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17840 Sky Park Circle

Irvine, CA 92614-6407

Tel: (949) 851-8933

Fax: (949) 851-0010

Email: frmlaffoon@yahoo.com

Website: www.st-mark-church.org

Very Rev. Father Michael Laffoon, Pastor

Residence phone: (949) 559-6133

Rev Fr. Patrick Irish, Attached

Rev. Protodeacon George Moubayed

Sub-deacon: Athanasius Fakhouri

Choir Director: Barbara Scholl

Chanters: Jacob Bahbah, Theresa Joubran, Karim

Youssef, & Mark Ellis

Church Office Administrator: Lydia Wakileh

2014-2015 PARISH COUNCIL

Chairman {15} Penny Skaff (949)713-7411

Vice Chairman {14} Patrick Wilde (949) 330-9819

Secretary & Assistant Treasurer {16} Richard Jirjis

(949) 552-7424

Issa Bahbah {15} Treasurer (714) 685-8841

Michael Khoury {14} (714)373-1225

Nelson Mamey {15} (949) 673-7400

Roger Tierney {14} Humanitarian (949) 699-2413

Fouad Tarazi {16} (949) 276-2923

Kyra Pelachik {15} (714) 906-9231

Afifa Artoul {16} (949) 215-2305

[Number in brackets is the member’s last year of his or

her current term]

Church School Director: Eileen Ellis (949) 458-1604

Men’s Club President: Maurice Karkar (949) 586-2560

Ladies Guild Co-Presidents: Vera Bahbah (714) 277-

5709 & Afifa Artoul (949) 215-2305

Teen SOYO President: Leilah Rodriguez (949) 470-

9876

Pastor’s Column The following article is a reflection by an Orthodox

Priest and professor. It is presented as food for

thought, as an Orthodox perspective (not the

Orthodox perspective)

Fr. Georges Massouh on When Armed Struggle

is Necessary

Is it permissible, in Christian terms, to resort to

violence in order to resist evil? This is the question

being posed by many Christians in our country,

especially given the absence of any non-violent

means to put a stop to genocide, indiscriminate

killing and forced expulsion.

Christians are called to imitate their Lord Christ

who forgave his crucifiers saying, "Father forgive

them for they know not what they do." But would

Christ have said the same thing if it was someone

else being crucified? Surely Christ would pick up a

whip in defense of the person under attack. He

would bring him down from the cross, heal his

wounds and relieve him from oppression and

suffering.

It is true that Christ said, "Love your enemies and

bless those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44).

However, He did not say to love the evil that they

do and far be it for Him to say that! For a person to

love his enemy with sincere love is to deter him

from the evil he harbors. True love assumes

speaking out to the wicked, oppressors and

aggressors. Love requires resisting and eliminating

evil, not making a truce with it or surrendering

before it. The commandment to love our enemies

does not negate the other commandment to love

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those for whom God has made us responsible: the

poor, the oppressed, the tormented of the earth.

"Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of

these, you did not do it to Me" (Matthew 25:45).

Ambrose of Milan (d. 397) expressed this verse the

best when he said, "He who does not repel the

injustice that threatens his brother when he is

capable of doing this sins no less than the one

committing the injustice."

In his book Violent and Non-Violent Struggle to

Realize Justice (Beirut: Manshurat al-Nour, 1988),

the Orthodox theologian Costi Bendaly affirms that

non-violent struggle is the ideal form of resistance,

since it realizes the harmony between the ends and

the means such that the ends are realized through

the means themselves. Bendaly adds that it is not

permissible to absolutize non-violent struggle in

such a way as to categorically and in principle reject

all violent struggle.

If a Christian arrives at the conviction that violent

struggle is the sole means of realizing justice,

Bendaly stipulates certain rules to which he must

adhere in order not to deviate from his original plan

and fall into the passion of senseless destruction and

wanton killing. The most important of these rules is

limiting violence to the goal of eliminating

injustice, oppression and aggression and after their

being eliminated the need for forgiveness,

reconciliation and peace. Thus it is not permissible

to rely on violence as a method and to follow it

unconditionally, even if difficult historical

circumstances sometimes require its use in order to

ward off tyranny, injustice and aggression.

