February 21, 2016

SUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICANSUNDAY OF THE PHARISEE AND PUBLICAN

احد الفريسى والعشار

TTTT he Pharisees were an ancient and outstanding sect among the Jews known for their diligent observance of the outward matters of the Law. Although, according to the word of our

Lord, they “did all their works to be seen of men” (Matt. 23:5), and were hypocrites (ibid.23:13, 14, 15, etc), because of the apparent holiness of their lives they were thought by all to be righteous, and separate from others, which is what the name Pharisee means. On the other hand, Publicans, collectors of the royal taxes, committed many injustices and extortions for filthy lucre’s sake, and all held them to be sinners and unjust. It was therefore according to common opinion that the Lord Jesus in His parable signified a virtuous person by a Pharisee, and a sinner by a Publican, to teach His disciples the harm of pride and the profit of humble mindedness. Since the chief weapon for virtue is humility, and the greatest hindrance to it is pride, the divine Fathers have set these three weeks before the Forty-day Fast as a preparation for the spiritual struggles of virtue. This present week they have called Harbinger, since it declares that the Fast is approaching; and they set humility as the foundation for all our spiritual labours by appointing that the parable of the Publican and the Pharisee be read today, even before the Fast begins, to teach, through the vaunting of the Pharisee, that the foul smoke of self-esteem and the stench of boasting drives away the grace of the Spirit, strips man of all his virtue, and casts him into the pits of Hades; and, through the repentance and contrite prayer of the Publican, that humil-ity confers upon the sinner forgiveness of all his wicked deeds and raises him up to the greatest height.

From the Great Horologion

February 21, 2016 Issue 509

�18100 Merriman Road � Livonia, Michigan 48152 � www.saintmarylivonia.com � Office: (734)-422-0010 �

Sunday Services

Confession: 8:30AM

Matins: 9:00AM

Divine Liturgy: 10:00AM

St. Mary’s Cultural

and Banquet Center

(734) 421-9220

Daily Confession by Appointment - Call the Church Office

“And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.” Acts 11:26

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 Nidal Fakhoury - Parish Council Chairman

Linda Lawson - Choir Director Stacey Badeen - Church Administrator Christina Stavros - Parish Ministries

Coordinator Haitham Fakhouri - Communications

Richard Shebib/Sami Azzouz - Ushers

Dr. Tom Saba - Young Adults-

St. John Divine

Nancy Ghannam- 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

Page 2 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

THE EPISTLE

Make your vows and pay them to the Lord our God. God is known in Judea,

His Name is great in Israel!

The Reading is from the Second Epistle of St. Paul to St. Timothy

Chapter 3:10-15

MMMM y child Timothy, you have followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, patience, persecutions, sufferings, what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured! And out of them all the Lord delivered me. Indeed all who would live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But people who are wicked and deceivers will proceed from worse to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and how from infancy you have know the sacred temple writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

THE GOSPEL

The Reading from the Holy Gospel according to St. Luke

Chapter 18:10-14

TTTT he Lord spoke this parable: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other men, extortionists, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 3

PRAYER CORNER memorials

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

Feb. 21st - 6 month memorial in loving memory of Nabih Tawfic Qassis offered

by his wife Juliet Qassis and family, Feb. 28th - 40 day memorial in loving

memory of Rimon Warra offered by his

wife Maha Warra and family,

Thank You

“A Vigil Light is Burning” In Loving Devotion

FFFF or The Health and Well Being Of: Pheibie Musallam,

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 February, in loving memory of:

Isa Hasan

William Nader Ibrahim Rizkallah

Amjad George Saba

Boulos Jiries Saba

Helen Boulos Saba

Hala Sackllah

Said Shaheen

Salman Sweis Fada Sweis

Zaki and Gabi Tams

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

Jeries and Malak Abukhader, their children and grandchildren

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, Louis, Hiba, Samar, Wadih David, Rosie, Saseen Ghajer, George and Gloria Khamis, Jamal Kakish, David, Radwan, Laila Hassan,

