Greeters

Richard Kanavati & Dean Natto

Prosfora

Andrea Faches

Fellowship Hour

Thank you to the Parish Council for hosting this Sunday!

Fr. Perry's Corner

Please let me know (frperry@stgeorgegoc.org or (651) 706-9672) if you can help with any of the following:

1. Decorating two priest candles for Pascha (we have the candles, we need someone to decorate)

2. Coordinating refreshments for the MEOCCA Lenten Vespers on Sunday, March 31 (Vespers 5:00 pm followed by refreshments in the hall)

3. Organizing a shipment of liturgical items for the Orthodox Christian Mission Center

Intro to Orthodox Christianity Catechism Course - Spring 2024

Join us for our MEOCCA catechism course, Intro to Orthodox Christianity, now in session. Catechism is open to all; people interested in learning more about Orthodox Christianity, inquirers, catechumens, and current Orthodox Christians as well! Classes will be held on Monday evenings from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in person (1111 Summit Ave., St. Paul, MN) or online via Zoom. To register, email info@stgeorgegoc.org. Learn more at www.meocca.org.

YAL - Crossroad 2.0 Young Adult Retreat Registration

Join 50 other Orthodox young adults from around the country for a special 5 days of fellowship, learning, spiritual nourishment, and time to retreat and reflect. Our event hotel is located by the beautiful Pompano Beach Pier, FL. This event takes place April 3-7th and more information can be found https://crossroadinstitute.org/crossroad-2-0/.

YAL Twin Cities Retreat Save the Date

Save the date for May 17-19th for our local Twin Cities YAL retreat! There will be more information about details and registration in future emails.

YAL - NEW! Twin Cities YAL Contact Form

We are working to update our member list and ensure we have accurate contact information for each of you. Please fill out this form by April 1! After that date we will move to the updated https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRt_6RiqFrqIDZaF7g8mnuJJdHFsRkKySK1qznpopK3ei-ng/viewform

YAL - NEW! Join our GroupMe

This new group communication will be more informal and is a great way to stay up to date on YAL events and quick reminders! Keep an eye out for a fun event announcement coming soon through GroupMe! https://web.groupme.com/join_group/99134236/1dGLCAnm

2024 Stewardship Program

2024 Stewardship Goal, $21,125 of $275,000 (through January) (8% of our goal)

At the Fall Parish Assembly, we approved the 2024 Stewardship Goal of $275,000. We have hit this mark in the last couple of years, and we truly believe that with everyone’s support, we will hit that mark again. Now is the time to fill your 2024 pledge. Pledge Cards are at the candle stand, or click the link below to fill out the form online. Thank you for your support of the work of the Church.

2024 Theme
"Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant,” from the Parable of the Talents. We are all blessed with certain gifts. This parable stresses the importance of developing our gifts, multiplying them, and offering them back in service to God.

Make Your 2024 Pledge Online

https://forms.gle/TAvAZUNCBrcRHX1KA

Make a Stewardship Donation Online

https://www.stgeorgegoc.org/give

Fellowship Hour 

Please sign up to host an upcoming fellowship (coffee) hour. Our next openings are in April. Click the link below to sign up, or contact Elise Werger at (612) 867-8047.
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0D4CA5AD2BABFF2-46964197-fellowship#/

Silent Auction

Remember to check out the Silent Auction in the Social Hall. Proceeds support our Missions and Benevolence ministry. New items are added regularly. If you would like to donate items that are new with tags or something else valuable, such as theater/sports tickets, please contact Angela Mortari at apanoskaltsis@gmail.com or text 651-280-7123.

Winter Registration- Greek School

St. George Greek School resumed on January 24! Classes continue on Wednesdays from 6 to 7:30 pm at St. George. If you are already enrolled in the fall session, there is no need to re-enroll. This registration is for new families. Use this QR code to register and to receive more information.

Piano

We are looking for a new home for our piano that was previously located in the hall. It needs some work. Please contact the church office if you are interested.

