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In This Issue
Photos
Parish Notes
The Propers
Sermon
Đại Ý Kinh Văn

Upcoming Events


 Sunday, Jan 5

 

Degreen the church, after the 10:30 AM service

 

Saturday, Jan 11

Feed the Homeless, 9:30 AM, at Bailey Crossroads Shelter

 

Sunday, Jan 12

 

Odeon concert, 4 PM

 

Tuesday, Jan 14

 

Commissions, 6:30 PM

Vestry, 7:30 PM

 

 

Saturday, Feb. 1

 

Vestry Retreat.  Time and Place TBA.

 

Sunday, Feb. 2

 

TET Celebration, after church -- Potluck 

 

Saturday, Feb. 8

 

Feed the Homeless, 9:30 AM, at Bailey Crossroads Shelter

 

Friday, Feb. 28

 

Piano Student Recital, afternoon

 

Saturday, March 1

 

Hypothermia, 8 PM

 

Sunday, March 2

 

Hypothermia, 8 PM

 

Friday, March 7

 

Hypothermia, 8 PM

 

Saturday, March 8


- Feed the Homeless, 9:30 AM, at Bailey Crossroads Shelter
 

- Hypothermia, 8 PM

 

Sunday, March 9

 

Hypothermia, 8 PM

 

Friday, March 14

 

Hypothermia, 8 PM

 


Altar at Easter 2013      

Birthdays

January

4    Suong Pham

4    Catherine Burgess

 7    Jim Clark

 8    MeiLi Haan

 9    Debbie Mills

 9    Tinh Huynh

10   Jocelyne Miller

12    Loc Mai

15    Kevin Tingley

15    Hue Vo

19    Helen Nicholson

22    Jay Parrotta

25   Anne Hiller

25    Anita Nicholson

26    Anna DuBro

28    Tyler Mills

30    Robin Tingley

 

February

1    Pauline Thomas

5    Delaney Curtis

5     Nathaniel Johnson

15    Debbie Los

17    Douglas Payne

23    Frank Parrotta

26    Cheryl Thomas

27    Hong Pham

27    Liz Nguyen

 

 

Our Prayer List

We remember in our prayer:

 

Dee Bailey, Kari Boeskov, Brandon, Jane Chapman, Marie Cosimano, Tim Clary, Dorothy Connelly, John Davis, Donald DeVaughn, Michael Dickinson,  Loretta Dougherty, Nance Finegan, Luis Garay, Carolyn Gawarecki, Louise Gibney, Anne Goodwin, Jean Graham, Nick Giuliani, Katherine Hafele, Margaret Ellis Harris, Alek Hensley, Leslie Hogan, Cindy Hogman, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Michael Horn, Mary Isibel, Lindsay Johns, Gray Johnson, Jamie Kaplon, Robert Kelley, Geoff Kent, Quinn Kimball, Jeffry King, Michael Knowles, Peter Kosutic, Susan Lawrence, Lois Magrogan, Colleen Mavrikas, Gregory McGinnis, Margaret Mills, Evelyn Morgan, Danielle Morgan, Ed+ and Margaret Morgan, Que Nguyen, Chick Nixon, Christine Nolan, Olive Oliver, Jim Owens, Gary Owens, Faith Poole, William Ross, Fern Shuck, Bill Sitler, Irene Skowron, Josh Smithers, Inez StantonCandi Stewart, Barbara Stefl, Kara Stryker, Walter Sushko, Steven Talbert, George Thomas, Clara Torres, George Torres, Elizabeth Trigg, Tammy Vanphung, Nhon Thanh Vo, Michael Weekes, Warren Weinstein, The Crowley Family, The Westfall Family, Meredith Wiech, Bernard Williams, Donna Wolfe, Rudy Zimple.

 

               ____ 

 

Note: If you have a loved one or friend who needs prayer please call the church and leave a message at 703-532-5656, or write to Tinh+ at

[email protected]  or call him at 703-405-9571.  Also, should a name need be removed from the list, please let Tinh+ know promptly, and give the reason.  

