May 14
Holy Trinity Church
Publish Date: 2017-05-14
Bulletin Contents
Holy Trinity Church
General Information
- Phone:
- (609) 653-8092
- Fax:
- (609) 653-0375
- Street Address:
- 7004 Ridge Ave
- Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
- Mailing Address:
- 7004 Ridge Ave
- Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234
Contact Information
Services Schedule
Sunday Services: Orthros 8:15 am.
Divine Liturgy 9:30 am.
Past Bulletins
- Publish Date:
- 2017-05-28
- Publish Date:
- 2017-05-21
- Publish Date:
- 2017-05-07
- Publish Date:
- 2017-04-30
- Publish Date:
- 2017-04-23
- Publish Date:
- 2017-04-16
Hymns of the Day
Apolytikion of Great and Holy Pascha in the Plagal First Mode
Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs He has granted life.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Resurrectional Apolytikion in the Fourth Mode
Having learned the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection from the Angel, and having cast off the ancestral condemnation, the women disciples of the Lord spake to the Apostles exultantly: Death is despoiled and Christ God is risen, granting great mercy to the world.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA
Apolytikion for Mid-Pentecost in the Plagal Fourth Mode
At Mid-feast give Thou my thirsty soul to drink of the waters of piety; for Thou, O Saviour, didst cry out to all: Whosoever is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Wherefore, O Well-spring of life, Christ our God, glory be to Thee.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Holy Transfiguration Monastery - Brookline, MA
Seasonal Kontakion in the Plagal Fourth Mode
Though You went down into the tomb, You destroyed Hades' power, and You rose the victor, Christ God, saying to the myrrh-bearing women, "Hail!" and granting peace to Your disciples, You who raise up the fallen.
Reading is under copyright and is used with permission, all rights reserved by: Narthex Press - Northridge, CA
Saints and Feasts
May 14
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
One of the most ancient cities of the Promised Land was Shechem, also called Sikima, located at the foot of Mount Gerazim. There the Israelites had heard the blessings in the days of Moses and Jesus of Navi. Near to this town, Jacob, who had come from Mesopotamia in the nineteenth century before Christ, bought a piece of land where there was a well. This well, preserved even until the time of Christ, was known as Jacob's Well. Later, before he died in Egypt, he left that piece of land as a special inheritance to his son Joseph (Gen. 49:22). This town, before it was taken into possession by Samaria, was also the leading city of the kingdom of the ten tribes. In the time of the Romans it was called Neapolis, and at present Nablus. It was the first city in Canaan visited by the Patriarch Abraham. Here also, Jesus of Navi (Joshua) addressed the tribes of Israel for the last time. Almost three hundred years later, all Israel assembled there to make Roboam (Rehoboam) king.
When our Lord Jesus Christ, then, came at midday to this city, which is also called Sychar (John 4:5), He was wearied from the journey and the heat, and He sat down at this well. After a little while the Samaritan woman mentioned in today's Gospel passage came to draw water. As she conversed at some length with the Lord and heard from Him secret things concerning herself, she believed in Him; through her many other Samaritans also believed.
Concerning the Samaritans we know the following: In the year 721 before Christ, Salmanasar (Shalmaneser), King of the Assyrians, took the ten tribes of the kingdom of Israel into captivity, and relocated all these people to Babylon and the land of the Medes. From there he gathered various nations and sent them to Samaria. These nations had been idolaters from before. Although they were later instructed in the Jewish faith and believed in the one God, they worshipped the idols also. Furthermore, they accepted only the Pentateuch of Moses, and rejected the other books of Holy Scripture. Nonetheless, they thought themselves to be descendants of Abraham and Jacob. Therefore, the pious Jews named these Judaizing and idolatrous peoples Samaritans, since they lived in Samaria, the former leading city of the Israelites, as well as in the other towns thereabout. The Jews rejected them as heathen and foreigners, and had no communion with them at all, as the Samaritan woman observed, "the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans" (John 4:9). Therefore, the name Samaritan is used derisively many times in the Gospel narrations. After the Ascension of the Lord, and the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the woman of Samaria was baptized by the holy Apostles and became a great preacher and Martyr of Christ; she was called Photine, and her feast is kept on February 26.
May 14
Holy New Martyrs Mark and John
May 14
Isidore the Martyr of Chios
This Saint was a soldier from Alexandria. He came with the Roman fleet to Chios, where he was betrayed as a Christian to Numerian, Commander of the Fleet. Because he boldly pro-fessed himself to worship Christ as God and refused to worship any other, he was tormented and beheaded in 251, during the reign of Decius.
