Aug 2012 - St. Thomas Philadelphia

ST THOMAS INDIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH
NEWSLETTER
August 2012 Volume XVI Issue 8
1009 UNRUH AVE
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19111
Contact Info:
stthomasunruh@gmail.com
Phone: 215.342.1500
Fax: 215.342.2700
St. Mary In
Remembrance
We are in a blessed season
of remembering the Blessed
Virgin Mary. The lent that is
observed from August 1-15
in memory of the greatest
saint of the Church is an indication
how serious the
Church takes her memory.
The dormition of St. Mary is
the teaching of the Orthodox
Church. In the Roman Catholic
circle the word assumption
is used. It is believed
that St. Mary had resurrected
after her death and burial and
was accepted to heaven by
our Lord but will be waiting
for the Final resurrection that
we are all waiting for. St.
Mary has an empty tomb.
The Orthodox Church believes
that St. Mary’s life of
holiness qualified her for her
passage to heaven. It is important
that in the Churches
of apostolic tradition has
high esteem for St. Mary.
Some time ago I read a
magazine produced by a pentecostal
group in which I saw
a brief write-up about St.
Mary. I was curious to know
what they wrote about St.
Mary. I thought they are trying
to write something
against St. Mary. In fact it
was amazing to read all good
Vicar’s Message
things they wrote about St.
Mary. Even those who oppose
the intercession of St.
Mary are willing to praise
her goodness.
St. Mary is called the second
Church. The Church
holds Christ in her womb as
St. Mary bore Christ in her
womb. We the members of
Church are therefore, technically
holding Christ in our
hearts. That is a great status.
It is for that status that we
call St. Mary the ‘theotokos’
or the “mother of God”. Thus
we all become Christ-bearers
as we take part of the Holy
Communion every time (he
who eats by body and drinks
my blood will be in me and I
in him, John 6). St. Mary is
known for three distinct
qualities:
1) Thy Will be Done: This
is part of the Lord’s prayer.
When St. Mary heard the
impossible and unworkable
message from Anger Gabriel
to give birth to God’s son
while she was an unmarried
young lady, she did not reject
the offer that God gave her to
take God’s mission. “behold
I am Thy servant, may it
happen to me according to
Thy will” was the response
from St. Mary. And she did
it. Often we all pray in the
Lord’s prayer, “thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven”
but we never do that.
Our prayers are a farce comparing
to what St. Mary did.
When prayer and action jibe,
the grace of God abounds.
The angel told St. Mary,
“Hail Mary full of grace”,
which is a salutation to a
person who has the willingness
to obey the will of God.
2) Perfect Humility: When
the task was taken up by St.
Mary, she knew she has been
spiritually elevated to a very
high position. But she humbles
herself saying, “God has
accepted the humility and so
that all generation s will call
me blessed.” It could have
been a proud moment for her
but she humbled herself. It is
an exemplary character for
anyone to feel humble when
he/she is elevated to a position.
Great people will never
boast about the position that
they got because they know
it is given by the Lord. When
someone cannot be humble,
God will not use that person.
St. Mary is the best example
for us.
3) Willingness to Bear the
Cross: St. Mary not only
accepted the assignment but
also took all suffering attached
with it. Normally people
are willing to take a position
or name or fame that
God is willing to give but
often complain about the
cross attached to that. There
is no crown without a cross.
All good name and veneration
that St. Mary received was because
of the cross or suffering
that she bore in her life. She
reached the foot of the cross that
Jesus died on as a culmination of
her suffering as a mother who
witnessed brutal murder of her
only son. But she was not shaken.
She kept all those events in
her heart. She knew well that
her son and our Lord would take
any suffering for the sake of humans.
She followed that path.
St. Mary’s uniqueness is the
holiness in her life. The proof of
holiness is the above three qualities.
We should look back to our
life and see if we would eve
qualify to the holy? Christians
were called “saints” once up on a
time especially in the New Testament
writings. What is our status
today? Will one person be seen
today who will qualify to be
called a saint? What happened?
