January 25, 2015

St. Gregory the Theologian Archbishop of Constantinople

GGGG regory was born in Nazianzus of a Greek father (who later become a Christian and a bishop) and a Christian mother. Before his baptism, he studied in Athens with basil the Great and Julian the

Apostate. Gregory often prophesied that Julian would become an apostate and persecutor of the Church and this actually happened. Gregory’s good mother, Nonna, has an especially great influence on him. When he had completed his studies Gregory was baptized. St. Basil consecrated him as Bishop of Sasima and Emperor Theodosius the Great summoned him to fill the vacant archiepiscopal throne of Constantinople. He wrote numerous works, the most famous of which are those on theology, for which he is called the Theologian. Especially known, because of its depth, is his work Homilies on the Holy Trinity. Gregory wrote against the heretic Macedonius, who erroneously taught that the Holy Spirit is a creation of God. He also wrote against Apollinarius, who erroneously taught that Christ did not have a human soul, but that His divinity was in lieu of His soul. Additionally, Gregory wrote against Emperor Julian the Aposate, his one-time fellow student. In 381, when a debate began regarding his election as archbishop, he withdrew on his own and issued a statement: “Those who deprive us of our archiepisco-pal throne cannot deprive us of God.” Afterward he left Constintiople and went to Nazianzus and there he lived a life of solitude and prayer, writing beneficial books. Although he was in poor health throughout his entire life, Gregory nevertheless lived to be eighty years old. His relics were later transferred to Rome. A reliquary containing his head reposes in the Cathedral of the Dormition in Moscow. He was, and remains, a great and wonderful light of the Orthodox Church, as much by his meekness and purity of character as by the unsurpassable depth of his mind. He reposed in the Lord in the year 390.

From: The Prologue of Ohrid

FATHER GEORGE H. SHALHOUB

248-374-0591 January 25, 2015 Issue 454

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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 Deacon Samer Hanna Salem Samaan - Parish Council Chairman Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Christina Stavros - Pastoral Ministries

Coordinator Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults- St. John Divine Irene Saba - 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

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THE EPISTLE

My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding.

Hear this, all ye people.

The Reading is from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Hebrews

Chapter 7:26,8:2

BBBB rethren, it was fitting that we should have such a High Priest, holy, blameless, unstained, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like

those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people; He did this once for all when He offered up Himself. Indeed, the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son Who has been made perfect forever. Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a High Priest, one Who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent which is set up not by man but by the Lord.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Chapter 19:1-10

AAAA t that time, Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. And there was a man named Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector, and rich. And he sought to see Who

Jesus was, but could not, on account of the crowd, because he was small of stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Jesus, for He was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must stay at your house today.” So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. And when they saw it they all murmured, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham; for the Son of man came to seek and to save the lost.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Blessing of Homes

During this Holy Season of Epiphany, Fr. George, and Fr. Jim are available to bless your home. Kindly contact the church office at 734-422-0010 to arrange a suitable time for you and your family to have your home blessed.

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PRAYER CORNER memorials

IIII am the Resurrection and the Life. He who believes in Me shall never die.” (John 11:25)

Jan. 25th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Nawal Fakhouri offered by her husband Ghattas Fakhouri and family, Jan. 25th - 1 year memorial in loving memory of Dr. Tarek Katrib offered by the family, Feb. 1st - 40 day memorial in loving memory of Suad J. Ghannam offered by her husband Saied Ghannam and family,

Thank You

“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Shane Dwyer, Sister Xavier,

Robert Malin,

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 January, in loving memory of:

Edward Ayoub Ayoub and Naimeh Ayoub

Jamal Ayoub Fred Ayoub

Salem and Nabiha Ghareeb Fuad Ghannam

Raji and Fahdeh Kakish Geno Zayid

HHHH oly Bread of Oblation is offered by the families, for the month of January, for the health and well being of:

Alex, Justin and Sharky Zayid

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, Victor, Vivian Gabriel, Jason Zaks, Rayek Abdo,

TTTT he following parishioners and friends of the Basilica of St.

Mary have given special donations to the Church in the past few weeks: $80-For the health and well being of newly churched Luca Marko Issac offered by parents Marko and Noel (Leon) Issac, $100-In loving memory of Naimeh and Ayoub Ayoub, Jamal Ayoub, Fred Ayoub and Edward Ayoub offered by Anton and Laila Hassan, $200-For the health and well being of newly churched Luca Marko Issac offered by grandparents Samir and MaryAnn Leon, $250-For the health and well being of family and friends offered by Al and Shirley Root,

From the Heart

In this changing world may God’s unchanging love surround and bless you daily in abundance

from above.

But as for me, my prayer is to Thee, O Lord. At an

acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of Thy

steadfast love answer me.