Costi Bendaly arrives at the conclusion that the

choice between violence and non-violent forms of

struggle cannot be based merely on a position of

principle, but rather it must take into account the

necessities of the actual situation and the historical

context. When evil grows and becomes recalcitrant,

it does not leave any other choice in confronting it

apart from armed struggle…

The Takfiri movements that are sowing corruption

in the land and are wantonly spilling the blood of

the innocent and defenseless… However,

confronting these Takfiri movements requires that

we shun sectarianism. Any sectarian organizing to

confront the Takfiri movements will play into their

interests. Is there a universal national institution that

transcends sects and is capable of uprooting those

who spread corruption in the land other than the

Army?

Fr George is a professor of Islamic Studies at the

St. John of Damascus School of Theology,

Balamand Lebanon.

Feasts, Special Services and Events for October

October 5 - Annual Parish Meeting

October 10 to 12 –Annual Diocesan Meetings, St.

James Church, Modesto CA

Sunday October 12 – Parish Picnic

Saturday October 18 – Breast Cancer Walk

Sunday October 19 - Breast Cancer Lunch

November 2014 Advanced Calendar

November 1, Annual Wine and Food Tasting

November 8, Synaxis of the Archangels

November 9, St. Nectarios the wonder-worker

November 14, Holy Apostle Philip

November 15, Beginning of the Advent (Christmas)

Fast

November 16, Holy Apostle Matthew

November 21, Feast of Nativity of the Theotokos

November 30, Holy Apostle Andrew

Metropolitan Joseph’s Schedule

October 2-5, 2014

Forty Holy Martyrs of Sebaste Church, Sugar Land,

TX

Episcopal Visit

October 5-17, 2014

Balamand Patriarchal Monastery, Northern Lebanon

Fall Meeting of the Holy Synod of Antioch

October 22-27, 2014

St. George Cathedral, Coral Gables, FL

Fall Meeting of the Archdiocesan Hierarchs and

Board of Trustees

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WEEKLY SERVICES

Sunday Orthros 8:45 a.m. Confessions heard from

9:00 a.m. to 9:45 a.m.

Sunday Divine Liturgy 10:00 a.m.

NOTE: Due to hall rentals and our construction, no

Saturday Vespers will be held at St. Mark.

Selected Saints of the Month

October 6

The Holy Apostle Thomas Thomas was one of the Twelve Apostles. Through

his doubt in the Resurrection of Christ the Lord, a

new proof was given of that wonderful and saving

event. The resurrected Lord appeared to His

disciples a second time, in order to convince

Thomas. The Lord said to Thomas: Reach hither thy

finger, and behold My hands; and reach hither thy

hand, and thrust it into My side: and be not

faithless, but believing. And Thomas replied: My

Lord and my God (John 20:27-28). After the

descent of the Holy Spirit, when the apostles cast

lots to see where they would each go to preach, the

lot fell to Thomas to go to India. He was a little

saddened that he had to go so far away, but the Lord

appeared to him and encouraged him. In India, St.

Thomas converted many, both aristocrats and poor,

to the Christian Faith, and established the Church

there, appointing priests and bishops. Among

others, Thomas converted two sisters to the Faith-

Tertiana and Migdonia-both wives of Indian

princes. Because of their faith, both sisters were ill-

treated by their husbands, with whom they no longer

wanted to live after their baptism. Eventually, they

were allowed to go. Being freed of marriage, they

lived God-pleasing lives until their repose.

Dionysius and Pelagia were betrothed, but when

they heard the apostolic preaching they did not

marry, but devoted themselves to the ascetic life.

Pelagia ended her life as a martyr for the Faith, and

Dionysius was ordained a bishop by the apostle.

Prince Mazdai, Tertiana's husband, whose son,

Azan, was also baptized by Thomas, condemned the

apostle to death. Mazdai sent five soldiers to kill

Thomas. They ran him through with their five

spears, and thus the Holy Apostle Thomas rendered

his soul into the hands of Christ. Before his death,

he and the other apostles were miraculously brought

to Jerusalem for the burial of the Most-holy

Theotokos. Arriving too late, he wept bitterly, and

the tomb of the Holy Most-pure One was opened at

his request. The Theotokos' body was not found in

the tomb: the Lord had taken His Mother to His

heavenly habitation. Thus, in his tardiness St.

