Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
It’s going to be a Pascha like no other, that’s for sure! However, in addition to our streamed services, you can also join St Thomas School tomorrow at 4pm; you can get in on the first meeting of the Pascha Book Study. Just read through this Holy Week Edition of The Happy Priest for all the details.
Reminder: the emailed version of this newsletter includes updates exclusive to St. John parishioners. If you believe you should be receiving that newsletter, please contact Fr. Aidan.
Our Calendar
This weekend, we are going to be streaming the Holy Week services according to the following schedule:
Great and Holy Friday: Royal Hours 9am; Descent from the Cross Vespers Noon; Lamentations 7pm
Great and Holy Saturday Vesperal Liturgy of St Basil 9am; Pascha Services 11pm
See the emailed version of this newsletter for the Zoom details or talk to Fr. Dn. Andrew.
And, if you have an Antiochian Holy Week Service Book and are following along with the services, you can refer to A Guide For Using the Antiochian Service Book for Great and Holy Week and Pascha that will help you stay up with what’s going on.
If you would like a Pascha Service that allows for more active participation, check out the material attached to the emailed newsletter. It’s called Pascha at Home, and it would be especially appropriate for families with young children. Special thanks to Father Deacon Michael Coleman for tracking this down and making it available.
The Tomb Vigil
Tonight, on the evening of Great and Holy Friday, April 17, we will keep the Tomb Vigil at home by reading through the New Testament. If you need to check your spot on the sign-up sheet, it is available on Signup Genius. If you have questions about the process, just get in touch with Jerry Juliano, one of our hard-working tech guys. But even though all the slots on the sign-up sheet are filled, you can still join in and keep the vigil for a few hours along with the ‘official’ folks.
This Weekend at St Thomas School
On Great and Holy Saturday, April 18, at 4pm, St Thomas School will be in session; Mike Ruse will be leading the discussion, and the topic will be Chapter 3 of Volume 1, The Rise of Monasticism and Ascetic Literature.
Our classes will continue to meet on ZOOM for as long as the current situation lasts. We will get back to our face to face format as soon as we can, but, in the meantime, here’s the information you’ll need to log on to the streaming service:
See the emailed version of this newsletter for the Zoom details or talk to Fr. Dn. Andrew.
Here’s a look at the material for this coming Saturday: The Rise of Monasticism and Ascetic Literature (Vol 1, Ch 3)
The Pascha Book Study
The book that the group will be using is called The New Media Epidemic. The deacons of our parish will be leading the group through the streaming service ZOOM. The instructions for participating in the group are attached to this newsletter.
And here is the schedule of readings that they will be using:
April 22 (Introduction - Chapter 4)
April 29 (Chapters 5 - 7)
May 6 (Chapters 8 - 10)
May 13 (Chapter 11)
May 20 (Chapters 12 & 13)
There are still a few copies of the book available at Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore; just get in touch with our bookstore manager, Stephanie Crown. Also, we will be talking about the subject of technology all throughout the homilies for the Paschal Season, so, even as we are relying more and more on technology to stay in touch with each other, we will also be focusing on how we can use technology safely and wisely and in a way that brings us closer to the Most Holy Trinity.
Financial Update
Thanks to everyone who has continued to faithfully support our community during this time of quarantine.
We continue to add to the ways that you can get your financial support to the parish. In addition to mailing your check to the parish (800 W Park Street Cedar Park TX 78613) or using the new PayPal Button on our website..
We also have a new app called Realm. Please be on the lookout for an invitation to join our online parish community in Realm (the first round of invitations has already been sent), which is our new record keeping solution. Realm primarily serves the administrative needs of our finance committee, but it also offers some nice features that will benefit the entire community. Everyone in our parish gets a unique profile. Your profile contains everything you want people in our parish to know about you. Your profile also enables you to join groups, RSVP to events, track your giving, update your contact information, change family details, set notification preferences, etc. Some of the features such as groups and events are not currently being utilized by the community, but may be in the future.
On the giving front, you can review your giving history, track your progress against your current pledge, print your contribution statements, or make new donations online (credit/debit card or via an ACH from your bank account).
Finally, once registered, you need to know that your online giving history may not be visible immediately. This is normal. If it's not visible 24 hours from the time which you registered, then please notify the Finance Committee, and those hard working wizards will get it corrected for you.
Attached to this Paschal Edition of The Happy Priest are some very special greetings from our St John’s Choir.
When you see the Paschal Candle lit on ZOOM this coming Sunday morning, remember that light reaches all around the world and all across the cosmos and all the way into each and every corner of your heart.
an unworthy priest
aidan