Psalm 69:13

Upcoming Events for St. Mary Parishioners

Jan. 29th - Senior Heritage Fellowship Feb. 1st - General Parish Meeting Feb. 20th - Wine Tasting Party

Condolences

TTTT he clergy and parishioners at the Basilica of St. Mary extend their deepest sympathy to wife Afaf Foteh, children Edward, Julie and Laurie, sister-in-laws Viola Sackleh and Jannette Mousa and the entire family on the passing of Fuad Foteh in Houston, Texas.

May his memory be eternal.

Senior Heritage Fellowship

Please join us on Thursday, January 29th for our Senior Heritage Program. Church Service will begin at 10:00am followed by a luncheon at 11:15am. Fr. Jim King will be giving a spiritual reflection. Lunch is $5.00, which includes Chicken Salad Croissant and sweets for dessert.

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Please visit www.saintmarylivonia.com for details about events and activities happening at the Basilica of Saint Mary. If you have any questions regarding Youth and Outreach Events,

please contact Fr. Jim or Ms. Christina Stavros at (734) 422-0010.

@ the Basilica of Saint Mary

The Best Day of my LIFE!

A Spiritual Reflection on the Celebration of Birthdays and The Orthodox Christian

Life

By Christina T. Stavros, MDiv. Parish Ministries Coordinator, Cantor The Basilica of Saint Mary Antiochian

Orthodox Church

This past week, I had the special blessing of celebrating my birthday with the teens of our parish at SOYO on Wednesday night - January 14. I planned a shorter lesson/conversation for us to have before the celebration began (which included food and Stevie Wonder music!!!) The lesson was based on this question: How can we celebrate our birthday in an Orthodox Christian way? Here are three thoughts I shared with the Teen SOYO on my birthday: 1. A Birthday is A MOMENT to Pause for a Reality Check/Perspective-Gaining Exercise A birthday is a time to remember that God created me, loves me, and is saving me. A birthday is one’s own personal New Year’s Day—a time to look at the past, look into the future and remember that God loves us personally. Psalm 139, “O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up...You formed my innermost parts. You knit me together in my mother’s womb...The days fashioned for me were all written in Your book before one of them came to be…” It is a time to remember our own personal Epiphany—our Baptism into Christ (see picture above :) ). Indeed, this year, upon remembering my baptism—I realized that this was the very best day of my life...for it was the day that Christ clothed me with Himself and my identity was established firmly in Him! As we chant at every baptism—As many of you who have been baptized

into Christ, have put on Christ. Alleluia! (Galatians 5). 2. A Birthday is A CHANCE to be Intentionally Thankful to God for the blessing of LIFE and every blessing While many times we expect to receive gifts on our birthdays, instead we can take the opportunity to act on our thankfulness to God for every good and perfect gift we have received from His Hands by reaching out in loving hospitality and blessing to all those around us—our family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors. This past Wednesday, I brought chocolates and icons of the Baptism of Christ and passed them out to all who visited the church office and it was such a blessing to all of us.

3. A Birthday is An OPPORTUNITY to Re-focus our Life on Christ and Re-commit our self to Him A birthday is a time to remember that “CHRIST IS RISEN!” —is the fact the ultimately defines me! It is the fact that defines me more than anything else! Whatever happens to me in life—whatever mistakes I make, whatever disappointments I receive, what ever I do—CHRIST has the last word and that last word is LIFE! not death...LIFE! not sin...LIFE! Not the evil one...He has done all that needs to be done for me to be with Him in paradise—I just have to want it. ALLEUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! TRULY HE IS RISEN! And so, my lesson with the SOYO ended with chanting the CHRIST IS RISEN! Apolytikion (hymn) together in English, Arabic, and Greek. I wrote it out phonetically so all could chant. It was really beautiful. Glory to God.

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Parish Council News

Anyone interested in running for the Parish Council for 2014 should inform the Nominating Committee (Fr. George Shalhoub, Andrew Ansara, Don Hayes, Nidal Fakhoury, or Maha Khalil) immediately. Those nominated must meet the following qualifications as stated in Article VI, Sec., 2 of our Constitution: “A candidate must be twenty-one (21) years of age or over and must have been a voting member of the Parish for a period of two (2) years and has fulfilled the Canonical requirements of the Faith.”

HE/SHE MUST BE A PLEDGED MEMBER AND HAVE FULFILLED THEIR PLEDGE FOR TWO (2) YEARS.

Please make sure all nominations are in prior to, or at the General Parish meeting on February 1, 2015 in the Cultural Center immediately following Liturgy. Due to term limitations, Salem Samaan, Lawrence Ghan-nam and George Kawwas will be stepping down. Nidal Fakhoury, Robert Ajlouny and Salim Sessine are eli-gible to run for a second term.

The General Parish meeting will be held on Sunday, February 1st immediately following the Liturgy in the Cultural Center.