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GREEK ORTHODOX COMMUNITY & PARISH

OF PROPHET ELIAS NORWOOD & EASTERN

SUBURBS INC.

87 BEULAH RD. NORWOOD SA 5067 P.O. BOX 277, KENT TOWN SA 5071
ALL CORRESPONDENCE TO THE HON. SECRETARY

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: 8362 4139 . 8431 7789 . 0412 710 037

09-09-12
29 . 1416

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

THE WORD OF GOD

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

DATE 09-09-12
YEAR 29TH NUMBER 1416
WEB PAGE: WWW.PROPHETELIAS.ORG.AU
ONLINE MAGAZINE & RADIO PROGRAM: WWW.PROPHETELIAS.BLOGSPOT.COM
EMAIL: PROPHETELIAS@ESC.NET.AU

(. 6, 11-18) 9 2012
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SUNDAY BEFORE HOLY CROSS (Gal. 6, 11-18) 9th September 2012

Boasting may be the expression of pride and infallibility, but it can also
be the expression of spiritual struggle and spiritual life. The first case it
is like the boasting of the Pharisee, and the second case is like that of
the Apostle Paul. However in general the prevailing perception is that
boasting is considered to be expressed by the person with pharisaic
traits.

A proud person who exaggerates their accomplishments,

successes, virtues, wealth, glory, etc. This is the result, or rather the
plethora of these people who besiege us and do not allow us to see
the other side of boasting.

Once, when every faithful Christian aspired to adorn the catalogue of

the Saints of our Church, people praised the virtues and Christian
ideals. They were praising when someone is fast in his faith in Christ,
suffered and died a martyrs death. The parents were asking God to
illuminate and protect their children so they would not to betray their
Christian faith, their baptism and to deny martyrdom, even to die for
Christ. Then abstinence and a moral life brought pride to everyone,
especially the young. Holy Martyrs have struggled well and you are
crowned victorious... At this the Saints rejoice. The triumphant and
militant Church celebrate together. Praising publicly the moral
abstinence of newly-weds. Newly-weds thanked God, and were rightly
proud. They recognised that the bonds of marriage are a small
martyrdom for them. They recognise that the Christian family navigates
this life holding on to the Lords Cross.
However dear brethren, the word once with which we began the
second paragraph, indicates that we are referring to some other time.
To a time where boasting about facing adversity for Christ, for our
hunger, for our vigil, for our toils, for abstinence,

for our

embarrassment, for martyrdom and death for Christ, was a common

characteristic of every faithful Christian.
that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.
These words of the Apostle Paul that we heard today in our Churches,
no matter in what era, but especially during Pauls time, are difficult to
understand. Boasting about an accursed wooden structure upon which

a multitude of people, guilty and innocent, died a horrible death. He

himself also once spoke of the absurdity of the preaching of the Cross.
The Jews could not even imagine that the Messiah would end His life
upon the wood of extreme judgment. Was it not the same for the
Greeks? Remember that they stopped the Apostle Paul at the AreoPagus as he reached the point to inform them about a crucified God?
Today for us this issue is more readily understandable.
Today we heard the Apostle, boasting about exactly that which is for
everybody else scandalous. However, from the moment that the
symbol of shame and dishonour, fought battles and won victories, from
the time that it is able to endure with untold strength the attacks of
authorities, dominions and entire empires. From then it was worshiped
by emperors and kings who set it as the symbol of victory power and
glory, things changed. Now great numbers of people speak of the
Cross with pride.

Athletes enter stadiums making the sign of the

Cross. Holy John Chrysostom said: nobody now is ashamed of it, but
everybody adorns and beautify themselves with it as we wear crowns
and diadems clad with thousands of pearls

It is worn with pride by

the high ranking and many use it to adorn their neck. With the sign of
the Cross the priest crosses all of the senses of the baptised with the
prayer: Whoever wants to follow me let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me, he is baptised in the sanctified waters of the
Font and the Priest anoints him with oil in the sign of the cross and
places a Cross around his neck.

Unfortunately dear brethren, the symbol of sacrifice, upon which the

Lord was crucified and where he breathed His last breath, has been
placed by us so-called Christians in the service of worldly ideals. Today
we have a multitude of cross-wearers who unfortunately have
distanced themselves from the spirit of sacrifice of the Cross. They are
the people who have distanced themselves from everything that the
Lords Cross symbolises. Just as we have altered the meaning of so
many other things to do with God, symbols, virtues, and holy habits, we
have also altered the meaning of the Lords Cross. For example, Gods
love is equal to sacrifice and the love of the world is equal to reward.
The union of the Sacrament of Marriage as is expressed by the Church
is life-long devotion, marriage according to worldly values is
companionship. The term Church according to the Holy Gospel is the
body of Christ, according to the world it is some abstract concept. For
the Lord a Christian is a faithful soldier and life-long witness for Christ,
according to the world a soldier of the devil and his life-long servant. It
is the same when it comes to the Cross of Christ which equals
martyrdom and sacrifice, according to the world the Cross of the Lord
is a prize and source of honour and pharisaic boasting.
The limited space in our magazine does not allow us to discuss in
detail all that is entailed in the findings that have already presented.
We would however if your love permits discuss Whoever wants to
follow me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. If
for example the God parents do not bring a Cross for the baptised
child, and a gold one at that, the childs parents will become angry.

