LITURGY OF THE WORD AND WEEKLY READINGS

Sunday, October 30, 2011: Twentieth Sunday After Pentecost: Youth Sunday

First Lesson: (Joshua 3:7-17)

Psalm 107: 1-7, 33-37

Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (1 Thessalonians 2:9-13)

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (23:1-12)

Suggested Readings For The Week

Monday Matthew 13:36-43; Tuesday Hebrews 11-32-12:2; Wednesday Revelation 12:1-12; Thursday Revelations 14:1-13; Friday Revelations 15:1-8; Saturday Revelations 17:1-14.

Sunday, October 23, 2011: Nineteenth Sunday After Pentecost

First Lesson: (Deuteronomy 34:1-12)

Psalm 90: 1-6, 13-17, Page 717, BCP

Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (1 Thessalonians 2:1-8)

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (22:34-46)

Suggested Readings For The Week

Monday Matthew 10:16-22; Tuesday Revelations 4:1-11; Wednesday Revelations 5:1-10; Thursday Revelations 5:11-6:11; Friday Ephesians 4:1-16; Saturday Revelations 7: (4-8) 9-17.

Sunday, October 16, 2011: Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost

First Lesson: (Exodus 33:12-23)

Psalm 99, Page 728, BCP

Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (1 Thessalonians 1:1-10)

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (22:15-22)

Suggested Readings For The Week

Monday 1 Corinthians 15:30-41; Tuesday Luke 1:1-4; Wednesday 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; Thursday 1 Corinthians 16:1-9; Friday 1 Corinthians 16:10-24; Saturday Philemon 1-25.

Sunday, October 9, 2011: Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

First Lesson: (Exodus 32:1-14)

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23, Page 741, BCP

Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (Philippians 4:1-9)

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (22:1-14)

Suggested Readings For The Week

Monday 1 Corinthians 13: (1-3) 4-13; Tuesday 1 Corinthians 14:1-12; Wednesday 1 Corinthians 14:13-25; Thursday 1 Corinthians 14:26-33A, 37-40; Friday 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Saturday 1 Corinthians 15:12-29.

Sunday, October 2, 2011: Sixteenth Sunday After Pentecost

First Lesson: (Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20)

Psalm 19, Page 606, BCP

Second Lesson: Paul's Epistle (Philippians 3:4b-14)

The Holy Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew (21:33-46)

Suggested Readings for the Week

Monday 1 Corinthians 10:14-11:1; Tuesday 1 Corinthians 11:2, 17-22; Wednesday 1 Corinthians 11:23-34; Thursday 1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Friday 1 Corinthians 12:12-26; Saturday 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:3.

NEWS AND EVENTS

Welcome From The Rector

Directions To Saint Monica's

The Rector's Desk

On September 27, 2011 The St. Monica's worship space was filled to capacity and flowing over with parishioners, friends and well-wishers, who had come to celebrate harvest. What a wonderful celebration of God's love that was! We at St. Monica's do love our church and that is manifested in all the things we do to show our gratitude to God. October is Stewardship month when we all must once again make a financial commitment to St. Monica's for the work and ministries of our parish and pledge our time and talents. On Sunday, October 2, 2011 Fr. Davidson talked about the Ten Commandments and our responsibility to be obedient to God who rewards us for our faithfulness. We live in a world that is filled with anxieties in our daily lives. We are preoccupied with the economy and jobs, but the word of God assures us that with God we need not be anxious. Matthew 6:28, 29 "Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these." We as people of faith must truly believe that our Heavenly Father cares for us and will provide for us as we obey his will here on Earth.

Vestry Projector

The vestry now has its own projector. We will continue to use our PowerPoint presentation. It is obvious that we need others to be trained and be willing to help Bates Lyons who so far has done a marvelous job. The PowerPoint presentation saves us from having to print the service and the lessons. We hope you appreciate the effort being made by the vestry as we seek to use wisely the finances you give on a weekly basis for the operation of our parish.

