Η ταπείνωση της Παναγίας

Ότι ο Κύριος επέβλεψεν επί την ταπείνωση της δούλης Αυτού. Αυτά είναι τα λόγια που είπε η Παναγία κατά τον Ευαγγελισμό της. Είναι από το Ευαγγελικό ανάγνωσμα που διαβάζουμε κατά τη διάρκεια των Παρακλήσεων του Δεκαπενταυγούστου αλλά και στον Όρθρο κάθε Θεομητορικής εορτής.  Η Παναγία αισθάνθηκε και έζησε την αρετή της ταπείνωσης σε μεγάλο βαθμό. Ο Θεός την επισκίασε και την έκανε Μητέρα Του εξαιτίας της ταπείνωσής της. Είναι αυτό ακριβώς που λέει ο Θεός με το στόμα του προφήτη Ησαΐα οκτώ αιώνες πριν από την γέννηση του Κυρίου: «Επί τίνα επιβλέψω, αλλ' ή επί τον ταπεινόν και ησύχιον και τρέμοντά μου τους λόγους;» Ο Θεός ψάχνει να βρει ταπεινούς ανθρώπους για να τους δώσει τις ευλογίες Του και τη χάρη Του. Αυτό δεν θα το κάνει σε έναν υπερήφανο άνθρωπο. Ο υπερήφανος άνθρωπος μοιάζει με εκείνον που δέχεται έναν θησαυρό αλλά δεν ξέρει πώς να τον διαχειριστεί. Υπάρχει κίνδυνος όχι μόνο να τον ξοδέψει αλλά και να κάνει κακό στον εαυτό του.

Είναι εύκολο να αποκτήσουμε την ταπείνωση της Παναγίας και των Αγίων; Ασφαλώς όχι. Μπορούμε όμως να αγωνιστούμε για αυτό. Μπορούμε να ξεκινήσουμε αναγνωρίζοντας τις δωρεές που μας κάνει ο Κύριος. Μπορούμε να πούμε: Θεέ μου σε ευχαριστώ που με συγχωρείς αν και είμαι αμαρτωλός, σε ευχαριστώ που με έβαλες στο δρόμο, σε ευχαριστώ που με έκανες παιδί Σου χωρίς να το αξίζω. Σε αγαπώ. 

The humility of the Virgin Mary

The Lord has regarded the low estate of His handmaid. These are the words that the Virgin Mary said during her Annunciation. It is from the Gospel reading that we read during the Supplications of August but also in Orthros every Mother of God feast. The Virgin Mary felt and experienced the virtue of humility to a great extent. God overshadowed her and made her His Mother because of her humility. This is exactly what God says through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah eight centuries before the birth of the Lord: To whom will I look with favor, but to the humble and meek, and that trembles at my words? God seeks to find humble people to give them His blessings and grace. He will not do that to a proud man. The proud man is like one who receives a treasure but does not know how to handle it. There is a risk not only of spending it but also of harming himself.

Is it easy to obtain the humility of the Virgin and the Saints? Certainly not. But we can struggle for it. We can begin by acknowledging the gifts the Lord gives us. We can say: My God, I thank You for forgiving me even though I am a sinner, I thank You for putting me in Your way, I thank You for making me Your child without I deserve it. I love you.

“I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people….  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

We pray for mercy, life, peace, and healing of all parishioners -prayers for the family and friends of Mikae Gaetanos.  Prayers for Gary Peterson who is recovering from surgery; Michael Colburn; Chris Bersu; Michael and Ingrid Fotianos; Ruza Basimamovic; Chresanthe Lemieux; Zoe Kauttu; Maryann Bolt; James Day; Margaret, James, Kyriake; Joseph, Alex Aclim; Jane Anderson; Gwen H.; and Thanos Nikolopoulos.  Remember also our missionary families: Fr. Stephanos, Pr. Alexandria, Moses & Athan Ritsi serving in Albania. 

  Stewardship:

We enter our spiritual home not to be entertained, but to be a part of a community of believers. We receive Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. As we pray, worship and serve together, we become His Body. To be truly a member of the Church as Body of Christ requires our presence and our engagement with one another -- in worship, study and service to others. We grow spiritually as a family. We give sacrificially as we acknowledge that all we have comes from God.

The stewardship theme for this year is "Our Church, Our Spiritual Home" and it bears repeating as we work toward reaching the stewardship goals that fully support the needs of our parish.  The Stewardship segment of our weekly bulletin will now include some additional information regarding our progress.  This information will include the number of families that are active stewards, the total amount pledged and the amount contributed to date.  Please note that the total amount pledged is twenty five percent below what we have budgeted for stewardship income, which makes staying focused on our goals even more important. 

• Number of Steward Families:  89
• Total Pledged to Date: $107,132
• Total Contributed to Date:  $77,538

To be stewards of the Gospel, we need to be stewards of our parish.  We are called to apply our abilities and resources to the tasks that God places before us.  If we do this humbly and prayerfully, the body of Christ will function to its full potential.

