Brothers and Sisters,
Greetings in the Name of the Lord.
Christ is Risen!
May is officially SAY YOUR NAME month. That’s right, we want everyone to say their baptismal/saints’ name out loud when they approach the chalice to receive the Holy Gifts. It will ensure that our reception of the Holy Eucharist is personal, and it will help the clergy immensely.
And all throughout this month, there are four Adult Educational Opportunities each and every week: Orthodoxy 101, The Pascha Book Study, The Bible Study, and St Thomas School. All the information you need to participate is in this edition of The Happy Priest, so, by all means, pick one and join in.
OUR CALENDAR
Fasting Days
Wednesday, May 18, and Friday, May 20
Daily Services
Monday, May 16 to Friday, May 20
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
There will be no daily services on Thursday, May 19. 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 will be at the online chanter’s stand, offering the First, Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours this week on ZOOM.
First Hour, 6:45 a.m.
Third Hour, 8:45 a.m.
Sixth Hour, 11:45 a.m.
Ninth Hour, 3:45 p.m.
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Tuesday, May 17
Orthodoxy 101 at 7pm in the parish house. The group will continue to discuss the Divine Services. Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Wednesday, May 18
The Pascha Book Study 7pm
Topic: Pascha Book Study 2022
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Thursday, May 19
The Bible Study 7pm
Topic: St. John the Forerunner - Bible Study
Please see the emailed newsletter for login information.
Saturday, May 21
St Thomas School 4pm
Great Vespers 6pm
Sunday, May 22
The Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
Orthros 8am
Divine Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Akathist to the Mother of God, Nurturer of Children Noon
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, May 21 Father Deacon Michael Coleman will lead the discussion of Chapter Five in Volume One, “A Summary of the First Millennium” 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, May 19; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE
This Sunday, three individuals were made catechumens. Please be praying for them as they prepare to be received into the Church.
PASCHAL BOOK STUDY
The Pascha Book Study is in full swing and will meet each Wednesday evening through Wednesday, May 25. Father Andrew Wilson and Father Michael Coleman will be leading the group, and this year’s study will bring to a close our year-long exploration of the theology and practices associated with death in Holy Orthodoxy. With the help of several selections, the group will take a guided tour of the funeral service itself, beginning with Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev’s overview from his Orthodox Christianity series. Along the way the group will focus on the prayers and hymns unique to the service, while also reading St. Gregory of Nazianzus’ funeral oration for his friend, St. Basil the Great, perhaps the best example of a eulogy in the Orthodox tradition. Finally, the study will end with a look at grief through a letter of consolation sent by St. John Chrysostom to a spiritual daughter whose husband had died. There is no single text to purchase for the book study, but a packet of materials will be printed and available in the bookstore for only the cost of what it took to get them printed. Here’s the schedule for the sessions and the readings:
Session 4 - Funeral Service, Pt 3
Read: Funeral Service: pp 14-21
Session 5 - Letter to a Grieving Widow & Conclusion
Read: Letter to a Grieving Widow (13 pages)
COMING UP
Feast of the Ascension
Thursday, June 2 is the Feast of the Ascension.
Orthros at 5am
Divine Liturgy at 7am
We will serve Great Vespers on Wednesday, June 1 at 7pm
Please join us as we celebrate the entrance of our Lord and Master into the Kingdom of Heaven.
Last Saturday of Souls
Saturday, June 11 is the last Saturday of Souls of the year. There will be coffee and snacks available after Liturgy and the Burial Society will be on hand to help parishioners finalize their end-of-life paperwork.
Members of the legal team will be on hand to:
Answer Questions
Serve as Signing Witnesses
Notarize Documents
Copy, Seal, and File Everything in a Locked Cabinet
Get your paperwork packet today- it’s available in our Church bookstore. Fill it out ahead of time, then come get it signed, notarized, copied, and filed (for FREE) all while enjoying a cup of coffee and fellowship with friends. Also, a representative from the Cedar Park Cemetery will be on hand to provide information and answer questions about burial plots available just down the street from St. John’s.
Pentecost Weekend
The weekend of June 11-12 is Pentecost Weekend. We will have the final Saturday of Souls on Saturday, June 11, and
Sunday, June 12, we will
Celebrate Orthros at 8am;
Serve the Divine Liturgy at 10am;
Enjoy our Pentecost Picnic (bring food) during Fellowship Hour, and,
Serve Great Vespers with the Kneeling Prayers, no later than 1pm
Please plan on joining us for all those services and activities.
The Diocese of Wichita and Mid-America’s 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 June 15th through 18th. Jerry Juliano will be ordained to the Holy Diaconate at the closing liturgy for the conference. Hotel reservations may be made at Reservations: Hyatt Regency https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/group-booking/WICRW/G-GECA.
June 13-19, the week after Pentecost is fast-free (Wha-Hoo!), but on
Monday, June 20, we begin the Apostle’s Fast. This short fasting season runs through the Feast of Sts Peter and Paul on Wednesday, June 29.
Tuesday, June 28
Great Vespers at 7pm on Tuesday, June 28
Wednesday, June 29
Orthros at 5am and
Divine Liturgy at 7am
During this short fasting season, we observe the traditional fasting discipline on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with a blessing for fish, wine and olive oil on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
Our parish feast day, The Nativity of the Forerunner is on Friday, June 24. We will serve
Orthros at 6am and
Divine Liturgy at 8am
Thursday, June 23, we will serve
Great Vespers at 7pm.
Come join us as we thank our patron and protector for his intercessions.
Have you been praying for a local, quality Orthodox school for your children to attend? Have you looked into how to start one, but didn't know where to start? Save the date! On Saturday, July 9th, a team from the Saint Constantine School in Houston (an Orthodox school with a classical curriculum) will be coming to Saint John the Forerunner church to explain their established process that could be used to start a classical, Orthodox school in our area. If you would like more information about this project, get in touch with Julie Chien.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Definitely, it’s a really big learning curve for a lot of us, but we’re working hard to make it happen: With the approval of the parish council, the clergy would like to request that when we approach the chalice we say our baptismal/saint’s name as we cross our arms and open our mouths (parents and godparents will most likely need to assist their young children and godchildren with this). It’s actually standard practice in most communities, and now that are almost 400 people in our parish, it’s a practice that we also need to adopt. Thank you for your help making this change, and remember: SAY YOUR NAME!
THINGS THAT MAKE PRIESTS HAPPY
Baptizing and chrismating Kassiani and Seth, Shaylie, Everett, and Eilley; making Robert and Dawny and Michael catechumens; blessing Nick and Stephanie on their anniversary; talking with Sara about statistics, old fashions, and Truman Capote; learning that Scout plans to spend most of the summer swimming; wondering, with Father Deacon Michael, what could be weirder than 700 elves; watching the sky turn a slight rose just before the sun comes up.
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 Webmasters are Lily Halsey and Seth Hart. Our Keeper of Lists is Father Andrew Wilson. our Roving Reporter is Trevor Newsworthy, we are now offering Japanese Hula classes through our continuing ed program, and our Spiritual Advisor is Elder Galaction of the Holy Mountain.