June/July 2017 - 1645 Phillips Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32308 ¨ (850) 878-0747 ¨ Rev. Fr. Robert J. O’Loughlin¨ http://www.hmog.org

Following Christ in our Journey ~ A Message from Fr. Robert

It is important for all of us to take an inventory of our lives, and make cer-tain that Christ and His love is in the front of everything we do. Without His blessing, and His love, we limit ourselves in living a productive life. We are to allow ourselves to be nourished by His love, and to support each other in His love, strengthen each other in His love, so that we will all together be able to live constructive, helpful, joyful lives in the midst of various chal-lenges that we come across. Fr. Thomas Hopko once said, “If a parish or an individual Christian has no awareness and consciousness of being “sent” by God to do His work, and to accomplish His will in this world, then that Church is not a healthy Parish, and such a Christian is not living out their faith!” We are not living up to our Orthodox Christian identity if we don’t fulfill this calling to “go forth” and become Christ’s witnesses in the world around us.

When Jesus gave His disciples the new commandment “to love one another as I have loved you,” His followers never limited this love to a closed circle, to only one’s own people. We should never limit our Christian witness. As now summer vacations are upon us, taking trips, doing fun things, enjoying family and friendships are more available to us at this time of year when things generally slow down. We should not forget about God and His Church. We can take some time to discern what our purpose with Christ is in our lives.

One of the things about our Orthodox tradition is that there is an ethos or a way of being. It does not take a vacation as it is who we become. It does not mean that we should not enjoy life and its many blessings. Orthodoxy is a way of life which includes praying, worshipping, learning, growing, sharing, serving and witnessing our faith. When we journey with God we are going to discover there are distractions all around. We need to be mentally prepared for the distractions that will come against us.

If we prepare for the uncertainties of the journey to get closer to God we can be mentally and spiritually ready to handle it. There are times when we are driving that we get lost and need directions and often times it’s the map or GPS that we look to. If we follow God’s will for us we will have a safe and mean-ingful journey. There is a responsibility about seeking after God and following him in the direction that he calls us to.

There are many voices in this age that will try to lure us away and cause us to put God out of our focus during our vacations. I encourage you to visit other Orthodox Churches when you are out of town. It’s amazing how we are all connected. It can help us stay connected to the Church and realize the traditions that we are all trying to maintain. We can continue to be a follower of Christ if we will spend time get-ting to know Him and to follow Him always.

Wishing you a safe and blessed summer,

Fr. Robert

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If an emergency or special

need should arise, please con-tact Fr. Rob immediately at

850-559-8184.

2017 Greek Food Festival

Baking Dates

9:00 am start time

Pastitsio -- June 17th & 24th

Moussaka -- July 22nd

Baklava - August 24, 25, & 26

Koulourakia - September 9th

Paximadia - TBA

Galatoboureko - September 16th

Kourambiedes - September 23d

Open - September 30

Rice Pudding - October 5th

Please note: Baking dates are subject to change.

Panagia Chapel—Roof Tiles

campaign continues...

The Panagia Chapel at the Diakonia Retreat Center is in its final stages. To wrap up the building of the Panagia Chapel, His Emi-

nence has asked that each family give the names of their loved ones, living and de-

ceased to be sealed in the Holy Table during consecration and prayed for during each ser-vice held in the Chapel. When submitting

names, it is requested that each family prayerfully considers a sponsorship of $30 or more, as you are able, to the completion of

the Panagia Chapel’s roof.

Please make checks payable to our parish,

Holy Mother of God, and write “Roof Tiles” in the memo and include it with the form

with the names.

Metropolis Clergy-Laity

Assembly, Philoptochos & Southeastern Choir

Federation Conference

Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church Raleigh, NC

June 21-24

** Deadline to return to the Church office is Monday, June 12th

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Parish Gathering - Seafood Boil

Thanks to Nick Joanos and family for the delicious food

and all who helped for a beautiful evening of fellowship.

Feasts of the Church- Holy Pentecost Introduction The Feast of Holy Pentecost is celebrated each year on the fiftieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter) and

ten days after the Feast of the Ascension of Christ. The Feast is always celebrated on a Sunday. The Feast commemorates

the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, a feast of the Jewish tradition. It also celebrates

the establishment of the Church through the preaching of the Apostles and the baptism of the thousands who on that day

believed in the Gospel message of salvation through Jesus Christ. The Feast is also seen as the culmination of the revela-

tion of the Holy Trinity.

