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2014.01-02 - Box and Spoon
2014.01-02 - Box and Spoon
36
JAN/FEB 2014
Monthly Newsletter for Stewards of Holy Anargyroi Sts. Kosmas & Damianos Greek Orthodox Church
I do firmly RESOLVE
Its that time of year again when we leave behind the failures, disappointments, and pain of the last year and enter a new beginning of renewal and commitment. The New Year is often marked by the promise and hope for change...positive change on the global, national, and personal levels. Accompanying this anticipation and desire for transformation is a phenomenon known as resolve, or traditionally referred to as the New Years Resolution. Im often asked, and Im sure Im not the only one, whats your New Years resolution, Father? To which I would normally respond, rarely do I willingly set myself up for abject failure! An odd response, indeed. Allow me to explain. A 2009 study showed that 78% of those making resolutions for the New Year fail to realize them primarily because of their impulsive and fleeting nature. Case in point, I made it to the gym for a workout on Jan. 1st and the place was teeming with people I had never previously seen...I guarantee you, by the end of the month a majority of them will have disappeared. I have always believed resolutions were dangerous, immature, clich -ish, and superfluous. I WAS WRONG! Shocking...isn't it? A rather obscure and unknown Saint (to many, I should qualify) by the name of St. Peter of Damascus (largest contributor to the spiritual classic, The Philokalia) instructs us as follows regarding resolutions, If you want to do something good, do it;
and if you cannot do it, then resolve to do it, and you will have achieved the resolution even if you do not fulfill the action itself. Thus a habit, whether good or bad, can gradually and spontaneously be overcome. If this were not the case, no criminals would ever be saved, whereas in fact not only have they been saved, but many have become conspicuous for their excellence. Think what a great gulf separates the criminal from the saint; yet resolution finally overcame habit.. This tidbit of patristic insight
has left an ineffaceable impression upon me as I begin the New Year. For me personally it reveals both the impetus for spiritual struggle (ascesis) and a sober approach to it. disfigured and Through an enduring and can be eventually committed life in Christ the human reality, however debased, transformed into godliness, purity, and brilliant light. It is my fervent prayer that we usher in 2014 with positive action for spiritual change, and if not action, at the very least the firm resolve to be able to take the first steps in that direction. A blessed New Year to you and yours
+Fr. Mark
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
Building Committee Meeting 5pm Parish Council Meeting 6:30pm Thurs. Jan. 9th JOY/GOYA Theophany House Blessing Celebration 5:30pm at Jerghiuta Residence Sun. Jan. 12th Philoptochos Enrollment Sunday & Loukoumathes after Liturgy Mon. Jan. 13th AC/DC Adult Religious Ed 6pm Tues.-Fri Jan. 14th- 24th Fr. Mark leading Pilgrimage to Mt. Athos, Greece Sun. Jan. 19th Outreach Parish Events Group Potluck Meeting after Liturgy Sun. Jan. 26th Ministries Sunday & Vasilopita Cutting Ceremony GOYA Broomball Game after Liturgy Mon. Jan. 27th AC/DC Adult Religious Ed 6pm Sun. Feb. 2nd Parish Special Assembly after Liturgy Mon. Feb. 3rd AC/DC Adult Religious Ed 6pm Tues. Feb. 4th Philoptochos Meeting in Church Library 6pm Fri-Sun Feb. 7th-9th Metropolis of Chicago Basketball Tournament in MSP Sun. Feb. 9th Triodion Begins: Publican & Pharisee *No Fasting all week* Thurs.-Fri. Feb. 13th-14th Winter GreekFest at University Square 11am - 2:30pm Wed. Feb. 19th Building Committee Meeting 5pm Parish Council Meeting 6:30pm Sat. Feb. 22nd Saturday of Souls 8:30am Orthros/Divine Liturgy Annual Parish Ethnic Potluck 6pm Sun. Feb. 23rd Meatfare Sunday: last Sunday meat products are eaten GOYA Snow Tubing after Liturgy - weather permitting Wed. Feb. 26th Philoxenia Meeting 6pm Wed. Feb. 26th GOYA Faith Night 7pm Sat. March 1st 2nd Saturday of Souls 8:30am Orthros/Divine Liturgy Sun. March 2nd Philoptochos Cheesefare Luncheon to benefit HC/HC
Wed.