We have gone away from the
Word of God and live like people
who have no vocation to the
Kingdom of God. Can we revive
that life in us? I hope that this
memory of St. Mary will give us
the inspiration to follow some
qualities of St. Mary.
Lovingly,
Fr. M. K. Kuriakose, Vicar
AUGUST 2012 1 NEWSLETTER

August Birthdays
Chinnamma M Varghese
02-Aug
Cherian Philipose 02-Aug
Jijo George Varghese 02-Aug
Mary Cherian 04-Aug
Dony Davy 04-Aug
Jaison Daniel 05-Aug
Vinitha Varghese 05-Aug
Tibin John Prince 06-Aug
Aleyamma George 06-Aug
Lambert Thomas 07-Aug
Mathews T. Varghese 08-Aug
Leelamma O Panicker 08-Aug
Crisia Maria Shibu 09-Aug
Sheena Jose 10-Aug
Blessy George 10-Aug
Ashok Paulose 10-Aug
Sneha Reynold 13-Aug
Augustin P. Babu 13-Aug
Joel G Panicker 13-Aug
Varughese Jacob 13-Aug
Jojy Varghese 14-Aug
Alina Korathu 14-Aug
Achamma Cherian 15-Aug
Renji Rajan 15-Aug
Nadukemuriyil V Thomas
15-Aug
Rachel A Varghese 16-Aug
Thomas Abraham 18-Aug
Shelby Alisha Thomas18-Aug
Christina S Thomas 18-Aug
George Abraham 18-Aug
Jijo Chacko 19-Aug
Hannah Mary Thomas19-Aug
Ninan Mathai 19-Aug
Dennys Mathew John 19-Aug
Sherin Sara Anish 20-Aug
Aben G Panicker 21-Aug
Flamy Philip 21-Aug
Isabel J Mathew 22-Aug
Varghese Varghese 22-Aug
Sajan Thomas 23-Aug
Anooj Thomas 23-Aug
Kochupurackal Thomas24-Aug
Riny Saju Mathew 25-Aug
Pappachan Chacko 25-Aug
Raju Markose 26-Aug
Annamma Mathew 26-Aug
Judy Philip 27-Aug
Nallumalayil J George27-Aug
Agin G. Thomas 27-Aug
George Varghese 27-Aug
Molly Prince 28-Aug
Suresh Mathew 29-Aug
Sharon Jacob 29-Aug
Bibin George 30-Aug
Betsy George 30-Aug
Cijo Joseph 30-Aug
Anugraha T John 30-Aug
We wish you all a
Happy Birthday!
Announcements
Please sent news, articles and information
for September 2012 Newsletter by Sunday,
Aug 19 to the parish secretary or
newsletter editor. sam@samjacobk.com ,
jerinjuby@gmail.com.
Please contact the parish office for any
updates in contact information, addition in
the family etc. to be added to the database.
Please update your telephone numbers for
Message Broadcast.
Prayer Meetings: Please contact Prayer
Meeting Coordinator, Mrs. Susan
Mathew, to schedule a prayer meeting at
your residence.
Wednesday Prayer Line
Prayer-Line dial-in # 213-342-3000. Access
Code: 4044200. Please email Mr.
Mathew Samuel, msamue2000@yahoo.com,
to add your email
address for Prayer Line updates.
