June 2020

“Do you believe in the Son of man?” He answered, "And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?" Je-sus said to him, "You have seen him, and it is he who speaks to you." He said, "Lord, I believe"; and he worshiped him. Our ability and our will-ingness to believe are both essential ele-ments of a genuine faith.

This gospel reading also brings forth the heavier topic of sin and its connection to suffering and inevitable death. We learn in the church that suffering entered the world through sin; more specifically, our misuse of the God-given gift of free will in the Garden of Eden in-troduced suffering and death. As humanity continues to sin, suffering and death continues to exist. The suf-fering that exists in the world, however, is not evenly distributed or proportional to the multitude or gravity of a person’s sins. Being that we are so interrelated, we cannot escape the fact that the wrongdoings of one person almost always have negative effects on others as well. These effects are not always visible or quanti-fiable but every sin, by word, deed or thought, volun-tary or involuntary, small or grave, be it a one-time occurence or repeated daily - every single sin has a negative effect on the world and humanity as a whole with some level of suffering and eventual death as the consequence; just like everything good and every good deed has a positive effect on the world and humanity

Continued on Page 5

“Blind Man Healing & Pandemic” Sun, May 30, 2020

An Abbreviated Version of this Sermon

is available in Video Format on the Metropolis of Chicago Website

and can also be found here https://youtu.be/WPFApyW0kUM

or https://tinyurl.com/FrC-Sermonette2

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

During the Sunday of the Blind Man the gospel from the Evangelist John (Chapter 9) tells the story of Christ’s miraculous healing of the man who was born blind. During this healing, Jesus Christ mixed his spittle and earth to create a clay or ointment which he applied to the eyes of the blind man, who then had to go and wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam before he would receive his sight. Upon receiving his sight, the blind man eagerly shared the joyful news of his heal-ing but some people doubted the validity or reality of the miraculous healing. For this reason, the blind man was questioned repeatedly by the pharisees and even the man’s parents were brought to the temple to testi-fy that this man truly was born blind. However, nei-ther the testimony of the parents nor that of the blind man himself was sufficient for the ones who did not want to and were not willing to believe. Unlike the pharisees who questioned the reality of the miracle and the authenticity of the healer, the blind man, just like the Samaritan woman from the previ-ous Sunday, was a witness to Christ - ready and ripe, able and willing to believe that He was the son of man and son of God. We know this because after the blind man who was healed was, in fact, cast out of the synagogue, Christ approached him and asked him

9400 WEST CONGRESS STREET MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN 53225 PH: 414.461.9400 www.annunciationwi.org

Message from Fr. Ciprian Sas

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Father Ciprian’s Message

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as a whole. We were created by God, not for suffering and pain, discomfort, anxiety or turmoil; we were cre-ated good, in the image and likeness of God, for all good things, harmony and eternal joy in the presence of our creator God and his angels. To this end, God manifests himself in this imperfect world, by giving us guidance, protection, comfort, and healing.

We know that Christ could have healed the blind man merely by saying the words. And yet Jesus Christ chose to create the clay or ointment, to apply it to the man’s eyes and to instruct the blind man to wash his eyes in the pool of Siloam. Through this, God reveals that he can use physical elements of this world like the earth mixed with his spittle and the water of Siloam to effectuate healing, but maybe even more importantly, Christ enabled the blind man to become a real partici-pant in his own healing by going to the pool of Siloam and actually washing his eyes.

Similarly, during this Covid-19 pandemic, if we are able and willing to believe, we will again witness Christ effectuate healing through elements and people of this world. He has undoubtedly offered us a similar opportunity to participate in our own healing, like the blind man in the Gospel Reading (John 9:1-38). He healed the blind man by giving physical sight to his blind eyes and spiritual insight to his soul because he accepted Christ as the son of man and son of God. He will do the same for us, as long as we too, like the blind man, are able and willing to believe in God’s love and mercy for his children and choose to partici-pate in God’s healing process.

