THE SUNDAY MESSENGER
October 7, 2018

FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EXALTATION

In Der Hakob’s absence today, we welcome The Very Rev. Fr. Simeon Odabashian, our Diocesan Vicar, who will celebrate Badarak with us and offer an inspiring message. Hayr Simeon is a good friend and familiar face to our church family. Asdvadz Oknagan, Hayr Soorp.

ARMENIA – Illuminated by the Presence of God

The prologue of the Gospel of St. John opens with the words, “In the beginning was the Word…” and is contextualized in verse 18, “and the Word became flesh.” This is for humanity a transformative revelation about the very understanding of who God is and illuminates the ancient understanding of the Monotheistic God known but yet mysteriously hidden in the ancient sacred scriptures of the Old Testament. The Incarnation of God, who remains unchanged according to his eternal essence, makes himself known by revelation to and from the mouths of the prophets and the history of Israel, always remaining transcendent, but reveals himself in the imminent realm of creation. When we see and know Jesus, we have seen the image and likeness of the Father as he told Phillip, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9)

God chose to transcend his creation by immersing Himself into it, sending his son into the world and personally uniting his uncreated divinity to his creation in the conception of Jesus from the womb of the Blessed Virgin. St. Athanasius teaches us that “God became man so that man can become god.” The goal of life is to become god, not in an essential sense but, by becoming by grace what he is by nature through baptism and divinization.

As baptized followers of Christ, we are, therefore, in fact, children of God and imbued with communion with Christ from our baptism. Our eyes are opened, sealed with the Divine author’s hand, to see the divine image impressed upon all of creation and more specifically in those in whom God’s Spirit dwells in the seal of Holy Chrismation, anointed with the life-giving energies of divinity.

Christian tradition reveals this deeply rooted and mysterious premise in everything that the church is, and does. What we believe, we pray (Lex Orandi est Lex Credandi), what we believe we write, what we believe we draw, what we believe we build and so on.

A new exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was opened and blessed by the presence of His Holiness, KAREKIN II and many high-ranking clergies of the Armenian Church including the primate of the Eastern Diocese, Fr. Daniel Findikyan. Armenia! The exhibition explores “the remarkable artistic and cultural achievements of the Armenian people in a global context over fourteen centuries—from the fourth century when the Armenians converted to Christianity in their homeland at the base of Mount Ararat.”

I would encourage everyone to make every effort to visit and attend the exhibition which is now open and will run until January 13, 2019.

Our diocese too has been making every effort to bring this tradition of incarnate Christian faith through illumination. Our church has many beautiful and very educational resources which are for our use and available now in digital and emerging formats, using modern technology to present the same ancient apostolic and orthodox faith in living color, not to replace our icons, but to compliment them for a new and sophisticated society. The diocesan department of public relations and those who work so hard to bring the gospel message to life in living color through the various means that we have whether it is video, literature, art, illustration or social media, is to be commended. I encourage everybody to make great use of these wonderful resources that will illuminate our minds and peak the interest of all the children of our church both old and young alike.

By Fr. Shnork Souin

TODAY’S BIBLE READINGS:

2Corinthians 13:5-13 (page 170) New Testament
Mark 11:27-33 (page 44) New Testament – (Please follow the Armenian Reading in your Bible)
Isaiah 17: 7-14 (page 696) Old Testament

“Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing” (1Tim 2:8). Please pray for Doris Alahverde, Anto Vartanian, Butch Kumkumian, Annabelle Alexanian, Alice Charles, Armenoui Aznavuryan and Pearl Jamgochian for a return to better health and to feel the presence of God in their lives. Pray for our country and her leaders; and also for our children who have returned to school – that they may continue their education in a peaceful and safe environment. Continue praying for our sister churches in Kerala, India, and for those affected by Hurricane Florence.

