Due to inclement weather conditions, St. Thomas Malankara Orthodox Church will not be having Divine Liturgy on Sunday, January 8th, 2017. We wish everyone safe travels during this time. Thank You!
- Annual STYL Talent Show – We had our Annual STYL Talent Show this past Friday. Special thanks to the coordinators and participants. Danniya Samuel and Emily George.
- Sunday School Anniversary – Today right before Kaimuthu, We will have our parish Sunday School Anniversary. It will be a short 10-15 min program.
- Feast of Baptism of Our Lord – This Thursday Evening (the 5th), we will be celebrating the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Evening prayer will begin at 6:30pm. Nicholovos Thirumeni will be celebrating. Kindly make arrangements to attend.
- Those will be preparing to receive Holy Qurbana make sure you come prepared- through bodily fast- that would include food and drink unless you have a medical condition advised by your physician (at least by 1pm).
- Schedule For the Year – Valiachen and I have been working on a schedule for the year with all the feast days and important days.
- Combined Orthodox Christmas Program – Flyer: Sunday, January, 8th, 2017 at 4pm Glen Oaks High School.
- FOCUS Meeting – For the month of January will be held on Friday, January 20th at 7pm at the Residence of Mr. Cheriyan Abraham. All FOCUS members are requested to attend. A friendly reminder to bring you Sheehimo Books and Beginning to Pray books.
- MGOCSM Faith Study Series – for the month of January will be held on Friday, January 27 at 6pm at church. All MGOCSM members are requested to attend.
- Altar Servers Meeting – will be held January 15th after Sunday school. We will have a special class on Hesychasm and the practice of the Jesus Prayer. After that we will have fellowship lunch and all Altar Servers are requested to attend.
- Bernard’s Roman Catholic Church – visited us a few months back. They have invited us over now to visit their church. We have arranged for Sunday, January 29th Sunday at 3pm. It will be important for us to pay a visit back and spent time with their community as they were so gracious to come and spend time with us.
- Holy Transfiguration Retreat Center – A friendly reminder that collections are still ongoing.
- Confession – Those who would like to do confession kindly inform either of the Achens at your earliest convenience.
- 2016 Year In Review – Please see the video montage of 2016, from many of the events we’ve done over the year.
- Christmas Carolers – Special thanks to the Christmas Carolers who spent their time and energy to go around to visit the houses.
- Christmas Service Song Practice – Special thanks for all who attended the Christmas song practice. We had it this past Wednesday and Thursday evening. Also, special thanks to the altar servers who came early yesterday to go over the service.
- Christmas Service English Books – Special Thanks to the youth for making arrangements for the English Copies of the Service. Many of the youth pitched in to ensure that parts of the service were done in English. Thank you all for your generosity.
- Annual Talent Show – Will be held this Friday, December 30th at 6:00pm. If you have not signed up kindly reach out to either Danniya Samuel or Emily George.
- New Year’s Day Service – next Sunday is New Year’s and Morning Prayer will begin at our usual time 8:15am. We will have Evening prayer as usual at 6:30pm on New Year’s Eve.
- Sunday School Anniversary – The Sunday School Anniversary will be held next Sunday right before Kaimuthu. All Sunday school students and teachers are requested to attend.
- Parish Elections 2017 – Last Sunday we had our Parish Elections for 2017. The results will be posted and officially announced next week.
- Feast of Baptism of Our Lord – Thursday evening, January 5th, we will be having celebrating the feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Evening prayer will begin at 6:30pm. Nicholovos Thirumeni will be leading the service. All are requested to attend.
- Annual Talent Show – The annual talent show will be held on Friday, December 30th at 6:00pm.
- Faith Study Series – MGOCSM will be having its monthly faith study series on Friday, December 23rd at 6pm. We will discussing about the role of marriage and monasticism in the Orthodox Church. All MGOCSM members are requested to attend.
- Christmas Service Song Practice – will be held this Wednesday, 21st and Thursday 22nd evening at 7pm. All members are welcome to join.
