Our Holy Trinity Ladies are working hard preparing delicious baklava for our upcoming GreekFest June 21st - 24th at Headwaters Park. Come down and taste our delicious pastries! Stay tuned for more posts....!!!🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷🇬🇷

Thank you to all those who faithfully support our monthly outreach: Chef Marika, Toni, Soultana, Maria R, Trish, Bobby, Maria F, Lynne B, Lynn H, Sophia, Jackie, Eva C, Koula, Stella D, Irene, Thomai, Fr. Andrew, and those who wish to remain anonymous. Please join us! Sign up on the bulletin board in the hallway.

Father Andrew's Mother's Day Sermon: In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Christ is Risen! A teacher asked her class a question: "Suppose your mother baked a pie and there were five of you--your parents and three children. What part of the pie would you get?" Quickly a little boy shot up his hand to answer, and then confidently responded, "A fourth. "I'm afraid you don't know your fractions," said the teacher. "Remember, there are five of you." "Yes, I realize that,” said the boy, "But you don't know my mother. My Mother would say she didn't want any pie so that everyone else could have more.” How many of us have mothers like this? I know that I grew up with a mother who possessed such a spirit, and my daughter now has a mother, who is always ready to do the same! If one phrase summarized many mothers, it would be “sacrificial love.” She is the one who is always ready to give of her time and her very self, and often she gives in quiet, humble ways. She is the one who will get up early and be the last one to sleep to make sure that everything is in order throughout the house. She is the one who gets up at all hours of the night to make sure her child, who isn’t feeling well, is taking his medicine and simply feeling the loving presence of his mother. She may be a stay at home mom or she may be a working mom, who works her 40 hours a week only to come home and then continue her second job which is even more demanding. Moms are people who constantly give of themselves, often without thinking of themselves. More to the point, moms are often the bedrock of faith in the families. They are often the ones who instill the Christian faith in their children, reading them Bible stories, teaching them the traditions of our Orthodox faith, taking them to Church, and modeling for them the Christian life. I guess this is why there is a Spanish proverb which says, “An ounce of a mother is worth a ton of priest.” Of course, this proverb doesn’t downplay the central role of a priest, but highlights the daily and continual influence that a Christian mother and furthermore a Christian family can have! In many ways, moms reflect the epitome of a Christian spirit and ideal which we all should strive for in our lives – lives of unconditional love, of sacrificial service, and of bedrock faith. There may be no influence on earth that can impact a child in the same way! The writer Emerson once said 'People are what their mothers make them.' Abraham Lincoln confessed, “I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother." Someone once said, “Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I can shape the world!” How true is it to acknowledge the blessing that mothers can have upon their children. The mother-infant bond is an intense relationship of unparalleled human affection – the foundation of a child's emotional, spiritual and physical survival. St. Paul saw the influence of a mother on his disciple St. Timothy, when he writes, “Timothy, I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” Here we see how one of the early apostles followed the footsteps of his grandmother and mother in their journey towards the Kingdom of God. Many saints throughout the centuries attributed their initial thirst for God and foundation of faith to their mothers. One of the most famous examples in Church history was possibly the family of St. Basil the Great, whose grandmother was St. Macrina the Elder, who mother was St. Emmelia, and from these godly mothers came St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and St. Macrina the Younger. These women exemplified lives of faithfulness, selflessness, tenderheartedness, compassion, love, patience, motherly concern reached far beyond their own children. The blessings and spirit of motherhood come from God Himself, and must go far beyond one’s own. God’s love knows no bounds, as the love of a true mother know no limits. The spirit of Christian motherhood can be summarized into three central virtues: unconditional love, unconquerable hope, and undying faith! How many of our own mothers instilled these gifts of faith, hope, and love within us? No matter what children do, or how far they stray from the straight and narrow path, the mother will continue to love them, never lose hope in them, and always place their faith in them. How many of our mothers realize that this is the greatest legacy you can leave your children – faith, hope and love. Blessed motherhood is not about spoiling a child, or giving in to their every whim. A Christian mother is one who discerns a child’s needs from his/her wants, who distinguishes the necessary from the superfluous, who separates that which will build up character, from that which will destroy the soul. The dream of a mother is always to help her child reach his/her potential in God. In other words, the mother prays daily that the likeness of God will spring forth from within the soul of her child. In closing, let me conclude with another children’s story. One day, a little boy forgot his lines in a Sunday school presentation. His mother was in the front row trying to prompt him with the right words. She gestured and formed the words silently with her lips, but it did not help. Her son's memory was blank. Finally, she leaned forward and whispered the cue, "I am the light of the world." The child seemed to suddenly remember his lines, and with great feeling and a loud clear voice said, "My mother is the light of the world." On this Mother’s Day, let us lift up and honor all our mothers who have been a “light” in our lives! May the peace, mercy, and grace of the Holy Spirit be with you always. Amen.

