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February 21, 2016
SUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN
احد الفريسى والعشار
TTTT he Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our
Lord, they “did all their works to be seen of men” (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid.23:13, 14, 15, etc), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre’s sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble mindedness. Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labours by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humil-ity confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest height.
From the Great Horologion
February 21, 2016 Issue 509
�18100 Merriman Road � Livonia, Michigan 48152 � www.saintmarylivonia.com � Office: (734)-422-0010 �
Sunday Services
Confession: 8:30AM
Matins: 9:00AM
Divine Liturgy: 10:00AM
St. Mary’s Cultural
and Banquet Center
(734) 421-9220
Daily Confession by Appointment - Call the Church Office
“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26
The Antiochian Orthodox
Basilica of St. Mary
Fr. George Shalhoub - Pastor Fr. Jim King - Director of Youth & Pastoral Outreach Programs
Archdeacon Issa Rizkallah
313-690-2030
Deacon Dr. Dennis Bojrab Nidal Fakhoury - Parish Council Chairman
Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Christina Stavros - Parish Ministries
Coordinator Haitham Fakhouri - Communications
Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers
Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults-
St. John Divine
Nancy Ghannam- Ladies Society
President Gloria Sultani - Teen Soyo President Lina Nunu - Arabic School Keith Rowe - Cultural Center General Manager 734-421-9220
The Light of Christ
AL-NOUR
PUBLISHED WEEKLY BY:
THE ANTIOCHIAN ORTHODOX BASILICA OF ST. MARY
Page 2 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary
THE EPISTLE
Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God. God is known in Judea,
His Name is great in Israel!
The Reading is from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy
Chapter 3:10-15
MMMM y child Timothy, you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, patience, persecutions, sufferings, what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured! And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Indeed all who would live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But people who are wicked and deceivers will proceed from worse to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and how from infancy you have know the sacred temple writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
THE GOSPEL
The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke
Chapter 18:10-14
TTTT he Lord spoke this parable: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 3
PRAYER CORNER memorials
IIII am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25)
Feb. 21st - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Nabih Tawfic Qassis offered
by his wife Juliet Qassis and family, Feb. 28th - 40 day memorial in loving
memory of Rimon Warra offered by his
wife Maha Warra and family,
Thank You
“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion
FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Pheibie Musallam,
IIII n Memory Of: Joseph Michael Mouaikel, George Abodeely, Nawal Fakhouri,
HOLY BREAD OF OBLATION
HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the month of February, in loving memory of:
Isa Hasan
William Nader Ibrahim Rizkallah
Amjad George Saba
Boulos Jiries Saba
Helen Boulos Saba
Hala Sackllah
Said Shaheen
Salman Sweis Fada Sweis
Zaki and Gabi Tams
HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the month of February, for the health and well being of:
Jeries and Malak Abukhader, their children and grandchildren
LLLL ord, You are the physician of our souls and body. We pray You grant the following parishioners good health and blessings: Metropolitan PAUL Yazigi, Archbishop Youhanna Ibrahim, Louis, Hiba, Samar, Wadih David, Rosie, Saseen Ghajer, George and Gloria Khamis, Jamal Kakish, David, Radwan, Laila Hassan,
TTTT he following parishioners and friends of the Basilica of St.
Mary have given special donations to the Church in the past few weeks: $100-For the health and well being of Fouad Kazaleh offered by his wife Nabiha Kazaleh, $100-For the health and well being of newlyweds Jamie and Gina Luoma offered by parents Mike and Randa Ansara, $200-In loving memory of Nabih Tawfic Qassis offered by his wife Juliet Qassis and family, $500-For the health and well being on newly baptized Rosabella Farah offered by her parents Ibrahim and Niveen Shatara Farah,
Upcoming Events for St. Mary Parishioners
March 4th - Ladies Society Wine Tasting March 13th - Forgiveness Vespers March 14th - Lent Begins
Thought for the Day
“If we dare to call ourselves Orthodox Christians, if we are bold enough to utter
even a single prayer to God, then we must first examine
ourselves and see if we are truly humble. We must
carefully inspect our relationships at home,
at work and in the parish. Where we see conflict, we know that we still
lack humility. The perfectly humble man or woman has no such animosities towards
his or her brethren.”
His Eminence
Metropolitan JOSEPH
Senior Heritage
The Senior Heritage Group is planning a trip to Windsor and shopping at the Duty Free Store on Thursday, February 25th. Please contact Ayda Mughannam at 734-464-1872 to reserve your seat on the bus. Space is limited. Please be at church by10:00am. The bus will leave at 10:30 sharp!
Passports are required.
Senior Heritage News Did you know that the City of Livonia offers a transportation service for Livonia residents, age 60 or older and for those who are disabled? They will pick you up from your home and take you anywhere in the City of Livonia for a cost of $2.00 each way (exact fare). Reservations are needed. For more information, please call 734-466-2700.
Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary
Please visit www.saintmarylivonia.com for details about events and ac�vi�es happening
at the Basilica of Saint Mary. If you have any ques�ons regarding Youth and Outreach Events,
please contact Fr. Jim or Ms. Chris�na Stavros at (734) 422-0010.
@ the Basilica of Saint Mary
Last summer,
SOYO made
Basilica histo-
ry with the
first-ever
2015 SOYO
Summer
Mission Trip
to help build
up the first
Orthodox
Church in
Traverse City.
God-willing
and with the
efforts of
everyone in
our parish,
our SOYO will
make parish history again this summer. They will embark on the first-ever, interna�onal SOYO Summer Mission trip to
Project Mexico—to build homes for homeless families, encourage the boys of St. Innocent Orphanage who live there,
and show that we are Chris�ans by our love and desire to grow in Him! Our youth are an example to the whole parish
because they are answering Christ’s command to love!
There are so many details which must be sorted out in order to plan a mission trip like this: fundraising ($1300 per par-
�cipant), passports, immuniza�ons, transporta�on, adult parishioners coming with us who also have a heart for mis-
sion, etc. But what is even more important, are the prayers and the presence of our parish with us as we embark on
this mission because we want to grow as a parish, together, as a result of our offering to go and do this work. A mission
trip like this has the power to cause our whole parish to grow...the ques�on is: do you want to grow in Christ and His
Church? You may not have been able to a?end this trip with us, but you can a?end and grow with us even so. You can
send us by giving.
Jesus said, “Go ,therefore, and make disciples of all na�ons, bap�zing them in the name of the Father, and the Son,
and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you even to the
end of the age” (Ma?. 28:18ff) . In effect, Jesus is saying, “If you want me with you, go where I send you.” Christ is
sending us to Project Mexico to do His work. Will you come with us? -Chris$na T. Stavros, MDiv, Parish Ministries
Coordinator, Cantor
WILL YOU GO
WITH US ? Not pictured: Frank Odeh, Eric Medvich, Peggy Medvich, Joey Kehdi, and SOYO Michael Nunu.
2016 SOYO Summer Mission Team Project Mexico : July 14 - 20
The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 5
18100 MERRIMAN ROAD � LIVONIA, MICHIGAN 48152
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Dated Material
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visit our website: www.saintmarylivonia.com
The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary
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