Biblical Story The story of Pentecost is found in the book of The Acts of the Apostles. In Chapter two we are told that the Apostles of our

Lord were gathered together in one place. Suddenly, a sound came from heaven like a rushing wind, filling the entire house

where they were sitting. Then, tongues of fire appeared, and one sat upon each one of Apostles. They were all filled with the

Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as directed by the Spirit (Acts 2:1-4). This miraculous event occurred

on the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, celebrated by the Jews on the fiftieth day after the Passover as the culmination of the

Feast of Weeks (Exodus 34:22; Deuteronomy 16:10). The Feast of Weeks began on the third day after the Passover with the

presentation of the first harvest sheaves to God, and it concluded on Pentecost with the offering of two loaves of unleav-

ened bread, representing the first products of the harvest (Leviticus 23:17-20; Deuteronomy 16:9-10).

Since the Jewish Feast of Pentecost was a great pilgrimage feast, many people from throughout the Roman Empire were

gathered in Jerusalem on this day. When the people in Jerusalem heard the sound, they came together and heard their

own languages being spoken by the Apostles (Acts 2:5-6). The people were amazed, knowing that some of those speaking

were Galileans, and not men who would normally speak many different languages. They wondered what this meant, and

some even thought the Apostles were drunk (Acts 2:7-13). Peter, hearing these remarks, stood up and addressed the

crowd. He preached to the people regarding the Old Testament prophecies about the coming of the Holy Spirit. He spoke

about Jesus Christ and His death and glorious Resurrection. Great conviction fell upon the people, and they asked the

Apostles, "What shall we do?" Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ

for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38-39).

The Bible records that on that day about three thousand were baptized. Following, the book of Acts states that the newly

baptized continued daily to hear the teaching of the Apostles, as the early Christians met together for fellowship, the

breaking of bread, and for prayer. Many wonderful signs and miracles were done through the Apostles, and the Lord added

to the Church daily those who were being saved (Acts 2:42-47).

© Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

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2017 Graduates!

Congratulations to the following 2017 high school and college graduates. We wish you the best in all of your future endeavors.

College Sophia Nolas - Fordham University

Philoptochos (Olibia Drzewiecki) and

AHEPA(Mike Papageorge) present scholar-

ships to graduating senior, William Perrigan.

GOYAns wishing Moms Happy Mother’s Day

Thanks so much to Philoptochos for

providing the four GOYAns attending

St. Stephens Camp, with the generous

monetary donation for half of the

tuition

High School William Perrigan— Maclay

Family Worship at Home and in The Church excerpts from an article by Rev. Dr. Philip Zymaris

We often speak of the Church of the Home and its importance in a family’s spiritual

life. How would you define it, what are some of its expressions and how does the

Church of the Home complement life in the parish and vise versa? It is very important

because in our tradition what goes on in the home and what goes on in the church building are al-ways connected. Our Church makes the distinction between personal prayer (home alone) and liturgical prayer (in

church all-together). The two go together, they feed each other according to this teaching and both are absolutely nec-essary. Similarly, the life in the church is fed by the life in the home (the kat’oikon ecclesia). The whole Orthodox life and ethos demands that we have a good foundation from the home. And when we go to church, we bring that good foundation with us so that everything falls naturally into place. If this is not taught in the home, going to church is go-

ing to become a mere duty and not something necessary for true life.

© Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

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Good Intentions Gone Bad: Our Overextended Families by:Ary Christofidis, Ph.D, a licensed clinical psychologist Over the past 18 years I have asked every family I’ve seen in therapy how often they eat together. One father replied, “We’re all very busy, but we try our hardest to eat together at least once a week, on Sunday.” More probing questions about the family’s weekly schedule revealed that there were other times during the week that everyone was home at the same time. For a moment, I sat there puzzled.

“What’s happening those other times?” I asked. “Well . . . I grab my food and go to my room, my brother goes into the basement to eat and play video games, and mom and dad sometimes sit at the table by themselves,” one of the teenagers replied. After all these years of listening to families de-

scribe their “crazy” schedules, I see a growing trend that appears to be pushing Orthodox Christian families further away from each other and from God—a trend that is hurting our relationships with our family members and our rela-tionship with God.