Thomas revealed to us the wondrous glorification of

the Mother of God, just as he had once confirmed

faith in the Resurrection of the Lord by his unbelief.

October 17

The Holy Martyrs Cosmas and Damian,

the Unmercenaries There are three pairs of holy physicians by the name

of Cosmas and Damian. The first entered into rest

peacefully on November 1, the second pair was

stoned in Rome on July 1, and the third was from

Arabia; and it is these that we speak of under today's

date. They were physicians by profession, and when

they received the Christian Faith, they healed the

sick in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They

became widely known for their miraculous healings.

The malicious pagans seized them, and took them

before Governor Lysias in the town of Aegea. Since

neither of these brothers would renounce Christ at

any cost, they were cast into the sea, then into fire,

but the omnipotent God saved them from both the

water and the fire. An angel of the Lord appeared to

them and saved them. The pagan governor ascribed

this to their alleged sorcery but they answered: ``We

know nothing of sorcery nor do we need sorcery,

but we possess the power of Christ-which saves us

and all who invoke His Most-holy Name.'' The

pagans struck them with stones but the stones

bounced off them; they shot them with arrows, but

the arrows rebounded as well. Finally, they were

beheaded with the sword. Saints Leontius,

Anthimus and Eutropius also suffered with them,

and received heavenly wreaths of glory. They

suffered in the time of Diocletian and Maximian.

Many miracles were manifested from their holy

relics, even as miracles abounded from them during

their life.

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October 23

Saint Ignatius, Patriarch of

Constantinople Ignatius was the son of Emperor Michael Rangabe.

He became patriarch after St. Methodius in 846.

Then Ignatius was deposed in 858 and exiled.

Photius, the chief secretary to the emperor, was

made patriarch in his place. However, when

Emperor Basil the Macedonian ascended the throne,

he re-instated Ignatius to the patriarchal throne. St.

Ignatius governed the Church with great zeal and

wisdom. He built the Monastery of the Holy

Archangels in which he reposed in the Lord in the

eighty-ninth year of his life.

October 31

The Holy Martyr Epimachus

He was born in Egypt and labored there in

asceticism, ending his earthly life as a martyr.

Imitating St. John the Baptist, he withdrew to the

wilderness while still a youth. Because of his great

love for God, the Spirit of God led him to every

truth and, with no other teacher, taught him how to

live a life of asceticism. Then, Epimachus learned

that the unbelievers were torturing and killing

Christians in Alexandria for the sake of Christ. All

aflame with zeal for the Faith, he went to the city

and smashed the idols. When the pagans tortured

him for this, he cried out: ``Smite me, spit on me,

put a crown of thorns on my head, put a reed in my

hand, give me gall to drink, crucify me on a cross,

and pierce me with a spear! This is what my Lord

endured, and I too want to endure it.'' In the crowd

of people who witnessed the torturing of St.

Epimachus, there was a woman who was blind in

one eye. She wept bitterly, watching the heartless

torture of this God-pleaser. When the tormentors

scraped the body of the holy martyr of Christ, blood

spurted from him, and one drop of blood touched

the blind eye of that woman. Suddenly, her blind

eye regained vision, and was as whole as the other.

Then she cried out: ``Great is the God in whom this

sufferer believes!'' After this they beheaded St.

Epimachus and his soul took up habitation in eternal

joy, in about the year 250.

Parish & Organizations News

Ladies Guild

Our Ladies Guild Friendship Tea was held on

Sunday September 21, 2014, at the home of Dr.

Samir and Mayssa Azzam. The Ladies had a very

nice fellowship. Thanks and blessing to the Azzam

family for hosting the Ladies, 50 ladies attended the

party.

At the friendship Tea the Ladies had a brief

business meeting: they discussed the plans of the

Breast Cancer Walk and Luncheon in October,

encouraged the ladies to sign for serving on

September 28, FOCUS feeding and collected their

Annual Membership Dues. A new project called

Secret Sister was started, if anyone is interested to

join, need to contact Afifa Artoul.