SAVE THE DATE: A Banquet honoring The Deacons and Choir of Holy Trinity Armenian Church Sunday, November 18, 2018 immediately following Badarak Stay tuned for more information Contact Holy Trinity Office 215-663-1600or office@holytrinity-pa.org with questions.

Coffee Hour. This year we are looking for individuals or families, to run a Coffee Hour each Sunday. (Those who have been running it, are overloaded with doing more than one job on Sundays.) There are sign-up sheets for the next 4 month of Sundays. Anyone wishing to sponsor a special Coffee Hour (Birthday, Anniversary, 40 Days or more, etc.) other than the normal Coffee Hour must contact Merle Santerian 215-205-1507, to make arrangements 2 weeks ahead of time. Under the new scheduling, if a Sunday has no one signed up on the Board, to run the Coffee Hour, there will be no Coffee Hour that Sunday. So, please volunteer and let’s fill all the Sundays in on the Schedule. It is not that involved, and Merle will explain what you have to do to run one. Any questions just see her on any Sunday or call her at the above phone number. Thanks, for your cooperation! We know how much everyone enjoys the Fellowship Hour and we would like to keep it going.

It’s Bake Shoppe time again! For this years’ Bazaar we are looking for donations of HOMEMADE items. Chocolate chips are our favorites! Any questions please contact Berj Murray at 856-912-2417.

FAR UPDATE: Mkhitar Iskandaryan, 13, suffers from nerve pain in his leg. With his doctor’s recommendation and with FAR’s help, Mkhitar was sent to Aparan Summer Resort Camp to get some more physical activity. Without FAR’s help his family couldn’t have afforded it. After the organization started supporting Aparan the summer camp was able to expand its capacity to host 10 additional children, and 130 in total. FAR also provided additional resources to the camp’s game store and library. According to Camp Manager Armine Episkoposyan, the camp aims to provide children with different health and developmental problems the opportunity to play in a clean and calm environment. Most importantly, the camp also helps children with autism to integrate. “The games and toys purchased by FAR are a huge support to us and the children,” added Camp Leader Varduhi Aghayan. To learn more, go to: http://farusa.org/2018/09/19/fars-support-enables-more-children-to-attend-summer-camp/ To support programs like FAR’s summer camps, go to: https://secure.qgiv.com/for/armenianrelief/

GIFT AUCTION: We are in need of donations for the Harvest Bazaar Gift Auction and are asking for your help. We will again feature our Raffle ticket items valued at over $100 and our silent auction for special items. Our goal is to obtain new gifts each in value of $100 or more but we are happy to accept gifts of various values that we can combine in our baskets. Gifts can be geared toward younger children like Star Wars, Spiderman, Pokemon, or other trending items for kids. For teenagers (movie theater basket) or adults (golf, tennis, restaurants, massage/beauty or home). Gift baskets and gift certificates are most appreciated. We also will have letters you can take to various businesses to see if they would provide a $20 to $30 gift certificate for free. If you own a business and are willing to donate, please let us know. Wine or liquor are popular items that we can combine with other items. For the special items we would look for large value items (over $200), liquor, jewelry, oriental rugs for home, car (new or used) and vacation houses. In addition, if anyone could lend us their beach house for a weekend or week, that would help to generate funds. Cash will also be appreciated to purchase desirable items. Please call or email Cece Garibian at 215-884-9292 or cecelia714@gmail.com OR Tanya Paretchan at 215-947-4394 or tparetchan@hotmail.com, for more details. Thank you in advance for all your generosity and support.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD begins again and we invite you to be a part of this amazing outreach by filling shoeboxes for underprivileged children all over the world, including Armenia. Many of you have participated in the past and we hope you will again. Parents and grandparents: take your children to the dollar store so that they can be a part of the process. OCC Shoeboxes will soon be available but it’s not too soon to start shopping for fun and necessary items that will delight a child. Look for the flyers around the church that will give ideas about how to “Pack A Shoebox” and many other details. Filled boxes should be returned to church by Sunday, November 11. For any questions, contact Jeanette Der Hagopian (215-206-0440) or choirboss@hotmail.com OR Emily Movsesian (734-277-2753) or emovsesian@gmail.com. To those who are unable to fill a shoebox, donations will be gratefully accepted. Checks should be made payable to: Holy Trinity Armenian Church, Memo: OCC

