Bulletin August 28-September 4,2016

COMMEMORATION OF THE BEHEADING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST

           August 29  

The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, is the day that commemorates the martyrdom of Saint John the Baptist on the orders of Herod Antipas because of the vengeful request of his step daughter, Salome and her mother.

According to the Synoptic Gospels, Herod, who was tetrarch, (sub-king), of Galilee under the Roman Empire, had imprisoned John the Baptist because he reproved Herod for divorcing his wife and unlawfully taking Herodias, the wife of his brother,    Philip.  On Herod's birthday, Herodias's daughter, Salome danced before the king and his guests. Her dancing pleased Herod so much that in his drunkenness he promised to give her anything she desired, up to half of his kingdom. When the daughter asked her mother what she should request, she was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Although Herod was appalled by the request, he reluctantly agreed and had John executed in the prison.

None of the sources gives an exact date, which was probably in the years 28-29 AD (Matthew 14:1-12; Mark 6:14-27; Luke 9:9) after imprisoning John the Baptist in A.D. 27 (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14).

The liturgical commemoration of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist is almost as old as that     commemorating his birth, which is one of the oldest feasts, if not the oldest, introduced into both the Eastern and Western liturgies to honor a saint.

The Maronite Church along with the Roman and Orthodox Churches, celebrates the feast on August 29. Historically the day is was observed with strict fasting.

Saint John the Baptist, Pray for Us!

Scripture Readings For

* August 27/28, Sixteenth Week of Pentecost-THE FRUIT OF THE WORD (The Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector) Book of Offering Page 425 or 492. Romans 8:18-27 and Luke 18:9-14.

* September 3/4, Seventeenth Week of Pentecost-THE FRUIT OF THE WORD: LOVE OF NEIGHBOR  (Parable of the Good Samaritan) Book of Offering Page 425 or 492 Romans 13:8-14 and Luke 10:25-37

Sick, Home Bound and those in the Hospital

Please inform  the parish office (314-621-0056) that you or someone else would like to be visited to receive Communion , Confession or other spiritual needs.  Always notify the parish when someone is hospitalized. Thank for your kind attention to this.

Email Contact List

Much of our communication with parishioners is done via email. If you would like to be put on our email list please send an email directly to

gina@straymondsmaronitecathedral.com with your email and NAME in the text

Men’s Society

The Men will hold their monthly meeting on Thursday September 8th. Dinner at 6:00pm followed by the meeting at 6:30pm in the Lebanon Room.

All are welcome to attend!

Ladies Society

The Ladies will hold their monthly meeting on Tuesday September 6th at 7pm in the Lebanon Room.               

All are welcome to attend!

 

IDC Meeting

There will be an In Defense of Christians (IDC) meeting on Thursday September 1st at 7pm in the Lebanon Room. All are encouraged and invited to attend the meeting.

Parish Finances August 21st-28th

Collections

Saturday August 13th Loose Offertory: $0

Saturday August 13th Envelope Offertory: $560.00

Sunday August 14th Loose Offertory: $164.00

Sunday August 14th Envelope Offertory: $1,343.00

Baton Rouge Catholic Charities: $85.00

Feast of the Assumption: $85.00 (Sat & Sun)

Maintenance and Repair: $325.00 (Sat & Sun)

Revenue during the week: $700.00

Candles: $50.00

Kitchen Sales: $76.00

Coffee Hour: $99.00

Income: $3,487.00

Expenses: $5,954.47

Festival Income August 14th-21st

Donations: $903.96

Sponsorships: $450.00

Booth Tickets: $420.00

Raffle Tickets: $203.00

Total: $1,976.96

Kitchen Scoop

Monday Rolling Cabbage @ 8 am

Tuesday Making Kibbi Aras @ 8 am

Rolling Grape Leaves Schedule:

Sunday August 28th and Sunday September 11th after liturgy in the kitchen. 

Thursday September 1st 4pm-6:30pm before the festival meeting.

The Kitchen will be CLOSED on Monday September 5th for the Holiday. We will be OPEN for lunch on Wednesday September 7th. The kitchen will NOT be serving Tabouli  on September 7th because we will be serving it for the festival.

