holy Bread for Eucharist is offered this morning by
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
Sunday - Teen Group – No meeting today
-
Young Adult Group at Fr. John & Kh. Pamela’s home,
Monday - First
Hour,
- Welcome Team meeting,
Tuesday - Third Hour,
- Men’s Lunch,
- Choir Practice,
- Catechumen/Inquirer’s
Class,
Wednesday - Third
Hour,
- Vespers,
-
Wednesday Dinner,
-
Wednesday Teaching,
Thursday - Third
Hour,
Friday - First Hour,
-
Third Hour,
-
Stay & Play Group will meet in the fellowship hall after third hour.
-
Sixth Hour,
Saturday - Ninth Hour and Great Vespers,
Sunday -
- Orthros,
- Divine Liturgy,
Schedule
for Divine Liturgy Sunday,
February 1st
PRIEST: Fr.
John HOMILY: Fr. John
DEACONS: Dns. Tim
& James READER:
HOLY BREAD:
ALTAR SERVERS:
COFFEE HOUR: Charlie &
Welcome Team
– The Welcome Team will meet tomorrow, January 26th at
Upcoming Feast of the Master – We will celebrate the Divine Liturgy for Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in
the Temple on Monday morning, February 2, at 9:00. Come pray with us.
COMMEMORATIONS
January 25: Gregory the Theologian, archbishop of
January 26: Venerable Xenophon, his wife, Mary, and their two
sons, Arkadios and John, of
January 27: The translation of the relics of John Chrysostom; Marciana the empress; New-martyr Demetrios
of Constantinople; Venerable Clement.
January 28: Venerable Ephraim the Syrian; Venerable Palladios of Antioch; Martyr Charita;
Venerable Theodosios of Totma;
Isaac the Syrian, bishop of Ninevah.
January 29: The translation of the relics of Ignatios
the God-bearer of
January 30: The three great hierarchs and ecumenical teachers,
Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian and John Chrysostom; Hieromartyr Hippolytos, pope of
Rome; Virgin-martyr Chrissa of Rome; New-martyr
Theodore of Mitylene; Julian, priest of Aegina.
January 31: Unmercenaries Cyros and John; Martyrs Athanasia
of Egypt and her daughters Theodota, Theoktiste and Eudoxia; Martyr Papias of Corinth; New-martyr Elias; Nikita of the Kiev
Caves, bishop of Novgorod.
February 1: Martyr Tryphon of Syria;
Martyr Perpetua of Carthage and her four companions;
Basil the Confessor, archbishop of Thessalonika;
New-martyr Anastasios of Anaplos;
Venerable David and Simeon; Venerable Bridget of Ireland.
**For reading material on the
saints for this week, visit the display in the church library.
DAILY SCRIPTURE
Sunday I Timothy 4:9-15 Luke 19:1-10
Monday I Peter 2:21-3:9 Mark 12:13-17
Tuesday I Peter 3:10-22 Mark 12:18-27
Wednesday I Peter 4:1-11 Mark 12:28-37
Thursday I Peter 4:12-5:5 Mark 12:38-44
Friday II Peter
1:1-10 Mark 13:1-8
Saturday II Timothy
2:11-19 Luke 18:2-8
Sunday I Timothy
4:9-15 Luke 19:1-10
Pray for our catechumens: In
In Tupelo - Shane Davis, Justin & Tifphanie Franks (Paris), Justin & Brandy Williams,
Leah Hardy, Adam Clay, Casey & Jessica Hardy (Davis) and Justin Stevens.
Please remember in your
prayers: His
- ALMS-GIVING
–
Diocese of
Michael Bittle Fund – Holy Trinity
Orthodox Church –
Catechumen and Inquirers’ classes have started again. – Billy
Scrantom will be teaching as we restart classes for 2009. Everyone is welcome. We meet Tuesday’s at
Wednesday evening teachings – Fr. Nicholas
concluded his talks on unity in the Church last Wednesday night. Father did a very good job in helping us to
see better the need for unity and the dangers of our not working for it. I hope we will all begin to pray more
seriously for the unity of the Church.
Antiochian Women of St. John’s Calendar
~
Friday
& Saturday, January 30th~31st, 2009
IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO
SIGN-UP, but please sign-up as soon as possible!!
~ Book Club ~
February ~ The Purple Mantle
~ Women’s Teaching ~
Upcoming Dates ~
February 5th ~ March 12th
Wednesday evening teachings – If you missed last week’s talk on the angelic
realm, you missed an excellent talk!
Wed, Jan. 21 – Fr. Nicholas – Effects of
unity/disunity in the Church
Wed, Jan 28 – Subdeacon
Come join us on Wednesdays! Be sure and sign up for dinner!
Mark your calendars!
