Our new tent is set up for outside services
Prayers for the Christian Family
God our Redeemer, it pleased You to come under the roof of zacchaeus, bringing salvation to him and all his household. Keep from all harm and grant every blessing to us Your servants and bless our homes. Preserve our lives in peace, speak good into our hearts that we may continue to live peaceful and serene lives in all piety and holiness. Preserve marriages in peace and harmony; protect the unborn; nurture the infants; instruct the youth; strengthen the aged; give courage to the faint hearted; reunite those separated; defend the widows; and heal the sick and those in every kind of affliction, distress or need. This we pray, through the intercessions of Ss. Joachim and Anna and in the company of all Your Holy Saints. For to You belong all glory, honor, and worship to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.
A Second Prayer
Lord, send down your mercy and your blessing upon us here and upon this house. May your angel of mercy watch over it and keep all who live here safe from anything that is evil. May he guide us into the fulfillment of your holy will, teaching us to observe what Christ has taught us. O Lord, grant us health and length of days, giving us from your generous hand all that we need to live well and wisely. Save all those who are in want or trouble of any kind. May this house be known as a place of joy and mercy, where the kindness of Christ becomes real for all who live here and who visit. Be merciful to us, Lord: For you are a merciful God, who loves mankind, and to you we ascribe glory: to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever and to the ages of ages.
A few final thoughts and a "thank you" for your faithfulness during this season
Christ is born! Glorify Him!
In Ecclesiastes, we read “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” I’m fairly confident that we would all agree, it has been quite a season! Yes, the learning curve was steep, but thanks to be God for His abiding goodness as well as our prayerful agility to traverse these days with Grace as Christians and as citizens.
There has been much uncertainty and sadness during this season. Some family members and friends have fallen ill while others have passed, be it from COVID-19, another ailment, a tragedy or advanced age. Employment has been altered for many, and in some cases, work has been lost. Some individuals/families rely on others for philanthropy while they wait for industry to open back up or until new employment is identified. Primary grades through university studies have shifted in format for a time or remain altered, which is an adjustment for students, parents, siblings and the extended family. Time with family and friends has been limited, which makes us weary, if not anxious or sad. How we engage in worship, study and fellowship has been affected, causing frustration, and at times confusion or even anger.
Let’s be honest, there really hasn’t been, nor will there ever be, any simple answer or quick solution to any of our woes. Of course we are entitled to muse on the state of humanity, the United States, the Church, etc., but if we don’t: 1) Put these matters to prayer, and then 2) Act with purpose and unto salvation, these musing, no matter how insightful we perceive them to be, remain but temptations that lead us away from Christ, His Church and one another. Put another way, the ego, the “I”, the “me” are self-deceiving and dangerous if not tempered by the Holy Spirit. Like St. Paul we ought to say, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me."
Balancing the directives of a collegial yet hierarchical Church as well as considering the mandates of a state and nation is trying to say the least. We’ve attempted to remain prayerful, thoughtful and intentional as clergy and Parish Council members, honoring the directives of our hierarchy and those in civic authority, while balancing the realities of our region and the needs of our faithful.
Have we compromised our Orthodox faith or fallen to apostasy at our Parish? No.
Have we been limited at times as to how we’ve been able to participate in services, studies, and fellowship at the Parish? Absolutely.
Would we make all of the same decisions, knowing what we know now? Probably not.
Do I take responsibility for my shortcomings as your priest as well as for our collective failures as parish leadership? Yes, without hesitation. And, for these failures and for others, I ask your forgiveness.
During this season though, there have also been many blessings for us to celebrate. Thanks be to God and for the intercessions of the Saints, as well as to His Eminence Metropolitan Gerasimos, Fr. Seraphim, Dn. Joseph, our Parish Council, Morfoula, Anna and our Religious Educators, our Philoptochos…and our stewards, we’ve gracefully, prayerfully and cleverly continued to live our lives in Christ, and I’d like to think, manifested a ministry that is well-pleasing to Him. In addition to praying services on our grounds (whether inside or outside), we now broadcast our services for those homebound. Our regular study classes transitioned online - I imagine will continue as a ministry for those unable to join us in person - we added a Parish book study and our Religious Educators even started providing a weekly grab bag for younger and older alike. Our junior high school and high school youth groups have been fellowshipping primarily online with their advisors for several months. Our philanthropy has increased; we met all of our budgetary obligations around the world and increased our giving to those inside and beyond the parish who have been in need. We exceeded our stewardship goal for 2020 and also received more donations to our Building Fund. We’ve sent our building plans with minor revisions back to the City of Roseville for approval and continue to work with our contractor and iconographer so that we can begin the construction of our Sanctuary in the Spring. And, thanks be to God, we’ve prayed Baptisms, Chrismations, Weddings, Holy Unction, the Rite of Confession and funerals, celebrated engagements and anniversaries and also been afforded the opportunity to receive the greatest of Gifts, the Holy Eucharist.