The Kitchen is in need of workers for both days of the festival. A schedule will be included in the next bulletin for the week of the festival with all the prep work. The three days with the most work will be Wednesday September 14th, Thursday September 15th and Friday September 16th where we will need help in the morning and evening. 

Many hands make the work load lighter!

If you would like to volunteer please contact Denise Seifert, Kathleen Wahby, or Gina Fanetti

 

2016 Festival Updates

The next festival meeting will be Thursday September 1st and NOT Thursday September 8th at 7pm in the Cedars Hall ( NOT the Lebanon room). If you are a chair person of a booth or have another responsibility with the festival please come to the meeting. The committee is trying to get updates and progress reports from all involved.

This is a parish event and a huge fundraiser for St. Raymond’s any time you have available to help the week before the festival and the two days of the event is encouraged. All are welcome to volunteer at the festival...parishioner or not. Everyone is invited and included to join us in making this event a success for St. Raymond. 

Every Sunday after liturgy in the hall Booth Tickets and Raffle tickets will be sold. Pre-sale booth tickets are 25 tickets for $20. This offer is available until Sunday September 11th.  You may also contact the parish office to purchase booth  or raffle tickets. 

Saturday September 17th  6pm-10pm

* Main ticket booth will accept cash or credit card to purchase booth tickets

* Outside event

* All the  booths will be accepting TICKETS ONLY

Sunday September 18th 11am-6pm

* Main ticket booth  will accept cash or credit card to purchase booth tickets

* Raffles will only be accepting cash

* The Inside Kitchen will accept cash, credit card and booth tickets

* All the booths will be accepting TICKETS ONLY

* The Inside Kitchen will be closing at 5pm

The committee is creating a festival directory to let you know what booths we will have at the festival and how many tickets the items cost in each booth.

 

Festival Sponsors

Special thanks to our Festival Sponsors who have donated so far….

North American Montessori, Donald Ganim, Schowalter & Jabouri, P.C., Brian and Robbyn Wahby, Dr. and Mrs. John Bouhasin, Midwest Cardiovascular, Inc., Garrett Paper Company, Helene Gazall and Family, George and Marilue Simon, Dr. Abe Hawatmeh, Anthony and Haifa Sabat

Please continue to ask for sponsorships. We will be accepting sponsorships until Sunday September 4th.

Forms are available in the Parish Office

Land of Peace is a nonprofit organization representing Jerusalem Christian Families scheduled to visit the church on

* August 26th

* August 27th

regarding selling religious articles from the Holy Land.

Land of Peace is a nonprofit organization with the mission of helping and supporting Christian families in the Holy Land through the Patriarch of Jerusalem. When anyone purchases handmade arts they help our mission and help the Christians in the Holy Land.

In 1920 the Christian population in the Holy Land was 80%; today it is less than 2%. With the parish support and the parishioner’s generosity we are able to help our brothers and sisters to live in Jesus land of birth.

LAND OF PEACE’S GOAL IS TO BUILD A CHARITY HOSPITAL IN THE HOLY LAND

To donate on line and for more information please visit our   website: www.landofpeace.org

Noel Alshomali, CEO

Please join the MYO in raising funds for the Louisiana flood victims.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge (CCDBR) initiated its Incident Management Plan to respond to the floods  inundating our Diocese. The group is asking for cash donations to help meet those needs.

"While the exact role and activities will vary and be unique to each disaster,” said David Aguillard, CCDBR   Executive Director, "we focus on filling gaps in existing services, primarily for the most vulnerable populations and those with the greatest needs.”

At this time, the Disaster Operations staff are contacting entities within the affected parishes, churches, GOHSEP, and VOAD, identifying special needs populations and finding where gaps in services might exist. From there the agency will develop a plan of action for their response in the initial relief stage of the disaster. Once the damages are assessed, they’ll start preparing for the recovery phase of the disaster.

-Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge www.ccdiobr.org

More than 12,000 people are in shelters and many more have lost everything to the flood.

