February 2013 ¨1645 Phillips Road, Tallahassee, Florida 32308 ¨ (850) 878-0747 ¨ Rev. Fr. Robert J. O’Loughlin¨ http://www.hmog.org

Sunday’s are Always Super! ~ A Message from Fr. Robert

The contrast of humility and pride is upon us in the parable of the Publican and the

Pharisee. Unlike the Pharisee who walks to the front of the Temple praying in a loud

voice for all to hear, the tax collector stays in a back corner, falls down in humility, and

repents while offering the most simple prayer, “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

Although the tax collector sinned in countless ways, he truly repented by turning back

to God with one of the greatest virtues humility. The Pharisee thought very highly of

himself because of his good actions, and his pride led him to judge and condemn others.

This parable is a wake-up call to get ready for the opportunity to grow in our in our

faith. We will begin our Lenten journey of fasting and spiritual effort next month as it

reminds us that the first way we can prepare looking within ourselves and where we are

at in our journeys, which can begin on Sunday’s.

Super Bowl Sunday is upon us in a couple of days, as this football game becomes a focal point in one way or

another. We have an opportunity for every Sunday to be super in a sense that we are to put everything aside.

We are to make a decision to come to Church and be with Christ. We are to defeat the worldly influences of

society, and the devil that operates through them, which continuously seek to draw us away from our Church

and our Faith, isolating us away from Christ and other believers. Each Sunday is to be a victory for us as indi-

viduals and families, we gather as the body of Christ, worshiping God, growing in faith, and our children being

able to be taught the faith, as we can all grow closer to one another in faith and love. On Sunday’s we can

stand firm against the temptations of the evil one in making the effort to attend Liturgy and put ourselves into

an environment of faith which blesses, sanctifies and strengthens our lives.

Sunday can fill the void of the emptiness of the secular world. However, the decision on Sunday’s is ours and

a spiritual battle in every Orthodox Christian home every Sunday morning about whether to come to church or

not. However, it is our call and God’s will not force us in our commitment in making Sunday Super every

Sunday! Everything else in our life should close down on Sunday morning and our total focus should be on

Christ. Every day is a constant battle to do well and follow Christ, but every Sunday at Church can be Super

in which we can tap into for strength during the week. Jesus’ Resurrection occurred on this day and there is a

power and holiness on this day unlike any other.

Fr. Robert

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If an emergency or special need should arise, please contact Fr. Rob immediately

at 850-559-8184.

Dear HMOG Parishioners,

It is a great honor to serve as the President of our Parish Council and I really appreciate the trust af-forded me by the fellow Council Members. I pledge to work tirelessly, always under the guidance of our spiritual leader and together with every Parish Council Member, toward a very successful year for our Parish.

Our Parish Council for 2013 is: Pete Koikos - President

Mike Papageorge - Vice President

Glen Perrigan - Treasurer

George Gorb - Secretary

Catherine Branch, Emanuel (Manny) Joanos,

Stamie Joanos, Stelios Manias and

Andrew Poulos - Members

Congratulations to Catherine, Manny and Glenn, who are new additions to the Council for this year. Congratulations also to George and Andrew, who were re-elected for their second term.

Many thanks to outgoing members, Victor Gavalas, Jimmy Koikos and Tom Mookas, for their hard work on the Parish Council these last four years and dedication to our church. I am thankful and proud for my brother Jimmy, a founding member of this Parish, to have reached the milestone of twenty-four years on the Parish Council as well as over fifty-two years of participation in the various ministries and fund raising events of the HMOG Church. We thank God for His Blessings and pray for many more years of health and successes for everybody.

Our first meeting was held Monday, January 14. A

decision was made to finalize the plans on Phase II of grounds improvements and driveway re-paving projects. Our objective is to complete all work by the beginning of summer.

Our Parish is blessed in so many ways. We hope, with God's help and your support, to accom-plish even better things in 2013.

Yours in Christ,

Pete Koikos

Our next ECHO Sundays are February 3rd and

March 3rd. Please drop off your non-perishable food

donations into the bins located in the Hellenic Center and

Patmos Hall.

AHEPA News There will be an AHEPA

meeting Sun. Feb. 10, in Patmos Hall after liturgy.

