Parish announcements this week

Christ is in our midst!

This week vigil light is offered to God’s glory by Catherine Kolesnik in memory of all deceased of Kolesnik family.

Physician-Assisted Suicide Presentation: Brother Columba Thomas, O.P., M.D. will present “Physician-Assisted Suicide as a Threat to Society and Human Persons: What Every Catholic Should Know.” This session will be especially helpful to care-givers, healthcare professionals and all seeking ongoing social justice updates. After the presentation a discussion and refreshments to follow. Tuesday, July 23rd, 7-8 p.m., St Joseph Hall, 129 Edwards Street, New Haven.

The ANNUAL HOLY DORMITION PILGRIMAGE will be held on August 10-11 at the motherhouse of the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate in Sloatsburg. This year’s theme is “Responding with the heart as did Mary and Josaphata”. The Sisters invite all our parishioners to attend! For information call: 845-753-2840 or http://www.ssmi-us.org

We have for sale frozen borscht for $5.00; cabbage and sausage (kapusta and kovbasa) for $10.00 and pyrohy (varenyky) in 2 dozen packages for $14.00. You can buy pyrohy after each Divine Liturgy or during the week if you call the rectory.

STAMFORD CHARITIES APPEAL

REMINDER: Please don’t forget to donate for Charities Appeal. The forms are designed for each family of our parish. Attached to the form is an envelope into which you can place your contribution. The form along with your contribution, we ask you enclose in the envelope and place it in the collection basket during church services. Please make check payable to the Byzantine Rite Eparchy of Stamford. DO NOT MAIL THIS FORM TO THE CHANCERY OFFICE. We sincerely ask all parishioners to make generous contributions.

The Connecticut State Ukrainian Day Committee wishes to invite all parishioners to attend this year`s Ukrainian Day Festival to be held on Sunday, September 8, 2019. The Festival will be held on the grounds of St. Basil’s Seminary, 161 Glenbrook Rd., Stamford. Advance general admission tickets are $5.00 per person, 12 and over are available from Luba Dubno. Tickets purchases at the gate will be $10.00 per person. This festival can’t exist if volunteers sign up during the day to help out. Please make that effort to volunteer.

The Facilities Maintenance Team of St. Michael’s schedules of work sessions for the entire year so that plans can be developed for doing all the projects and arrangements made for the purchase of required supplies and equipment. The usual time frame for the work sessions will run from 6:30 to about 9:30 p.m. All parishioners are invited to be a part of the team. Call Fr. Iura with your contact information.

CT STATE UKRAINIAN DAY COMMITTEE will hold its next meeting on Monday, July 29, at 7:00 p.m. The meeting will be hosted by St. Michael’s Ukrainian Catholic Church, 135 Wethersfield Avenue, Hartford, CT. Refreshments will be served.

Humankind – in the Image and Likeness of God: The Lord called humankind to holiness in freedom and responsibility: “If you choose, you can keep the commandments; and to act faithfully is a matter of your own choice” (Sir 15:15). God settled humanity in Paradise. He gave them freedom and the commandment to actualize it, symbolized in the prohibition to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil: “You may eat freely of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat” (Gn 2:16-17).

The Creator, having fashioned humanity freely out of love, calls us to love – the highest creative expression of a person. For this God grants us freedom. Human love flows from God as from a wellspring, for “God is love” (1 Jn 4:18). Freedom belongs to God’s image in humankind; therefore, his grace does not abolish our freedom. (Christ Our Pascha, 135-136)