 

 

Saint Patrick's Ministers 

The Ministers of Saint Patrick's Church are the People of this Parish

 

supported by

 

The Reverend  

Tinh Trang Huynh, Rector

 

Ms. Mariko Hiller,  

Music Director

 

Ms. Rachel Burgess,

Nursery Care

 

We serve our Lord as part of the Diocese of Virginia

 

led by

our chief pastors

 

The Rt. Rev. Shannon Sherwood Johnston, Bishop

 

The Rt. Rev. Susan Goff

Bishop Suffragan 

 

and  

The Rt. Rev. Ted Gulick,

Assistant Bishop 

The Vision of St. Patrick's

Saint Patrick's Episcopal Church is a community of care, called to be Christ-centered and multicultural in worship, Christian education and action to proclaim  Christ's love to the world.

   

Previous Issues of the Epistle
Please click here if you wish to see the previous issues of The Epistle

St. Patrick's Organized for Missions and Ministry 

 

SAINT PATRICK'S ORGANIZED

FOR MISSIONS AND MINISTRY

 
Vestry Committee:
Senior Warden: Kathy Oliver; Junior Warden:  Bill Houston;
Registrar: Winnie Lebo;
Treasurer:  Kathy Oliver; 

Other members of the Vestry:   Elisabeth Nguyen, Milton Thomas, Amelia Nicholson, Victoria Kennedy, Ann Nelson. 

 

GROUPS AND ACTIVITIES

 

Altar Guild:  Lois Cascella;  
Bell Choir:  Mariko Hiller; 
Sunday Service Bulletin:  Diem Nguyen, Steve Lebo;
Offering Counters:  Bob Cascella; Diocesan Council Delegate: Bill Houston (Kathy Oliver, alternate delegate);
St. Margaret's Circle:  Ann Nelson; Telephone Chain:
Alice King; Feed the Homeless:  Elisabeth Nguyen;
Odeon Chamber Music Series:  Mariko Hiller;
Westlawn Elementary School:  Winnie Lebo;
Falls Church Community Services: Catherine Dubas;
Hypothermia Shelter Program:  Hao Nguyen; 
The Epistle Newsletter Editors: Winnie Lebo and Cindy Rhoad; Flea Market:
Chris Nicholson; Prison Ministry: Nancy Burch;
Meals-on-Wheels: Amelia Nicholson;Sunrise/Bluemont:
Michael Knowles   

 

 

Join Our List
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January 2, 2014
 Photos
     Amelia Nicholson conducts the rehearsal of the Christmas pageant, December 21st

Greening the church -- December 22nd




Christmas Pageant, Dec. 24th  -- Pictures by Steve Lebo







 Parish Notes
    
2014 Call To Care Mission.  Would you like to join in making food for the homeless?  Our Liz Nguyen and other volunteers will feed the homeless and Bailey's Crossroads Shelter once every month on the second Saturday.  This year they will serve lunch, instead of dinner, and they will meet at the shelter at 9:30 AM on the scheduled day -- cooking at 9:30 AM; serving at 12:00 PM; leaving at 1:05 PM (no clean-up needed).  Each time they serve about 75 people.  The first feeding will be on Saturday, January 11th.  If you can't volunteer in the kitchen, you can contribute in other ways, such as donating desserts and snacks, or donating money to the church for the purpose.  Liz has establish an online sign-up sheet with VolunteerSpot.  Please click here to sign up!  For more information on this ministry, please contact Liz at [email protected], or call her at 703.861.4151.

Our volunteers at luncheon on December 21, 2013

- Many thanks to Amelia and Chris Nicholson and the adults who assisted them, and the children and youth of Saint Patrick's, for the beautiful Christmas pageant on December 24th!