Jan. 8th
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
Parish Council
A New Year and new beginning is upon us from many perspectives. We would like to welcome our newest member to the Parish Council, Jacob Peterson. Jacob comes to us with his professional experience as an Accountant but also with some valuable outside perspective serving on other Boards currently, and in the past. Our current Parish Council for 2014 consists of the following members:
Aaron Biedermann (President) Halina Woroncow (Vice President) Jacob Petersen (Treasurer) Andru Peters (Secretary) Erline Holman Don Jenkins Tim Kelly Bob Lytle Tia Maragos Fr. Mark Munoz
We would like to thank all of our Parishioners for your care, time and effort through many forms of stewardship this past year. We have shared many positive experiences and successes. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the successful outcome of ending our relationship with our tenants in the Parish Hall this past June. We have resumed the flexibility of utilizing the hall whenever needed for our many Ministries. However, this result was not without some sacrifice this past year. This presented our Parish with many difficult financial, ethical and spiritual decisions. Thankfully, we have accepted that responsibility through our stewardship of time, talents and donations. As a result of our efforts, we are in a position to slowly resume financial support of one of most important ministries, our youth. We will be utilizing our modest end-of-year positive financial margin to supplement youth activities on a case by case basis until an amendment can be made to the 2014 Budget during our Spring General Assembly. We are grateful to be able to resume this support since the youth of our church are our most valuable asset. We would like to thank everyone for your past, present and future contributions that you make to our Parish. We ask for your continued communication and collaboration with the Parish Council as we support you as a Parish. We look forward to planning for the future, rising to the challenges ahead, and supporting the many Ministries of our Parish. In Christ, Aaron Biedermann Parish Council President
MINISTRIES SUNDAY
January 26th 2014 after Liturgy
FELLOWSHIP HALL
Orthodox Christian Stewards are active participants in the life of the Church, and because of this our Parish Ministries are GROWING!!! COME AND SEE how YOU can GET INVOLVED to offer your time and talents back to God in support of His Church and her Ministries!
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
The youth approached the Nativity with an exuberant round of caroling at St. Marys Hospital - a tradition we look forward to every year. JOY, GOYA and their families, teachers, and friends combined to share the joy of our Saviors birth with patients relegated to a hospital bed for the season. How heartwarming to bring a smile to so many faces, and to have some raise their voices with ours, extending themselves beyond the confines of their beds.
Under the direction of Erline Holman our children, produced another beautiful Christmas pageant this year, portraying the Nativity icon. The familiar scene sprang forth before us as the children took their places in a living canvas depicting the birth of our Lord. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
To celebrate the Feast of the Holy Theophany (Epiphany) of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, JOY/GOYA children came together for a combined Faith Night event for the month of January
After the lesson Fr. Mark conducted a service of blessing the home using the holy water that was blessed on the Feast of Theophany.
Gathered around the icon of the Feast of Theophany, Fr. Mark told the story from the Gospels in images and color.
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
The center of worship for a family is often the home, perhaps the holiest place there is. The home is where we gather with family to eat, to raise a family, to read the word of God. Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him" (John 14: 23). After Theophany, the home also becomes a center of celebration during the annual house blessings. This service is not only a time for a family to gather and renew the home as a holy site; it can also become an opportunity for fellowship, to rejoice in the Lord together. All you who are thirsty, go now to the living water. For Christ will sprinkle with water that renews those who, believing, run to Him; and He baptizes them with the Spirit unto undecaying life. ( Troparion 2, Matins of Theophany) Wishing you many blessings in the New Year! Youth Team Coordinators, JOY - Loredana Jerghiuta GOYA - Halina Woroncow and Mike Brekke
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
Pan Arcadian Federation of America President George Reveliotis, accompanied by his Father Nicholas, presents Father Mark on behalf of The Philoxenia House Ministry with a check for $8,500.
