Kerygma | Issue 04 October 2022

R O C L A I M I N G T H E W O R D O F G O

Kerygma Newsletter

KERYGMA is the proclamation of the Gospel to all Through this Newsletter, the church has sought another way to proclaim the Word of God to all people, not only members of the congregation.

By the grace of God and through the prayers of the fathers and all the people, we present the new Monthly Newsletter of the Church, Kerygma

Climacus

Sunday School Ministry Updates

Blog on Halloween

English and Arabic Bible

Church Project

Photos: Deacons & Servants Day

Let your prayer be completely simple, for both the Publican and the Prodigal Son were reconciled to God by a single phrase

Service Sunday School Ministry

The Sunday School Ministries at St Mina and St Marina's Church travelled to different parts of Melbourne taking part their respective annual camps

** Gr 4-6 Camp **

Glory to God for all things! Our blessed servants and children of grade 4 6 went on camp to Forest Edge where they learnt how to Imitate Christ as St Paul the Apostle mentions in 1 Cor 11:1. They enjoyed a variety of activities and fellowship among their peers and servants.

We thank our fathers, servants, parents and of course the children for making all this possible for the Glory of God!

** Gr 7 9 Camp **

Glory to God for all things! By the grace of God and the blessing of our fathers, the servants of 7 9 (Junior HS) took the children to Phillip Island to explore how we spend our time that God gave us on earth and to discern the good from the bad in our lives.

We thank God firstly, the fathers, the servants and the parents and the children for making this all happen over the weekend!

** Year 10-12 Camp **

Our Senior High School classes 10 12's went along with Fr Abanoub and Fr Isaac to Iluka Retreat in Shoreham where they unpacked some aspects of their life and things they will come across post VCE studies. Although there was no catering onsite, the youth did a spectacular job in cooking all their meals for themselves, they had some quiet study time amongst other fun activities throughout the weekend.

We glorify the Lord at all times and thank Him for the beautiful time spent in retreat for the children and we also thank the fathers and servants for their love, care and dedication to the service.

A beautiful contemplation on reverence and fear inside the church by Cantor Adly Wissa

A Word for our Children on...

'HALLOWEEN'

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, coming up on the 31 October, the world 'celebrates' Halloween In a blog I read concerning this day, comes to light that Halloween was actually in the early centuries, a Christian celebration, where Christians celebrated a feast called 'All Hallows' or 'All Saints' where the church prayed for those who have departed We know of the traditions of Halloween today called 'trick or treat' and dressing up in costumes representing evil characters and the like. 'Trick or Treating' in the Christian celebrations of that time was connected with children would beg for alms (in the form of cakes) in exchange for promises to pray for their deceased loved ones. Costumes were worn to depict the loved one celebrated and brought a moral message to believers "As we remember all of the Saints and pray for all of those who have died, we need to reflect on our own mortality and live in the knowledge that death will come for us The point of it all is to encourage repentance."

Nowadays, we see Halloween Day being celebrated, even weeks leading up to it as a chance to indulge in costumes, decorating our houses in black and orange, with skulls and characters of evil nature, no doubt that this has been a huge propaganda by the media as people of the world celebrate evil and death and host parties to celebrate this pagan theme, which once belonged to the early Christians.

Let us in turn celebrate Halloween, not with the world but with Christ by our side. In every Divine Liturgy, we remember the departed and pray for their repose, awaiting judgement day and the second coming of our Lord. Let us also be reminded of the evil around us!

TemptationsareSweet!

We must be reminded that with Christ by our side we may fight the sweet temptations that attract us to participate inevil,sinandseparationfromGod!

With Christ, we are strong, able to overcomeallthepowersoftheenemythat comestoattackusinmanyforms.

Remember to be a CHRIST IAN, we need Christ:

WithoutCHRIST I Am Nothing BrothersandSisters,rememberChrist alwaysinyourlife.AllowHimtowork throughyouastonotbetemptedbydevil andthroughHim,wemaybeliftedfrom evilthoughts,actionsandworksandlive eternallywithHim

https://www.orthodoxbutler.com/post/hall ows eve

Eucharist as Pharmacy for the Sick

Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

LUKE 5:31 32

They are envious of Jesus because they do not understand that he is present as physician and not as judge. His healing is also forgiveness, for his mission is to sinners, not to the hypocrites or self righteous

In the NT, the Liturgy and the early church fathers, they speak of sin as the illness and the sinner as the sick person The Lord says Himself “Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance ” (Luke 5:31 32)

In the Liturgy of St Gregory “You are He who sent to me the prophets for my sake, I the sick ”

From the fathers of the middle ages of the Coptic Church we have some advice: We have to go to the altar (with faith and preparation) and partake of the Eucharist ‘Whoever says to you, do not go to the altar because you are a sinner is like one who says to you, do not go to the doctor because you are ill.