2018 Attendance: Plate/Candle Collection:

September
2 – 57 people $231.00
9 – 113 people $616.00
16 – 97 people $528.00
23 – 79 people $400.00
30 – 111 people $504.00
Weekly Expenses: $6,000.00

CHURCH CALENDAR (please mark your calendars)

October
Sunday, Oct 7: 2 pm Intercommunal at St. Gregory Illumimator
Friday, Saturday & Sunday 26, 27 & 28: Harvest Bazaar

November
Tuesdays 6, 13, 20 (Tuesday mornings): Scripture and Shnorhali
Sunday November 18: Banquet

Men’s Club “200 Club” Ticket Information
The 2018 – 19 tickets have been mailed or are being distributed at church. Please submit your payments before the end of September. Note: We have six (6) tickets available for purchase. The first drawing of the season is scheduled for early November. Thank you & Good Luck!

ATTIC TREASURES will return again to the Harvest Bazaar this fall. With limited storage space available at church, we are more focused on items we can accept to be sold at the Attic Treasures table. Gently Used Items must be CLEAN & UNDAMAGED. Desired items are jewelry, women’s accessories, housewares, and small furnishings. Toys, clothing, books straw baskets & florist vases will not be accepted this year . Attic Treasures should be placed on the left side inside the coat room located in the lobby. This is a new location. Please, DO NOT LEAVE in the Sunday School area.Call Ayshe Chakmaklian for more info. at 610-828-2411. If you need a New Jersey pick up call Grace Meranshian at 856-217-9333.

Using the Pew Book: In order to enrich understanding of the Divine Liturgy, we encourage our faithful to follow along in the large two-part Pew Book. Part One includes the classical Armenian used in the Liturgy; the facing page is the translation in modern Western Armenian. Part Two contains the transliteration of the classical Armenian; the right-hand page has the English translation. This Pew Book includes the prayers of the celebrant usually offered inaudibly. The prayers offered aloud are indicated in boldface type.

PARKING REMINDER –
> Non-Disabled Persons parking spaces are designated with white lines.
> Disabled Persons Parking spaces are designated with blue lines and are reserved for vehicles with a State-authorized disability placard or license plate.
> No parking is allowed in the driveway nearest to the kitchen door.
THANK YOU for your cooperation!

THE NICENE CREED/ HAVADAMK – This is the Profession of our Faith which is recited every Sunday moments after the Gospel is read from the altar. Sometimes it is sung, but more often it is recited by the Deacons and/or the Choir. We invite you to affirm your own “Profession of Faith” by reciting along with us. God longs for all of us to express our faith and devotion to Him.

THE KISS OF PEACE: After the gifts of the Eucharist are brought to the Altar Table, the deacon proclaims, “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” The person giving the greetings says, Kristos ee mech mer Haydnetsav – Christ is revealed amongst us. The recipient would respond, Orhnial eh Haydnootiunun Kristosee – Blessed is the revelation of Christ.

Anyone who wishes to request any Requiem Services MUST inform the office by 1:30pm Wednesday the week before. If you also want to sponsor the Fellowship Hour you MUST call Merle Santerian at 215-947-3777.

Would you like to:

– receive this Bulletin on Friday via email?
– request a Hokehankist, house blessing or hall rental information?
– find in-depth information on our faith, our parish and our activities?
– sign up for an event online?
– If the answer to any of these questions is YES, please visit our parish website at www.holytrinity-pa.org

WE ASK THAT EVERYONE KINDLY TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES and all other such electronic devices prior to entering the sanctuary out of respect for the sanctity of our services.