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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

O
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: 8362 4139 . 8431 7789 . 0412 710 037

24-03-13
30 . 1444

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

THE WORD OF GOD

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

DATE 24-03-13
YEAR 30TH NUMBER 1444
WEB PAGE: WWW.PROPHETELIAS.ORG.AU
ONLINE MAGAZINE & RADIO PROGRAM: WWW.PROPHETELIAS.BLOGSPOT.COM
EMAIL: PROPHETELIAS@ESC.NET.AU

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1st SUNDAY OF LENT (ORTHODOXY) (John 1, 44-52) 24th March 2013

Orthodox Christians all around the world devoutly venerate the Holy Sunday of
Orthodoxy. Since the inauguration of this great day on the 11th of March 843,
1170 years have passed and each year the triumphs of Orthodoxy have been
commemorated. The Fathers of that era believed that the victories of our Holy
Orthodox Faith should not be allowed to fade into obscurity and that on this day
each year Orthodox Christians should commemorate these victories and take
courage from them to continue their struggle. By referring to the glorious past in
this way we are inspired by the faith and perseverance of our Orthodox
ancestors. We take example from the way they lived and form the way they

remained steadfast in their confession of faith no matter what they faced, and
progress spiritually just as they did.
What is Orthodoxy that so many have struggled and fought for, for which so
much blood has been shed and continues to be spilled for? Orthodoxy is the
term that expresses the right way to worship God- correct doxology. Orthodoxy
is the living presence of the Uncreated God in the history of created man.
Orthodoxy is the means through which man can become "by grace" God.
Through true Orthodox faith and worship, the Christian slowly but surely
approaches deification. Just as medical science works towards the restoring and
maintaining of the health of the human body by promoting certain procedures
and therapeutic lifestyles, Orthodoxy offers spiritual restoration. Orthodoxy offers
the Christian the ability spiritually improve, progress and eventually reach the
deification. This is the sole and absolute goal of the Christian life. Orthodoxy
gives the created mankind the opportunity to be unified with the Uncreated God.
God is Uncreated because He is without beginning and without end. Man and the
entire universe was created by God at some point in time. Man is different from
the rest of creation because he has the ability for deification. Orthodoxy offers
this opportunity to all people, but only those who honestly and seriously crave
salvation achieve it.
To achieve theosis, a Christian needs to live his life in a truly Orthodox way and
not according to compromises made by a weak society.

It is a life that is

interwoven with the life of Christ. It is a life that is characterised by constant and
real communion with Christ, Who is the incarnate presence of God among us.
Confirming this, the Apostle Paul in his second epistle to the Corinthians writes: "

if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation." This means that whoever remains

united with Christ, is a person who is recreated and restored to be just as God
had intended man to be from the beginning. He is the person who understands

that he was created by God to be in His image, that is with the potential to be like
Him, if he lives in this world united with Christ.
Our Church, dear brethren, through Gods wisdom tries in every way to help her
children understand our origin and our destination according to Gods will. She
constantly offers Orthodox Christians unity with Christ, knowing that outside of
this union there is no salvation. Orthodoxy is the Church, and the Church is the
Body of Christ. We can clearly see Orthodoxy in todays Gospel reading. John
the Evangelist tells us: Phillip found Nathaniel... Phillip found Christ before he
went to look for Nathaniel. Man had been waiting for centuries for the coming of
the Messiah. Moses had written about this in Mosaic Law and the Prophets had
prophesised it. Phillip along with everybody else awaited this moment. Phillips
heart was filled with joy; he had made the greatest discovery of his life, so he ran
to find his friend Nathaniel to share his great joy. When he had finally found
Nathanial Phillip called out from a distance:

We have found Him of whom

Moses in the law and also the Prophets , wrote- Jesus of Nazareth. On hearing
this Nathanial remained unmoved and raised his objections. However, Phillip
was not swayed by his friends negative response but instead offered him the
well-known invitation: Come and see. Indeed at the insistence of his friend
Nathanial changed his mind and followed Phillip.
Brethren, this is Orthodoxy; to search for Christ, our Saviour and Redeemer and
when we find Christ, tell others and stay with Him forever. This is just what all the
Apostles, with the exception of Judas, did. They stayed with Christ, united to
Christ and reached the new creation, theosis. In contrast, the wretched Judas
left Christ, set himself against Christ and betrayed the Lord, and then the devil
sent him to hang himself.
The example of Philip and the other Apostles, who remained forever united with
Christ, is Orthodoxy. We not only have to believe with all our hearts that our Lord
Jesus Christ is God incarnate, but we also have to confess our faith in Him to