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

Mary have given special donations to the Church in the past few weeks: $100-For the health and well being of Fouad Kazaleh offered by his wife Nabiha Kazaleh, $100-For the health and well being of newlyweds Jamie and Gina Luoma offered by parents Mike and Randa Ansara, $200-In loving memory of Nabih Tawfic Qassis offered by his wife Juliet Qassis and family, $500-For the health and well being on newly baptized Rosabella Farah offered by her parents Ibrahim and Niveen Shatara Farah,

Upcoming Events for St. Mary Parishioners

March 4th - Ladies Society Wine Tasting March 13th - Forgiveness Vespers March 14th - Lent Begins

Thought for the Day

“If we dare to call ourselves Orthodox Christians, if we are bold enough to utter

even a single prayer to God, then we must first examine

ourselves and see if we are truly humble. We must

carefully inspect our relationships at home,

at work and in the parish. Where we see conflict, we know that we still

lack humility. The perfectly humble man or woman has no such animosities towards

his or her brethren.”

His Eminence

Metropolitan JOSEPH

Senior Heritage

The Senior Heritage Group is planning a trip to Windsor and shopping at the Duty Free Store on Thursday, February 25th. Please contact Ayda Mughannam at 734-464-1872 to reserve your seat on the bus. Space is limited. Please be at church by10:00am. The bus will leave at 10:30 sharp!

Passports are required.

Senior Heritage News Did you know that the City of Livonia offers a transportation service for Livonia residents, age 60 or older and for those who are disabled? They will pick you up from your home and take you anywhere in the City of Livonia for a cost of $2.00 each way (exact fare). Reservations are needed. For more information, please call 734-466-2700.

Page 4 The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary

Please visit www.saintmarylivonia.com for details about events and ac�vi�es happening

at the Basilica of Saint Mary. If you have any ques�ons regarding Youth and Outreach Events,

please contact Fr. Jim or Ms. Chris�na Stavros at (734) 422-0010.

@ the Basilica of Saint Mary

Last summer,

SOYO made

Basilica histo-

ry with the

first-ever

2015 SOYO

Summer

Mission Trip

to help build

up the first

Orthodox

Church in

Traverse City.

God-willing

and with the

efforts of

everyone in

our parish,

our SOYO will

make parish history again this summer. They will embark on the first-ever, interna�onal SOYO Summer Mission trip to

Project Mexico—to build homes for homeless families, encourage the boys of St. Innocent Orphanage who live there,

and show that we are Chris�ans by our love and desire to grow in Him! Our youth are an example to the whole parish

because they are answering Christ’s command to love!

There are so many details which must be sorted out in order to plan a mission trip like this: fundraising ($1300 per par-

�cipant), passports, immuniza�ons, transporta�on, adult parishioners coming with us who also have a heart for mis-

sion, etc. But what is even more important, are the prayers and the presence of our parish with us as we embark on

this mission because we want to grow as a parish, together, as a result of our offering to go and do this work. A mission

trip like this has the power to cause our whole parish to grow...the ques�on is: do you want to grow in Christ and His

Church? You may not have been able to a?end this trip with us, but you can a?end and grow with us even so. You can

send us by giving.

Jesus said, “Go ,therefore, and make disciples of all na�ons, bap�zing them in the name of the Father, and the Son,

and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you even to the

end of the age” (Ma?. 28:18ff) . In effect, Jesus is saying, “If you want me with you, go where I send you.” Christ is

sending us to Project Mexico to do His work. Will you come with us? -Chris$na T. Stavros, MDiv, Parish Ministries

Coordinator, Cantor

WILL YOU GO

WITH US ? Not pictured: Frank Odeh, Eric Medvich, Peggy Medvich, Joey Kehdi, and SOYO Michael Nunu.

2016 SOYO Summer Mission Team Project Mexico : July 14 - 20

The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary Page 5

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The Antiochian Orthodox Basilica of St. Mary