Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
OUR CALENDAR
Fasting Days
During Great Lent, we abstain from meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil Monday through Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday. If you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father.
Daily Services
Monday, March 28 to Friday, April 1
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
There will be No Daily Vespers on Wednesday, March 30, because of the Pre-Sanctified Liturgy. 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.
THE HOURS
Seth Hart is continuing to read the Hours and stream them to Zoom. During Lent, the Hours include additional psalms and, at Sixth Hour, a reading from the Prophesy of Isaiah. Praying together online is nice, but praying together in person is even better. So, for the remaining Fridays of Lent, Seth will be reading Sixth Hour at 11:45 a.m. in the nave. The service is about 30 minutes. So, if you’re in the area, feel free to drop by for a “lunchtime” prayer. Additionally, Ninth Hour on Wednesdays is always read immediately before the presanctified liturgy at around 6:30 p.m. So, that service will not be streamed.
The schedule is below:
1st hour: 6:30 a.m.
3rd hour: 8:30 a.m.
6th hour: 11:45 a.m.
9th hour: 3:45 p.m. (except Wednesdays when read before Presanctified Liturgy)
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Lenten Services
Monday, March 28
Great Compline at 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday, March 29
Orthodoxy 101 at 7:00 p.m. at the Parish House.
The topic will be The Mother of God. Online participation will also be available through the Zoom link in the emailed newsletter.
Wednesday, March 30
The Pre-Sanctified Liturgy at 7:00 p.m.
Masks will be required at this service.
Thursday, March 31
Bible Study at 7:00 p.m.
Topic: Bible Study. To participate, please see the Zoom link in the emailed newsletter.
Friday, April 1
The Akathist Service at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 2
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, April 3
The Fourth Sunday of Great Lent
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Church School at 8:15 a.m.
Divine Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
Northern Typika with Holy Communion at 10:00 a.m. at Central Texas Behavioral Center, 315 East Avenue D, in Killeen.
Fellowship Hour at Noon
This will be the first Sunday of the month. So, that means it will be Blessing Sunday. If you have icons, prayer ropes, crosses to be blessed, or, if you will be traveling during April, please wait by the chanter’s stand after Divine Liturgy for your blessing.
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, April 9, St. Thomas School will begin its second two-year cycle. It takes just about two years to go through all five volumes that are used in the program (all of which are available through Christ the Lightgiver Bookstore). So, this would be a great time to start consistently attending one of the very best Orthodox Adult Education programs in the country. The class will meet at 4:00 p.m. in the parish house (online access is also available) and the incomparable John Bell will be leading the discussion of Chapter 1 in Volume I, on Early Christianity.
In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, March 30. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
A family of four Orthodox Christians has officially joined St. John’s, as well as two individuals, who are now catechumens.
CONSTRUCTION NEWS
The work on our new parking lot is going well. The project will take at least two more weeks, weather permitting, and, during that time, here are some things we will all need to do:
First of all, we should be praying for the entire process, for our project manager, for the construction company and their workers, and for our parish council who will be overseeing the whole effort. Our prayers will keep everyone safe and ensure that the project is completed successfully.
Second, parents, godparents, and grandparents need to be especially vigilant during the construction work. None of the work will take place on Sundays. However, there will be heavy equipment parked on the property. Lots of earth will be moved. There will be construction fencing and porta-potties and all sorts of items that are attractive and intriguing to young children. The general rule at our parish is that our children must be in our direct line of sight at all times. This rule is going to be even more critical while the parking lot is being replaced.
Third, there are specific places that you cannot park: You cannot park in the circular drive in front of the parish house and you cannot park in any area where there is a red border along the edge of the concrete. Those areas are set aside for emergency vehicles. If a policeman drives by our property and sees that you are parked in any of those locations, you could very well receive a ticket.
Fourth, if your family normally brings two or three vehicles to the parish, please consider adjusting your schedule for the next several weeks and only bring one vehicle. If all our families car-pool, then we should have plenty of parking, not only for our parishioners but also for our visitors.
Finally, quite a few of our folks are going to be parking off-site while the construction project is going on. Those folks have already received instructions about how that is going to work (you can read through those instructions in the letter attached to this newsletter). However, if you arrive on a Sunday and you cannot find a place to park on our property, then you need to know that, while it is legal to park in the surrounding neighborhoods, (1) you cannot park within four feet of a private driveway, (2) you cannot park on the bridges that cross North Winecup Trail and Big Sur Drive, and (3) you must park in the same direction as traffic is flowing. Parking your car in those ways and in those locations could lead to a ticket.
coming up
Paschal Confession
Our Archdiocese expects that each of us will make our confession before Pascha. In our parish, we do not hear confessions during Holy Week. So, that means we have until Saturday, April 16, to participate in that Holy Mystery. Confession is offered each Saturday evening after Great Vespers or just about any other time by specific appointment.
Camp St. Raphael
Camp St. Raphael 2022 Camper Applications are available online at https://www.campstraphael.org. Remember spots are reserved on a first come first serve basis. So, don’t delay. Session One is Sunday, June 26th to Saturday, July 2nd, and Session Two is Sunday, July 3rd to Saturday, July 9th. This year CSR will be at new location in Kingston, Oklahoma. Scholarships are available. So, if you need assistance in order to send your child to camp, please speak with Father Aidan or Father Andrew.
Parish Life Conference
The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America’s Parish Life Conference will be hosted by St. George Cathedral in Wichita, Kansas, from Wednesday, June 15th through Saturday, June 18th. Hotel reservations may be made at Reservations: Hyatt Regency https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/WICRW/G-GEC.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
As we enter into the second half of Great Lent, it’s time to start getting ready for Holy Week and Pascha. Here’s the first of our Pascha Moments of Grace and Courtesy.
During the Paschal Services on Saturday night/Sunday morning, if young children need to sleep, then they must be:
(A) located in the parish house with a family member or friend
or
(B) held in the arms or on the lap of a family member in the nave.
Please do not, under any circumstances, allow your children to sleep on the floor of the nave, the narthex, the cry room, or the kitchen. This is not safe and our ushers have been instructed to remind parents and grandparents that children are not allowed to sleep in these locations. Also, please remember that if your children are going to sleep in the parish house, there must be a family member with them at all times; they are not to be left alone for any reason.
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 Joseph Rouletabille. When we meet our product deadlines, we not only kiss the bricks, we also take a Polish Victory Lap, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.