- Need to know the contact information of a former member of Saint Patrick's?  Tinh+ may have it.  Please feel free to contact him at [email protected] or leave a message at 703-532-5656.  Tinh+ has just updated the addresses of Miriam Balding, Jane Chapman and Maggie and Felix Spinelli on his contact list.

- Would you like to help our Lois Cascella  teach Sunday School at Saint Patrick's?  Please click here to sign up! All you have to do is pick the Sunday you can teach, put in your email address (which will not be shared) and click "submit."  Thank you!        

-  The Stewardship Letter and pledge card have been sent to all church members.  Please prayerfully consider your giving for next year, and promptly send your pledge cards with pledged amount to the church, or put them in the alms basin on Sunday, so that the Vestry can establish our 2014 budget. Thank you. 
                  
 

Coffee cup - On every Sunday we need volunteers to serve for our coffee hour.  Please sign up to help! The sign-up sheet is in the kitchen. Everyone is invited to stay after church for a time to visit with our friends and catch up on what has been going on in each others' lives.  

 

This Sunday's Altar Flowers 


The flowers on the altar this Sunday
are to the glory of God,
and are given by
Stephen and Carolyn Gawarecki 
in loving memory of
Katie Gross�

The Propers 

Sunday, January 5, 2014
This Sunday is the Second Sunday After Christmas 

Texts: 

Jeremiah 31:7-14

Psalm 84:1-8

Ephesians 1:3-14

John 1:10-18 

 

Collect:   

 

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature:  Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Last Sunday's Sermon    

Advent 4 -- Year A -- December 22, 2013

Text:  Matthew 1:18-25                      Tinh Huynh+ 

-------------------------

 

In the Name of God:  The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

-----------------

Among the American gospel songs,

there is the popular

"Soon And Very Soon,"

written by Andrae Crouch.

"Soon and very soon

We are going to see the King..."

The line is repeated three times,

and the verse is concluded with

the word "Halleluja."

-------------

You and I know what waiting is about.

Waiting for the old computer to boot up can be a pain, sometimes. 

Many of us are now waiting for our loved ones to come home.

The soldier waits for the day he or she sees family again.

The patient in the hospital longs for healing.

Young people wait for the day they are on their own,  

to get married and raise their own children.

People in war-torn countries are waiting.

Victims of disasters are waiting. 

Those in conflicts with relatives and friends are waiting. 

Waiting is not easy.

------------

We Christians believe that the Lord Jesus Christ  

is coming back.

Today we lit all four Advent candles.

We call the fourth candle "The candle of love."

-------------

The early Christians,

especially those of the first century,

waited for Christ to come back

to bring them the peace that He promised.

The evangelist who wrote Matthew had a purpose in mind. 

He did not say it out loud,

but he urged his readers to change:

As you wait for the second coming of the Lord,

you must repent.

You should wait the way Joseph did.

-------------

What was Joseph like?

Joseph was a "righteous man."

In the Jewish society of those days,

you enter marriage the moment you get engaged.

Joseph's and Mary's engagement was not simple and private. 

Engagement for marriage, in that society, involved an entire community.

The punishment of unfaithful women, betrothed or married, was death by stoning. 

Mary got pregnant, and Joseph did not know what to do,  and he did not know why it happened. 

As a "righteous man," Joseph must divorce Mary.

The law did not allow him to forgive her. 

Joseph was a good man.

He was kind, loving and caring.

God's messenger came to him in a dream.

His mind and heart must have been always heavenward,

so he saw an angel in his dream one night as he slept.

The angel told him not to fear, but to wait.

-------------

God told Joseph to walk on a very different road.

It was up to Joseph to listen and obey.

If Joseph refused to obey,

God would go ahead with His plan, anyway.

---------------

Joseph was blessed because he was willing to travel

on a road no man of his time wanted to take.

Joseph changed his mind.

In other words, Joseph was transformed following the encountering with God's messenger. 

