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GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY & PARISH

OF PROPHET ELIAS NORWOOD & EASTERN

SUBURBS INC.

87 BEULAH RD. NORWOO

NORWOOD SA 5067 P.O. BOX 277, KENT TOWN SA 5071
71
ALL CORRESPONDENCE T
TO THE HON. SECRETARY

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: 8362
62 4139 . 8431 7789 . 0412 710 037

15-05-16
32 . 1608

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

THE WORD OF GOD

PHONES: 8362 4139 H
H. 8431 7789 M. 0412 710 037

DATE 15-05-16
YEAR 32ND NUMBER 1608

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(. 6, 1-7) 15 2016
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SUNDAY OF THE MYRRHBEARERS (Acts 6, 1-7) 15th May 2016

Now in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplying,, there
arose a complaint against the Hebrews by the Hellenists, because their
widows were neglected in the daily distribution. Then the twelve summoned
the multitude of the disciples and said, It is not desirable that we should leave
the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among
you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom
we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to
prayer and to the ministry of the word. And the saying pleased the whole
multitude. And they choses Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit,
and Philip, Prochorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas, a proselyte

from Antioch, whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed,
they laid hands on them. Then the word of God spread, and the number of the
disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were
obedient to the faith. This is the entire text of todays apostolic reading,
presented so that it is easier to understand the explanations that we present
below. The text begins by describing the structure of the first Christian, or
rather Apostolic, Church. We notice that the Church took care to address all of
the needs of her members.

Despite aiming to establish a pure Christian

society, there still arose differences that threatened division. This dissention
was a result of a lacking Christian attitude and spiritual instruction on the one
hand and the disproportionate distribution of goods on the other. It seems
from this apostolic reading from the book of Acts of the Apostles, that the first
Church mirrors human societies throughout all times and especially our own.
Therefore please allow me to make a simple analogy between the society that
todays Apostolic reading describes and the one in which we live in today.
Some people believe that the Church should only be involved in, and
concerned with spiritual matters, and leaving aside all physical problems and
the struggle for physical survival. While others say that the Church should
modernise and become more worldly to win over the people. Which of these
two opinions can best meet the needs of modern man? Today with so many
technological advances and modern methods of global communication and
easy global travel, to facilitate the trafficking of cultural ideas and information,
man has entered an era of terrible confusion where spiritual matters and social
values have been pushed aside and replaced with countless unfounded
opinions. It has become clear in recent times that there is, even in Greece, a

strong antichristian and anti-ecclesiastical current.

Laws that are anti-

orthodox, and blatantly contradict the faith of the Church, and our Christian
morality are being enacted. At the same time Bishops are being expelled from
schools by a simple phone call from some official of the Ministry of Education.
Today we face another iconoclast persecution, where all of society is
pressuring the Church to adopt the secularized values of world. The danger of
secularization to the Church is great. Instead of the Church being able to help
people become more ecclesiastic, society is pressing the Church to change in
response to mixed up values of the world. If this occurs the Church will retain
her rituals but will lose the essence, her faith. And the Church will suffer the
same fate as when Papacy prevailed in the western church, and as Saint
Nectarios wrote: for the dogma of infallibility the Western Church set aside her

spiritual freedom, and lost the spiritual grace and richness of the Holy Spirit
and the presence of Christ, and became as a body without soul. The essence
of secularization is anthropocentrism. On the other hand the essence of the
Church is God-man-centrism. If the Church was to lose or dilute this Godman-centric character, then it would simply become a religious ideology and
just like all of the other religious systems of the world. The secularized person
sees the Church just like another religious institution of the world, and not as
the only Truth that saves man through Christ. Since he sees all religions in the
same way, the secularized person seeks to usher in a pan-religious
cooperation between all religions, with the aim not being the Truth that brings
man to Salvation but rather a worldly agreement.

And certainly such an

aspiration benefits only the rulers of this age and brings more people under
their control. For example, in Greece, and due especially to the recent influxes

of refugees and immigrants, we face a religious threat.

The Ministry of

Education has removed all traces of our immaculate Christian faith from our
schools, and has bowed down to demands that the Muslims require that their
children are taught about their Islamic faith.

For the sake of peaceful

coexistence, the Orthodox do not confess Christ in interfaith meetings.

Therefore our Church is tolerated alongside monotheistic religions such as
Judaism and Islam. It is a fundamental teaching of the New Testament and
the holy Fathers that a person who does not believe in the Triune God and the
incarnate Word of God is an atheist. Whoever does not honor the Son does

not honor the Father, who sent him.. Whoever believes in the Son has
eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath
remains on them and according to Saint Basil the Great: If one does not
believe in the Son, then he does not believe in the Father. Therefore the
responsibility of our Church today is great, and she should not and cannot
abandon her Apostolic role.
It is beneficial for us to closely look at how Apostles did things. They decided
to find people who believed in Christ first, people with Christian values and a
fear of God, with virtues and wisdom and diligence. And indeed this is what
was done. The Apostles, who had undertaken the spiritual responsibility for
the early Church, after the people had bought the men to them, ordained them
and set them their responsibilities. The seven deacons, with the Protomartyr
Archdeacon Stephan who was young, righteous and filled with fear of God and
humility undertook the social work assigned to them. Ordained and filled with
the grace of God, they began the righteous distribution of daily needs
throughout the Christian society of the early Church. Dear brothers and sisters

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the first Church continues her philanthropic work and even under the most
difficult social and political conditions has managed to protect her members
right up until the present. But now times are much more cunning. Together
with the innocent and down trodden refugees there has been an insidious and
dangerous invasion.

