Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Christ is Risen!
Wednesday, May 26, is the Feast of Mid-Pentecost. That means we are halfway through the Paschal Season, so this is a good time to take stock: Are we back into our fasting routine? Have we been back to Confession? Are we participating in one of the adult education opportunities? Are we attending the Divine Services on a regular basis? These are all important spiritual disciplines, and this is a good time to make those activities a priority.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, May 26, and Friday, May 28
Daily Services
Monday, May 24- Friday, May 28:
Orthros 5am;
Vespers 5pm (though there will not be any daily vespers on Monday, May 24).
Also, if you plan on attending the daily services, it’s generally a good idea to check the day before to make sure that the service will be offered; sometimes pastoral situations require a change of plans, and the service cannot be offered on that particular day.
Seth Hart will take a well-deserved break from The Hours this week (he’ll be reading them at the beach), but he’ll be back up and running next week.
Tuesday, May 25
Parish Council Meeting 7pm
While everyone is welcome to attend each parish council meeting, if you would like to speak during the meeting, you will need to contact Bessie Jacob, the council president, ahead of time. And since many folks have indicated that they would like to speak on the issue of masks at this particular meeting, we are going to be 1) directing them to limit their comments to five minutes 2) reminding them that the council is not, primarily, a forum for public debate; that means folks can say what they need to say in their five minutes, but there will not be any discussion, and 3) asking that folks who have already sent notes to the council refrain from also signing up to speak; that way we will be able to accommodate as many people as possible on Tuesday.
Wednesday, May 26
The Pascha Book Study 7pm
Thursday, May 27
The Bible Study 7pm
See the emailed newsletter for Zoom details.Book Study at 8:00 p.m.
Check with Joe Wright or Mike Brown for the sign-on information for this group
Saturday, May 29
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 30
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Fellowship Hour at Noon
Be sure to bring a picnic lunch and drinks and lawn chairs for your family
Finance Update
We ended April with a deficit of $2,000. That’s the first deficit month we’ve had in 2021, which is great, and the overall surplus for the year stands at $42,000. However, we are now entering the summer months, when big deficits often occur, so please check on Realm or with The Finance Guys to make sure you are up to date on your commitment to the parish. And, if you can give a little more, please do so; it will help all those folks who haven’t been able to give as much as they were hoping.
The Pascha Book Study
The book we are using is called Hidden and Triumphant. It’s a history of Russian iconography during the Soviet years. Normally, the book costs $29.00, but it’s on sale at our parish bookstore, Christ the Lightgiver, for just $22. Here’s the schedule that we are using:
Wednesday, May 26 - Chapter 3 & 4
Wednesday, June 2 - Chapter 5, 6 & Appendix A
Wednesday, June 9 - Appendix A, B & C
The book study will be in person and online. The in-person group will meet in the narthex of the Long Hall until the parish house renovation is complete.
See the emailed newsletter for Zoom details.
St. Thomas School
This coming Saturday, May 29, we will continue with Volume III of the Metropolitan Hilarion’s series, The Architecture, Icons, and Music of The Orthodox Church. It is still a great time to pick up the series; John Bell will be leading the discussion of Chapter 4, The Arrangement of Churches and Church Objects; the following link will provide a summary of the material that will be covered: Orthodox Christianity, Vol III, Chp 4: Arrangement of Churches and Church Objects.
See the emailed newsletter for Zoom details.
Coming Up
Our next round of Saturday Morning Services will be on Saturday, June 5. We will serve Orthros at 7am and Divine Liturgy at 9am. Confession will be available, by appointment, during Orthros. These services are reserved for those who are not quite ready to re-join the Sunday morning services, so please help us maintain that boundary.
Also, on the morning of Saturday, June 5, the Picnic for the Departed will be held for Bruce Khoury at 10:30am. The event will be held at Cook Walden Cemetery; everyone is encouraged to bring refreshments and lawn chairs. For additional information, contact Valerie Groh.
The next Northern Typika will be on Sunday, June 6. This is for all those folks who live in the Jarrell, Temple, Belton, Harker Heights, Killeen, Copperas Cove area, to give them a break from driving. Father Deacon Andrew Wilson will be offering the service at the home of Steve and Keri Grandalski. If you would like to participate, just get in touch with Jerry Juliano.
We will be celebrating the Feast of the Ascension on Wednesday, June 9, and Thursday, June 10. We will offer Great Vespers at 7pm on the 9th, and, on the 10th, the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 7am and Divine Liturgy at 9am.
This year, Pentecost Weekend falls on Saturday, June 19, and Sunday, June 20. Saturday, June 19, is the final Saturday of Souls for 2021, so, if you were unable to make any of the Lenten Saturdays of Souls, please be sure and join us for Orthros at 7am and Divine Liturgy at 9am; please be sure and also write the names of those that you wish to commemorate in the commemoration book that’s available in the narthex. The services for the weekend then continue with Great Vespers at 6pm that evening, and, the following morning with Orthros at 8am and Divine Liturgy at 10am. We will finish up the weekend with our Pentecost Picnic during Fellowship Hour and the lovely service of Kneeling Vespers which will start no later than 1pm.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
On Saturday evening, we offer the Mystery of Holy Confession. While folks are waiting to participate in the mystery, we play a recording of the Pre-Communion Prayers in the narthex. So, if you wish to visit with friends or introduce yourself to visitors during this time, please do so out on the porch. This will allow the people who are going to make their confession to prepare properly.
—
An unworthy priest,
Aidan
The Happy Priest is a publication of Life At A Dead Run Media, which is a subsidiary of One Take Productions. Our IT Guy is Jerry Juliano (“Go, Jerry, Go!”); our Webmaster is Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Deacon Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is Bill Rorish; when we sing along with the final chorus of “Hey Jude”, we always use as many terirem as possible, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.