God’s Commandments

“You shall have no other gods before me. ”

“You shall not make for yourself an idol . . . you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.”

God’s first and second commandments challenge us to look more deeply at distinguishing how we fail in our attempt to love God and

how we might fall into the trap of idol worship. In Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus, the elder says: When we see an object that attracts us, we easily become attached to it . . . If this lasts for a length of time, then this object be-comes our idol [ . . . ] which takes the place in our heart that belongs to God. Though we might replace God with idols, God does not

change His love for us nor His desire for us to come closer to Him. Remember how the lawyer answered Christ’s question on the means of acquiring salvation? “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’” Christ’s response was simple and clear, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live” (Luke 10:27-28).

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” As Christians, our day of rest and devotion to God is Sunday. However, over the last

decade, more and more activities have been scheduled on this important day, even in the mornings. This makes it very difficult for par-ents to say “no” to their child and teach them the importance of attending church. (An even more sad and difficult situation is when a parent has to work on Sundays.) I remember when the only things open on Sunday were church and a few restaurants. You couldn’t even get gasoline for your car! Boy, how times have changed—but who changed and why? Have we forgotten the importance of worship-

ing God as a family? One of my favorite examples of the significance of family worship comes from the Book of Acts: “Cornelius, . . . a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms liberally to the people, and prayed constantly to God. …he saw clearly in a vision an angel of God coming in and saying to him, ‘Cornelius . . . Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before

God’” Here, the angel of God is confirming Cornelius and his family’s commitment to God by being obedient, prayerful and charitable. But how can we commit our lives to God if we are too busy? How can we become devout like Cornelius when there is not a free moment in our daily lives?

In an intriguing story called “Satan’s Convention,” an unknown author tells how Satan directs his dark angels to lure Christians away from God. Satan says, “Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!”

“How shall we do this?” shouted his angels. “Keep them busy in the nonessentials of life and invent innumerable schemes to occupy their minds,” he answered. We must be vigilant and recognize that the devil is relentless in his pursuit to pull us away from God.

Righting the Wrong

For many cultures, including the Greek culture, well-rounded education and life experiences (activities) seem reasonable for future suc-cess—until they (rather their schedules) begin to choke the life (time) out of families and their worship of God. Providing our children

with all the material comforts surely helps them enjoy this life more. But in order to provide our children with all of those comforts, we work even harder and spend more time away from our loved ones and God. We convince ourselves, or should I say, deceive ourselves, into believing that our efforts have good intentions.

Let's stop for a moment and ask, why? Why do we let getting into college become more important than getting into heaven? Why do we let making money take priority over making time for God? We’re feeding their minds and bodies, but are we feeding their souls?

Over the years many parents have told me they were surprised their children did not resist attending family therapy. I have found that

children welcome the time the whole family spends together in the office without any interruptions. Children and parents begin to value true “family time,” even in small amounts, and to resist the distractions that surround them. When families seek therapy, their “good intentions” are to remedy the conflict they are experiencing in their homes. Their struggle is to right the “wrong”—the busy lifestyle that is pulling them apart.

If we put God first, for ourselves and for our family, we too can receive the blessings from above. However, this does require change and faith. My challenge to all families is to consider a few adjustments at home:

• Spend quality family time with cell phones, televisions, and games turned off.

• Carve out time for family devotions, spiritual reading and preparing for church.

• Break bread together as much as possible, make it a point to gather around the family table and share a meal and, by doing that,

you will surely come a little closer to each other and to God. To that end, St. John Chrysostom is very clear about what the bottom line is and how to make sure that our good intentions do not go bad: We are so concerned with our children’s schooling [and worldly success]; if only we were equally zealous in bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord… This, then, is our task: to educate both ourselves and our children in godliness; otherwise

what answer will we have before Christ’s judgment-seat?

© Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Holy Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church

1645 Phillips Road Tallahassee, Florida 32308

Return Service Requested

Holy Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church

1645 Phillips Road Tallahassee, FL 32308

Office: 850-878-0747 Hall: 850-877-2501

Fr. Rob’s Cell: 850-559-8184

Website: www.hmog.org

Email Addresses:

Father Rob: fr.robert@comcast.net

Church Secretary: hmog@comcast.net

Secretary Hours:

Feast Day of

Sts. Peter and Paul

Celebrated June 29th