3 J U N E 2 012

Sunday of Holy Pentecost ☼

Saint John Antiochian Orthodox Church 80 Water Lane North, Levittown, NY 11756-4444 WEBSITE: www.stjohnorthodox.com

Diocese of New York & Washington DC - Antiochian Archdiocese Most Rev. Metropolitan PHILIP - Rt. Rev. Bishop NICHOLAS Rev. Fr. Charles Baz, Pastor Office/Fax: 516-731-1681 Rectory: 516-342-6408 Cell: 516-474-5303 Ramzi Kaywood, Parish Council President - Cell: 631-796-3844

WE WELCOME YOU TODAY We would like to remind our visitors of the following: ☼ All people are encouraged to worship with us. We hope that you will be able to have fellowship with us and learn about the Orthodox Faith. If you wish to learn more about the Orthodox Faith please see the Pastor on how can one convert and become an Orthodox Christian Member. ☼ Only Orthodox Christians may receive the Eucharist (Holy Communion) in the Orthodox Church: If you are non-Orthodox (i.e. Roman Catholic, Protestant, etc.), you cannot receive Holy Communion in this Church, but are welcome to receive the Blessed Bread at the End of the Divine Liturgy. In like manner, Orthodox Christians cannot receive the sacraments in a non-Orthodox Church (i.e. Roman Catholic, Protestant, etc.). While we hope that one day all Christians will find unity and be able to approach the Chalice of our Lord together, we observe the teachings of the Orthodox Church that the Eucharist is a “gift of unity” and not a “means of unity”. Unfortunately, the Canon Laws of the Orthodox Church forbid “intercommunion” and an “open Chalice” policy! We remind our faithful and visitors of the following guidelines concerning the Holy Sacraments and of Conduct in the Orthodox Church: ☼ Realize the importance of making a thorough examination of sins and transgressions against God, ourselves and others and having prayed for forgiveness before coming to Holy Communion. Frequent communicants should come to Holy Confession at least once a year. Communicants should fast from all foods and liquids from the evening before receiving Holy Communion. ☼ Those who are late for the Divine Liturgy (i.e. after the reading of the Epistle and Gospel) should not approach the Chalice for Holy Communion. The Divine Liturgy concludes with the veneration of the Holy Cross, regardless if you receive Holy Communion or not. ☼ Church Etiquette: Remain quiet throughout the Divine Liturgy. The Social Hall is the appropriate place to chat and talk and greet one another. Use of Cell Phones, chewing gum, and crossing of the legs are disrespectful to the Lord while present in Church during the Divine Liturgy.

Troparion of Holy Pentecost (Tone 8) Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, who hast revealed the fishermen as most wise, having sent upon them the Holy Spirit, and through them Thou hast fished the universe, O Lover of mankind, glory to Thee. Kontakion of Holy Pentecost (Tone 8) When the High One descended, confusing the tongues, He divided the nations. And when He distributed the fiery tongues, He called all into unity. Wherefore, in unison we glorify the Most Holy Spirit.

Their sound has gone forth into all the earth: The heavens declare the glory of God! The Reading is from the Acts of the Holy Apostles (2:1-11) WHEN THE DAY OF PENTECOST HAD COME, the apostles were all together in one place. And suddenly a sound came from heaven like the rush of a mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and were bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying: “Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in our own language where we were born? Párthians and Medes and Elamites and the residents of Mesopotamia, Judæa and Cappadocía, Pontus and Asia, Phrygía and Pamphylía, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs, we hear them speaking in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

The Reading is from the Holy Gospel according to Saint John (7:37-52; 8:12) On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and proclaimed, “If any one thirst, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture has said, ‘Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.’ ” Now this he said about the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive; for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This is really the prophet.” Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee? Has not the scripture said that the Christ is descended from David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?” So there was a division among the people over him. Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?” The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!” The Pharisees answered them, “Are you led astray, you also? Have any of the authorities or of the Pharisees believed in him? But this crowd, who do not know the law, are accursed.” Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them, “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?” They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and you will see that no prophet is to rise from Galilee.” Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