- Christmas Schedule – Special Christmas Evening prayer will be held on December 24th at 6:30pm. Christmas Service on Christmas Day, the 25th will begin at 7am.
- Danaha Perunal – On Thursday evening, January 5th, we will be celebrating the feast of the Baptism of our Lord. Nicholovos Thirumeni will be leading the service. Evening prayer will begin at 6:30pm. All are requested to attend.
- Sunday School Arts & Crafts – Special thanks to MGCOSM members for doing Christmas Arts & Crafts with the Sunday School Students
Categories
Weekly Announcements – 12/11/16
- General Body Meeting will be next Sunday the 18th to the elect the new Governing body members for the year 2017. All eligible members who are 21 and above are requested to attend.
- Christmas Service Song Practice will be held on Wednesday, 21st and Thursday 22nd evening at 7pm.
- Christmas Schedule – Special Christmas Evening prayer will be held on December 24th at 6:30pm. Christmas Service on Christmas day will begin at 7am.
- MGOCSM will be having their monthly faith study series on Friday, December 23rd. All MGOCSM are request to attend.
- Annual Talent Show – The annual talent show will be held on Friday, December 30th at 6:00pm.
Categories
Shehimo Recordings
St. Paul, the apostle, exhorts: “Be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord…” Ephesians 5:19
The YouTube channel of the Liturgical Resource Development, A ministry of the South-West Diocese of America, can be assessed in the link provided below. The Recordings of the Shehimo Prayers sung in English are uploaded onto this channel.
The Shehimo prayers and other assorted liturgical hymns sung in Malayalam by Rev. Fr. P.M. Cheriyan can be accessed on the St. Mary’s Orthodox Church, Houston, Texas, YouTube Channel in the link provided below.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
The birth of our Lord fundamentally provides us with the hope that God has not forsaken us. In spite of human frailties and the widespread of evil around the world, God has not given up on us. The cost of saving humanity did not come cheap. It took God to become human, live among us and die in order to offer His life to us. The results of the disaster which took place in the Garden of Eden were removed through His incarnation. Where death and sin infiltrated the human race, God intervened and saved us from sin and corruption. We have now access to the life in the Holy Trinity through the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Hence, the joy of this season is not simply confined to giving and receiving material gifts, but above all, it is celebrating the joy of receive the gift of deification; the grace to grow towards the likeness of God. I ask you, which gift can be more valuable than this? In the words of St. Athanasius of Alexandria, “God became man (human) so that man will become like God.” The One God, who revealed Himself to the prophets of the Old Testament, has now “taken flesh” and has revealed the fullness of God’s glory through His incarnation. He has united heaven and earth through Him and in Him. We find the meaning and purpose of our lives in His incarnation! This, my friends, is true joy.
It is easy to get caught up in the paraphernalia of the holiday season with decorations, gift shopping, sending out Christmas cards, and everything else that comes with it. In the midst of all this, let us not forget “to open” and live out the gift of deification which was granted to us on the day of our baptism. Along with celebrating our Lord’s birth, we celebrate our new birth in Christ. We celebrate the hope we have in Christ, the experience of eternal life!
During this Lenten season, let us make room in our hearts for the grace of God to enter in us by getting rid of all hatred, malice and anger. As God has not given up on us, let us not give up in our spiritual walk towards Christ and His Kingdom. Let us become the propagators of peace where it has depleted. Let us renew our minds and steadfastly work towards cultivating virtues. Let us season our conversations and interactions with one another with love and compassion. Let us become the light which guides the world out of darkness to His Kingdom.
May the blessing and peace of the incarnate Lord and savior Jesus Christ be upon you all!
with prayers,
Fr. Abraham (Abey) George
- Nativity Lent – We are in the season of the Nativity lent. I hope the cooks of the house makes dishes that are conducive for lent. As we abstain from food, let us add prayer and reading of the scriptures to our lives. Let us train to keep our bodies and our minds sober during these days. It is also the appropriate time for confession.
- Thanksgiving Potluck Dinner – Last Sunday we had our Youth/FOCUS Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner. Please see the post on the Potluck Dinner and the Photos page for pictures from the event.