Playback Dial-in Number: 1-213-342-
3003; Speaker Jessy Kochamma Staten
island; Playback Access Code: 335921
Playback Dial-in Number: 1-213-342-
3003; Speaker Rev.Fr. John Melapuram;
Playback Access Code:311289
August Wedding Anniversaries
Mr & Mrs Diboo A Daniel 11-Aug
Mr & Mrs Abraham K Varughese 14-Aug
Mr & Mrs Jiji Mathew
15-Aug
Mr & Mrs Mathew P Cherian 15-Aug
Mr & Mrs Renji Varghese 15-Aug
Mr & Mrs Varghese Baby 15-Aug
Mr & Mrs Rajan Koshy
17-Aug
Mr & Mrs Gibson Thomas George 18-Aug
Mr & Mrs Manoj Thomas 19-Aug
Mr & Mrs Nadukemuriyil V Thomas21-Aug
Mr & Mrs Georgeyo Oommen 16-Aug
Mr & Mrs Jacob Mathew 18-Aug
Mr & Mrs Biju John
20-Aug
Mr & Mrs Jacob Kuruvilla 20-Aug
Mr & Mrs Alen Thomas
21-Aug
Mr & Mrs Ajo Raju
21-Aug
Mr & Mrs Thomas Vakkayil 22-Aug
Mr & Mrs Shibu Thomas 22-Aug
Mr & Mrs Jiju Mathew
26-Aug
Mr & Mrs Kochupurackal Thomas 27-Aug
Mr & Mrs Thomas C Thomas 28-Aug
Mr & Mrs Robin Raju
28-Aug
Mr & Mrs Alex P Symon 29-Aug
Mr & Mrs Suresh Cherian 29-Aug
We wish you all a Happy Anniversary!
AUGUST 2012 2 NEWSLETTER

New Member:
Mr. NJ George, wife Mrs. Annamma George and son
Anoop Joseph George. Welcome to the parish family!
Guest Priests:
H. G. Dr. Yuhanon Mar Chrysostomos (07/01/2012)
Rev. Fr. Siby Varghese (07/15/2012)
H. G. Dr. Gheevarghese Mar Coorilose (07/22/2012)
Obituary:
Mr. Simon T. John, uncle of Shibu and Santhosh Baby
passed away at Manjanikkara
Mr. P T Thomas, brother-in-law of N V Thomas passed
away at Kallungal, Thiruvalla
Mrs. Kunjumariamma, sister-in-law of Kondoor Chacko
passed away in Indore.
Dr. Tom Thomas, cousin of Liz Pothen, passed away in
Philadelphia.
Our condolences to the bereaved families.
Engagement:
Parish News
Anju Elias, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Elias Isaac, and
Dhanish John, son of Mr. & Mrs. John Babu on Saturday,
June 30.
Sunday School News
(Jacob Kuruvilla, Asst. Principal)
Even as the vacation continues, Sunday school has the
following activities. Parents are requested to encourage
children to take advantage of these opportunities.
Summer Special Classes
This year’s theme is “Christian virtues”. The sessions
are being conducted by Achen.
Preparation for Talent Competition
Suja Abraham is continuing to coordinate Quiz
Jessy Jacob is coordinating Story Telling – she will review
stories and update participants on the scoring criteria
Elocution – Volunteers for training
Agin Thomas - Groups 6 and 7 - English
Milly Philip - Groups 6 and 7 – Malayalam
Sunitha Anish -Group 5 – (Both Mal & English)
Group Song Coordinator – Sheena Jose & Sherly
Chacko
OVBS
Started on 08-02-12. Our church hosted it this year.
There is good participation from all the churches
Wedding Announcement:
Sanju John, son of Mr. & Mrs. John P. Eapen, and Anju
M. Varghese, daughter of Mr. & Mrs. Thanuvil Varghese
on Saturday, July 28.
Felicitation of Graduates:
Felicitation of graduates was on July 08 at our
church. The event honored graduates from 8th
grade to graduate school.
Teachers’ Fellowship
To be held on Aug 25th at Bishel and Santhosh Baby’s
house.
Divyabodhanam
Next class is on a Saturday Aug 11 from 10AM to 1PM.
Please contact course coordinator Mrs. Elsa Koshy for
further details.
Parish Calendar
Date Event Location
August 18 Parish Picnic West Goshen Park, West Chester
September 9
MOSC Centenary Celebrations
Chief Guest: H. H. Baselius Marthoma Paulose II
In NY; Location TBA
October 6 Harvest Festival Church
October 20 MMS Annual Diocesan Meeting Contact Omana Varghese for details
AUGUST 2012 3 NEWSLETTER

News from Spiritual Organizations
Martha Mariam Samajam (MMS)
MMS meets alternate Sundays at the church auditorium after Holy Communion for prayer, Bible Study, learning songs
and more. For more details of their activities please contact Secretary Mrs. Omana Varghese
(omanavarghese52@gmail.com).
