Categories: uncategorized
Date: 07 August 2005 06:00:45
At Divine Liturgy today, we were blessed once again with our Bishop (God grant him many years!) and Archimandrite Themi (God grant him many years!) serving with our priest and sub-deacon. Bishop Paul gave a wonderful, and challenging, sermon on us being the yeast, light and salt of the world: particularly the Western world as we are the only English-speaking Orthodox parish in Sydney, and one of the few in Australia. May God help us. Fr Themi told us that wherever they find themselves in Kenya, they translate the liturgy into the local language: they are so far ahead of us here in Australia in this and many other regards, despite the blessings we have in this country.
After Divine Liturgy, Fr Themi then showed us a very confronting DVD and photos of the poverty on Kenya (where he runs a mission): we truly do have it so very lucky here in Australia. As a fellow parishioner said to me, we are always looking at those richer than us in Sydney and thinking we have nothing, and then, thanks be to God, our foolish views are put to rest. We are so very, very rich. [We also discussed Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and how that made us both realise how rich we were: yet, in a few weeks, we've forgotten. Lord, have mercy!]
The suburb he lives in is shocking and confronting: tears were welling in my eyes. The dirtiest alleyway you may find here doesn't even begin to compare: garbage everywhere, no sewage system so it runs in the streets...and kids are playing in it. And this is a suburb of the capital city! But Fr Themi and his team, thanks be to God, are doing wonderful work: they've set up a kindergarten and a school, computer labs, a library, a new church, and they are setting up a university [they already have set up a teacher's college] where students will either not pay or will pay a minimal amount, so that education may not be restricted only to the rich. They've also recently opened a playground, which Fr Themi said it was nigh impossible to remove the children from!
May we, as Fr Themi said, in accordance with Christ's command always remember the poor. And please remember Fr Themi and his team in your prayers.