The ladies had their election for a new Officers for

the coming term 2014-2015, the newly Ladies Guild

Officers;

President Julie Bahbah, Vice-President Barbara

Khamis, Treasurers: Giselle Awayjan and Theresa

Joubran, Secretary Lydia Wakileh and Wisam

Farraj; Congratulations and May God Bless you!

Our next meeting will take place in the Church Hall

on October 16th, at 6:30 p.m. A Bunco game is

planned with a Potluck Dinner.

We encourage all of the Ladies to join us!

Vera Bahbah

Outgoing/ Ladies Guild President

Men’s Club

Our Men’s Club met Thursday September 25

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the home of Fr. Michael and Donna Laffoon, and

the speaker was Fr. George Aquaro of St. Matthew

Church, Torrance who spoke about the Orthodox

Church in Romania. Thanks to Fr. Michael &

Donna Laffoon for hosting the Men’s Club Meeting.

Next Men’s Club meeting will be held on Sunday

October 26th

, after Church.

Don Skaff

Men’s club secretary

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Teen SOYO Teens kidnapping was on Saturday September 13

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in the early morning and after that the Teens had

luncheon and swimming party at The Rodriquez

home. Thanks to Tony & Paula for hosting the teen

at their home.

On Friday (Sept. 26th) the teen met in the church

parking lot at 5:30 and they carpooled from the

parking lot to St. Barnabas in Costa Mesa where the

pizza and a movie was provided. The youth from

local parishes like St. Luke and Saints Peter and

Paul have also been invited.

Also, on Sunday (Sept. 28th) the SOYO met after

church. The meeting includes the youth (7-12th)

and a parent. Elections were held for new officers

and they discussed future activities.

George Bahbah

Teen Secretary

Paul Anter 10/17

Emile Ayoub 10/31

James Bahbah 10/15

Hana Bahou 10/23

Lana Chami 10/23

Sue Dabbah 10/29

Catherine Debbas 10/19

Roudiana Debbas 10/29

Michael Erdkamp 10/10

Sara Fortuna 10/27

Trevor Fortuna 10/13

Jillian Goson 10/7

Kareem Habeeb 10/27

Ehab Hanna 10/24

Lylac Joellson 10/18

Kathrina Khamis 10/27

Jabra Khamis 10/12

Elyas Khury 10/7

Lewis Malouf 10/7

Elizabeth Mamey 10/3

Joseph Munayyer 10/16

Joanna Novac 10/5

Joseph Richards 10/19

Souad Saadeh 10/10

Sylvia Saba 10/10

Angelika Schorr 10/14

Kathy Skaff 10/9 Rose Soffa 10/22

Mireille Moubayed 10/26

Maria Toubbeh 10/1

Anthony Turk 10/3

Reham Turk 10/10

Courtney Wilde 10/29

Michael & May Asaly 10/28

Leo & Irma Chade 10/27

Saad & Samar Elsayegh 10/13

Spiro & Samira Fasheh 1010

George & Charlotte Hanna 10/26

Paul & Susan Qaqundah 10/29

Robert & Kimla Ranney 10/13

Manuel & Georgette Salameh 10/8

Theodore & Kathy Skaff 10/16

“No Debt Building Campaign”

Our sanctuary remodel and expansion is

progressing and we hope to move into the new

sanctuary by the mid of December. In order to

complete this work with little or no debt, we have

embarked on a “No Debt” Campaign. So far we

have pledges and donations totaling $75,880.

Thanks to those who have made these pledges.

Please consider your “No Debt” contribution

today!

The Apostle is a monthly newsletter of St.

Mark Antiochian Orthodox Church. Parish

Organizations are to submit articles by the

15th

of the month to the Church office

(949-851-8933)

BUY SCRIP! Our Ladies Guild buys scrip from

many and various stores and restaurants (see list

included in this bulletin) at a 3 to 10% discount.

When you buy the scrip, which is accepted just like

cash at the issuing store, the parish benefits. You

pay no more for these goods and services and are

making a donation to our parish. You can

purchase this scrip from Saeda Turk at the coffee

hour.

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