Today’s Readings:

Epistle: 1 Corinthians 8:8-9:2

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-46

 

Schedule of Services: 

Saturday, March 16th, Great Vespers at 4pm.

Sunday, March 17th, Divine Liturgy at 10:00am with Forgiveness Vespers. Hours begin at 9:40am.  

 

Announcements:

-Memory eternal to our departed parishioners!  Richard Kloss 3/3/2017

-Thank you to the Stone’s and Lopes’ for hosting coffee hour last Sunday.

-Today is the meat fare Sunday—the last day to have meat until Pascha.

-Church School for children is today.

-There is a parish council meeting today, as well.

-Our parish will be hosting a "baby shower" this March to help mothers and babies in need. 

-A draft copy of the Church Directory is located on the window sill next to the coffee counter. Please add names and relevant information on parishioners whom you feel should be on the "Friends of St. Gregory's" list.

-Michele Lelo's cell phone number has changed. It is now 908.329.8702. Steve and Michele look forward to company. You can contact them at Michele's new number if you plan to stop by.

-Please consider visiting Steve W. Who is currently residing at Hunterdon Care Center in Flemington, NJ. He is happy to welcome any visitors. His room number is C 120.

-Please text Robert Fisher at (609) 306-4714 if you would like to visit or are able to bring him to church. His address is 47 Lincoln Ave., Lambertville, NJ.

-The next Church School for children will be on March 24th.

 

Some important dates to mark:

-Next Sunday, March 17th, is Forgiveness Vespers at the conclusion of Liturgy.  It is important that we all start Great Lent off on the right track and ask forgiveness of one another during this sacred service.

-Saturday to Sunday, March 30th to 31st, Archbishop Michael will be visiting.  On Sunday, we will enjoy fellowship with him as we host a special meal during coffee hour for him. 

-Correction: Please see the March calendar for the first week of Great Lent.  Please don’t miss our 1st Pre-sanctified Liturgy on the Friday of the First Week of Lent, and the Canon of St. Andrew for the rest of the week.  This first week is a treasured week in the life of the Church.  Let’s start Great Lent off in the Orthodox (Ortho=right/correct, Doxa=glory) spirit!

 

Prayers for: 

Departed: Helen, Elena, Richard

Living: Krystyna and her newborn child, Seph, Michael, Janis, David, Robert, Karen, Steven, Archpriest Paul, Melissa, Stephen, Michele, Janet, Teresa, Irina, Victor; Metropolitan Onuphry and the faithful of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church; the suffering people and innocent victims of the Ukrainian/Russian war and those being persecuted; the suffering people of Yemen, Syria and Turkey; and the suffering victims of the war in Israel and Palestine. 

 

Words for the Day

We all have to die, beloved brethren, and it will be hard for us if, while we are in this world, we do not love each other, if we are not reconciled to our enemies, whom we have offended, and if one has grieved another, if we do not forgive him. Then we will not have eternal blessedness in that world, and the heavenly Father will not forgive our sins.
(St. Peter of Cetinje, Letter to Radulovichs, 1805)

 

Next Week’s Readings:

Epistle: Romans 13:11-14:4. Brethren, you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions. One person believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed him. Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

 

Gospel: Matthew 6:14-21.  Jesus said, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.