everyone. We have been baptized in the name of the Triune God, Father Son
and Holy Spirit, and we commune of Christs Holy Body and Blood. Yes we do
this, but are we really united with Christ? Can we really convince ourselves that
through the way we live that we will surely achieve theosis? In other words, do
we feel that we have begun the spiritual ascent on the road that leads to
salvation? Do we truly feel this way? If this is so, then we are living the Orthodoxy
that our Church is celebrating today. Everything about us, our hearts, our minds,
the way we speak, our gaze, our every move and in general our behaviour and
interests all glorify and thank God. Is this really how we are acting in this life? Of
course not!
Dear brethren we need to closely examine our faith and truly live Orthodoxy in
the way that we have received it from the Fathers and Teachers of the Church,
who in turn received it from the Apostles, who received it from Christ. It is
becoming apparent that Christians are little by little veering away from the
Orthodox path that was forged through the faith and blood of all the Saints of our
Church. The same Saints that we have come to honour today, and yet we have
unfortunately chosen to follow the paths of this world that lead us anywhere else
but not to salvation.

While we still have the time lets return to the path of

Orthodoxy that will lead us to redemption.

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$6.300

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Leader Computers Pty Ltd. Paul Kristoris

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Norwood Foodland (Con Tellis)

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Mr. Vincent Tarzia for Hurtley

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Galipo Food

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John & Chrissi Kiosoglous

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Blackwell Funeral Directors Payneham

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Adelaide Timber Flooring (Peter Kosno)

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Pavilion Function Center (Nick Mavragelos)

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Suano Hair (Jim & Lia Kefalianos)

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Romeo Foodland Magill

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2014.

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Bible Study

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Every Wednesday evening from 7 pm 8 pm in the rooms of the Prophet Elias

Community Centre, there are studies relevant to the Orthodox faith. Discussion is
in English and everyone has opportunity to listen, ask questions and contribute.
Many interesting topics are covered, with the intent of enriching the spiritual
knowledge of every Orthodox Christian.

News from our Community-Parish

Wedding
On Saturday 16th March, the wedding of Mr. Adam Whatling and Miss Georgia
Tziortzis took place in our Church. The crowns were exchanged by Mr. David
Daradan. May the newlyweds live happily and according to the will of God so
they may have good children.

Baptism
Last Sunday 17th March, the little son of Mr. Athanasios and Mrs. Vasilia Kallos
was baptized in our Church. The godfather Mr. Christos Tziortzis gave him the
name Basil. Congratulations to the parents who baptized their child in the Triune
Name of God and, together with the godfather, declared they would raise him in
the love of God and according to His commandments. May the Lord help them in
their efforts.

Clean Week
The week that has just passed is named Clean Week. The Orthodox Christian
world knows that only this week of the ecclesiastical year is called Clean. It
symbolizes the purification of the soul of every Christian before the contrition of
Great Lent. The Fathers of the Church, to make things easier for our faithful so
they may not be hindered, but also so they would not make up for themselves the
serious matters of our faith, settled things. They named for example one week
Meat-free, so that the most uneducated Orthodox Christian knows that he stops
eating meat. Similarly for the week of Cheesefare and Cheesefare Sunday (last
Sunday), which is the last time for eating cheese, milk, fish, eggs, etc.. Therefore,

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from last Monday, known as Clean Monday, things change. The life of every
faithful Orthodox Christian changes, not only as regards the daily food for the
body, but most importantly, for the Soul. Our Church has special holy services
from which every faithful can take strength. Fasting and abstaining from certain
foods help man in prayer. Without sincere prayer, our communication with God
ceases. Thus fasting plays a big role in the spiritual life of the Christian. We clean
out our fridge; and at the same time, we clean our soul. From Clean Monday until
the morning of the Resurrection of the Lord, the Orthodox Christian who desires
to feel Pascha alive in his heart abstains from physical demands, bodily desires
and worldly influences. The Christian who is not cleaned in diet is unable to
clean his soul. If he is not in the position to do what is easy fasting - , then how
can he do the difficult thing spiritual feeding? Whoever believes otherwise
says a modern Father of the Church resembles the madman who, without
removing the petrol-cap, attempts to fill the petrol-tank of his car. Even more
ridiculous is when he gets into his car and tries to start it when the tank is empty.
But the madness that surpasses even this is when he just sits contentedly in his
car, expecting to reach his destination!! The petrol-cap is the biological feeding
and care of the body in general with its uncontrollable desires. Unfortunately,
however, the soul remains unnoticed in a deathly immobility, like the car in the
story. Dont laugh, though because unfortunately, this is the case with the
majority of so-called Orthodox Christians who celebrate Easter without the
Resurrection of our Christ.