Instead of making decision out of fear,

he chose to make decision out of compassion.

He obeyed the words of the angel

and he was willing to accept vulnerability.

The gospel writer says that Joseph

"took Mary as his wife,  

but had no marital relations with her

until she had borne a son;  

and he named him Jesus."

------------------

The crux of the story, however, is not about Joseph,  

neither is it about Mary or the angel.

The crux of the story is about the mysterious Jesus.

Jesus is the Redeemer,

the Creator,

and the Comforter,

"God with us."

----------------

"Jesus," or "Yoshua" in the original language, means "Savior."

Jesus is: "God-with-us."

---------------

Jesus is the LORD whom we are waiting for.

As we wait, we are active.

We've got work to do.

We have a mission to fulfill.

We are not to sit and mourn and complain.

Things can be gloomy,

but beyond the cloud there is the sun.

We will wait and let God take care of our future.

We will not seek to be in control of the things we cannot control.

We proclaim Christ's love to the world as we wait.

We proclaim such love in action, and

in so doing we "use words when necessary."  

We wait and want to know what should be changed in us.

We wait and seek transformation. 

Let us shout with the psalmist, who say,

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates;

Lift them high, O everlasting door."

The King is coming.

Let us prepare our hearts to welcome the King,

for "Soon and very soon we are going to see Him."

Amen.

 

 

Đại � Kinh Văn Ch�a Nhật Vừa Qua

 

 

H�m nay l� Ch�a Nhật thứ tư của M�a Tr�ng Đợi, v� Ph�c �m Ma-Thi-ơ kể chuyện thi�n sứ b�o mộng cho �ng Gi� S�p về b� Mari mang thai.  L�c đ� Mari đ� được hứa gả cho Gi� s�p, chưa cưới, song đ� c� thai Đức Gi�su do quyền năng Th�nh Thần.

 

            Theo phong tục Do Th�i thời ấy, con g�i mới lớn phải chuẩn bị lấy chồng, v� gia đ�nh hai b�n thỏa thuận định ng�y.  Người đ�n b� n�o ngoại t�nh hay chửa hoang th� phải bị n�m đ�.  Mari l� một c� g�i rất trẻ, khoảng 14 tuổi.  Kinh Th�nh ch�p Gi� S�p l� người c�ng ch�nh.  �ng kh�ng muốn Mari bị hại.  �ng toan dấu chuyện ấy, song thi�n sứ của Ch�a đến với Gi� S�p trong một giấc mơ, v� cho �ng biết r� sự t�nh, bảo �ng đừng sợ.

            Ph�c �m chỉ n�i đến Gi� S�p một hai lần trong truyện t�ch Gi�ng Sinh.  D� �t được nhắc đến, Gi� S�p l� một người rất tốt v� rất quan trọng.  Suốt 30 năm Gi� S�p đ� nu�i nấng Đức Gi�su.  �ng l�m nghề thợ mộc, v� rất c� thể l� một người y�n lặng.  Gi�o Hội phong Gi� S�p l� một th�nh nh�n.

            Sự c�ng ch�nh của Gi� S�p l� một điều ch�ng ta suy nghĩ.  Theo bản dịch Kinh Th�nh Tin L�nh, chữ "c� nghĩa" được d�ng thay v� "c�ng ch�nh."  Trong Việt Ngữ, ch�ng ta d�ng chữ "c� nghĩa" để chỉ về phẩm hạnh ch�n ch�nh trong c�c mối li�n hệ như bạn b� v� vợ chồng.  Chữ ấy diễn tả sự ch�n t�nh, y�u thương v� chung thủy.  Người tốt l� người cư xử nh�n hậu v� chịu đựng, c� trước c� sau.   C� những người rất tốt, song khi đối diện với chuyện bất b�nh do bạn hữu hay vợ chồng g�y ra th� họ kh�ng thể tha thứ nhường nhịn.  C�ng thương ai th� c�ng giận gh�t nhiều hơn.  Thiếu g� chuyện vợ chồng cứ b�u xấu hay kiện tụng lẫn nhau, c� khi c�n giết nhau.  Thiếu g� chuyện những người bạn th�n trở n�n th� hận kh�ng đội trời chung v� phản bội nhau.