Rescheduling Meetings

Fr. Davidson needs our cooperation if we wish to reschedule a meeting on Monday or Wednesday between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Fr. Davidson schedules interviews and pastoral counseling either before or after Prayer Meetings on Monday. He may also schedule interviews and pastoral counseling on Wednesday. He schedules events when there is no Bible Study. As a courtesy, please call Fr. Davidson to verify if he has anything scheduled.

Activity Calendar

Weekly: 1) Mondays-Prayer meeting at 6:30 p.m.; 2) Wednesdays-Bible Study at 6:30 p.m.

Special Days (Weekly): 1) Wednesdays and Fridays-Food Pantry opens 10:00 a.m. to noon.

2) Every other Thursday-Pro's and Con's Task Force at 6:30 p.m.

Special Days (Monthly): 1) First Thursday-Stewardship Committee at 6:30 p.m.; 2) Second Thursday-Vestry Meeting 6:30 p.m.; 3) Third Tuesday-Women of Valier; 4) Third and fourth Saturday opens at 12:00 noon to 1:00 p.m.; 5) First Saturday-Episcopal Church Women (ECW) at 12:00 noon

Young People's Fellowship Mandatory Meetings

There will be a mandatory meetings for all Young People's Fellowship members and any other youths interested in participating in the youth service on Sunday, October 30, 2011. All meetings will be held at 5:00 p.m. The following are the meeting dates:

1. Sunday October 2

2. Tuesday October 11

3. Saturday October 15

4. Sunday October 16

5. Saturday October 22

6. Sunday October 23

7. Saturday October 29

Please see Marie Harvey, Naomi Brito or Geraldine Williams if you have any questions.

Young People's Fellowship Pie Sale

The Young People's Fellowship is sponsoring its annual Thanksgiving Pie Sale. The cost is $10.00 per pie. All orders must be received by Sunday, November 6, 2011. Please see any member of the Young People's Fellowship to place your order.

Pearls of Wellness Scholarship

Brunch

Epsilon Omicron Omega Hartford Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, Inc. Presents Pearls of Wellness Scholarship Brunch On Saturday, November 5, 2011. The brunch will begin at 11:00 a.m. and will be held at the Farmington Club, Farmington, Connecticut. Please see Terrie Thomas for tickets.

Barbados American Society

The Barbados American Society of Hartford is celebrating Barbados' 45th Independence on Saturday, November 5, 2011 and our own organization's 45 years in existence. We will honor some of our founding members. This event will be held at he Hartord Plaza Hotel, East River Driver, East Hartford. Please see Patsy Lindo for further dsetails.

PowerPoint Ministry

We are currently looking for persons interested in the ministry of presenting PowerPoint during the service (8:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.). Requirements:

1. Must have a laptop computer.

2. Must have a working knowledge of PowerPoint.

3. Must have access to the internet.

4. Must be reliable.

If you are interested give you name, email address and/or phone number to the Office. A. Bates Lyons will contact you to participate in a training session.

Calendars

Once again we are selling 2012 religious calendars for $10.00 each. Please consider buying these as gifts for you family and friends. See Euna Farrell or Arlette Hurdle to purchase calendars. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Birthdays and Anniversaries in October

Happy Birthday to: Synfoni Green 2nd; Angela Chambers and Trevor Wilson 4th; Beverly Watson and Cordell Tuning 5th; Nicholas Harvey 6th; Susan Davis and Carol Harris 7th; Immauni James 8th and Elijah Henriques 8th; Florence Burke 11th; Patton Duncan 16th; Eddie Davis, Jason Harvey and Neville Radway 18th; Andrea Anderson 22nd; Patricia David 24th; Beverly Forrester and Taylor Jordan 25th; Monet Warren 28th; Edrick Hall 30th.