Women’s Fellowship
Women’s Fellowship meets on a regular basis for prayer and meditation. Contact Mrs. Bessie Mathew
(bessie334@yahoo.com) for more details.
MGOCSM
MGOCSM for the past two months has been progressing. Our young men and women who are in high school
and college have been engaged in Apostolic Bible Teaching, thought-provoking discussions and relevant group projects.
The goal of this ministry is to expound on scriptural truths through the relevant real-life experiences of our
American youth. The past two Bible Fellowships, "Gone Fishing" and "Wake Up Call" have attempted to accomplish
this goal; and we have!
The monthly parish MGOCSM meeting is a time to inform the youth as well as the parents on what this ministry
is attempting to do for the present and forth coming month, and also upcoming parish and area level events and
ministries. The meeting is centered around the monthly theme, for April--life, for May--power. The office bears of the
MGOCSM have done an incredible job this year. Our parents much gratitude for their support and prayers. For more
information, contact Secretary Ms. Christina Thomas (tina_thomas1131@yahoo.com) for more details.
Discipleship Ministry
Over the past month and a half a select group of young men have been fully engaged in learning the essential
of becoming a disciple for Christ. We have so far examined Christ as God, as Savior, as King. These cardinal doctrines
of the Church, as seen in the Scriptures and the writings of the Holy Fathers, must be learned if one is to be a disciple
of Christ and the Orthodox Church. I am proud of the young men who have dedicated their time for this ministry.
Young Adults and Couples Fellowship
This fairly new ministry in our parish has been explained in detail in the previous edition of this newsletter, that is, it's
formation and structure. For the past two sessions we have dealt with the "5 different love languages" and "Godly Submission."
Both sessions, in their own right, have been successful; however, participation from the men in our parish
has been, to say the least, minimal. More of our men must contribute their time for this ministry. Please contact Mrs.
Sneha Reynold (snehareynold@gmail.com) for the weekly schedule.
OCYM
During the past month OCYM has been examining the Malankara Orthodox church and its apostolic roots. This has
led this ministry to research the historical evidence of St Thomas' arrival and evangelical work in India and particularly
on the Malabar Coast. The discussions, although sometimes dry, have been engaging and enlightening. Within the
coming month this ministry will continue to study the Apostolic tradition of the Malankara Orthodox Church. In addition,
through such a study, we hope that the faith of those who participate will be deepened and strengthened. Please
Please contact Secretary Mr. Jobin Abraham (jobin.abraham@yahoo.com) for more information.
Men’s Forum
Men’s Forum fellowship is going very strongly in our Church. The format of this session includes prayer, songs, bible
reading, teaching followed by discussions. For more information please contact Mr. N. V. Thomas.
FOCUS
FOCUS, Fellowship of Orthodox Christians in the United States is an organization intended for young adults, married
and single, post-graduate students and professionals, from the ages of 23 and up. Contact Mr. Steve Kurian
(stevekurian@yahoo.com) for more details.
AUGUST 2012 4 NEWSLETTER

Sunday School Calendar
Event Date Venue Contact
Teachers Fellowship Sat, Aug. 25 Residence of
Jacob Kuruvilla
Santhosh Baby
Sunday School 1st Day of Class Sun, Sept. 2 Church Oommen Kappil
Talent Competition,
Parish-Level
Talent Competition,
Area-Level
Talent Competition,
Diocesan-Level
Sat, Sept. 15 St. Thomas IOC Susan Mathews (Reena)
Sat, Sept. 29? St. Thomas IOC Susan Mathews (Reena)
Sat, Oct. 13? TBA Susan Mathews (Reena)
AUGUST 2012 5 NEWSLETTER