            Vấn đề l� của ph�a bị phản bội.  Theo trần đời, Gi� S�p đương nhi�n thấy m�nh bị phản bội.   Kh�ng cần biết Mari ở trong ho�n cảnh hay mối t�nh bất ch�nh n�o, c�i bầu c� mang ch�nh l� tang chứng của sự phản bội.  Song ngay trước khi gặp thi�n sứ b�o mộng, Gi� S�p đ� c� � định bảo vệ Mari khỏi tai họa.  Gi� S�p đ� định t�m suy nghĩ.  Gi� S�p c� c�i kh�n ngoan của một người c� nghĩa.  Cho d� người kia phạm lỗi với m�nh, Gi� S�p nhất quyết kh�ng trả đu~a, kh�ng ăn thua đủ.

            Ch�a đ� chọn Mari;  Ch�a cu~ng đ� chọn Gi� S�p.  Theo phong tục người xưa, một người đ�n �ng kh�ng bao giờ cưới một c� g�i đ� hoặc đang mang thai với người kh�c.  Trong khi Gi� S�p chưa biết phải xử thế n�o, thi�n sứ của Ch�a hiện đến trong giấc chi�m bao v� bảo �ng đừng sợ, cứ cưới Mari l�m vợ.  Gi� S�p v�ng lời.

            L�m sao Gi� S�p c� thể tin v�o giấc chi�m bao?  Qu� vị c� bao giờ l�m theo điều m�nh thấy trong giấc chi�m bao?  C� thể n�o điều trong chi�m bao l� điều m�nh phải thực hiện trong thực tế?   Nhiều người đ� đặt c�u hỏi nầy.  Song ch�ng ta nhận thấy rằng nếu ban ng�y m�nh nghĩ qu� nhiều về một chuyện g� th� ban đ�m m�nh c� thể thấy chuyện đ� trong một ho�n cảnh mơ m�ng.  Gi� S�p đ� thấy thi�n sứ trong chi�m bao l� v� �ng lu�n tơ tưởng về Ch�a.

            Thi�n Ch�a l� trước hết trong sự suy tưởng h�ng ng�y của Gi� S�p.  �ng l� một người cầu nguyện.  Ch�nh v� vậy m� Gi� S�p c� sự kh�n ngoan khi đối diện với nỗi khổ v� nỗi bất b�nh.  Sự kh�n ngoan đ� gi�p �ng kiềm chế được tư tưởng, lời n�i v� h�nh động.  Sự v�ng lời, cưới Mari l�m vợ, giữ y�n lặng cho đến ng�y sanh nở, l� một điều cho ta thấy c�i tốt qu� chừng của Gi� S�p.

            Người m�n đệ Đức Kit� muốn theo gương của Gi� S�p:  ẩn m�nh trong Thi�n Ch�a, trở n�n c�ng ch�nh v� ăn ở nh�n hậu.  Trong khi ch�ng ta chờ đợi Ch�a đến với m�nh, ch�ng ta xin Ch�a cho ch�ng ta c�i đức từ t�m của Gi� S�p trong c�ch sử sự với mọi người.

            Lời Cầu Nguyện cho h�m nay: "Lạy Đức Ch�a Trời To�n Năng, xin Ch�a h�ng ng�y thăm viếng thanh tẩy lương t�m ch�ng con, để khi Con Ng�i l� Đức Gi�su Kit� ngự đến th� Người thấy trong t�m ch�ng con một chỗ dọn sẵn cho Người."

May God bless and keep you, and may God grant us peace. 

 

The Rev. Tinh T. Huynh

Rector of Saint Patrick's Church