By: Fr. Luke Veronis

At no matter what age of life we die, we always see death as a distortion of our existence. Death portrays a horrible tragedy because it is the fruit of evil in the world. We were not created to die. When Almighty God created the first man and woman in his own image and likeness, he meant for all humanity to live for eternity with Him. Since God has no end, He desired for His beloved creation to dwell in His infinite love forever. This is why, deep within each of us, we all sense an innate desire for life!

From this perspective, death is fearful, and something we despise. And yet, although we can see death as the greatest evil, St. Paul counsels us “not to mourn as those who do not have hope.” He advises us to never despair over the dead, because “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.” (1 Thess 4:14)

Here is the essence of our Christian faith and the Good News we proclaim week after week. “Christ is Risen from the dead, trampling down death by His own death, and granting life to those in the tombs!”

For all of us who have believed in Christ and walked with Him in the newness of life here and now, death becomes but a doorway into a fuller union with Him. This is why St. Paul could say, “For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.” (Phil 1:21) The Apostle Paul goes on to say, “If we have been united [through baptism] in the likeness of Christ’s death, we also shall be [united] in the likeness of His resurrection. (Rom 6:4-5)

Today, I want to talk about the topic of death because I want to relate it to the Memorial Services we do so often at the end of our Sunday Divine Liturgies. We all have loved ones who have passed away, and as a Church we never forget them. At each Divine Liturgy, I remember all the faithful who have died and passed on. On their anniversaries, like the 40 day memorial that we offer today for Kosta Magaritidis, or the 17 year anniversary, which we also offer today for Kosma Hadjoclou, we remember the departed, and pray for them.

Why? What is the purpose of our memorial service and why do we pray for the dead?

To answer this question, I first want us to understand clearly how we, as Orthodox Christians, view death itself. Then, I will explain why we remember the dead continuously, and pray for them.

Although death is the culmination of evil in our world, for Christians our faith in Jesus Christ transforms death. For one who is united to our Lord here on earth, death is no longer a fearful and tragic conclusion of one’s life. It is but an entranceway into a new beginning!

I remember a story my parents told me about their first travel abroad. My father and mother had only been married for half a year, and my mother was several months pregnant, when both got on a boat heading towards Greece, so that my father could study at the University of Athens. Both my parents remember vividly the scene of their farewell, as they leaned on the rail of the ship waving goodbye to tearful family and friends. Many mixed emotions passed through their minds as the ship slowly sailed away, and the figures of their loved ones got smaller and smaller in the horizon. During the long journey which followed, my parents became anxious about their separation from family, their pregnancy, and their new life in Athens.

When they arrived at the port of Piraeus many days later, however, their anxieties and concerns were washed away as other relatives and family friends lovingly waited to receive them in their new country.

Death itself may seem like an uncertain, even fearful journey, and yet as Christians we know who awaits us on the other side. Our Lord Jesus Christ is there, lovingly waiting, with His arms outstretched, ready to embrace us in deeper union with Himself, and welcome us into our eternal home.

As Christians, we can face death with hope, knowing that our loving, all merciful and compassionate Lord awaits us! Divine love is greater than death. St. Paul even dares to say, “Death has been swallowed up in victory!” The victory of divine love.

Well, this same love is central to understanding the role of the Memorial Service in the Orthodox Church. We remember and pray for the dead because of God’s divine love for us, and our sacred love for one another. As the famous French writer and Catholic reformer Leon Bloy once wrote, “To say to a person ‘I love you’ is tantamount to saying ‘you shall never die.’”

We express our love to our departed ones through our prayers to reaffirm that those who have died are not dead to us, nor to God. Our love for one another continues even after death. Metropolitan Anthony Bloom so beautifully explains, “A person bereaved must learn never to speak of the love relationship that existed before in the past tense. One should never say ‘We loved one another.’ We should always say ‘We love each other.’ If we allow our love to become a thing of the past, we have to recognize that we do not believe in the continuing life of the person that died.”

St. Paul teaches, “Love never ends.” The Church understands well this precept, and therefore, continues to pray for the dead always. Since love never ends, our prayers never end; our communion with the departed never end; our union with them through Christ never ends.