With love in Christ, Fr. Ciprian Sas, Parish Priest

Apolytikion of Pentecost

Plagal of the Fourth Tone

Blessed are You, O Christ our God, who made fisher-

men all-wise, sending upon them the Holy Spirit and,

through them, netting the world. O Loving One, glory

to You.

Kontakion of Pentecost

Plagal of the Fourth Tone

When the Most High came down and confounded

tongues of men (Babel), He divided the Nations.

When He dispensed the Tongues of Fire, He called all

to unity, and with one voice we glorify the Most Holy

Spirit.

SACRAMENTS & SPECIAL SERVICES

SACRED GIFTS—ALTAR CANDLES

Births / Baptisms / Chrismations / Weddings Callie Jean Luedeke, a new member of our Annunciation Parish Family, was born on Saturday, May 9, 2020. Congratu-lations to her parents Jeff and Lauren Luedeke, as well as her extended family.

Anthony Major Roumas, the newest member of our Annunciation Parish Family, was born on Friday, May 22, 2020. Congratulations to his parents Nick & Sarah Roumas.

Funerals & Memorial Services:

May their souls rest in peace among the saints and their memory be eternal!

- Efthimia “Effie” Nassiopoulos fell asleep in the Lord on Monday, May 11, 2020. Her committal service was held at Wisconsin Memorial Park on Fri, May 15.

- Stella Papachristou fell asleep in the Lord on Sunday, May 24, 2020. A private funeral service for immediate family was on Friday, May 29, 2020 and interment at Pinelawn Memorial Park.

- 40-day Memorial Service for Dr. Thomas (Athanasios) Pagedas offered by Elaine, his wife and their children & grand-

children. (May 3)

- 6-month Memorial Service for Demetra (Δήμητρα) Gamouras offered by her loving children & grandchildren. (May 3)

- 7-year Memorial Service for Presvytera Mary Harmand offered by Elaine Pagedas, her daughter and family. (May 3)

- 40-day Memorial Service for Emmanouel Maheras offered by the LaGalbo Family and Fotini Gamouras. (May 17)

- 2-year Memorial Service for Peter (Panayiotis) Yannaras offered by his wife Christine (Hrisoula) Yannaras. (May 17)

- 40-day Memorial Service for Norma Bruss offered by her family. (May 24)

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Altar Candles offered in loving memory of:

- Dr. Thomas (Athanasios) Pagedas offered by Elaine, his wife and their children and grandchildren. (May 3)

- Presvytera Mary Harmand offered by Elaine Pagedas, her daughter and family. (May 3)

- Emmanouel Maheras offered by the LaGalbo family. (May 17)

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PRESVYTERA MAGGIE’S MESSAGE

During my conversations with some of our sweet An-nunciation Parish Family members in their 70’s, 80’s and even 90’s, I couldn’t help but notice a beautiful theme. Even though they were sad about the pandemic, and missed being in church, their tone emanated joyful-ness, hopefulness and gratitude. What made this even more amazing was that they felt this way even though some of them have not been able to set foot in our be-loved church building frequently or at all for not months, but years due to their ailments. One of these dear friends even said something like: “My legs may not work well, my eyes may not be as good as before, but I have my spirit. Every morning when I wake up I say ‘Thank you God for another beautiful day!’” I was thinking about this for a while… Some days sure don’t feel beautiful to us. Some mornings are dreary, and we might feel down, as our physical or emotional pain may take over. How can we feel joy when we are feeling sad? It will not come easily for many of us. It takes hard work, help from others, and patience. It is important to realize that there is a human tendency to focus on the negative: it is called negativity bias. Our brain at times sifts out the positive and hones in on the negative from what we experience in our interactions, our activities, and our surroundings. That 10-minute conversation that touched someone’s heart? All you might remember is the “awkward silence” in the middle of it all. That walk you took in your neighborhood? All you might notice is the trash someone left on the side of the road. The time you’re spending with your loved-ones? What might stand out most are the disagreements. As if negativity bias isn’t enough, there is also confir-mation bias – when we purposefully look for or casually notice proof that confirms those negatives we remem-ber. This is when we see something that backs our theo-ry that someone is difficult, or that our day is bad, while ignoring all the good; and we say “aha!.” When I was sitting in our backyard the other day, all I could see were the plants we haven’t yet trimmed – even though we have trimmed most of them. I couldn’t relax, and certainly wasn’t taking in the beauty of the rest of the plants. Then, to confirm how bad things real-ly were, I directed my eyes to the small patch of algae on our tiny pond. As I was moping (since I just cleaned the pond a couple days before then), I was beginning to