Please make donations to St. Raymond’s Cathedral and we will send a large donation from  St. Raymond’s Cathedral to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

International Institute

The International Institute of St. Louis offers comprehensive adjustment services for refugees and immigrants in our community. In turn, these newcomers expend the richness of St. Louis’ diversity and help revitalize our economy. (https://www.iistl.org/aboutus.html)

The International Institute is looking for groups to sponsor potluck lunches for new refugees (many of them Syrian). The food is for about 50 people. Margie Simon would like to put together a group of  individuals from the parish to sponsor a lunch on Thursday September 29th. Please contact Margie Simon at msimon5566@aol.com or the parish office (314-621-0056) if you are interested in participating.

Bulletin August 21-28,2016

Saint Isaac the Syrian/Isaac of Nineveh

(Syriac: ܡܪܝ ܐܝܣܚܩ ܕܢܝܢܘ‎; Arabic: إسحاق النينوي)

(A.D. 613 – 700)

Saint Isaac the Syrian is also remembered as Isaac of Nineveh, Abba Isaac, and Isaac of Qatar.  He was a 7th-century Syriac Christian bishop and theologian. He is also regarded as a saint by all the Eastern Churches (Catholic and Orthodox), making him the last saint to be recognized by every apostolic Church of the Christian East. The Maronite Church celebrates his feast day on August 23. Isaac was born in the region of Beth Qatraye in Eastern Arabia. When still quite young, he entered a monastery. After many years of studying he emerged as an authoritative figure in theology. He dedicated his life to monasticism and became involved in religious education throughout the Beth Qatraye region. He was eventually ordained bishop of Nineveh (near modern day Mosul, Iraq).

Among his writings are the following that are as fresh today as they were in the 7^th Century:

* God can do more than anyone else, and can assist us by a far greater measure than we could ever ask for, or even imagine."

* “The aim of prayer is that we should acquire from it love of God, for in prayer are to be found all sorts of reasons for loving God.”

* “Do not consider a long time spent in worship before God to be wasted.”

* “At the time of darkness [in our lives], more than anything else, kneeling is helpful.”

* "To whatever extent a person draws close to God with his intentions, is to what extent God draws close to him with His gifts.”

* “A handful of sand, thrown into the sea, is what sinning is, when compared to God’s Grace and Mercy. Just like an abundant source of water is not impeded by a handful of dust, so is the Creator’s mercy not defeated by the sins of His creatures.”

*  “Sometimes, a person wishes something good, but God doesn’t help him — maybe because the intention came from the devil and is not for our benefit; or maybe because it is beyond our strength as we have not attained the necessary spiritual level; or maybe because it doesn’t correspond to our calling; or maybe because the time is not right to initiate it; or maybe because we don’t have the necessary knowledge or strength to accomplish it; or maybe because circumstances will not contribute to its    success. Besides this, the devil contrives in every way to paint it as something good so that having inclined us toward it, he could upset our spiritual tranquility or inflict harm on us. That’s why it is necessary for us to diligently examine all our good desires. Better still, do everything after seeking counsel."

* “Make sure you see to small things, lest otherwise you may push aside important ones.”

* “Don’t exchange your love toward your neighbor for some type of object, because in having love toward your neighbor, you acquire within yourself God, Who is most precious in the whole world. Forsake the little things so as to acquire the great;     despise everything meaningless so as to acquire what is of value”.

* “When giving, give magnanimously with a look of kindness on your face, and give more than what is asked of you.”

* “He who shows kindness toward the poor has God as his guardian, and he who becomes poor for the sake of God will acquire abundant treasures. God is pleased when He sees people showing concern for others for His sake. When someone asks you for something, don’t think: ‘Just in case I might need it, I shall leave it for myself, and God — through other people — will give that person what he requires.’  A just and generous person would not compromise the honor of helping and relinquish it to another person, and he would never pass up an opportunity to help.

Sub-Deacon’s Corner

Chorbishop Beggiani’s book, “Early Syraic Theology” discussed a number early theological views written by St. Ephrem (307 – 363AD), Jacob of Serugh (451 – 521AD) and Araphate (280-345AD).  These men traveled throughout the ancient world from    Mesopotamia to Judea and into Northern Syria.  Many of their writings, homilies and letters become the basis of the Catholic  doctrine on worship, their ideas had a great influence on many of the Eastern Rite Churches, including the Maronite Rite Church. 

