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WELCOME! If you are a first time visitor to Saint George’s today. We are glad to have you! Please stay for the coffee social in the parish hall after liturgy so we can get acquainted.
SCRIPTURE READINGS THIS WEEK
Dec 14th Martyrs Thyrus, Seucis & Callinicus of Apollonia
2 Timothy 2:20-26 Mark 8:11-21
Dec 15th Hieromartyr Eleutherius, Bishop of Rome, & his mother, the Martyr Anthia
2 Timothy 3:16-4:4 Mark 8:22-26
Dec 16th Prophet Haggai; Martyr Marinus of Rome
2 Timothy 4:9-22 Mark 8:30-34
Dec 17th Holy Prophet Daniel and the Three Holy Youths
Titus 1:5-2:1 Mark 9:10-16
Dec 18th Martyr Sebastian of Rome and Companions; St. Modestus of Jerusalem
Titus 1:15-2:10 Mark 9:33-41
Dec 19th Saturday Before the Nativity; Martyr Boniface of Tarsus in Cilicia
Galatians 3:8-12 Luke 13:18-29
Activities/Services this Week:
Rossford/Toledo Book Club: Monday, December 14th, 10 AM, at the church
Compline: Wednesday, December 16th, 6:30 PM, at the church
Bowling Green Book Club: Saturday, December 17th, 6:30 PM, @ Grounds for Thought
Great Vespers: Saturday, December 19th, 5 PM, at the church
The Sanctuary Lamp is burning this week for in memory of the parents of Cy and Vi Costoff.
Last Sunday, November 29th, 41 Adults and 20 Youth attended Divine Liturgy.
For the month of December, please bring tea, and/or instant, or regular coffee in whatever amount you can afford to donate for the All Saints Food Pantry. Thanks to all for being so generous.
Thanks to Pat Heffern for donating the snack for church school on December 6th. Thanks to Helen Kusina for donating the bagels today in memory of her mother Mara who fell asleep in the Lord 42 years ago.
The Bowling Green Book Club will meet next on Thursday, December 17th, at 6:30 PM to discuss Chapter 2 of the same book at Grounds for Thought on Main St. in Bowling Green.
A Men’s Christmas Dinner will be held at the Beirut Restaurant 4804 Monroe St. on December 29, 2009 at 5:30 PM. If interest is shown, perhaps we could meet monthly or every other month. Please Let Stan Pentsos know if you will be attending as He needs to confirm the reservation count by December 24th. You can reach Stan at 419-698-1884.
Prayer Calendar Reminder: If you haven’t already, please pick up a prayer calendar in the narthex of our church so that you can remember each person of our parish on a daily basis and pray for the intentions included in the calendar. There are slips to fill out to add people to the calendar cycle. If you have any questions about this, please speak with Popadia Kathleen Biernacki.
People recently received a reminder stewardship mailing in which we asked our members to make a commitment to support our church life for the 2010 year. Please fill out that pledge card and return it to Michael Pappas ASAP. Thank you for prayerfully considering the first portion of what you will be able offer to God for the up building of His Church here in Rossford.
There will be a Pan Orthodox Choir Concert on Sunday, December 13th at 6 PM, at St. George Orthodox Cathedral on Woodley St. Refreshments and Lenten snacks will be served following the concert.
There are new Bulletin & Sanctuary Sponsorship Sheets for 2010 in the narthex. Please don’t confuse the two sheets. The bulletin sponsor sheet is first, the sanctuary sponsorship sheet. Don’t forget to pick up a 2010 calendar as well.
After Nativity services on Thursday evening, December 24th please remember to bring Christmas goodies to share afterwards in the hall for fellowship and celebration. Coffee, Eggnog and other refreshments will be provided.
On Friday December 18th we commemorate a martyr-saint we have in common with the Western Church. Most tourists in Rome, especially religious pilgrims, will visit a church or basilica named for Saint Sebastian, either the one on the Palatine Hill or the earlier fourth-century one built outside the Aurelian Walls.
Sebastian, raised in Milan, was an ardent Christian from an early age. Though completely disinclined to military life, he knew that Christians were being persecuted, especially those in military service. He joined the army in about the year 283, intending to comfort and encourage his brothers in the faith.
His help was soon needed by two brothers, Marcus and Marcellianus, who had been sentenced to death. Their faith was wavering, both from fear and because of the tearful pleadings of friends that they should not squander their lives Sebastian urged them, gently but eloquently, not to exchange heavenly crowns for a longer earthly life. He spoke so powerfully that the jailer and many others were converted. The Roman governor heard of this and also heard that a man had been cured of gout while being instructed and prepared for baptism. The governor, who suffered greatly from gout, humbly asked the saint to cure him as well. After receiving healing and Christian instruction he not only was baptized with his son Tiburtius, but liberated the Christian prisoners, freed his own slaves and gave up his government position.
In the year 286 persecutions intensified. Marcus and Marcellianus, their father Tranquillinus, and Zoe, a woman healed by Sebastian, all were martyred, along with many others. Sebastian stayed with the rest of his spiritual children in the city, rather than hiding out in remote places where he would have been safe, and was arrested.
Not everyone showed integrity in these difficult days. Young Tiburtius was betrayed to the authorities, and beheaded. Sebastian, who was considered the most dangerous of the Christians, was sentenced by Emperor Diocletian to be killed by being shot with arrows.
The emperor's Mauretanian archers left Sebastian for dead, but other Christians found him and helped him recover. He still wouldn't hide, but publicly reproached the emperor for cruelty. Furious at seeing him alive, Diocletian ordered him beaten to death with cudgels. Later, his abandoned body was secretly buried in catacombs, over which a church would one day be built.
Saint Sebastian's story, with its elements of fear and betrayal, reminds us that Christians are often imperfect. We read on this day that the apostles, asked by Jesus what they had been talking about, were embarrassed to tell Him that they had been discussing "who was the greatest" (Mark 9:34). Yet we are not all required to have grand martyrdoms. In today's reading we also find these simple words of Christ: "For truly, I say to you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ, will by no means lose his reward" (Mark 9: 41).
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