Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
This coming Sunday, February 13, we will not only begin The Triodion, the period of preparation leading up to Great Lent, we will also have our Annual Community Meeting. The meeting will begin as soon as we can get set up after the Divine Liturgy, so, this week, be sure and review all the information for the meeting that has been published in The Happy Priest for the past two months, and be sure and sign the attendance sheet when you arrive for the Divine Services on Sunday morning.
Our Calendar
Fasting Days
Wednesday, February 9, and Friday, February 11; 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
There will be no daily services this week, as Father Aidan and Father Andrew will be at the Clergy Brotherhood Retreat in Wichita, Kansas. If you need a clergyman in their absence, please contact Father Deacon Michael Coleman. The Daily Services will resume on Monday, February 14.
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:
Tuesday, February 8
Orthodoxy 101 7pm - see emailed newsletter for Zoom info
Thursday, February 10
Since Father Andrew will be out of town, The Bible Study will return on Thursday, Feb 17
Saturday, February 12
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Reader’s Vespers 6pm 315 E Ave D in Killeen
Sunday, February 13
The Sunday of The Publican and The Pharisee
Orthros 8am
Church School 8:15am
Between Orthros and The Divine Liturgy, several people will be made catechumens; please arrive early and join us for this Holy Mystery
Divine Liturgy 10am
Annual Community Meeting As Soon As We Can Get Started After the Divine Liturgy
The St Joanna Myrrhbearers will visit the grave of Walter Shynkar in Georgetown following the Annual Meeting
St Thomas School
On Saturday, February 12, Seth Hart will lead the discussion of Chapter Five, in Volume V, “The Sacraments of Holy Orders (Ordination)”
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, February 10; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Coming Up
The Triodion begins on Sunday, February 13. The Triodion is the four week period of preparation for Great Lent. So that means, Great Lent will begin on Monday, March 7! It will be here before we know it, so let’s make sure and use this upcoming time of preparation wisely.
The first Saturday of Souls for 2022 will be on Saturday, February 26. Orthros will be served at 6am; Divine Liturgy at 8am. Immediately after the liturgy, the St. Joanna Myrrhbearers will be hosting fellow parishioner and attorney, David Brown, to present information on end of life legal documents. The bookstore will have bound copies of these documents on hand, so this is a wonderful opportunity to start this important process, which not only shows the acknowledgment of our own deaths, but provides clearly defined directives and wishes for our loved ones. Please plan on participating in David's presentation. Coffee and breakfast snacks will be provided.
The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America’s Parish Life Conference will be hosted by St George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas, from June 15th through 18th. Hotel reservations may be made at Reservations: Hyatt Regency https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/WICRW/G-GEC.
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
If you have been authorized to make a purchase for the parish, and you wish to be reimbursed for that purchase, you must turn in the receipt to our Financial Secretary within two weeks of the purchase. We will not be able to reimburse you for receipts turned in after two weeks.
Attached to this newsletter, is an announcement about a Young Adult Event that will be taking place at our mother parish, St Elias.
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 Jeannette Pointu; our all-time favorite ukulele thrash band is The Socks, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.