Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Feast!
Every year for close to twenty years, we participated in the Rally for Life on the fourth Saturday in January. However, given the increasing intensity surrounding the issue, as well as the on-going public health concerns, instead of gathering at the gates of the state capitol on that Saturday, we now gather in our temple, and, together, we will offer The Service for the Victims of Abortion. That will happen this coming Friday, January 21, and it will be an opportunity for lots of folks who were never able to participate in the rally to join us as we pray for all children and all parents and all grandparent. By Orthodox standards, the service is pretty short, but we will start promptly at 7pm, and we will offer up to the Most Holy Trinity our prayers for all those millions of folks who are victims of the great moral evil of our age.
Speaking of prayers, we are pretty low on oil for the lamps in the nave. So, next time you order groceries, please include in your order a big bottle (or, preferably, a number of smaller bottles that are easier to manage) of regular oil (virgin oil sounds fancy, but it often smokes when it burns). Securely tape a list of folks for whom you would like prayers to be offered to the bottle, and bring the bottles with you the next time you are up at the parish. That’s how we keep the lamps lit, and the flame of intercession burning.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, January 19, and Friday, January 21; we are observing the regular fasting schedule (in which we go without meat, most kinds of fish, dairy, oil, wine, and hard liquor; if you need to modify the normal fasting schedule, please check with your spiritual father).
Daily Services
Monday, January 17 through Friday, January 21: Orthros 5am; Vespers 5pm. (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 be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week on ZOOM: 1st hour @ 6:45; 3rd hour @ 8:45; 6th hour @11:45; 9th hour @3:45. Please also check the schedule for the festal services, but see the emailed newsletter for the log in information:
Thursday, January 20
The Bible Study 7pm - see emailed newsletter for Zoom link
Friday, January 21
The Service for the Victims of Abortion 7pm
Saturday, January 22
Orthros 6am
Divine Liturgy 8am Masks will be required at these services
St Thomas School 4pm
Reader’s Vespers 5:30pm 315 E Ave D in Killeen
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, January 23
The 14th Sunday of St Luke
Orthros 8am Between Orthros and the Divine Liturgy, Ed Cleland, Michael Holeman, Will Barber, and Nathan and Hannah Dewerse will be chrismated; please join us for these Holy Mysteries
Church School 8:15am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children Noon
St Thomas School
On Saturday, January 22, John Bell will lead the discussion of Chapter Two, pgs 46-76 in Volume V, “Baptism and Chrismation” https://theforerunner.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/9/orthodox-christianity-vol-iii-ch-2.
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, January 6; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Coming Up
There will be a baby shower for Shamassy Rebecca Coleman this coming Sunday, January 23. The shower will be held in the parish house after the Akhathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children has ended. If you have any questions please contact Anna Dubina.
If you are not yet on a Fellowship Hour Team, we could sure use your help! Just get in touch with Misty Wright, and she will get you set up with a fun group of people that you can serve with in the coming year.
Camp St Raphael will be offering two one-week sessions this coming summer at it’s new location at Cross Point Camp in Kingston, OK: June 26th - July 2nd and July 3rd - July 9th. Staff applications are now available online and camper applications in February. You can check out the website www.campstraphael.org or contact CSR’s Executive Director Gayle Malone at Gayle@campstraphael.org.
Our 2022 Annual Meeting
Per the requirements of our Parish Constitution, we are announcing that our 2022 Annual Community Meeting will take place on Sunday February 13. Thanks to the hard work of all our council members, you have already received, via email, a Parish Announcement to which was attached the agenda and all the reports for the meeting. Please read through the reports carefully, and, if you have any questions, speak with Bessie Jacob, our Parish Council President, or Father Aidan. At the meeting in February, we will review the reports that are attached to this newsletter, and we will vote for the folks who will serve on the Parish Council.
The ballots for the council elections will be distributed, filled out, and collected at the beginning of the Annual Meeting. Our parish clergy will count the votes during the course of the meeting, and the election results will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting. As usual, there will not be any provision for online voting; if you will not be able to attend the meeting on Sunday, February 13, then you must make arrangements to get a paper ballot from Father Aidan, fill it out, and return it prior to him the actual meeting on February 13.
Per the requirements of our Parish Constitution, three members of the Parish Council will be cycling off at the end of 2021: Nick Crown, Demetry Zozulya, and Jerry Juliano. However, Jerry is eligible to run for a second term, and we also have three other folks who have agreed to run for the council, so the 2022 nominees for the council elections are: Elena Cabeza de Vaca, Sandi Andrew, Jerry Juliano, and Michael Cotton. Please thank Nick and Demetry for their service these past six years; please thank Jerry, Elena, Sandi, and Michael for their willingness to run for the council, and please start praying now about which of them you will vote for during the election on February 13.
Of course, you cannot go wrong with any of the candidates that have agreed to run for the council. However, our constitution also allows for nominations from the floor at the Annual Community Meeting. Nevertheless (and this is a very important Nevertheless), since our constitution also requires that everyone nominated be 1) over 18 years of age 2) a member of our parish for at least 12 months, 3) a regular participant in the Holy Mysteries of Confession and the Eucharist, and 4) a consistent financial contributor to our community, it’s extremely important to A) check with the person you wish to nominate and B) check with Father Aidan before making the actual nomination during the Annual Meeting. That way, we can avoid any awkward and embarrassing moments.
Our Moment of Grace and Courtesy
We need to remember not to over-load the candle trays that are just inside the door to the nave. The ushers will let you know when the trays are full, but you can always go up to the iconostasis and place your candle in one of those trays. Just wait for a time when the deacon and priest are both inside the altar, and then go ahead and light your candle and offer your prayers.
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; our Webmaster is Seth Hart; our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson; our Roving Reporter is Bailey Quarters; we’ve always wanted to participate in a discussion of Aufhebunga on Bunga Beach, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.