Christ says about Himself that He is the physician (Luke 5.31). In the Liturgy of St Gregory “You have bound me with all the remedies that lead to life” and in the Sunday Theotokia “For He whom you have born is the Sun of Righteousness and He has healed us from all of our sins”

In the Monday Psalia “As a true physician and a healer, You have healed all our sicknesses” and in the litany of the sick “O You the true physician of our souls and bodies, the Bishop of all flesh, visit us with Your salvation ”

Our Lord is not only the healer, but He is the healing as we call Him “For you are the life of us all, the salvation of us all, the Hope of us all, the Healing of us all and the resurrection of us all ” We as Christians often use this term ‘sick’ to remind ourselves that we are in need of a healer, a saviour to save us from our illnesses and to be healed. Teaches us Humility.

The Church prays over the sick (spiritual and physical) all year round

When we are physically sick we realise something is wrong we head to the doctor we receive medicine and normally we would take it

When we are sick spiritually (seperate ourselves from God we come to ourselves, realised we have done wrong we come to the true physician to be healed, Jesus Christ Himself through His Body and Blood and He forgives our sins as medicine for our spiritual illnesses and the priest gives us the Absolution and spiritual advice about how to walk with Christ again in our journey toward the kingdom Let us run to the church for healing from Him who offers this to us

Jesus the Physician will show that he is present in his creation to heal spiritually through forgiveness and physically by healing the paralytic

In any state we are in, we must feel the presence of God in our lives (church, school, uni, work) and continue to have Him in our minds and remind ourselves that we are His creation

While He is in our minds, hearts and present He will mend His healing Hands We must continuously be in a state of repentance in our lives

New Church Project

Kind reminder that we need your support for the project of Church Services Building and Child Care. You can find the forms at church or online (hallamcopts org au) through the QR Code, once completed send to Mr Sameeh Galli (0411253871) or Mr Nagy Banoub (0423411715)

Ground Floor

6 Classrooms

Bookshop Library

Multipurpose Hall (200 sq m)

Commercial Kitchen Female/Male and Disable Toilets

Waste Collection Area Lift

How can I Help?

First Floor

7 Classrooms

2 Priests Office

Female/Male and Disable Toilets Terrace (150 sq m)

Lift

1 . R E C U R R I N G M O N T H L Y D O N A T I O N

We kindly request every family to make a recurring monthly donation of $100, $200, $500 or other for a period of two years which is the expected construction period This is essential to meet the bank's criteria for loan serviceability (this payment is tax deductible) Please use the supplied form for options of payment

2 . L O A N T O T H E C H U R C H

We welcome any of our parishioners to give a loan to the Church of a lump sum amount to be repaid by the Church over a period of time Returned in 2 years that can earn 5% interest per annum Official paperwork will be issued by the Senior Priest Please contact V Rev Fr Abanoub Attalla to discuss this option

Second Floor

Chapel (200 sq m)

Deacon's Room

Vestry

Toddler/Crying Room

Priest Office

Lift

(Our target

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BankDetails-BSB:083-817|Acc:322658382|Ref:CSB|SwiftCode:NATAAU3303M

F E A S T S A N D F A S T S

WeeklySchedule

Tuesday

Liturgy | 05:00am-07:00am

English Bible Study | 7:45pm-9:30pm

Wednesday

Liturgy | 09:30am 12:00pm

Thursday

Liturgy | 05:00am 07:00am

Prayer Meeting | 7:30pm 9:00pm

Friday

Liturgy | 09:30am-12:00pm

Arabic Family Meeting | 7:00pm-9:00pm

Saturday

Arabic Liturgy | 07:30am-10:00am

English Liturgy | 09:00am-11:00am

Seniors Meeting | 11:00am-12:30pm

Vespers | 6:00pm-7:30pm

Meeting | 7:00pm

Sunday

Early | 06:00am-08:00am

English | 08:00am-10:00am

Arabic | 08:45am-11:00am

Sunday School | 10:30am-11:30am

Deacon's School | 12:00pm-1:00pm

DATE

I N O C T O B E R

02 October 2020 | 22 Thout 1739 AM

FEAST St Julius Al Aqfahsi

DATE FEAST St Gregory the Great 04 October 2020 | 24 Thout 1739 AM

DATE

11 October 2020 | 01 Baba 1739 AM

FEAST St Anastasia

DATE

17 October 2020 | 07 Baba 1739 AM

FEAST Abba Paul of Tammoh

DATE

24 October 2020 | 14 Baba 1739 AM

FEAST St Phillip the Deacon

DATE

28 October 2020 | 18 Baba 1739 AM

FEAST Pope Theophilus (23rd Patriarch)

DATE

30 October 2020 | 20 Baba 1739 AM

FEAST St John Colobos (the Short)

DATE FEAST Abba Roweiss (St Freig)

31 October 2020 | 21 Baba 1739 AM

Contact Us

www.hallamcopts.org.au

St Mina and St Marina Coptic Orthodox Church

stmina.stmarina.vic@gmail.com

stmina _ stmarina

Contact the Fathers to join the Viber and Whatsapp Communities StMinaStMarinaChurch