Join us this Saturday for fresh, made-to-order gyros! Dine in or drive thru! 10:30 - 5:00 Enjoy this Greek favorite made with a perfectly-seasoned blend of beef and lamb served on a lightly-grilled pita with cool tzatziki sauce. Gyro meal with Greek fries and a drink for only $10! We'll have freshly-made LOUKOUMADES, too! Lovely puffs of fried dough drenched in honey syrup with cinnamon! Let us serve you in our Social Hall or drive up and we'll deliver your order to your car! https://www.facebook.com/events/183158382384840/

Fr. Andrew's sermon from April 22: Anyone remember the television show “Candid Camera?” Can you remember the catchphrase of the show? . . . [“Smile, You’re on Candid Camera”]. In the early 60’s, “Candid Camera” secretly recorded the reactions of people when they were confronted with strange and surprising circumstances. Actors would approach a random person “on the street” with some proposal or problem. The film crew would then secretly film the good, bad, or indifferent behavior of those individuals. Yet almost everyone ended up at some point with that “what-have-I-got-myself-into” look of desperation on their face. Flash forward fifty years. TV is still doing the “candid camera” thing, but with far less comedy involved. Although Impractical Jokers which airs on Tru TV is a comedic but crueler version of Candid Camera, most undercover filming, catching people being themselves when they think no one’s looking, now ends up as an “expose.” From t.v. shows like “Under Cover Boss” that has CEO’s pose as a hired hand in order to get the view from the bottom about how their company works to another t.v show called “Restaurant Stakeout,” where secret cameras film what is really going on in the kitchens of our favorite restaurants. Overwhelmingly it seems that if “no one is watching,” we are no longer watching out for anyone except ourselves or own interests. In the same way, we have our heavenly Father who is with us and watching us all the time. This idea of hiding or acting in a Christian way in front of others is really nothing new. In fact, we also see this in the life of the Disciples from St. Peter swearing to Christ Himself that he would never deny Him, yet when the "camera is off" so to speak he ends up denying him three times. This is also seen with the Disciples themselves, all 12 of them to be exact, who out of fear of persecution hide themselves after the Resurrection. These men of great faith are seen cowering with fear and as St. John the Theologian mentions, did not only out of fear but fear of being seen by others as His Disciples. Yet despite the Disciples promises to stay with Christ until the very end and now their apparent worry only about their safety and well-being, the myrrh-bearing women who we heard about in today's Gospel emerge as the first who courageously venture to Christ's tomb despite the concern of being imprisoned or put to death for doing so. The gospel of Mark tells us that early in the morning they rose in expectation and courage to see Jesus. Once they got to the tomb they found themselves not worrying about persecution but burdened how they were going to roll the stone away from the tomb. While the Gospel does not go into much detail about this dilemma, the Fathers of the Church tell how they were then filled with despair and anxiety which filled their hearts becoming like (as they mention) their personal tomb. And like the myrrh-bearing women, you too may be facing a tomb of sorts. Perhaps it's a tomb of depression. Maybe a tomb of anxiety, worry, addiction, or perhaps a tomb of authentically living a Christ like life and not just pretending when the camera is on just to be liked by others. And in those moments, it's so easy for us to lose hope or our faith in Christ, but as Orthodox Christians we need to remember that no matter where we are in life or what we may be going through it's not God who separated Himself form us but often it's the stones or tombs we have created that have separated us from Him. You may be questioning why it feels so difficult at times to reach Him. And so with that in mind I ask you today, how many tombs do you have in your life? How many stones have you used to cover up bad habits, addictions, feelings of inadequacy, or worry? If that’s you today then realize God made you to live in victory through the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In order to live in the Joy and peace of the Resurrection , let me share with you three things you can do to start to roll away the stones in your life. The first thing you need to do is to stop relying on your own strength. One of the main reasons why some of you here today have not been able to move the stone or break free from your tomb is because for years you have relied on your own strength. By relying on your own strength you’re only deceiving yourself. The only guarantee, the only hope, your only strength in life is when you submit to the will of the Father and abide in Him and through Him. Psalm 127:1 sums it up best for us when it says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” The second thing you can do, like the myrrh bearing women, is to get up and set out towards Jesus by living your faith. Not just on Sunday when everyone is looking, but each and every day. You might be asking, how do I do that Father. It's starts with praying, taking the time to read your Bible, fasting, and by being active sacramentally in the life of the church. We need to also make the first move by getting up, setting out and walking towards Jesus even though it might look ominous or if you are uncertain. The Apostle Paul states in Galatians Ch 5 that, “we have to press on to take hold of everything that Christ died and rose again for.” That means that because Christ destroyed death, destroyed the power of the devil, He has given you the power to overcome any addiction, any bad habit, or any dark tomb you are living in today. The third step is, like the Myrrh bearing Women, not to go empty-handed to the tomb. The gospel of Mark tells us in Chapter 15 that they “had brought sweet spices and oil so that they might come and anoint Him.” We, too, can bring something to our tomb and problems in life. How can I do that? You can start by being kind, merciful, and loving towards others. Start to give people the benefit of the doubt. So often, we are very hard on other people but that fact is we don't know what people are going through in life. Albert Einstein once wrote that, “The ideas that have lighted my way have been kindness, beauty, and truth.” In the same way if you have been waiting for some light to shed upon the troubles in your life then like the myrrh bearing women start by getting up and bringing the oil of gladness, the oil of hope, the oil of love, the oil of mercy to your tomb and into the lives of those around you. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as we seek to meet the risen Lord in our lives let us roll away the stones of sinfulness, despair, and bad habits, and rise up towards Christ like the myrrh bearing women trusting in His strength to guide us in our attempt to live our lives free from bondage and alive in Christ. Amen.

Xristos Anesti! Christ is risen!

Join us for fresh, made-to-order gyros until 5 today! Dine in or drive thru!

Gyros Time!!

Our Parish Council not only works together, but plays together! Opa!

Christ endured extreme suffering for our salvation. Join us for daily services this week to honor Him.

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