16Th Sunday of Matthew
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St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church February 7, 2021 - 16th Sunday of Matthew Fr. Stavros Akrotirianakis (Proistamenos) Fr. Stratton Dorozenski (Retired Priest In Residence) Fr. John Stefero (Retired Priest In Residence) (Above, Icon of St Haralambos, Celebrated February 10) SYNAXARION: Parthenius, Bishop of Lampsacus; Luke of Mount Stirion; Theopemptos the Martyr & his Companions; George the New Martyr of Crete; Afterfeast of the Presentation of Our Lord and Savior in the Temple; Richard, King of Wessex Resurrectional Apolytikion (2nd Mode): When You descended to the realm of death, You as Life immortal, rendered to Hades a mortal blow, through Your Divine Radiance. And when You, from the depths of Hades and the darkness below, did raise the dead all the powers of heaven did proclaim and cry out: O life-giving Christ and our God we give glory. Apolytikion For the Feast (1st Mode): Lady full of grace, rejoice, O Virgin Theotokos, for Christ our God, the Sun of righteousness has risen from you and He illumined those in darkness. And you, righteous Elder, be glad in heart, receiving in your embraces the One who liberates our souls and bestows on us the Resurrection. Apolytikion of St. John the Baptist: The memory of the just is observed with hymns of praise; for you O Fore- runner the witness of the Lord is sufficient. You have proved to be truly more venerable than the prophets. Since you were granted to baptize in the river, the One Whom they proclaimed. Therefore, you strove for truth, proclaiming with joy the Good News, even to those in Hades: that God was manifested in the flesh, and takes away the sins of the world, and grants to us His great mercy. Kontakion: O You Who sanctified by Your birth a Virgin womb, and blessed the hands of Simeon as seemed most appropriate, You came indeed to save us all, O Christ our God. Wherefore bring peace to our nation in time of hostility, and secure in strength, the rulers You have truly loved, as the only one Who loves mankind. For additional substitutions and for the Presentation of the Lord Into the Temple please go to pages 119-121 of the Divine Liturgy Book. Readings for 16th Sunday of Matthew Epistle Reading is from 2 Corinthians 6:1-10 Brethren, working together with him, we entreat you not to accept the grace of God in vain. For he says, "At the ac- ceptable time I have listened to you, and helped you on the day of salvation." Behold, now is the acceptable time; be- hold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in any one's way, so that no fault may be found with our minis- try, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, tumults, labors, watching, hunger; by purity, knowledge, forbearance, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything. Gospel Reading is from Matthew 25:14-30 The Lord said this parable: "A man going on a journey called his servants and entrusted to them his property; to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them; and he made five talents more. So also, he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five tal- ents; here I have made five talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a little, I will set you over much; enter into the joy of your master.' He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not winnow; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful serv- ant! You knew that I reap where I have not sowed, and gather where I have not winnowed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to every one who has will more be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless serv- ant into the outer darkness; there men will weep and gnash their teeth." As he said these things he cried out: "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Answer these thought pro- Happy Birthday voking questions about to- and Happy Nameday! day’s Gospel Reading in the If you want to make sure we have your adult and teen Sunday birthdate on file, please call the office. school lesson. Birthdays Namedays John Nenos - Feb 7 Tommy Reace - Feb 7 Parthenis - Feb 7 Click HERE. Alexandria Colado - Feb 9 Zaharias - Feb 8 Leo Lenardos - Feb 9 Ekaterini Sheridan - Feb 9 Markelos, Nikiforos, Pagratios - Feb 9 Nicole Voisey - Feb 10 Christina Cardy - Feb 11 Haralambia, Haralambos, Hariklia, Click here to Download this Sam Lenardos - Feb 11 Harilaos - Feb 10 Marianna Giallourakis - Feb 12 Avgi, Theodore, Vlassis - Feb 11 Week’s Children’s Word from Sophia Ioannidis - Feb 12 Katerina Katzaras - Feb 12 Meletios, Plotinos - Feb 12 William Sotiropoulos - Feb 12 Priscilla - Feb 13 MyOCN. Thomas Phillips - Feb 13 Upcoming Services & Events Sunday, February 7 Orthros 8:45 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Monday, February 8 Orthodoxy 101 - Part ONE 6:30 p.m. Bible Study 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, February 9 Women’s Bible Study 10:00 a.m. Suffering Book Study 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, February 10 St. Haralambos Orthros 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Paraklesis 6:00 p.m. Thursday, February 11 Griefshare 6:30 p.m. Saturday, February 13 Orthros 9:00 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Sunday, February 14 WEAR RED SUNDAY Orthros 8:45 a.m. Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m. Stewardship 2021 Update Orthodoxy 101 Class will begin in February Fr. Stavros offers this class two times per year, in the spring and in the fall. This As of Thursday, February 4, we have will be a Four-week course of study on Monday nights to make people aware of the basics of being an Orthodox Christian. The classes will be part lecture, part received 216 stewardship forms, discussion, with lots of time for questions and answers. with a pledged amount of $364,263.00 for 2021. The four sessions will be done as follows: Monday, February 8 - A Tour of the Orthodox Church Don’t forget to fill out your form Monday February 15 - Orthodox Spirituality, Introduction to Sacraments and send it into the office! Monday, February 22 - The Divine Liturgy, A Teaching Liturgy Monday, March 1 - Orthodox Traditions Sunday School Continues In Person! We are continuing IN PERSON Sunday School for our Toddler 2’s—6th Grade. These classes will be conducted AFTER Holy Communion, every Sunday, for the remainder of the School Year! We will also continue to send out our VIRTUAL SUNDAY SCHOOL lessons every week. Students and teachers will wear masks in their classrooms and we will do the best we can to social distance. We will have hand sanitizers in each room and the rooms will be cleaned regularly. We will not have classes for our Middle and High Schoolers, but we do expect them to attend church in person or virtually, compete the weekly lesson on the Gospel Reading provided by Fr. Stavros, and attend GOYA meetings. The classes will be broken up as follows: Class Teacher Location Toddler 2’s, Pre-K3, and Pre-K4 Alexis Scarfoliero and Denise Panos Pre-School Classroom (on the right as you exit Church Side Doors) Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd Graders Debbie Nicklow and her daughters Sunday School classroom in the Old Administration Building 3rd through 6th Graders Vickie Peckham and other teachers Zahairas/Music Room Fifty-Two Verses in Fifty-Two Weeks: The Bible Project February 7 - 13 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit, a broken and humbled heart God will not despise. Psalm 51:17 When I was in high school, and maybe even in college, there was this great pressure to have a “valentine” for Valentine’s Day.