Categories: friends, parish-life, food, other-churches
Date: 17 June 2007 13:27:43
Back at my parish this Sunday for Matins and Divine Liturgy: I may complain about the chanting at times, but how do I love my parish?: let me count the ways. We have a wonderful priest; the parishioners are so kind and loving; I have many great friends there; and I love Orthodox Liturgy. While Byzantine Chant may never be my favourite style, I truly feel as if I am out of the ordinary and entering the divine: I feel a million miles away from the stress and the struggles of everyday living once the first line is chanted to the closing prayer, the Nunc Dimittis. I think the chanting does have something to do with it: it is not something we tend to do in our lives [though I occasionally break out during the day]: it is something "divine", if I may used such a bold term. And it is such a blessing to have such loving brothers and sisters: God has truly been so very gracious to me.
That isn't to say I leap out of bed every Sunday morning -- I have my struggles and laziness. But, once I enter the church, I do feel so blessed and so surrounded by the love of God, manifest through the love of priest and parishioners, the Liturgy, and the Eucharist. Thanks indeed be to God.
We had an occasional Roman Catholic visitor drop by again: she first dropped by in 2006 when we used the RC School Hall for our Holy Week services: always a pleasure to see her again. We also had two visitors, a couple, who received a brochure we letter-box dropped and came along. As I can recall from my first visit, they said it was "very different" to the Anglican worship they are used to [he is a Baptist and she a Catholic...I suppose they have met half-way!]: God willing, they may return -- they stayed for a while for a coffee and chat.
Father preached on the Gospel of the day, Matthew 6:22-33, pulling no punches and giving us no way out from Christ's command to not worry about the future and such -- our Lord did not tell us to worry 10%, or only on Mondays: He told us not to concern ourself with such things at all. Very difficult in practice, as Father said: but it is Christ's command and something to aim for -- and to hand over, as such, our worries to God, and not to let them consume us. For me, a constant worrier, it is difficult, as I'd love a way out -- such as I can worry on Mondays -- but I can also see how such unnecessary [for there are things we do need to concern ourself with] worrying can be rather debilitating.
A second sermon today, when this evening I went to Cabramatta Anglican, the church I went to from 1997 when, thanks to a dear friend, I re-discovered and re-committed to my faith, until 2001. A friend was preaching on James 1, and, jumping at the chance to hear him preach [as I hadn't before], off I went. My friend gave what I thought was a well-thought out and informative sermon: and it is great seeing someone you've known for a while finding their calling and finding a way to serve God: he is involved with the youth at the parish and is currently studying at theological college.
It was also great to catch up with a few people who were at the service from my time there: the evening service started just as I was leaving, from memory, but I always went to the morning service. The people there, like those at my current parish, are truly a loving and caring group -- I may have theological differences [and a preference for liturgical worship] that meant I couldn't stay there [I moved, after discovering a different type of Anglicanism existed in Dublin when I lived there, to an Anglo-Catholic parish: very few middle-of-the-road parishes in Sydney, at least near me], but I do miss the people, and the Chinese Minister in particular who was a source of inspiration and encouragement for me -- moreso than the English Minister who was there at the time [no offence meant; he was nice, but we never really saw eye-to-eye and I found it difficult to confide in him: but he was fresh out of College and I was going through a difficult stage so I doubt it was easy for him]. I even got an espresso cup of coffee which was very pleasant: all in aid of the women's group there.
After that, it was off to a friend's place [the one who recently had the little bub] for a steamboat dinner: it's been a while since I've had one -- and I've missed them. Yum! And the perfect winter food. Plenty of talking, and catching up since I last saw some of them [several years]: and a meal is always, I think, the most pleasant way to do this. God willing, it won't be several years until we do it again.