October 9, 2014 Righteous Forefather Abraham The Righteous Forefather Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. His story is found in the Book of Genesis, Chapters 12-25. God told Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed in his seed (Genesis 22:18), and ordered him to leave his home and his relatives and go to Canaan, the country between the Mediterranean and Jordan. Because God gave this land to Abraham and his posterity (Genesis 12:7), it became known as “the Promised Land.” Abraham and Lot are also commemorated with Christ’s ancestors according to the flesh on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers. ~ Courtesy from: www.oca.org  DIVINE LITURGY On Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 am for St. Philip the Apostle. ______________________________________ Sunday’s Readings  VESPERS Saturday, October 11 at 5:00 pm. Fr. Gregory will be available for confessions following service. If this time does not work for you, you may contact Fr. Gregory to set a time and date that works for both of you: 408-386-0328 or [email protected]. Click on the link below to read this Sunday’s Epistle & Gospel: Sunday of the 7th Ecumenical Council.  EPISTLE READING http://www.goarch.org/chapel/lectionary_view? date=10/12/2014&lang=en&code=365&type=e pistle&event=883   GOSPEL READING http://www.goarch.org/chapel/lectionary_view? date=10/12/2014&lang=en&code=189&type=g ospel&event=883 ______________________________________ SUNDAY DIVINE LITURGY SCHEDULE Orthros at 8:30 am Divine Liturgy at 9:30 am   MEMORIAL  Today is the annual memorial service for Agathi Seong, the mother of Presvytera Lisa & Fr. Gregory. The family will sponsor Coffee Hour. May her memory be eternal! This Week’s Service & Events  FAMILY & OUTREACH LOUKOUMADES SALE THIS Sunday, October 12 during Coffee Hour.  PARISH COUNCIL MEETING On Monday, October 13 at 7:00 pm.  FR. GREGORY Fr. Gregory and Presvytera will be away from Thursday, October 16 and won’t be returning until Thursday, October 30.  DIVINE LITURGY On Tuesday, October 14 at 7:00 am for St. Paraskeva in Lasi, Romania. ______________________________________  CATECHISM CLASS Meets on Friday, October 10 at 6:30 pm. 1 Sunday Service Teams  READER Sunday, October 12: Nick Jost. Next Sunday, October 19: Mike Skarpelos.  ANNUAL FAMILY RETREAT MARK YOUR CALENDARS! On Saturday, November 8 at the Holy Cross Monastery. There will be services, Orthros at 9:00 am and Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am. The Pot luck luncheon will follow around noon. Fr. Ninos will give a talk from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. The talk will be on “Orthodox Family Life in Contemporary Society”. This is a joint Family Retreat with St. James Orthodox Church in Milpitas  USHER SCHEDULE Sunday, October 12: Don d’Arms and Bob Whitehead. Next Sunday, October 19: Don d’ Arms.  COFFEE HOUR Sunday, October 12: The Koo’s Family in memory of their beloved mother. Next Sunday, October 19: S.   PROSFORA OFFERING Sunday, October 12: Ginny Silva. Next Sunday, October 19: Elsie Saba. BIBLE & FAITH CLASS Class will resume on Thursday, November 6 at 10:00 am. ______________________________________ MANY THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICES! MAY GOD BLESS YOU! ______________________________________ Prayer Request Upcoming Events & Services You are sick or will be having surgery, please let the office know and we can include your name on the list. Please keep in your prayers: Deacon Demetrios & Diakonisa Aspasia Diakos Despina Anagnostos Maria Anagnostos Andrew Froumis Otto Hampel Marie Hofland Elaine Honjas Ron Jimenez Tula Kanestis Athena Lofaro Nicholas Manis George Nicolas Voula Papadatos Georgia Photopoulos Paul Rousseve Joanne Smith Nicholasi Taranin Thanasis Theologiedes Vickie Wilson Mary Zarcone Stamatis Fotios Nicholas Steeley ______________________________________  DIVINE LITURGY On Saturday, October 11 at 8:00 am for St. Philip the Apostle.  BIBLE & FAITH CLASS Class will begin on Thursday, November 6 at 10:00 am.  VACATION During the absence of Fr. Gregory from October 16 -29 Fr. Constantine Efstathiu will be serving Sunday services on October 19 and 26. Please welcome him and Presvytera Kay and rejoice in the Lord. In case of Emergency durng the week days, please call Fr. Demosthenis at St. Nicholas. For Meditation Whenever a human being eradicates personal desires completely and reaches the state of apathia (liberation from egotistical passions), 2  MONASTERY DINNER FUNDRAISER There will be a dinner fundraiser for The LifeGiving Spring Monastery this Sunday, October 12 at 6:00 pm. Guests of Honor will be His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos of SF, His Eminence Metropolitan Nikitas of Dardanelles, who will also be our keynote speaker and Gerontissa Markella. For questions or tickets contact Maria Anagnosotos at [email protected] or call 408-316-6609 and Presvytera Lisa for tickets 408-759-2669. they become a vessel of the Holy Spirit. Then whatever that person