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
Nicolas E. Maragos
Few parishes in the country can boast of a better qualified choir director than our Dr. Nicolas Maragos. And in keeping with our Patron Saints, he should be called Nick Anargyroi because he also works without pay. Nick is considered to be one of the topnotch composers and arrangers of Greek Orthodox Church music in the nation and was awarded the St. Romanos Medallion because of his outstanding contributions to church music. Named after a great composer of the early Christian Church, this is the highest award given a Greek Orthodox Church musician. Nick has arranged six Liturgies in Greek and English as well as other hymns and has also led workshops at Julliard. His talent as a composer has led to his presenting workshops in church music all over the country. As a founding member of the National Forum of Greek Orthodox Church Musicians, he was invited to Holy Cross Seminary in Boston as a visiting scholar. He was one of the first church musicians to provide music with English texts to encourage congregational singing. And he has provided the research for the Annual Liturgical Guidebook. He is still at it, having recently completed arrangements for Orthos and the Kyrie Eleison at the beginning of the Liturgy. Nick has not only been our choir director but he has also been a member of the building committee and president of the parish council. He is known as a great benefactor of our church, too. Every year at the GreekFest, Nick and his family assemble gyros as they sing. Videos of these performances have been shown on YouTube and local television. Nick grew up in Racine, Wisconsin, the grandson of Greek immigrants. His parents were not particularly musical but his father, a factory foreman, managed to purchase a high fidelity record player with his modest salary. He brought home a steady stream of records - mostly pop music of the 50s and 60s. When Nicks parents noticed that he loved music, they purchased a piano when he was six and his mother took lessons with him. By the age of nine he was playing the organ for the Greek Orthodox Church in Racine. He continued to do this all through high school. It was during his years as chemistry major at the University of Wisconsin in Madison that he became interested in composing music for the Church. The choir director of Greek Orthodox Church in Madison, Dr. Michael Petrovich, who was also a professor of Russian history, encouraged him and became his mentor. It was at church that Nick met his wife Connie, who was majoring in music at the University. She went on to get a masters degree in voice and taught music at Century High School where she directed many of the schools musicals. She also has directed the past six years of musical theatrical productions for the Rochester Honors Choir. Dr. Petrovich needed a Greek folk music group to perform at an international festival and tapped Nick and Connie for this. They called themselves The Second Generation and performed throughout the area giving concerts of both folk and pop music. They also collaborated on a Greek songbook. And when they moved here, they formed a song and dance troupe named Special Delivery. Nick arranged their music and Connie choreographed the singing and dancing. After graduating from Madison, Nick had to make a choice music or medicine. He loved both and it was difficult to decide. Then he figured out that if he were a doctor, he could keep his music as a hobby, but that he couldnt be a musician with medicine as a sideline. So we are glad he chose medicine because that brought him here to Rochester where he began his internship and residency at the Mayo Clinic. He was inspired to specialize as an ear, nose and throat doctor after observing how a colleague in that field successfully treated Connies father and brother, and because he likes working in small complicated areas where he can use a microscope. So he became a specialist in surgery of the larynx and gained the reputation of being an artist in medicine because of his creative work in repairing damaged voices. Nick retired from Mayo in 2010 and continues to work at Refined Skin in Red Wing and, of course, to compose music for our Church. Nick and Connie have three adult children, Tia, John, and Mariya and all of them are musical. Nick and Connie were truly an answer to our prayers and we are glad they are here.