To all who faithfully contribute to their stewardship commitment, thank you.

Update St. Francis House:
 If are not able to help right now? Please look to help us another day -- we help deliver dinners the 2nd Monday of every month.
Online:  Please visit us online at http://www.facebook.com/holytrinityoutreach   Blessings in Christ, Richard

Calling All Men and Boys (6 years and Older):  Have you noticed your head chanter, Nick Lekas, hustling between the chanters stand and the altar to help Father Maximos during a service? On occasion, it has been others in the congregation who saw the need and were moved to help. This happens because we lack altar help on a consistent basis.

• Large parishes and cathedrals have paid sextant positions or deacons to manage the help needed for the altar and a larger youth population to draw from, but that is not our situation.
• It is time we fixed this problem with our parish stewardship – that is to apply our individual time and talents to consistently being altar help during services. It is a blessing and an honor to actually be part of the liturgy in an intimate way by helping Father Maximos with the tasks necessary to prepare himself and the gifts for our collective communion – receiving the body and blood of Christ.
• The tasks themselves, cutting the “ANDITHERON” (bread), pouring wine and warm water into the flasks for the altar in preparation, censing, leading processions (one in Orthros and two in the liturgy) carrying the light and/or a censor are simple but vital to supporting our priest.
• I’m calling for volunteers to commit to being at church in time for Orthros on a set schedule. With enough volunteers, we can create a schedule that will not be a burden to anyone and will instead be a blessing to all of us. Once we have a list of volunteers (hopefully 8-10 at least), we will work with Father Maximos to schedule training day(s) as needed for the group, so that we can all learn how to do these tasks comfortably, consistently, and enthusiastically. To put this in perspective, with 10 volunteers, each volunteer will be committed to being trained and then “on-duty” about eight times during a normal year.

Greek Festival:

The annual Holy Trinity Greek Festival is October 7-9, 2022.  Our popular festival will begin with "Friday to go" with pre-orders only.  Saturday and Sunday will include music, dance and on-site dining.  https://www.staugustinegreekfestival.com/

• Our “Light a Candle & Say a Prayer” ministry lets you to light a candle during divine services.  Your request will be forwarded to a Council member in the Narthex to light your candle.  If  you wish to provide names of loved ones to be prayed for, those will be provided to Fr. Maximos.

• Celebrations:  Are you celebrating a special day? Birthday, Anniversary, Seasonal House Cleaning? Whatever the event, please consider celebrating it with others and making it a fundraiser for our church. People have raised $6 billion USD on Facebook and Instagram for causes they care about. Create a fundraiser and Facebook will take care of the donation processing with no fees.  You can also place the PayPal giving link for the church in your on-line message for donations to be made directly to our account. This can be a fun way to share your happy day with your friends and community and an effective fundraiser for our church. Please reach out to Fr. Maximos or Nick Lekas for details.

Giving by Check:  Please be sure to include a notation on the memo line to allows us to identify your intentions (i.e. stewardship, candles, trays, memorials, etc.).

Weekly Offering:  The Lord's day is to be the time for a weekly offering for the support of His cause.  Make your offering today and enable our Church to continue to enhance the spiritual growth of the Orthodox Christians entrusted to our care.  Your offering can be made at the collection basket as you exit the service.

Parish Office:   Please call (904 829-0504) or email (holy3goc@gmail.com) the parish office to update your contact information.  Also, if you know of anyone who doesn’t receive parish emails but would like to, please encourage them to contact the parish office with their contact information.

• NOTE:  If you would like Faye Peterson or Angela Lekos to prepare the Koliva for a memorial, remember there is a fee, usually $100 for time, supplies, etc. for the preparation.

• If you have a request for a special service such as a memorial, please email the church office at holy3goc@gmail.com or call 904 829-0504 (if you do not have access to email) in advance of requested date with details.

• If you would like any of the following, please contact Fr. Maximos  via email at fathermaximusa7@gmail.com or text him at 347 500-8176: 
• To receive a phone message from Father Maximos about services, special events or other subjects.
• To arrange an appointment for a House Blessing.
• To offer Holy Communion to someone in need at a hospital, nursing home, in hospice care, or at home.       

•  The normal deadline for the Church bulletin e-mail articles is before 12pm on Wednesday weekly.

• If you want your announcements on the master calendar, please remember to e-mail them to the office at holy3goc@gmail.com.

• PLEASE NOTE:  The deadline for article submission for the SEPT/OCT 2022 Newsletter will be by, or before, Monday, August 29^th to church office Holy3goc@gmail.com

• Note:  Fr. Maximos will be in Greece August 17 to September 13.  Fr. Michael Byars will officiate at holy services on August 21, 28 and September 4. Fr. Martin Ritz will officiate on September 11.
  

Weekly Photo:   https://www.facebook.com/HolyTrinityGOC/photos/a.214784738566511/5692395237472073

 Πάντα εν σοφία εποίησας. In wisdom you have made them all. Pictures from St. Augustine.