One concept discussed in “Early Syraic Theology” is Divinization; this concept discusses God’s intention for Adam and the  effect that the Original Sin had upon the plan that God had for all. 

The fact that humans are created in the image and likeness of God has moral consequences.⁶ If you think of Christ at the Physician then the moral consequence to human is the reason for the Son to put on the robe (early Theologist use the concept of Christ putting on the “robe” of humanity as God becoming man) of the creatures so to provide a treatment for this        aliment.  As Adam was made in the image of God, God intended him to attain a level of Divinity, not to the level of the Trinity but greater than he did.  As Adam fell short of the goal through the introduction of Original Sin; God felt the need to send his son to give the entire human race the path, through the Sacraments, to the cure.  So, as the Son was baptized so must the creatures be.  It is said that Jesus was the second Adam, incarnate to repair the disease of Original Sin.  Early Syriac Theology teaches us that Jesus was actually born three times; his human birth (incarnate) of the Virgin Mary, born through the baptism by John, and by his death and resurrection, and his journey to Sheoul (purgatory/hell) where he saved those before his time.  Each birth had a reason; the Lord had to be incarnate of the Virgin Mary to interface with his creatures on a level that they could understand, his birth through baptism began the church and thus provided an example for the faithful to find the path to Divinization, and finally his death and resurrection lead those who had died to salvation and then finish the work of his Father by empowering the apostles to spread the faith.

If you have questions about Catholic teaching or our Maronite tradition, or would like to suggest a topic, please email us or tell us the next time we see you. Thank you and God Bless.

David Wahby (wahby@sbcglobal.net) and Tony Simon (asimon@simonlawpc.com)

Scripture Readings For

* August 27/28, Sixteenth Week of Pentecost-THE FRUIT OF THE WORD (The Parable of the Pharisee & the Tax Collector) Book of Offering Page 425 or 492. Romans 8:18-27 and Luke 18:9-14.

* September 3/4, Seventeenth Week of Pentecost-THE FRUIT OF THE WORD: LOVE OF NEIGHBOR  (Parable of the Good Samaritan) Book of Offering Page 425 or 492 Romans 13:8-14 and Luke 10:25-37

Sick, Home Bound and those in the Hospital

Please inform  the parish office (314-621-0056) that you or someone else would like to be visited to receive Communion , Confession or other spiritual needs.  Always notify the parish when someone is hospitalized. Thank for your kind attention to this.

Email Contact List

Much of our communication with parishioners is done via email. If you would like to be put on our email list please send an email directly to

gina@straymondsmaronitecathedral.com with your email and NAME in the text.

Parish Finances August 14th-August 21st

Collections

Saturday August 13th Loose Offertory: $230.00

Saturday August 13th Envelope Offertory: $250.00

Sunday August 14th Loose Offertory: $87.00

Sunday August 14th Envelope Offertory: $1,495.00

Feast of the Assumption: $100 (Counted in Sat and Sun Envelope Total)

Maintenance and Repair: $10 (Counted in Sunday    Envelope total)

Revenue during the week: $1,100.00

Candles: $107.00

Kitchen Sales: $80.00

Total: $3,349.00

Income: $3,349.00—$80 (Kitchen) =$3,269.00

Expenses: $4,140.66

MYO Coffee Hour and Bake Sale: $182.00

Kitchen Scoop

Monday Rolling Cabbage @ 8 am

Tuesday Making Kibbi Aras @ 8 am

Rolling Grape Leaves Schedule:

Sunday August 21st, Sunday August 28th and Sunday September 11th after liturgy in the kitchen. 

The Kitchen is in need of workers for both days of the festival. A schedule will be emailed out for the week before the festival when we will be doing all the preparations.  If you would like to volunteer please contact Denise Seifert, Kathleen Wahby, or  Gina Fanetti

2016 Festival Updates

The Festival had a meeting on Thursday August 18th at 7pm in the Lebanon room. The meeting was lead by our Festival Chairpersons Linda Hill and  SubDeacon David Wahby. The festival is making great progress. We had an attendance of 22 people: Deacon Lou Peters, Robbyn Wahby, Gina Fanetti, Kathleen Wahby, Denise Seifert, Jim Grogan,  John Jabouri, Philipjohn Assaf, Pam Gazall, Mary Denny, Nina Bouhasin, Ramona and Shirley Milford, Shawn Nesser, Nazha Hitti, Diana Deeba, Brenda Winebright, Janet Fanetti, Brian Wahby, Jim Ulett, Jim Risk and Mary Benoist.