wishes is given because it is what God actually wishes. The consciousness of the saint is fully attuned with the Spirit of God. Fr. Maximos in the book “The Mountain of Silence” Idolatry may be considered anything that we as human beings create and then worship, forgetting that we are the ones who created it to begin with. It is part of our alienation from our divine nature. Anything that we worship other than God is a form of idolatry. Whenever we absolutize something, be it an ideology (nationalism, patriotism, religious fundamentalism, capitalism or any other “ism”), money, or even scientific knowledge, we are into idolatry. Even Christians often fall into this trap of idolatry. They create an idol of Christ which they worship but which has little relationship to the real Christ. Fr. Maximos in the book “The Mountain of Silence” ______________________________________  PROPHET ELIAS 34TH ANNIVERSARY You are cordially invited to an evening of celebration with includes an elegant three course dinner, wine at the table, live music and dancing on Saturday, October 18 at 6:00 pm For more information call 831-429-6500.  PAOI ST. DEMETRIOS CELEBRATION The PAOI invite you to Vespers in anticipation of the feast of St. Demetrios on Sunday, October 19 at 5:00 pm at St. Demetrios Chapel in Berkeley. For more information call 510-6493450. Selection of the Week  IOCC DINNER FUNDRAISER The 22nd Annual Remembering Home Banquet will take place on Sunday, November 2 at St. Michael Archangel Orthodox Church in Saratoga. The festivities will begin with a PanOrthodox Vespers at 4:30 pm. The dinner and entertainment will begin at 6:00 pm. To make reservations or for more information visit www.iocc.org/rememberinghome or call the church at 408-867-4876. A Miracle of the Skull of the Apostle Thomas in Symi in 1978 http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2014/10/amiracle-of-skull-of-apostle-thomas-in.html A Beautiful Voice of One-Man A Capella Sings An Orthodox Hymn http://myocn.net/one-man-capella-bandbeautifully-sings-orthodox-hymns/ ______________________________________  ST. NECTARIOS PILGRIMAGE A St. Nectarios Pilgrimage in Covina, Ca is scheduled for November 8, 9 and 10. If you are interested to go payment must be made by October 1. The price per person is $265 double occupancy and $385 single occupancy. Round trip will be by bus. Two nights at the Radisson Park Inn. For more information call Rev James Adams at 415-382-8091. Bay Area Events  ST. ANNA AUTUMN TEA St. Anna Philoptochos Society from St. Nicholas Church are hosting their annual Autumn Tea on Saturday, October 11, 2014 at 1 PM at the home of Tom and Laurie Sahines, 2023 Wellington Drive, Milpitas, Ca. 95035. A good will offering will be collected for their charities at this event. For more information, please contact Laurie at (408) 823-0111 or [email protected]  METROPOLIS GALA 2014 His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos and the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of SF request the honor of your presence as they will celebrate the ministries and honor the extraordinary leadership of George & Judy Marcus on Saturday, 3 November 15 at 6:00 pm at the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco. Black Tie. For more information or to RSVP call 415-753-3075 or visit: [email protected]. ______________________________________ Our Condolences Bookstore  ST. BASIL BOOKSTORE “I always look forward to browsing the bookstore. You carry an array of icons, books, cards and gifts. Thank you for doing such a wonderful job with the bookstore. It looks great. Michael does such a great job letting us know about new arrivals or great spiritual book readings; we really appreciate it.” These are some of the comments that I have heard or have received during the past year. We thank you for your expression and also encourage you to email us and let us know if you would like us to order you a particular icon, book or gift item we don’t currently carry in our store. You may email us at: [email protected]. Our deepest sympathy and heartfelt thoughts are with the Nieuwsma family. Tim’s mother, Mariam, passed away last week and his father, Clarence, passed away this Wednesday, October 8. We pray that God will ease the families’ sorrow. Don’t forget to check in on a regular basis as our inventory constantly changes or grows. Wishing you a restful summer! ______________________________________ Facebook We have officially launched off the new St. Basil the Great Greek Orthodox Church Facebook page. Please take the time to visit the page and "like" us. The link is listed below. If there are any problems with the link, please let us know. If you have any photos or information you would like to see on the page, please email us at [email protected]. Please pass this email on to your friends and family, and encourage them to visit our page as well. http://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Basil-theGreat-Greek-Orthodox-Church/227329294034680 ______________________________________ 4