In Memory For October

Hazel Smith 2nd; Clariana Airey 3rd; Andrew Jordon and Stephan Okrey 8th; Bestrice Mccoy 9th; Clarissa Ford and Hubert Hamilton 10th; Robert Palmer and Louise Waterman 11th; Zelma Smith 13th; Florence Jones and Bertram Jones 14th; Edward Weaver 15th; Susan Reid 16th; Ethel Anderson, Herbert Connover and Ella Holloway 17th; Archibald Reedy 19th; Viola Jones 22nd; Magnolia Cole 23rd; Gwendolyn Calvin and Adeline Power 25th; eugene Nelson, Philip Owens and Delores Swett 27th; Hubert Cooke, Cecilia Irving and Ida Worrell 28th; Cynthia Anderson 29th; Mary Baisden 30th.

Condolences

The Bailey and Green families express their heartfelt thank for the sympathy you have extended toward our families during this time of loss. We are deeply grateful to you.

ITEMS OF INTEREST

I Wonder

This is an occasional column the answers interesting questions.

I wonder what is the Apocrypha and why it is in some Bibles but not in others?

"You may notice that in some versions of the Bible there are several books and some additions to other books of the Old Testament that are not usually found in Bibles used in Protestant churches. These additional writings may be interspersed within the Old and New Testaments or printed separately in a section called the Apocrypha-literally , "things that are hidden." In the first century BCE, a group of scholars in the Egyptian city of Alexandria undertook the task of translating the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. The Greek Septuagint was the Bible used by the early Christian, who mostly spoke Greek. It was the Bible Jerome translated into Latin (the Vulgate) as that language became the language of the church. Two centuries after the Septuagint, a group of Hebrew rabbis proposed an official version of the Hebrew Scriptures for Judaism which omitted several of the books included in the Septuagint. When the reformers of the church proposed a bible, they took as the basis for their text these official Hebrew Scriptures and therefore omitted the Septuagint text included in the Roman Catholic versions."

Vicki K. Black and Peter W. Wenner. Welcome To the Bible (Harrisburg, PA: Morehouse Publishing 2007) pp. 32, 33.

If you want to read more about the Apocrypha click HERE

Clergy

The Rev. Charles Davidson

Vestry Members

Carol Anderson, Cyrus Aimey (Junior Warden), Veronica Airey-Wilson, Joyce Asiedu, Walter Benjamin (Senior Warden, Nora Brown, Terry Brown (Treasurer), Marie Brown-Harvey (Secretary),Evelyn Green, Shannon Holder, Bates Lyons, Joe Noel, Peter Marsele Terrie Thomas, Herbert Bowen (Hon)

Music

Rochelle Holder - Youth Choir

Nathaniel Baker - Music Director/Organist

Rector Emeritus

Canon Cyril Burke

Email

monicahartford@gmail.com

THE BOOK CORNER

Holes

by Louis Sachar

Stanley Yelnats and his family have never had anything but bad luck, so it's not really a surprise to him when he is falsely accused and convicted of theft. Given the choice of jail or Camp Green Lake, Stanley chooses Green Lake because he's never been to camp before. Unfortunately, Camp Green Lake doesn't have a lake and it isn't really a camp. It's a juvenile detention facility. And to build character, the warden, who paints her fingernails with snake venom, has each "camper" dig a hole five feet deep by five feet wide by five feet long every day, even Saturdays and Sundays. What Stanley and the rest of the boys don't know is that the warden isn't just building character, she's looking for the lost buried treasure of outlaw, Kissing Kate Barlow. So begins Holes, a terrific, action filled story, full of great characters with strong voices, exciting, funny scenes and enough twists and turns to keep your kids reading non-stop to the end of the book.

Louis Sachar has written a masterpiece full of humor, insight, wisdom and the triumph of the human spirit and he deserves all the award this book has won. A must read for children aged 9 - 12 and a great addition to all home libraries.

Review by Roz Levine