May 14
Serapion the Holy Martyr
May 14
Leontius, Patriarch of Jerusalem
Gospel and Epistle Readings
Epistle Reading
Prokeimenon. Fourth Mode. Psalm 103.24,1.
O Lord, how manifold are your works. You have made all things in wisdom.
Verse: Bless the Lord, O my soul.
The reading is from Acts of the Apostles 11:19-30.
IN THOSE DAYS, those apostles who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to none except Jews. But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Greeks also, preaching the Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number that believed turned to the Lord. News of this came to the ears of the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he came and saw the grace of God, he was glad; and he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose; for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a large company was added to the Lord. So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul; and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church, and taught a large company of people; and in Antioch the disciples were for the first time called Christians. Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabos stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world; and this took place in the days of Claudius. And the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brethren who lived in Judea, and they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.
Gospel Reading
Sunday of the Samaritan Woman
The Reading is from John 4:5-42
At that time, Jesus came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and so Jesus, wearied as he was with his journey, sat down beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep; where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst; the water that I shall give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and he whom you now have is not your husband; this you said truly." The woman said to him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain; and you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that the Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things." Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am he."
Just then his disciples came. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but none said, "What do you wish?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" So the woman left her water jar, and went away into the city and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and were coming to him.
Meanwhile the disciples besought him, saying "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him food?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony. "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard ourselves, and we know that this is indeed Christ the Savior of the world."
Wisdom of the Fathers
THE persecution turned out to be no slight benefit as "to them that love God all things work together for good." (Rom. viii. 28.) If they had made it their express study how best to establish the Church, they would have done no other thing than this--they dispersed the teachers.[*] Mark in what quarters the preaching was extended. "They travelled," it says, "as far as Phenice and Cyprus and Antioch; to none however did they preach the word but to Jews only." Dost thou mark with what wise purposes of Providence so much was done in the case of Cornelius? This serves both to justify Christ, and to impeach the Jews. When Stephen was slain, when Paul was twice in danger, when the Apostles were scourged, then the Gentiles received the word, then the Samaritans. Which Paul also declares: "To you it was necessary that the Word of God should first be spoken; but since ye thrust it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy, lo, we turn unto the Gentiles." (ch. xiii. 46.)..."And the hand of the Lord," it says, "was with them," that is, they wrought miracles; "and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord." (v. 21.) Do you mark why now also there was heed of miracles (namely) that they might believe? "Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch." (v. 22.) What may be the reason that, when such a city received the word, they did not come themselves? Because of the Jews. But they send Barnabas. However, it is no small part of the providential management even so that Paul comes to be there. It is both natural, and it is wisely ordered, that they are averse to him, and (so) that Voice of the Gospel, that Trumpet of heaven, is not shut up in Jerusalem..."And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch." (v. 26.) Verily this is the reason why it was there they were appointed to be called Christians, because Paul there spent so long time!
Homily 25 on Acts 11, 4th Century
The example of the good Samaritan shows that we must not abandon those in whom even the faintest amount of faith is still alive.
Two Books of St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan, Concerning Repentance, Chapter 11
PARISH NEWS
Pangari Schedule: Brian Sacco, Athena Sacco & Maria Lianidis.
Please remember that right up through and including the Divine Liturgy of Pentecost on June 4th, we will not be kneeling during the Consecration.
Happy Mother's Day!
Today's Coffee Hour will be hosted by our GOYAns in the Fellowship hall. If you are hosting the coffee hour please make sure that all products are nut free. We have children with severe nut allergies. Thank you!
If anyone is interested in donating $50 a week or $200 a month so that the Come Receive the Light program can stay on the air, please contact the church office or Demi Zalman. The program airs on Sundays at 9:00 am on station 1020AM and 101.3 FM.
UPCOMING EVENTS
See attached flyers for more information on these upcoming events.
May 16: TLC Open House
May 20: Heart Walk
May 29: Cemetery Trisagia
June 1-4: Annual Greek Festival
June 4: Feast of Pentecost
June 5: Feast of the Holy Spirit
June 11: Greek School Graduation
June 18: Sunday School Graduation
RECEIVING HOLY COMMUNION
Holy Communion is offered to those baptized Orthodox Christians who have prepared themselves for the reception of the Sacrament by prayer and fasting. Blessed Bread is available for all our visitors at the very end of the Divine Liturgy. Our Sunday School students receive Holy Communion first and then we will approach from the center aisles, starting with the front pews, one pew at a time.
SCHEDULING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
In order to avoid scheduling conflicts all parish ministries and organizations must call the church office to schedule all meetings, practices and events (even if they are not scheduled at the church).