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And we ask ourselves are they right in behaving this way?

If the

parents baptise the child and from then onwards cut it off from Holy
Communion, why do they insist on the Cross? Wearing the Cross the
Priest prays that from now on the child will deny everything, even
himself and devote himself to Christ, what right do the parents have to
divorce their child and separate them from Christ? Do they not
understand that automatically this marries the child with the devil? And
they then complain and become upset because the God-parent did not
bring a Cross?

If the Apostle Paul had to highlight something for

contemporary Christians it would not be anything other than to urge us

to lift in our lives our true guide the Cross of our Lord. Now as we
approach the great day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, let us
deeply examine our personal relationship with the Lords Cross and to
lift our personal Cross always with the help of Him Who first lifted it and
sanctified it.

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News from our Community-Parish

Baptism
n Saturday 1st September after Divine Liturgy, the baptism of young
Amanda Oldenompsen took place in our Church. The godmother was
Mrs Antigone Nikolas, who gave her the name Adamantini. With the
blessing of His Grace, the 29-year-old Adamantini attended basic
catechism, and after fasting, prayer and confession, was baptized
through triple immersion in the holy waters of the Baptismal Font. Last
Sunday, she received her first Holy Communion. May the newlybaptized live blessed by God and follow in her daily life all she has
been taught and progress continually in her spiritual life. May her
godmother have enlightenment from God to guide her in her spiritual
progress.

Church Services

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Thursday evening 13th September Eve of the Elevation of the Holy

Cross, Vespers and Rite of the Holy Cross, 5.30 pm.
Friday 14th September Day of the Elevation of the Holy Cross, Matins
and Divine Liturgy, 8 am 10.00 am approx. Fr Stavros cordially
invites the congregation to the Church Hall afterwards to join him for a
fasting lunch in celebration of his name-day and birthday.
Saturday evening, Vespers, 5.30 pm 6.15 pm.

Divine Liturgy in the English Language

On Saturday 22nd September, there will be Divine Liturgy in English in
our church, 6 pm 7 pm. We urge you to keep this date free so you
can enjoy Holy Communion in the language you know best.

School dance Fathers Day celebration

Last Saturday, we celebrated the eve of Fathers Day with especial
exuberance and joy. About fifty children danced with gusto, not only
the dances they have been learning in school, but, appreciating that
this evening was their special celebration, they danced all evening, so
much so that their parents had to appeal to the DJ to stop the music!
Parents and children alike were hugely enthusiastic. We can scarcely
find words to express our great thanks to the DJ Mr Nick Apostolou,
who donated his services the entire evening, free-of-charge,
entertaining young and old alike. We also thank him for the gift of two
tickets for the Entertainment Centre with Remo on 30th September and
for the lively interest he shows in our Community-Parish. The parents,
who thoroughly enjoyed the family atmosphere of the function and its
full program, said: It was superb! How could we have a better Fathers

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Day celebration? The food, delicious and abundant, every type of

drink, the gigantic, delicious cake, the entertaining program, the joy,
the family environment with grandparents, parents, children and
grandchildren, dancing and all the entertainment we could wish. A
reasonable comment was heard, that parents know when our parishs
Fathers Day celebration is every year, so how could they possibly
arrange something else? We thank the young dance-teachers, Miss
Alexia and Mr Christopher Crocker, for their skillful presentation of
dances by our dance-group. We thank the brothers Andrew and Kon
Psaromatis for the auction and raffle; Mr John Papadopoulos for yet
again donating the salads free-of-charge; everyone who donated items
for the raffle and auction; Gaganis Bros for the BBQ set; and everyone
who contributed to the success of the function. Finally, we thank the
indefatigable members of the Philoptohos and Executive Committee,
who not only work hard in preparing our functions, but also pay
entrance, even though they have no time to eat. May blessings be
upon everybody, especially fathers celebrating their day.

Change in the Air-Conditioning System

We hope that in a few days we shall be in the position to enjoy worship
in our church in comfort. Hearty thanks to our devoted parishioners
who have embraced this project of our Church with love. We especially
thank everyone who has donated not only $150 but even more on
behalf of those who cannot afford it. All donors, anonymous and not,
will be listed on the big-screen during the luncheon on Sunday 30th
September 2012, as well as in our next Newsletter. One of the donors

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who offered $200 in the first week said: Father, I brought this early,
because otherwise, the Prophet Elias would have asked it of me. A
team of ladies has already gathered volunteers to participate in the
organizing committee. In order to participate, the cost for every lady of
our blessed Community-Parish is only $150. Many thanks to all the
devoted ladies who have already put forward their names. We also
thank everyone who has already paid their share. The air-conditioning
system is for the benefit of all our faithful and therefore everybody
should contribute to its expense according to their means.