- Christmas Caroling – We will being Christmas Caroling this afternoon. All those who are able to come kindly. The schedule for areas being visted are posted in the parish hall bulletin board.
- Sunday School UNICEF Collection – I am pleased to announce that our Sunday school children raised $222.07 towards UNICEF. This money will be used to help provide food, clean water, and healthcare for children around the world. Special thanks to all the children parents and Sunday school children that participated.
- Sunday School Christmas Tree Gift Program – The area Sunday school will be participating in a Christmas tree gift program with the Salvation Army. Our Church has been assigned to buy 15 gifts for the program. If you are interested in purchasing a gift, please contact the Sunday school principal or Vice principal.
- Orma Qurbana for Barnabas Thirumeni – This Thursday, Dec 8th evening, our parish will be hosting the diocesan commemoration of 4th memorial of H.G Mathews Mar Barnabas. Evening prayer will begin at 6:30pm. All are requested to attend.
- General Body Meeting – On Sunday, December 18th we will be having the parish General Body to the elect the new Governing body members for the year 2017. All eligible members are requested to attend.
- FOCUS Meeting – This Friday we will be having our FOCUS Meeting at 7pm at the residence of Sinu and Giby Jacob. All FOCUS Members are requested to attend. Kindly bring your Shehimo books and Beginning to Pray books.
- FOCUS Nation 2017 will be held from Thursday February 9th through Sunday, February 12th, 2017 at Camp Allen in Houston Texas. The Theme of the Conference will be “Becoming Human: A Journey through Orthodox Spirituality”. The Main speaker of the Conference will be Rev. Fr. Abraham (Abey) George. He is the asst. Vicar of St. Thomas Orthodox Church in Long Island. Registration is currently open. Those interested kindly register online by using the following link, FOCUS Nation 2017.
- Christmas Schedule – Special Christmas Evening prayer will be held on December 24th at 6:30pm. Christmas Service on Christmas day will begin at 7am.
- Annual Talent Show – The annual talent show will be held on Friday, December 30th at 6:00pm. Mark your calendars and those who are interested in performing the 30th kindly reach out to Danniya Samuel or Emily George.
- Holy Transfiguration Retreat Center
- Each family should donate a minimum of $2000 (within 3 year span)
- Loans accepted up to 3% interest. We were directed by Thirumeni to collect as a parish for the Dukrono of Valiya Thirumeni December 11th, Sunday.
- The funds should be send in to the Aramana by Thursday, December 15th.
On November 27th, Sunday evening the youth hosted its Annual FOCUS and MGOCSM Thanksgiving Dinner. The evening began with vespers from the Shehimo followed by a Thanksgiving message by Nevin Joseph. He spoke about the importance of giving thanks to God and that we shouldn’t just thank him when we receive a favorable result but prior to receiving that result. He also spoke about importance of thanking God for the mercy he has shown us throughout our lives.
After the message, the youth participated in dinner and fellowship in the Parish Hall. The youth also participated in a Mannequin Challenge and two charity events during dinner. In the first event, gently used jeans were cut out into different shapes to make shoes for children in Africa, through the Sole Hope organization. In the second event, fleece blankets were cut and tied together to make throw blankets for those in homeless shelters. We would like to thank both our Achen’s for their guidance and presence during this event. Thank you to all our FOCUS and MGOCSM members who made this event possible. Click here to see Photos from the event.
- The Lent of Nativity, starts on Thursday, December 1st.
- The Annual FOCUS/MGOCSM Youth Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner was held on November 27th at 4:30pm in our church. We started with evening prayer and then we had charity activity stations and fun activities/games as well.
- A special General Body meeting will be held next Sunday after service to elect members for the Malankara Association. All eligible members are request to attend the meeting.
- On Thursday, December 8th, we will be having the Orma Qurbana for the Late Lamented H.G. Mathew Mar Barnabas. All are kindly requested to attend. Evening prayer will begin at 6:30pm.
- Funds for the Holy Transfiguration Retreat Center, should be collected from all parishes by Sunday, December 11th.