St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church New Orleans - Louisiana Calendar and News August 1997

The Coptic Orthodox Diocese Of

The Southern United States

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church New Orleans Louisiana

August 1997 Church News Letter & Activities Calendar

Alienation From God.

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Man is alienated from God when he replaces Him with another god, thinking that this other god can satisfy him and make him happy. Examples of such substitutes are the following:

1. Ego

 When man magnifies his ego, worshipping it day and night, he is gradually estranged from God. Instead of this person saying, with Saint Paul, "It is no longer I who lives, but Christ lives in me" (Galatians 2:20), he says It is I who lives, and not Christ Who lives in me, and thus he is estranged from God, and he is doomed.

2. Money

 God says that "No one can serve two masters, God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). If man concentrates his attention on amassing money and making it a god, to whom he gives inner worship, he naturally becomes an enemy of himself before becoming an enemy of God. He will destroy himself both physically and spiritually, dooming himself before being doomed by God. Regarding this matter, Job said, "If I have made gold my hope, or said to fine gold You are my confidence, I would have denied God who is above me" (Job 31:24). Relying only upon money means that we cast God out of our lives.

3. The Flesh

 The Bible has made it clear that "to be carnally minded is death" (Romans 8:6), and that "the carnal mind is enmity against God" (Romans 8:7), not because God wants to be domineering over man, depriving him of the pleasure of sin, but because this pleasure is only temporary, poisonous, and destructive

When God asks us to be holy, He does not mean to trouble us by asking us to do a difficult job, but rather, He gives us advice in order to save us. Try, my dear friend, to find any good that comes from sin and lust! They destroy one's body by ruining one's health; they destroy one's soul by making it miserable; they destroy one's brain by deactivating it; they destroy one's spirit by separating it from God; they destroy one's relationships with others by weakening the ties. After all of this, can we ever say that God restrains and manipulates us when He asks us to be holy?

4. Time
 This means that man lives for this world, for the present time, and for the ephemeral, and we remember the words of the Bible, "For what advantage is it to man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (Luke 9:25) and "All is vanity and grasping of the wind. There is no profit under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
The person who limits himself to time is limited by it, and takes nothing with him to eternity. On the other hand, the person who transcends time, being in contact with eternity and attaching himself to God, lives the everlasting kingdom here and now, remembering that "The Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).

Therefore, our alienation from God arises from our substitution of God by another god, out of ignorance and lack of wisdom and enlightenment.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday
27 July Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi  	28	29	30 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM Martyrdom of Longinus Marina	31 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM Martyrdom of St. Abanoub	1 August Vespers&Bible Study Mobile, AL.	2 Divine Liturgy Mobile, AL. 9:00AM-12:30PM Aghapi --------------------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
3 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi	4 	5 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM 	6 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM	7 Trip To Nashville, TN.	8 Divine Liturgy Nashville, TN. 9:30AM-12:30PM	9 Divine Liturgy Birmingham, AL. --------------------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
10 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi	11	12 Vespers Glorification for St. Mary. New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM	13 Divine Liturgy Annunciation Of The Birth Of St. Mary's New Orleans 9:30AM-12:30PM	14	15  	16 Divine Liturgy Lafayette, LA. --------------------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
17 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi	18 Divine Liturgy Commem. Of Archangel Michael New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM --------------- Vespers 7:00PM-9:00PM	19 Divine Liturgy Transfiguration Feast. New Orleans 9:00AM-11:00AM --------------- Vespers 7:00PM-9:00PM	20 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:30AM-12:00PM ----------------- Vespers 7:00PM-9:00PM	21 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 9:30AM-12:00PM ------------------ Vespers 7:00PM-9:00PM	22 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:00AM-10:00AM --------------- Vespers & Bible Study Tallahassee, FL.	23 Divine Liturgy Tallahassee, FL. 9:00AM-12:00PM ----------------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
24 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi	25 	26 	27 Divine Liturgy New Orleans Commem. Of St. Mary 9:30AM-12:00PM	28	29 Vespers & Bible Study Memphis, TN. 7:00PM-9:00AM	30 Divine Lituthe /FONT> Memphis, TN. 9:00AM-12:00PM --------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM
31 Divine Liturgy New Orleans 8:30AM-12:30PM Aghapi	1 September 	2 	3	4 	5 Vespers & Bible Study Mobile, AL.	6 Divine Liturgy Mobile, AL. 9:00AM-12:00PM Aghapi --------- Vespers, Bible Study&Midnight New Orleans 7:00PM-9:00PM

Church News:

Congratulations:

Congratulations to Hany and Dina Soliman for their new born daughter "Christine", Wishing her a Christian and Blessed Life.

Announcements :

Saint Mary's fast will begin August 7^th and end August 22^nd .
The Sunday school servants meeting will be held from 1:15 to 2:00 every Sunday .
A hymnal class will be held every Sunday from 1:30 to 2:30.
The church has officially started a video library in addition to the tape and book library.

Welcomes:

Welcome to Mr. Farid Labib and his family for their arrival to New Orleans area.

Happy Birthday :

Bassem Tarek Youssef ....................... August 6
Adel A. Sakla ....................................... August 10
Christine Mounir Shalaby ................... August 25
Samer Ihab Bortol ............................... August 27
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Created 7/24/1997, Last Modified 8/04/1997