HOLY BREAD Is offered by Raed & Abeer Shami for the Good Health of their family members. PRAYER LIST: LIVING Holy Father, heavenly Physician of our souls and bodies, Who hast sent Thine Only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to heal all our ailments and deliver us from death, do Thou visit and heal Thy servants: Jack; Maha; Saham Granting them release from pain and restoration to health and vigor, that they may give thanks unto Thee and bless Thy holy Name, of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

PENTECOST SUNDAY: KNEELING PRAYERS Today as we celebrate Sunday of Pentecost, we start Kneeling in Church for the first time since Holy Pascha. The Pentecost Kneeling Prayers will be read, with Everyone Kneeling, after the Divine Liturgy. SUNDAY SCHOOL It is that time of the year where we celebrate the end of Sunday School Year! It will be Next Sunday on June 10TH right after the Divine Liturgy. A BLESSING & RARE OPPORTUNITY The miraculous Myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Mother of God will visit Holy Trinity Orthodox Church (East Meadow) Next Sunday, June 10th 2012. At 6:30PM the icon will arrive at the Church and be greeted by the clergy and faithful. A prayer service will be sung before the icon and all present will have the opportunity to venerate the icon and be anointed by the holy myrrh that miraculously flows from it. A public invitation is extended to attend the solemn visitation of this wonderworking icon: Everyone is welcome to come and pray before this great miracle God has bestowed upon us! This wonderworking Hawaiian Icon, in a span of just under four years, has healed, through the grace of God, a great many faithful of both spiritual and physical sufferings, including cancer, blindness, kidney failure, demonic possession, and even prevented certain death amongst several blessed individuals. More information on the icon can be found at: http:// orthodoxhawaii.org/icons.html. MONASTIC TONSURE If anyone is interested in attending and seeing Orthodox Monastic Tonsure, the Service in which a Novice is Tonsured into the Monastic Schema (i.e. made a monk or nun in the Orthodox Church), please see the Priest for more information. Next Saturday, June 9th 2012, Christina, who is a Novice at All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery in Calverton, NY, will be tonsured a Nun. Axios! It will take place at the Divine Liturgy which begins at 10AM. 2012 PLC: NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ There will be NO CHURCH SERVICES on SUNDAY 8 JULY 2012. The Diocesan Parish Life Conference (PLC) will be held in New Brunswick, NJ, and hosted by sister parish St. Anthony Orthodox Church of Bergenfield, NJ. On that Sunday, by order of the Metropolitan, ALL CHURCHES OF THE RESPECTIVE DIOCESES ARE CLOSED to attend the corresponding PLC of each Diocese for each Parish. Your Priest will be attending this year’s PLC, representing your church, which is the first time in the history of this church, he will also be joined by representatives from Teen SOYO from this church, which is also a first time.

JASON’S LAUNDROMAT Imad Yacoub & Raed Shami

424 Jerusalem Ave Uniondale ,NY 11553

[email protected] [email protected] 516 307-8048

Dr. Zuhair Nwaiser, DDS TOTAL DENTAL CARE OF FARMINGVILLE, LLP

1025 Portion Road Farmingville, NY 11738

Tel 631 696-0100 General Dentistry

The Feast of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (Pentecost) is the celebration of the triumph of Divine Love, the feast celebrating the unification of all people. When, in the descent of the Holy Spirit [God] distributed the tongues of fire, He called everyone to unity. In order to destroy the people’s evil intent in constructing the Tower of Babel (Old Testament), God descended and caused everyone to speak in different languages and no longer understand one another; thus construction of the tower came to an end. On the Day of Pentecost (New Testament), the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles in the form of tongues of fire, and gathered everyone together, gathered them together by being in each of them; although the Apostles began to speak in various languages, yet that did not prevent them from understanding one another. This clearly shows that the grace of the Holy Spirit is capable of gathering the peoples of the world into one single whole. It is only the presence of the Spirit of God, acting as an unbreakable link among men that unites them without regard to nationality, age, or social position.