The Antiochian Women of
St. John are invited to a baby shower
for
at the home of Mindy Williams
Sunday, February 8th following coffee
hour
Melissa & baby are registered at Target &
Babies R Us
If you are interested in the group gift, please
contact Mindy
Tithes and contributions for 2009 – We ended 2008 with a bang, and we came very close
to our combined projected revenue for
LIBRARY
LINES – Many times saints capture our
attention simply because of their unusual names. Monday we commemorate St.
Xenophon and his wife and sons (1/26).
They were fifth century, pious parents who sent their children to
Two
of the twenty Holy Unmercenaries are commemorated
this week. All of these men were
physicians or pious men who were given the gift of healing. They never charged
anyone and healed many of physical, mental and spiritual illnesses. Whenever we sing their hymns, we use the
words, “Freely ye have received; freely give.” These words inspire us to share
God’s mercy and goodness.
Several times a day throughout Lent
we repeat the prayer of
St. Ephraim the Syrian (1/28).
He was a contemporary of St. Basil the Great who wanted to ordain him to
the priesthood. He refused considering him self unworthy. In his youth he had a reputation for fighting
because of his quick temper. He turned his life around and went to live with
the hermits, becoming a disciple of St. James of Nisibis.
This saint saw promise in the young man and took him with him to the First
Ecumenical Council in 325. St. Ephriam was given the
gift of teaching. He became a strict ascetic and continually studied the
Scriptures. Besides his famous Lenten prayer, he wrote a commentary on the Penateuch and prayers to the Most Holy Trinity, the Son of
God and the Most Holy Theotokos. He also composed hymns for the Twelve Great
Feasts of the Lord and funeral hymns.
See
icons of these saints and their stories in St. John Library.
Teen Group Events Sunday,
January 25th – No Meeting – Next
Sunday, February 1st – Superbowl Party
at the Dense’s home
Sons of
Thunder – The next meeting is
scheduled for Monday, February 16th at
Pro-life Corner: As the political
landscape has changed, it is very possible that the Freedom of Choice Act will
again be brought in Congress for consideration and a vote. This legislation, as we have noted in many
bulletins over the last two months, is very far reaching and, in the opinion of
many, very dangerous on many levels. It
will drastically expand the abortion / pro-choice / pro-life debate into areas
of health care, conscience, parental care for their children, etc. for years to
come. More importantly, I fear it will
probably do irreparable harm to our children and the souls of our citizens, and
consequently its passage must be fought.
There are two things you can do:
(1) Educate
yourself. While the bill’s language
as it now exists is very simple and seemingly changes little, such is not the
case. It opens many perilous doors. There is a short but well crafted overview of
the proposed legislation from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
at the following website:
http://www.usccb.org/prolife/issues/FOCA/FOCA_FactSheet08.pdf
(2) Contact your legislators.
Here are websites for legislative addresses and contact information:
Marsha
Blackburn - http://blackburn.house.gov/Contact/
Steve Cohen - http://cohen.house.gov/index.php?option=com_email_form&Itemid=113
Sen.
Lamar Alexander - to send email - http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Sen. Lamar
Alexander -phone info - http://alexander.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Offices
Sen.
Bob Corker - to send email - http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.ContactMe
Sen. Bob Corker -
phone info - http://corker.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=ContactInformation.OfficeLocations
From
the Fathers
“Christ calls all to Himself,
but not all respond to His voice. Whoever opens his heart to Him becomes His
temple. The Lord comes to him and dwells in him. The heart then is filled with
peace and the soul with inexpressible blessedness and love; the will is
strengthened in goodness, and the mouth glorified God in heaven.”- St. John Maximovitch
“One must always remember
that success in any aspect of the spiritual life is the fruit of the grace of
God. Spiritual life comes entirely from His most Holy Spirit. We have our own
spirit but it is void of power. It begins to gain strength only when the grace
of God flows into it.” - St. Theophan the Recluse
“Blessed is the man who
realizes his weakness, for this knowledge becomes the foundation, the root and
the beginning of every boon. For as soon as a man understands and truly feels
his weakness, he immediately puts a restraint on the vain pride of his soul
which obscures reason, and thus he gains protection.” - St. Isaac the Syrian
“The Word was
not hedged in by His body, nor did His presence in the body prevent His being
present elsewhere as well. When He moved
His body He did not cease also to direct the universe by His Mind and might . .
. The marvelous truth is, that being the Word, so far from being Himself
contained by anything, He actually contained all things Himself. He is present
everywhere, yet is distinct in being from it; ordering, directing, giving life
to all, containing all, yet is He Himself the Uncontained, existing solely in
His Father. As with the whole, so also is it with the part. Existing in a human
body, to which He Himself gives life, He is still Source of life to all the
universe, present in every part of it, yet outside the whole; and He is
revealed both through the works of His body and through His activity in the
world.” - St. Athanasius, On the Incarnation