In closing, I express my heartfelt gratitude to Fr. Seraphim, Dn. Joseph, our Parish Council and to those of you who call Saint Anna Parish your spiritual home. Thank you for the resiliency, the faith, the hope, the dedication and the joy you bring to our Parish and her ministries. I also express my gratitude to you, our friends, who pray at and support the ministries of our sister parishes. It’s a blessing to witness our Orthodox Christian faith together, regardless of the locale or jurisdiction. May our Lord, through the intercessions of Ss. Joachim and Anna, grant you health, joy, prosperity and every good gift unto salvation in this new year.
Tommy Apostolos Fund Shopping Day
2020 will not stop spreading holiday cheer in our community! This year the annual Tommy Apostolos Shopping Day WILL take place just in a different way!
Tommy Apostolos Fund is a local non-profit that provides clothes to students in need in the Roseville area. Each year the organization takes over 450 children shopping for essential items (clothing, shoes, socks, etc.). Students are also provided a breakfast snack and a little treat bag. The organization also supports our kids by providing emergency kits to our schools for when kids have accidents.
We need your help this year!
1. We are collecting the items for the treat bags. These bags this year are more important than others because they will give a couple of school supplies for everyone! This will support kids both in and out of the classroom. Please feel free to use this Amazon list (CLICK HERE) to help us meet our needs. (Link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3OJSY4Q54MN47?ref_=wl_share) You are welcome to use other vendors outside of Amazon (office supplies, Oriental Trading, Costco, Sams, etc.)- contact Michelle Hawe at michelle.hawe@saintanna.org for shipping/ pick up details.
2. Shopping Experience: Each child gets $140 to go shopping in Kohls. This year volunteers will need to sign up for a specific day and time frame in the coming weeks. Registration link will be sent out soon! Volunteers will check in and receive a child's shopping list to shop for. At the register a Tommy Apostolos Committee member who will pay for the purchase. Students and their families will be able to pick up their bag of goodies on the following Monday at the district office. Unfortunately, the kids will not be able to enjoy the shopping experience directly this year due to safety precautions with COVID-19.
"Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home" begins this Saturday
As of late, most of our stewards should have received a complimentary copy of the book, Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home, by Fr. Anthony Coniaris, of blessed memory. If you did not receive a copy, my apologies. We purchased all of the available copies (about 200) through HCHC's Department of Religious Education. Fortunately though, there is a Kindle version available at: https://www.amazon.com/Making-Real-Orthodox-Christian-Home-ebook/dp/B008R1F9G4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=
This book is a gift to the domestic churches that make up our Parish, so that we might labor together in order to make God more real in our homes. Although it’s been some years since this book was published, the lessons contained within its pages are just as true, important and relevant to us now as they were back when this book was first written.
As Fr. Anthony explains at one point in his book, “The most influential school in the world is not Oxford or Harvard or the Sorbonne or Yale or Cambridge. It is the home.” It would therefore seem most prudent for us to be spending more time prayerfully considering and building-up our domestic churches. Wherever the location may be, whatever its size, whether one room or multiple rooms, our homes are meant to promote godliness within us. It is with this thought in mind that we as a parish are about to embark upon a common study which will invite the Holy Spirit to come and to rest/abide in our homes, so that to paraphrase St. John Chrysostom, …all peace and harmony may surround us there unto a most blessed and holy end.
Our Parish Program will begin this Saturday, October 24 from 6-7PM. Additionally, it is with deep joy that I am able to share that during this first session, we will be joined by Dan and Patty Christopulos, the son-in-law and daughter of Fr. Anthony Coniaris, of blessed memory. They will be giving us an overview and personal insight into the life and ministry of Fr. Anthony, based upon their experiences with him. Following their introduction, we will then briefly discuss our program, and then discuss the first chapter of the book, entitled, “Who is Raising the Children?” (Pg. 15-18) and finally, we will finish off the evening with a question and answer session which will allow us all an opportunity to be able to address and reflect upon any questions, or insights or thoughts that may arisen through the evening’s blessed study.