Our prayers for the dead reveal in a most beautiful way our understanding of the Church as the Body of Christ both here on earth and in heaven. We are one Church, which includes those struggling here on earth, together with those who now live in fuller union with God in paradise. Just as we pray for one another here on earth, we also pray for those who have departed. The Body of Christ is not just the members who we see each week in Church. The Church is also the saints who we see in the icons, and the beloved faithful who have died and live in Christ. That is why before each Divine Liturgy, when I am preparing the bread which will be used for Holy Communion, I offer prayers for each one of you by name, as well offer prayers for the names of many who have died. There is no separation in our prayers for the living and the dead. Divine love unites us all together, as one Church.

So we hold Memorial Services and pray for the dead because we love!

Now, I know some people will say, “OK, I understand we pray for the dead because our love for them never ends, but do our prayers actually help those who have died?”

Sincere prayer unites us to God, and when we pray for others, we believe our prayers can help others in their own union towards their Creator.

Fr. Thomas Fitzgerald, a professor at Holy Cross Theological School, writes, “Death alters but does not destroy the bond of love and faith which exists among all the members of the Church. Orthodoxy believes that through our prayers, those "who have fallen asleep in the faith and the hope of the Resurrection" continue to have opportunity to grow closer to God. Therefore, the Church prays constantly for her members who have died in Christ. We place our trust in the love of God and the power of mutual love and forgiveness. We pray that God will forgive the sins of the faithful departed, and that He will receive them into the company of Saints in the heavenly Kingdom.”

Of course, some who have died have not lived a righteous life of faith and love in Christ Jesus. Even for such as these, we still pray with hope. We know that God’s unfathomable mercy and love is immeasurably greater than any sin or shortcoming of a person, no matter how evil. Therefore, by turning to this ocean of love in prayer, we believe as Orthodox Christians that our prayers in some way, and this way may be a part of the mystery of God, our prayers bring in some way comfort and benefit to the person we pray for!

Love compels us to pray for one another, with hope and with faith. And death can never stop this!

As a symbol of this hope we have for the dead, it is traditional for the family to bring a bowl of boiled wheat to the Church for the Memorial Service. This wheat, known as kollyva in Greek, reminds us of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ spoke, “Unless the grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much fruit.” (Jn 12:24)

Death is not the end, and our Memorial Service concretely proclaims this fact!

PRACTICAL RESOURCES FOR PARISH MINISTRY
Department of Stewardship, Outreach & Evangelism
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
Fr Jim Kordaris, Director | FrJimK@goarch.org | 646-519-6760

Thank you for joining us in worship. Whether you are an Orthodox Christian or this is your first visit to an Orthodox Church, we are pleased to have you with us! Although Holy Communion is offered only to baptized and chrismated Orthodox Christians, all are invited to receive the Antidoron (blessed bread) at the end of the service. The Antidoron and fellowship hour are reminiscent of the Agape Feast that followed worship in the early Church.

One does not have to be of Greek descent nor speak Greek to be an Orthodox Christian and member of our parish. All people of any background are welcome to join the Orthodox Church. For those interested in learning more about the Christian Faith or becoming a member of our church, please see Fr. Perry after services or contact him at frperry@stgeorgegoc.org or (651) 222-6220.

We hope you will join us in our hall upstairs this morning after services for fellowship and refreshments!

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Prosfora (Offering Bread)

Thank you to those who make the prosfora/offering bread for Liturgy. If you would like to sign up to bake and make an offering of bread to the church, please get in touch with Krisandrea at krisandreambr@icloud.com.

“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6:27

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Content for the Bulletin

All content for the bulletin (flyers, blurbs, calendar events, etc.) is due Wednesday each week. Content submitted after Wednesday will be included in the bulletin for the following week.

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Text Message Reminders - Sign Up for Youth & Family Events!

We have some AWESOME Youth & Family events coming up, and you don't want to miss out. Join our text message system Remind to stay up to date with all of our communications. Join by clicking https://www.remind.com/join/stgyandf or 

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Charitable Donations to Philoptochos, Missions & Benevolence, Church School, Youth, Greek School, & other St. George Ministries