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CrossRoad is an engaging 10-day program for Or-

thodox Christian high school juniors and sen-iors of all jurisdictions that takes place every sum-

mer on the campus of Hellenic College Holy Cross

in Brookline, Massachusetts. The two sessions that

will be offered are: CrossRoad June: June 22-July 1, 2013 Cross-

Road July: July 8-18

For more information contact Presvytera Joy

2013

St. Stephen’s Camp

Upcoming Events

Sunday Feb 3rd-Souper Bowl Sunday

Sunday Feb 3rd-Youth Sunday

Outreach to Ronald McDonald House TBA

January meeting with college students for discus-

sion and fellowship

Fun and fellowship at Capital Lanes Introduced in 1983, the St. John

Chrysostom Oratorical Festival pro-

vides Greek Orthodox teenagers the opportunity to learn, write and

speak about their Orthodox faith,

Church and heritage. The Oratorical

Festival Program begins at the parish level and is

divided into three divisions:

Elementary Division (local festival only) for stu-

dents in grades 4–6

Junior Division for students in grades 7–9

Senior Division for student in grades 10–12

Our local Festival will be March 27 and the west-

ern Florida district is TBA. Participation is encour-aged as this a wonderful opportunity to discover

the fullness of our Orthodox Faith.

Session dates for St. Stephen’s Summer Camp at the

Diakonia Center in Salem, South Carolina :

Senior Week: June 23-29

Session I : June 30-July 6

Session II : July 7-13

Session III : July 14-20

Session IV : July 21-27

Holy Mother of God

Monthly Community Outreach

Tuesday February 12th from 11-1pm

We will assist in various tasks at the food warehouse

on Four Points Way. Last month we broke down large

bins of sweet potatoes donated by a local famer and

sorted loaves of bread to be distributed.

We will meet at Second Harvest at 11:00 am

If you are interested in assisting in this effort for one

or two hours or have any questions, please contact:

Fr. Rob @850-559-8184 or Presv. Joy @ 850-320-1101

Sunday, Feb. 3rd, The Souper Bowl of

Caring is a national movement of

young people working to fight hunger and poverty around the time of the

Super Bowl football game. Our parish has teamed up

with the International Orthodox Christian Charities

IOCC) and hundreds of other Orthodox Christian par-

ishes around the country to demonstrate our concern

for hunger as the GOYAns make a collection following Liturgy.

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Next Meeting: February 7th (Thurs) at 6:00 pm in the Patmos Hall

Coming Soon . . .

tell YOUR friends, neighbors and co-workers

The Ladies of the Philoptochos will be presenting a

Greek Salad Luncheon

February 22nd (Fri) 10:30 am - 2:30 pm

Eat in or Take out

Need to order lunch for a group at your office?

Call 850-877-2501 to place your order to dine in or take out.

Order by 10:30am, ready for pick-up after 11:00am

Vasilopita Sunday was a beautiful success. Thank you Vicky Gavalas for chairing and to everyone

who contributed their vasilopitas to this event, It's a wonderful tradition that we celebrate every

new year remembering St. Basil and his generosity to the poor. He would bake loaves of bread &

hide gold coins inside then distribute the loaves to the poor. Each of our vasilopitas had a coin

hidden in it, and several people received slices with a coin with the promise of a good year to that

person. Our parishioners donated $326 which will go to St. Basil's Academy in New York.

We would like to thank everyone for their hard work in making our Annual Greek Dinner such a great

success from selling reservations, to preparing food to and to working at this great event. It was a

wonderful evening, and the food was truly delicious according to all of the compliments. Several

people spent important events in their lives with us that evening celebrating birthdays & wedding

anniversaries. So this event has become rather special for many who live in our community. A

special thanks goes to Richard Allen, of course, who waves that magic wand and makes every-

thing we do look so effortless. It was hard work, but still a lot of fun. Many thanks to all of our

Greek Dancers who entertained our customers and to our members who helped with the decora-

tions - everything looked fantastic. We definitely have to thank all of you who sold reservations be-

cause without you there would not have been a dinner.

Holy Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church

1645 Phillips Road Tallahassee, Florida 32308

Return Service Requested

Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple

Celebrated February 2nd

Holy Mother of God Greek Orthodox Church

1645 Phillips Road Tallahassee, FL 32308

Office: 850-878-0747 Hall: 850-877-2501

Fr. Rob’s Cell:

850-559-8184

Website: www.hmog.org

Email Addresses:

Father Rob: fr.robert@comcast.net

Church Secretary: hmog@comcast.net

Secretary Hours: Mon./Wed./Fri. 9am-2pm