Nevertheless, once again the people of the Church,

having deep within their Christian values rushed to help these unfortunate
people, even as they find themselves in the midst of the worst financial crisis
that the people of Greece have ever lived through. We report this, because
time in her history the Greek nation is being governed by an atheist who does
as he wishes. One thing that we can be confident in is that the Apostles and
the Saints and Deacons of the early Church will intercede to the Lord for the
spiritual protection of Greece, and of all the suffering people of the earth.
Above all we pray day and night, for our Lord Jesus Christ to help us and
preserve our immaculate Orthodox Christian faith. It is beyond any doubt in
our Orthodox Christian Church that there is no contradiction between the
spiritual life and social ministry, and depending on the needs of the people at
the time that one is emphasized over the other.

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News from our Community-Parish

Our first Parish Festival of the Panagia of Tsambika
With grand style and emotion, we celebrated the Panagia Tsambika for the first
time, with Great Resurrection Vespers, artoklasia and appropriate homily on
the Eve of the Festival. Fr. Michael Psaromatis officiated, and Fr. Stavros
spoke on the relationship of the celebration with his own personal experiences.
Also, he mentioned the fact that while the icon of the Panagia of Tsambika left
the Holy Monastery of Kikkos in Cyprus and went to Rhodes, today, the same
icon has returned to be beside the miraculous icon of the Panagia of Kikkos,
which for nearly fifty years has graced the iconostasis of the Narthex of
Prophet Elias Norwood. On the day of the Festival, His Grace Bishop
Nikandros of Doryleon officiated at our Church and spoke on the exalted
position, more than any other of our Saints, that the Panagia holds in the
liturgical and worship life of our Church. At the end, there was a brilliant
procession of the icon of the Panagia of Tsambika in the grounds of the
Church, followed by luncheon, blessed by His Grace. The entire devout
congregation sat down for a splendid feast prepared by the ladies of the
Philoptohos. By common consent, everything was a huge success. Next year,
we expect everyone, especially people from Rhodes, to come and celebrate
with us this luminous festival of the Panagia.

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Tomorrow celebrating Saint Theodor the Blessed one, Matins and Divine
Liturgy will be officiated in our Church from 8-9.30am.

Festival of Sts Constantine and Helen

As there is no church in our Holy Archdiocese named after the Saints
Constantine and Helen within the boundaries of Adelaide City, at Prophet
Elias, there will be a Great Celebratory Vespers on next Friday evening from
5.30 to 6.15. It is an opportunity for those who bear the name of the Saints but
are unable to attend their Saints feast on the next day due to their work, to
come at the Vespers. On Saturday 21st May there will be Matins and Divine
Liturgy with the blessing of dozens of loaves, as well as an abundant morning
tea in the Hall afterwards for the congregation.

Divine Liturgy in English

On Saturday 28th May, there will be Divine Liturgy in English at Prophet Elias,
from 6pm 7pm. We urge everyone, especially children and the youth, and
people who feel more comfortable with English, to come and participate in this
blessed service provided by our Holy Archdiocese.

Meeting of the Executive Committee and Philoptohos

Last Tuesday evening, the regular monthly meeting of the Executive
Committee and the Philoptohos was held in our Community Centre Hall. Due
to the great festivals and functions of the past month, there were many topics
to discuss. There was a report on the general program of Holy Week and the
Resurrection. We highlighted our successes and our weaknesses, and made

15

notes that will help us in future programs. We also discussed future functions,
such as the annual raffle which is drawn on the night of the Dinner Dance,
Saturday 16th July, before the Festival of Prophet Elias. On behalf of the
Church, Fr. Stavros thanked the various committees for their self-sacrifices
made chiefly to the glory of the Lord, but also to serve their fellow-worshippers.

Bible Study
Every Wednesday evening, from 7pm 8pm, in the rooms of the Community
Centre of Prophet Elias, there are interesting discussions about Orthodoxy,
which can enrich the spiritual knowledge of every faithful Orthodox Christian.
The topics are presented in English and there is opportunity for everyone to
listen, ask questions and participate. It is important to thoroughly read the
Bible. But simply reading the Bible is not the same as studying. The Divine
Word of God deserves respect and ought to be understood and practiced. The
Bible is one of the most misinterpreted books ever written, and most people
can find it very hard to understand. The Bible records a long time of history
including many cultures and ages, as well as relating and correlating to any
modern era; it is translated from the original manuscripts in Hebrew, Greek and
Aramaic by reputable scholars. The goal in studying the Bible is to understand
the message in the correct context. If you struggle with where to start with your
Bible reading, how often to read your Bible, how much to read in one sitting, or
how to get things out of it (apply it to your life/practice it) etc. This is why it is
important to follow the subjects that appropriately we present here in Norwood
every week. If people were reading and studying the Bible instant of just
reading it, there would never been so many different Christian denominations.

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A FAMILY PRAYER

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the blessed offspring of your Most Holy
Mother, You who descended to become human, for our salvation, and You grew up
in a blessed and holy family. Come our Lord and dwell with us. We ask You to
listen to our prayer and bless our family. We desire and ask You to become our
guardian, our companion, our adviser and our teacher, the almighty protector,
helper and healer of all our infirmities. Grant, our Lord, so in our household to
regain Your holy will: Grant to us harmony, peace, love, patience and every other
virtue. Grant to us Your good things, the spiritual and the material, and enable us
every day and night to praise, with grateful heart, Your holy name and Your Father,
who is without beginning, and of the Most Holy and good Spirit. Amen.