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
BUDGET CUTS
Please Contact Fr. Mark or Jackie to Donate
Church School texts/supplies Parish youth activities Outreach efforts Repairs: Air Conditioner (7/8/2013) $750 per year $1,000 per year $500 per year $1,000
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
Philoptochos Society
Dear brothers and sisters in CHRIST+ CHRIST is born! Glorify HIM! 2013 was another successful year for us in our Society which seems to be a culmination of our hard work , teamwork, faith, and blessings from God. In 2013, we raised and gave away to those in need nearly seven thousand dollars. Some of our biggest donations were to Father Marks Discretionary Fund ($1,633), GOYA ($1,000), the St. Philothei Project ($850) and the Hoppe Mission ($400). Other donations were to international, national, regional and local charities. May God continue to support us in our efforts to work for Him. Our Holiday Bake Sale was also very successful again this year as we raised a few hundred dollars more than last year with our proceeds at $2,709. Thank you to Penny Kolas, our bake sale coordinator and to all the people who ordered, baked, packaged and/or sold the pastries. Thank you! On Sunday January 12th, we will hold our Philoptochos Enrollment Sunday after Divine Liturgy. The purpose of this event is to share some of the highlights of our mission work, to seek new members and encourage support from the parish. We will provide loukoumathes at coffee hour for $5 a boat in which the proceeds will benefit our chapter. There will also be a chance to sign up for or renew your membership to Philoptochos. Our minimum membership is at 21 dollars which means that 15 of those dollars go to the national Philoptochos office and 6 of those dollars to the regional office; so any membership total beyond the 21 dollars, the proceeds go directly to our chapter. To become a Society Member, one must be an Orthodox Christian woman over the age of 18. We accept non Orthodox Christians who are married to an Orthodox Christian and also men as Associate Members which have the same requirements as the rest of us except for the ability to vote in meetings. The main mission of Philoptochos is to raise money to give away to others in need. It is the call of philanthrophy that we strive for in our work for God. In closing; I will share a few words from Father Seraphim Rose, may his memory be eternal. These words were intended for one of his spiritual children however the message is, in my opinion, for any actively practicing Orthodox Christian. Earlier this year; I struggled with wondering if Im positively moving forward spiritually or if I am causing spiritual mayhem within my life. I felt, even with my best spiritual efforts, a bit lost and understood that at the roots of my struggle was the sin of pride. Then one day I read these words from Father Seraphim and in an instant felt that I was released from emotional jail. Now I understand that logic, feelings or measurements cannot dictate my walk with Christ. That difficulty, much like the spiritual confusion I had, is a stepping stone towards a true relationship with our Lord. Personal faith and a deep, unwavering love for God are the most important spiritual jewels we can have. Saint Porphyrios says some of what we possess spiritually comes from not our own doing but also by Gods grace. This, along with Father Seraphims words, help eliminate elements of pride that can be so harmful to our spiritual growth. May we genuinely desire to grow closer to our Lord, possess in our hearts unceasing, loving prayer to Him and may God be merciful! Dont worry too much how spiritually poor you areGod sees that, but for you it is expected to trust in God and to pray to Him as best as you can, never fall into despair, and to struggle according to your strength. If you ever begin to think you are spiritually well offthen you can know for sure that you arent! True spiritual life, even on the most elementary level, is always accompanied by suffering and difficulties. Therefore rejoice in all your difficulties and sorrows. -Father Seraphim Rose Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Calli Kelly Philoptochos President
The three most great luminaries of the Three-Sun Divinity have illumined all of the world with the rays of doctrines.
Let us flee from the boasting of the Pharisee and learn through our own sighs of sorrow the humility of the Publican. The Publican and Pharisee, Feb 9th
Triodion begins Sunday, Feb. 9th: Publican & Pharisee The Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our Lord, they "did all their works to be seen of men" (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid. 23: 13, 14, 15, etc.), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre's sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble -mindedness. Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty -day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labors by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self -esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humility confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest heights.