contemplate going in the house, when I suddenly noticed two eyes peeping at me. It was the most adorable tiny frog. A few inches from him there was another one, and an-other one. I counted 12! That’s when I also no-ticed a patch of lily-of-the-valley, my favorite flower, right behind the pond. Then I remembered my conversations with our sweet Annunciation elders. There was so much in the back-yard to feel joyful about: scents, sights and sounds! Whether you like frogs or not, you must admit it is a lesson to be learned, when you miss twelve living, breathing little creatures that are right in front of your nose, because you are so focused on everything you are unhappy about. We could say: I couldn’t see the frogs and flowers for the algae and dry branches! This is how we miss the blessings around us. Some of those bless-ings may not be current or even our own – they may be our loved ones’ joys, or precious memories from our past. With faith and our hope in God we can also find joy in the anticipation of blessings yet to come. Research shows that listing things we are thankful for on a daily basis can help with our mood and outlook. Sometimes it is not easy to come up with a list of even three blessings. The Thanksgiving Akathist helps us to slow down and look for the beauty around us, remind-ing us also that sometimes there are things we initially may not perceive to be blessings, but they really are! Our yearning for Communion on Sundays may make us feel sad, for example, but this increasing thirst can be something to be grateful for too. Glory to you, the Goal in whom mankind's highest dreams come true, Glory to you, for our unquenchable thirst for commun-ion with God, Glory to you, making us dissatisfied with earthly things, ...Glory to you, O God, from age to age. (Thanksgiving Akathist) Love, Pres Maggie

Finding Joyfulness and Gratitude

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PRESIDENT’S CORNER

PHILOPTOCHOS NEWS Dear Annunciation Family,

Happy summer to all!

We congratulate our High School graduates! We are pleased to announce that Annunciation Philoptochos awarded monetary graduation gifts to Eleni Tzougros, Gabriella Tzougros, John Sardo, Mia Liacopoulos, George Schmidt and Jack Johnson. We wish them much success in their future en-deavors.

During this time of dealing with Covid-19, the Philoptochos made a donation to Kathy’s House to help support their efforts for patients and their families.

Please remember that Philoptochos is here for anyone who needs financial help. Please do not hesi-tate to contact us. We continue to remain committed to our mission for our parish family.

Stay safe and well.

Evelyn Pappas Philoptochos President

Dear Annunciation Family,

I hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a beautiful summer spent with family and friends. Please

make sure to stay informed and look for updates on our website, Facebook, newsletters, emails etc. Praying

together and working as a team we will keep the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church and all of his faithful

Strong for years to come. We are working with the Metropolis to strengthen our bond with all our orthodox

faithful and we look forward to great things in the future.

On behalf of Father Ciprian and the

entire Parish Council, we love you

and we pray you are well.