COUNCIL OF MINISTRIES - GOALS
--Promote communication and coordination between Ministries
--Highlight each ministry’s role in promoting our Mission and Vision
--Encourage ministry leaders to prioritize growing the inner circle of active members
SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sunday School Library: Please visit our library located in the Sunday School hallway.
PHILOPTOCHOS
There is a Philoptochos meeting on Sunday, May 21st after the Divine Liturgy, elections will take place at that time.
JR. DANCE GROUP
The Jr. Dance Group will begin practicing after Sunday school in the TLC lobby. We will meet today after Sunday School in the TLC Lobby. Our next practice is Sunday, May 28th. The dance groups is for 2nd to 6th grade. For more information you can contact Pauline Genakos at genakosfamily@yahoo.com
SAVE THE DATE!!!
Saturday, October 14, 2017. We will be celebrating Holy Trinity's 35th Anniversary and the 10th Anniversary of our Community Center and Trinity Learning Center. Join us for a festive evening filled with a lot of fun! More information to follow.
PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
There is a parish council meeting on Monday, May 15th at 6:00 pm.
BIBLE STUDY
Bible Study will resume on Tuesday, May 16th at 7:00 pm.
PHILOPTOCHOS BAKING
Baking for our annual Greek festival continues Thursday, May 18th at Minos Bakery. No baking experience required!
MODERN GREEK / BIBLICAL GREEK
Biblical Greek continues Thursday, May 18th at 7:15 pm.
PARKING
Due to safety regulations, please do not park cars along the curb in front of the church and the community center during church services and other events. Thank you!
ADVERTISING OPPORTUNITIES
We are excited to announce a new way to give your Business or Service a face in our church community. We are opening up the opportunity to advertise your place of business in our church bulletins. The most important aspect of this opportunity is that not only will it enhance and promote your business but ALL of the money collected for advertising will go to the church. We are confident that this advertising opportunity will improve the exposure and revenues of your business. If you have an interest in obtaining more details we encourage you to speak to Athena Sacco (athenasacco@gmail.com or 609-653-6775) or any other parish council member. We thank you in advance for your participation and support.
COOKBOOK FOR SALE
Our Community Cookbook is now available to purchase for $10. All proceeds will be used for our Church. Please see Athena Sacco to purchase or for additional information.
SHOPRITE GIFT CARDS
The Philoptochos is selling Shoprite Gift Cards and would appreciate your support. For every $100.00 dollars we sell, we get $5.00. Cards are available in $50 increments. Demi Zalman is our chairperson and she will be at church on Sundays after the service with the cards for anyone to buy. Write your check to "Holy Trinity Philoptochos" or use cash. If you do not see Demi in church any Philoptochos sister will be able to help you find out who has the cards that day.
As the needs of our community are rising, the Philoptochos is hoping that this initiative will provide added funds to help meet our ever-growing charitable requests. Please consider buying these cards and help us raise money to help others.
NAR-ANON FAMILY GROUP MEETING
The Nar-Anon Family Groups are a worldwide fellowship for those affected by friend or family member’s drug addiction. As a Twelve-Step Program, they offer help by sharing experience, strength, and hope in a safe and anonymous forum. If you are or know someone who is impacted by someone else’s drug addition, please let them know about this meeting. Meetings are held every Thursday at 6:30pm.
GAMBLERS ANONYMOUS
Gamblers Anonymous will be meeting on Tuesdays, from 7:30 pm - 9:00 pm at the church.
PARISH WEB SITE
Please visit our parish web site often for updated information. Group leaders should submit their groups' information to the church office ASAP so that all the tabs can be updated. www.holytrinityeggharbor.com
ANCIENT FAITH RADIO
Ancient Faith Radio can now be found at www.ancientfaith.com Bringing the Ancient Christian Faith to the modern world. By going on this site you can access some uplifting music, informative & educational Podcasts, and you can even get the App for your phone.
OCMC MISSION TEAMS
THANK YOU to Sunday School Department, Minos Bakery, Mill Street Pub, Spiros Doulis Jewelers and Joe's Pizza for being a partner with us in the Agape Canister Program.
TRINITY LEARNING CENTER
Our TLC is now enrolling children from 3 months! Please continue to publicize and promote our child care facility. Let your family, friends, and neighbors know to call Trinity Learning Center at 653-9001 to register their children. TLC is collecting General Mills Box Tops for Education and Campbell's Soup UPC codes off the labels and boxes. Drop off your books, box tops and labels in the narthex.