Brothers and Sisters,
Merry Christmas!
As we enter the final week of 2022, please check REALM to make sure that you are current on your donations to the parish. Donations posted after Saturday, December 31, cannot be credited to 2022. Also, if you are all caught up, please consider an extra gift. We have a lot to do in the coming year and we want to start January in as good a position as we can.
Also, please note that the kitchen in the Long Hall will again be closed this coming Sunday, January 1. That means we won’t be having Fellowship Hour that day and coffee will not be available. So, please make your plans accordingly.
Our Calendar
Fasting
There is no fasting between Sunday, December 25, and Wednesday, January 4, (Wha-Hoo!)
Tuesday, December 27 to Friday, December 30
Daily Services
Orthros 5am
Vespers 5pm
Please note that there will be No Daily Services on Monday, December 26. 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 planning to stream the Hours Tuesday, December 27, to Friday, December 30, though the schedule may be adjusted somewhat from usual. Join the Telegram group provided in the emailed version of the newsletter for scheduling updates:
St. John Trapeza Readings
Fr. Andrew, Seth Heart, and Matthew Groh 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: Monday to Friday at 12:00 p.m.
If you would like to listen in, use the link to join the Telegram group shared in the emailed version of the newsletter.
orthodoxy 101
Orthodoxy 101 will return the first week in January.
bible study
The Bible Study will return the first week in January.
Saturday, December 30
St. Thomas School at 4:00 p.m.
Great Vespers at 6:00 p.m.
Sunday, January 1
The Feast of The Circumcision
Orthros at 8:00 a.m.
Liturgy at 10:00 a.m.
ST THOMAS SCHOOL
On Saturday, December 31, Polly Thurston will lead the discussion of Chapter Seventeen in Volume Two, “The Cross of Christ”. In order to participate online, send an email to remote.meetings@theforerunner.org by this coming Thursday, December 29. You will also need to keep your camera on during the session.
building program next steps
We continue to talk about the next steps in our building program, and we want to hear from everyone.
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.
house blessings
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.
Service for victims of abortion
On Friday, January 27, we will offer The Service for the Victims of Abortion. By Orthodox standards, the service is pretty short, but we will start promptly at 7:00 p.m. and we will offer up to the Most Holy Trinity our prayers for all children, parents, and those folks who are victims of the great moral evil of our age. We will also be collecting supplies for Bastrop Pregnancy Resource Center (www.bastropprc.org). Lindsey Bell volunteers with the center and she has provided us with a list of things they need. The list includes Baby Monitors, Pacifiers, Books for babies age 2 and under, Books for moms on pregnancy and baby care, space heaters, and baby washcloths. So please buy a number of those items and bring them with you to the service on the 27th.
St. Emmelia Orthodox Homeschool Conference
Registration is now open for the 2023 Saint Emmelia Orthodox Homeschool Conference, which will be held Thursday, January 26, to Sunday, January 29th, at St. Elias Orthodox Church, North Campus. The conference will feature practical homeschooling advice, spiritual encouragement, and fellowship. The keynote speaker is Fr. Turbo Qualls. Workshop leaders include Dr. John Mark Reynolds, Adam Lockridge, Matt Bianco, Hiedi White, and Katrina Kern. Children’s workshops will include iconography and chanting. If you are interested in volunteering for childcare, food service, or other opportunities, please contact our own Anna Comer.
Registration is available at https://www.saintemmelia.com/south-2023.
Scholarships/financial assistance is available by contacting St. Emmelia Ministries at saintemmeliaministries@gmail.com.
Annual Community Meeting
The Annual Community Meeting will take place on Sunday, February, 12, after Divine Liturgy. During the meeting we will have a lot of business to take care. So, in order to prepare for that meeting and to keep the length of the meeting to a minimum, it is important that everyone read through the Annual Meeting Document before attending the meeting.
You can view that information at the link provided in the emailed version of The Happy Priest.
Please take a moment to read through and familiarize yourselves with agenda and please read through all the reports.
OUR MOMENT OF GRACE AND COURTESY
Please do not allow your children to bend or twist the bees wax candles before placing them in the sand of the candle trays. Candles that are not straight will melt faster and not only create a mess but also generate a serious fire hazard. Since we tend to have a lot of candles in the trays, the potential for injury and damage is an ever present reality. So, be sure and instruct your children in the proper way to use the candles and take the time to personally supervise your children as they light candles.
Things That Make Priests Happy
Offering the services for the feast and thinking about those lines from T.S. Eliot’s poem “The Magi”: “A cold coming we had of it”; congratulating Father Deacon Gerasimos, Anna D., and Katie W. on their testing triumphs; rejoicing with Father Deacon Michael on his new job; agreeing with Matt G. and Andrew V. that it’s really important to have plenty of alma mater apparel; watching the green, red, and gold Christmas lights casting color on the rain slick sidewalks.
An unworthy priest,
Aidan