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______________________
Topic: Making God Real in the Orthodox Christian Home
Time: Oct 24, 2020 06:00 PM Pacific Time (US and Canada)
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An Orthodox Christian Election Prayer
Introducing Saint Anna Sunday School Video Series
Our dedicated team of Sunday school teachers is not going to let a pandemic keep them from communicating with their students! We are excited to announce the launch of our own Saint Anna unlisted youtube videos. Unlisted means that you can see them by following the link provided, but these videos are not promoted online, or shown to random youtube viewers. It is not our intention to compete with some of the professionally produced Christian videos already available online. Rather, we want our students to have at least a digital connection to adults in their own parish; people who are doing their best to follow the path of Orthodox Christianity, and who may potentially serve as local examples and mentors.
Tim Burkhard, our 4th & 5th grade teacher, is our trailblazer in this effort, and has produced our inaugural video (link below). Our next video will be produced by Lisa Jizrawi, our 1st to 3rd grade teacher. Other teachers and videos will follow. We are truly blessed to have such dedicated and talented teachers!
A Virtual Event in Support of the Girls' Secondary School in the Diocese of Nyeri and Mt. Kenya
His Grace Bishop Neofitos is a dear friend of our Parish. As a community, we support the ministry at the Parish of Saint Anna on Mt. Kenya. Many of us are also able to directly support the work and the projects of His Grace in his holy diocese. In recent days, the Kenyan government has established additional requirements for at the Girls' Secondary School. The school must open in January, and they MUST have more dormitory space in order to have the bunks far enough apart to meet pandemic safety parameters. A word from His Grace about the mandates and the needs of the Diocese is found below. You are therefore invited to attend a virtual event in support of the work of His Grace via the KC for Kenya Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/kcforkenya. Please “like” the page, and plan on "coming" to the event. There is a direct donation link there http://secure.ocmc.org/KC-For-Kenya or you can give through our Parish, https://saintanna.churchcenter.com/giving/to/kenya. We’ll be sending our Parish commitment to support the work of St. Anna Parish PLUS an additional $3,000 toward the $55,000 (US dollars) needed to build the new dormitory space.
Information concerning Youth Religious Education Program, Junior High School & High School Youth Groups
These days, “Sunday school” is a bit of a misnomer, since we are not actually having live classes on Sundays…yet. We do however continue to pursue youth religious education. In the spring, we tried offering Zoom Sunday school, but it turned out that the kids had more than enough Zoom with their secular activities. Zoom Sunday school was discontinued for lack of attendance.
Shortly thereafter, we tried a new approach. Our teachers began and have continued to contribute to a weekly “grab bag” of items for various ages (Kindergarten through the end of high school), which can be used by parents and students throughout the week. The grab bag includes links to youtube videos, craft projects, coloring pages, Gospel lessons and scriptural exercises, puzzles, a write up on the life of a saint or feast, explanations of Church holy days, and an exploration of basic Church practices. The intention is to continue the grab bag until we are able to resume in person education.
Beginning in October, we will also include short videos produced by our own parishioners. These may be a bit “homemade” in appearance, but these will allow our students to have at least a digital connection to adults in their own parish; people who are doing their best to follow the path of Orthodox Christianity, and who may potentially serve as local examples and mentors.
With regards to our Junior High School and High School Program, our youth would have been meeting for their youth religious education classes on Sundays and also for fellowship, food and activities as part of the youth groups. To best abide by both our Metropolis and regional guidelines with regards to social distancing requirements, we have reassessed our traditional practices. Rather than ask them to spend even more time on Zoom for youth group, we have come up with a two part solution:
We will be combining religious education with youth groups together, in order to minimize screen time.
Both groups will meet once a week, on Wednesday nights, beginning at 6:30pm, after Akathist and finishing up at 8pm. Initially, the groups will meet via Zoom, but our hope is that in time, by God's will, and with proper precautions and good social distancing procedures, our youth will be able to come to the parish to resume their study and fellowship.
The Junior High School and High School Program will begin on Wednesday, October 7th at 6:30 via Zoom invitation that will be sent out next week. If you have any questions about these groups, please contact Fr. Seraphim at the Church Office, 916-772-9372 or frseraphim@saintanna.org
Finally, we are in the process of updating our student rosters. If you are new to Saint Anna Parish, or if you have not been receiving any emails directly from my email address, and if you have children under 18, please send me an email, annatsu@mac.com so that I can add your family to our Youth Religious Education list. Include the names of the parents or guardians and their email addresses and phone numbers, the names of the students and their grade levels. If you are not sure whether or not you are on the list, go ahead and send me the email anyway.
We thank you for flexibility, your patience, your long-suffering and your heartfelt support for the religious education and the youth ministries that take place here at St. Anna. We continue to trust in the interesting opportunities that God has prepared for all of us in the year to come
In Christ,
Anna Tsu, Director of St. Anna Youth Religious Education