Respectfully Always,

Michael N. Stavropoulos

Parish Council President

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STAY CONNECTED WITH YOUR PARISH FAMILY Click Like & Follow our Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/annunciationchurch/

Stream our services & prayers Live or On-Demand --- Remember, No Facebook account is need-ed to LIVE STREAM (view) the services. If prompted to Log in or Create New Account, you can simply click Not now and then keep watching. Older previously streamed services & other videos are available too. Direct link to live streams and videos is: www.facebook.com/annunciationchurch/videos/

Subscribe to our Listserv, and encourage others to do the same, at the bottom of our website homepage www.annunciationwi.org

For those who have not taken the opportunity to complete their 2020 stewardship Pledge form, it can now be filled out and submitted electronically directly to the church office via our web-site. The form is located at http://www.annunciationwi.org/stewardship/

Print, Complete & Send the FAMILY INFORMATION FORM, located at https://tinyurl.com/annunciation-fam-info - We are in the process of updating and expanding our database.

Video Chats hosted by Fr. Ciprian --- Pre-register & receive Zoom Link by email https://forms.gle/H7LDEAeUKRyDRvvJ9

- Kids (4:00pm), Children (4:30pm), Teenagers (5:00pm) & Young Adults (5:30pm) – Every Tues-day at their respective time

- Online Bible Study – Every Wednesday at 10:00am

- Virtual Fellowship (Coffee Social) for ALL AGES – Every Sunday at 4:00pm

Again, please stay in touch via phone with those whom you know do not use computers/phones and social media.

Separate but United --- https://chicago.goarch.org/separate-but-united

The Metropolis asks the faithful for their continued prayers for our first responders, doctors, nurses, and for the people under their care. This initiative is meant to serve as spiritual nour-ishment for everyone during these difficult times, as we are now separated but still united as the Body of Christ. This webpage contains sermonettes, prayers, reflection or stories from the clergy members and others of the Metropolis and new one is posted daily.

Interactive Resources for Youth & Young Adults --- www.y2am.org/athome

Milwaukee & MKE County Resources --- https://tinyurl.com/covid-19-mke-resources

This useful document has been compiled and is kept current by Rachel Contos and it contains an amazing amount of resources of all kinds available right here in our area.

Financial, Groceries, Gas & other Assistance --- If you are facing financial or other hardship due to Covid-19, call the Church Office as we have some resources available internally and through the Metropolis of Chicago as well.

COVID-19 RESOURCES

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SPONSOR OUR KOINONIA At the end of 2019 we were faced with having to print the Koinonia in house.

Many of us have come to love this monthly publication and look forward to receiving it in order to learn

about our parish life and, therefore, we are committed to use this opportunity to improve

the quality of the Koinonia and expand our outreach by growing our database.

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Become a SPONSOR of our KOINONIA publication by

buying an ad space of your desired size.

Once you choose your ad size and color option,

contact the church office - we can prorate the current

year & help finalize your ad content (text or artwork).

Monthly payments are available if preferred.

Tel: 414-461-9400

Email: info@annunciationwi.org

NOTE: All new ads or donations need to arrive at

church by the 20th day of the previous month.

Another option is to Become a SPONSOR of our

KOINONIA publication by making a one-time

donation of $120 or higher per calendar year and

your name will be listed on a Sponsor Page, alpha-

betized by last name, for the remainder of that year.

4 x 4 inches

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This 4x4 inches ad

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WEEKLY MESSENGER EMAIL to our

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at no additional cost ($150 value).

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STREAMING SERVICES AT HOME

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SPECIAL VISITORS TO THE CHILDREN

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SPONSORS OF THE KOINONIA Donors who have made a minimum one-time donation of $120 for the current calendar year—thank you!

Your name will be listed on a this page, alphabetized by last name, for the remainder of that year.

1. Barbara Alex

2. Joan Andropolis

3. Dr. Basil and Maria Doumas

4. Marlene Ego

5. John & Pat Galanis

6. Elaine Ganos

7. Arthur & Chrys Labros

8. Dr. Tom & Elaine Pagedas

9. Anastasia Papageorge

10. Peter & Rosemary Petroll

11. Philoptochos Society

12. Ted & Dorothaya Sarandos

13. Fr. Ciprian and Pres. Maggie Sas

14. Elaine Spelius

15. Will & Betty Ticoras

16.

Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church

9400 West Congress Street

Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53225

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MILWAUKEE, WI

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