Brothers and Sisters,
Happy Feast!
We’re now just about at the half way mark in Nativity Lent, so it’s worth looking over our community To-Do List: Have you made your confession? Are you back on track with fasting after the Thanksgiving Break? Have you made it to one of the Nativity Paraclesis Services? Are you going to be able to contribute a little bit more to the parish before the end of the year? Are you saying your prayers and doing some spiritual reading, and have you received answers to any questions you might have about the Building Program Proposals?
Our Calendar
The Fast
The Nativity Fast is divided into two periods: (A) November 15th through December 19th when the traditional fasting discipline (no meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil) is observed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil (some also permit fish) on Tuesday and Thursday, and for fish, wine, and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday, and (B) the period of the Forefeast, December 20th through 24th, when the traditional fasting discipline is observed Monday through Friday, with a blessing for wine and olive oil on Saturday and Sunday. The eve of the feast, December 24th is a strict fast day. December 25th through January 4th is fast-free, if you need to modify the fast in any way, please check with your spiritual father as soon as possible.
Daily Services
Monday, November 28 to Friday, December 2
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
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 Hours and stream them to Zoom. The schedule is below:
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.
St. John Trapeza Readings
Also, Fr. Andrew, Matthew G., and Seth H. continue to broadcast daily readings from spiritual books online. They are currently reading Guiding to a Blessed End: Andrew of Caesarea and his Apocalypse Commentary in the Ancient Church, by Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou. The schedule is as follows: M-F at 12pm.
If you would like to listen in, use this link to join the Telegram link shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
Tuesday, November 29
Orthodoxy 101 7pm
Please see the login details in the emailed version of the newsletter to join Zoom meeting
Wednesday, November 30
The Nativity Paraclesis 7pm
Saturday, December 3
St. Thomas School 4 pm
Great Vespers at 6 pm
Sunday, December 4 The Tenth Sunday of St. Luke
Orthros at 8am
Liturgy 10am
Fellowship Hour Noon
Since this is the first Sunday of the month, it is Blessing Sunday, so if you’re going to be traveling during December or if you have icons, prayer ropes, and crosses to be blessed, just show up at the chanter’s stand after liturgy for those prayers. But the first Sunday of the month is also Claim Your Stuff Sunday; that means you need to check the Lost and Found Box in the kitchen because it will all go to Goodwill after Fellowship Hour is over. Finally, the first Sunday of the month is now also Getting Ready for the Biggest Trip of All Sunday; see the announcement from the Burial Society in the Coming Up section about details.
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, December 3, John Bell will lead the discussion of Chapter Fourteen in Volume Two, “Christ The Second Adam” https://theforerunner.squarespace.com/blog/2021/5/9/orthodox-christianity-vol-iii-ch-2 . In In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, December1; you will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
Membership update
This week, we made Jessie, Brooks, and Bristol A. catechumens. They all live in Killeen. Please let them know that you will be praying for them as they prepare to be fully received into the Church.
COMING UP
We continue to talk about the next steps in our building program, and we want to hear from everyone. To make that easier, a Frequently Asked Questions document is attached to this newsletter. Of course, you can also talk to Baker Galloway, Mike Brown, Will Hampton, or Father Aidan Wilcoxson in person or contact any of those folks via email.
During the Nativity Fast, we always offer the Nativity Paraclesis on Wednesday evenings at 7pm. This year, there are five more of those services—on November 30 and December 7, 14, 21—so all of us should be able to make at least one of them. Also, this year, since these services follow our Fall Theological Seminar, we’re going to be using them to pray for discernment as we move forward with our Building Program. So please go ahead and note on you calendar the services in which you will be able to participate.
On Tuesday, December 6, we will celebrate the Feast of St Nicholas. We will offer Great Vespers at 7pm on Monday, December 5, and then, on the day of the feast, we will serve Orthros at 5am and Divine Liturgy at 7am. St Nicholas is the patron saint of all children; in addition to buying presents for our children and grandchildren and godchildren, what better gift to give them than to spend an hour or so interceding on their behalf with the assistance of this great hierarch?
The Archdiocese expects us all to make our confession at least once during Nativity Lent. In our community, confession is offered on Saturday evenings after Great Vespers, or just about any other time by appointment. We will not be hearing confessions on Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24, but, between now and the end of December, all you need to do is show up on Saturday night or contact one of our priests to arrange a specific time to participate in this Holy Mystery.
The Burial Society is equipped to provide many tender mercies to the parishioners of St John’s when they depart this life. But in order to take advantage of these services, you must fill out a very important piece of paper so the group can legally step in and help prepare the body for burial in the most gentle and fully Orthodox manner possible. On the first Sunday of the month, after receiving blessings for new items and travels, please plan to visit our table, where the group will help you prepare for the most important trip you will ever take. The group will provide everything needed to take care of this easily and quickly for you, and the first of these opportunities will be on Sunday, December 4. You may contact Valerie G. with any questions or for more information.
And, finally, in the emailed version of this week’s edition of The Happy Priest is the schedule for 2023 House Blessings—yes, it will be here before you know it! So, please read through the list and make sure that your name appears on it; if the date that you’ve been assigned works, then please log that date into your phone and write it on all your calendars. If you have been left off the list, or if the date that you’ve been assigned will not work, then please get in touch with Father Aidan Wilcoxson as soon as possible.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
This past week, nine paper plates, five plastic cups, and a whole lot of food were picked up off the
playground and the playground equipment. This is a problem for several reasons:
1. If we don’t clean up after our children—and teach them to clean up after themselves—someone else will have to do that for us, and our children will miss out on that opportunity to learn personal responsibility.
2. Anyone familiar with wildlife management will tell you that leaving food out only attracts animals. That means the more food we leave on the ground, the more we will encourage the skunks, possums, and raccoons that live on our property to show up on the playground—and that means we will increase the chances that a young child in our community will eventually (and literally) come face to face with one of these animals.
Let’s keep our children safe and teach them to be responsible stewards of the beautiful property that has been entrusted to us by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Baptizing Jordan C., Jacob D., and Jacob R.; making Jessie, Brooks, and Bristol A. catechumens; blessing Ben and Abby H. on their 11 th anniversary; assuring Keri G. that there would not be anything about her bare feet in this newsletter; cooking up the best patch of cream cheese chocolate brownies ever; reading Jordan Daniel Wood’s book on Maximus the Confessor; hearing about Rob and Becky T.’s snow dog; taking several naps; talking about eight tracks and vinyl with Ricardo C. and Chris L.; finishing off the turkey drumsticks; watching the warm winter sunlight shine through the high windows of the nave.
an unworthy priest,
aidan