The meeting focused on the continued preparations that are still needed before the event. All the main items are ordered and on track for delivery. This is a parish event and a huge fundraiser for St. Raymond’s any time you have available to help the week before the festival and the two days of the event is  encouraged. All are welcome to volunteer at the festival...parishioner or not. Everyone is invited and included to join us in making this event a success for St. Raymond. 

Every Sunday after liturgy in the hall Booth Tickets and Raffle tickets will be sold. Pre-sale booth tickets are 25 tickets for $20. This offer is available until Sunday September 11th.  You may also contact the parish office to purchase booth  or raffle tickets. 

Saturday September 17th  6pm-10pm

* Main ticket booth will accept cash or credit card to purchase booth tickets

* Outside event

* All the  booths will be accepting TICKETS ONLY

Sunday September 18th 11am-6pm

* Main ticket booth  will accept cash or credit card to purchase booth tickets

* Raffles will only be accepting cash

* The Inside Kitchen will accept cash, credit card and booth tickets

* All the booths will be accepting TICKETS ONLY

The committee is creating a festival directory to let you know what booths we will have at the festival and how many tickets the items cost in each booth.

 

Festival Sponsors

Special thanks to our Festival Sponsors who have donated so far….

North American Montessori, Donald Ganim, Schowalter & Jabouri, P.C., Brian and Robbyn Wahby, Dr. and Mrs. John Bouhasin, Midwest Cardiovascular, Inc. and Garrett Paper Company.

Please continue to ask for sponsorships. We will be accepting sponsorships until Sunday September 4th.

Forms are available in the Parish Office

Please join the MYO in raising funds for the Louisiana flood victims.

Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge (CCDBR) initiated its Incident Management Plan to respond to the floods  inundating our Diocese. The group is asking for cash donations to help meet those needs.

"While the exact role and activities will vary and be unique to each disaster,” said David Aguillard, CCDBR   Executive Director, "we focus on filling gaps in existing services, primarily for the most vulnerable populations and those with the greatest needs.”

At this time, the Disaster Operations staff are contacting entities within the affected parishes, churches, GOHSEP, and VOAD, identifying special needs populations and finding where gaps in services might exist. From there the agency will develop a plan of action for their response in the initial relief stage of the disaster. Once the damages are assessed, they’ll start preparing for the recovery phase of the disaster.

-Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge www.ccdiobr.org

More than 12,000 people are in shelters and many more have lost everything to the flood.

Please make donations to St. Raymond’s Cathedral and we will send a large donation from   St. Raymond’s Cathedral to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

International Institute

The International Institute of St. Louis offers comprehensive adjustment services for refugees and immigrants in our community. In turn, these newcomers expend the richness of St. Louis’ diversity and help revitalize our economy. (https://www.iistl.org/aboutus.html)

The International Institute is looking for groups to sponsor potluck lunches for new refugees (many of them Syrian). The food is for about 50 people. Margie Simon would like to put together a group of  individuals from the parish to sponsor a lunch on Thursday September 29th. Please contact Margie Simon at msimon5566@aol.com or the parish office (314-621-0056) if you are interested in participating.

Land of Peace is a nonprofit organization representing Jerusalem Christian Families scheduled to visit the church on

* August 26th

* August 27th

regarding selling religious articles from the Holy Land.

Land of Peace is a nonprofit organization with the mission of helping and supporting Christian families in the Holy Land through the Patriarch of Jerusalem. When anyone purchases handmade arts they help our mission and help the Christians in the Holy Land.

In 1920 the Christian population in the Holy Land was 80%; today it is less than 2%. With the parish support and the parishioner’s generosity we are able to help our brothers and sisters to live in Jesus land of birth.

LAND OF PEACE’S GOAL IS TO BUILD A CHARITY HOSPITAL IN THE HOLY LAND

To donate on line and for more information please visit our website: www.landofpeace.org

Noel Alshomali, CEO