Bible Study
Every Wednesday evening from 7 pm 8 pm in the rooms of the Prophet Elias
Community Centre, there are studies relevant to the Orthodox faith. Discussion is
in English and everyone has opportunity to listen, ask questions and contribute.
Many interesting topics are covered, with the intent of enriching the spiritual
knowledge of every Orthodox Christian.

15

25th March Function National Anniversary and Book and Icon Exhibition
Today Sunday 24th March 2013 after Divine Liturgy, there will be Doxology for the
National Anniversary of the Liberation of our Motherland Greece from the Turkish
yoke. Dressed in national costume and Greek colours and holding flags, students
of our Greek School will file into Church. After the Doxology, some students will
recite poems and songs. Then the students will take Antidoron and go with their
teachers for a light lunch behind the Church. There will be time for a visit to the
Exhibition. At 12 noon, the children will board the bus for the Memorial of the
Unknown Soldier for the march and the official Remembrance of the Fallen for
Freedom in 1821. The children will return to our Church about 1.30 pm; parents
and grandparents may browse at the Exhibition and buy what they like until the
children return. Dear parents, the national celebrations of Greece make the best
Greek lesson for our children. Let us not deprive them of it.

Important observations
Our era is undergoing not only a serious economic crisis but also a crisis of
values. Historical, traditional and fundamental principles are being questioned.
Not a few people are troubled by the silence of spiritual people. There is no
courageous admission, no responsible resistance, no stirring profound word to
give comfort to those who weep over the shattering of the beloved homeland, the
abject state of the Church, the uprooting of Tradition.
The forgetting of the past has a bad effect on the present. The sweet-smelling
fragrance of incense is absent, the Gospel remains unopened, piety is mocked,
grandmothers do not tell legends and stories of the saints to their grandchildren;
but with anguish, watch Turkish serials on colour TV. Agia Sophia has left the
walls which now are filled with half-naked singers in chains.
The people of Asia Minor forget and are forgotten. The Pontians dance at
festivals and the Cretans and Cypriots keep the lyra. Comfortable circumstances,
worldliness, prosperity and good fortune influence everyone and cause

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calamitous results. Many put on high heels to feel taller; they put on makeup to
feel beautiful. Wealth, youth, and beauty sell today. Modernisms and arbiters of
fashion support the antichrist, homosexuality and anti-churchgoing.
It is time for return, for repentance, for deep reflection, for self-criticism and
rekindling of faith. It is time for reviving sacred traditions, love for the motherland,
integrity, truth, sobriety and morality.
Tradition is the life-giving spring, the Pool of Siloam, the river Jordan. It guards
values, principles, honesty and religious knowledge. Gods have been made of
the economy, science, technology, arts, civilization, politics. Whoever resists and
does not submit to the veneration of these deities is mocked and hounded.
Idolatry in modern Greek life has taken chief place and we see the results daily.
The dignity of the free man ought not to bow under oppression. Silence and
accommodation should not triumph. A strong establishment is spurring on and
instigating continual decadence. But nothing is insuperable.
We know well the weakness of man and how easily he is led astray. But we must
repeat the assertion that true joy is not hidden in many possessions and much
wealth. Joy springs from true love and humility, forgiveness and repentance. The
gods of the world do not liberate, do not comfort, do not save, do not warm and
do not lift up fallen mankind.
It should not be necessary to continually repeat the same things over and over
ad nauseum. But some observations do bear repeating. Our motherland has
been suffering for a while. We hope and pray for her speedy recovery and
awakening. It appears that she is paying the penance for her apostasy. When we
were well-off financially, we were not well spiritually. Rather, we were not well
when we were wellLet us learn from passed mistakes in order to hope for a
better future for the whole of humanity.