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2 4 . 8362 4139 . 8431 7789

. 0412 710 037 26-12-10 26 . 1327

THE WORD OF GODW E E K L Y M A G A Z I N E O F

P R O P H E T E L I A S N O R W O O DA N D E A S T E R N S U B U R B S

T E L E P H O N E 2 4 H O U R SOFFICE: 8362 4139 HOM E: 8431 7789 MOBILE: 0412 710 037

D A TE 26 -12 -10YEAR 26th Num. 1327

87 BEULAH ROAD NORWOOD

Web page: www.prophete l ias .org .auOnl ine Magaz ine & Radio Program: www.prophete l ias .b logspot .com

Emai l ; prophete l ias@esc .net .au

http://www.prophetelias.org.au/http://www.prophetelias.org.au/mailto:prophetelias@esc.net.aumailto:prophetelias@esc.net.aumailto:prophetelias@esc.net.auhttp://www.prophetelias.org.au/

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SUNDAY AFTER THE NATIVITY (Gal. 1: 11-19) 26th December 2010As we come up to the last Sunday of the year the Church Fathers decided that it

would be fitting for us to read the Apostle Pauls letter to the Galatians. The

words that the Apostle uses to open his letter draw the readers attention to

heaven.

But I make known to you, brethren, that the Gospel which was preached by meis not according to man.The themes covered are especially current, as we come to the end of the yearwhen people usually turn back the pages of time and reflect on the year that was,

and all the events that fill the 365 pages of their book. Every day is like a page

that we revisit sometimes gladdened, sometimes saddened, our joy, or our

sadness depends on the content of each page.

There are pages filled with pictures of shinning joy and relief; these are the pages

in which we attend church conscientiously; they are the pages where we are

kneeling under the Epitrachelion of our Spiritual Father and we find relief from the

weight of sin; they are the luminous pages where our good advice helps a weary

friend face the challenges of their daily existence; They are the luminous pages

of repentance and forgiveness.

Dear brethren, how much joy do we derive from turning these pages, as we see

the person sad and disappointed that we advised to go to Confession, being filled

with joy and hope? How happy do we feel seeing that page, where we managed

to overcome our egocentricity and we whole-heartedly spoke to our brother who

hurt us! How much joy do we feel seeing our children living the sacramental life

of our Church? The pages that give us the greatest joy are those that refer to the

spiritual cultivation of our fellow man; to our struggle against sin and our victories;

to our spiritual study and our reading of the texts of the Church Fathers; to our

attempts to correct our difficult character; to our all-night vigils; to adhering to our

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fasts; to our sacrifices; to uncovering the truth and the Gospel. Indeed joy and

gladness flood our hearts as we come across these pages beloved brethren.

Unfortunately, not all of the pages of our book are so luminous; there are pages

that are black and full of darkness. There are many more of these dark pages

that bring great sadness and disappointment than there are of the luminous

ones. They bring depression and disappointment to those that view them now at

the end of the year. They are the pages in which we insulted our brother, where

we criticised our neighbour, where we blamed somebody else without

considering the damage that we had done. These are the dark pages where we

see our weaknesses as we succumb to sin and compromise on issues of faith.

The pages that show our spiritual sluggishness, when we avoided church, HolyConfession, and Holy Communion for no good reason are entirely dark, as are

the ones when we prevented our children attending church, going to Confession,

Communing, studying the word of God, and generally living a Christian life. Dark

and depressive are the pages showing our egoism, the signs of our hatred, our

lies and our deception, when we magnify our virtues and hide shortcomings.

These are the pages of our book of 2010, now that we have reached the end of

the year we have the opportunity to examine the pages of our own personal book

more carefully. How much more depression and disappointment will we

encounter, dear brethren, as we attempt to turn the blood-stained pages of the

book of life for all of mankind- even if it is only for one year!

The book that the Apostle is talking about today is entirely light, wholly truth, full

of life and incorruptibility. For this reason the book is called Gospel. In otherwords it is made up of pages full of the most pleasant news that is the salvation

of all human kind. The events that this book presents are all truth, pleasant and

for our salvation. According to the Apostle Paul the Gospel was not authored by

men, but by God Himself. Man has written many different books, however none

of these has the ability to lead mankind to eternal life and blessing. Only the

Gospel of God and any books founded on it can lead a person into the kingdom

of God.

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There is no doubt that some authors would raise their objections, they would say

to us that their books speak of the truth and reality, they would contend that the

information in worldly books is both useful and educational. Here we would rush

to reassure them- we do not disagree with them, but on the contrary we

completely agree with them. However, above all we would explain how the

Gospel is different to all of the other books in the world. Worldly books are based

on worldly truths, on the natural, scientific facts that affect man as long as he

lives in this world. In other words they are useful only for the short, ephemeral

time that we spend on earth, where as the Gospel is based on the eternal and

blessed life. One is temporary, the other is everlasting. This is why the Apostle

Paul considered it important to separate things. People needed and still need tobe able to differentiate between the books of this world, and the book of God.

Man is tormented by the notion that if he can criticise and chose not to accept

specific aspects of worldly books, then he can do the same with the Gospel.

And so for this reason the Apostle writes to the Galatians, and to all other

Christians of every generation: Dont be confused, dont think that you can

accept only that which you like from the Gospel, and disregard that which you

dont like, just as you do with the books of this world. These books were written

by men and you are justified in making your choices. The Gospel that I preach to

you was not written by man, nor does it speak of worldly things, but it is written by

God and speaks of the eternal spiritual issues of God. Dear brethren how do we

respond? Do we read and study Gods truth as have been recorded by God-

inspired authors without alterations, or do we have doubt and keep only that

which we consider correct and reject all of the rest?

CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 2010

S T Y L I A N O S

By the grace of God Archbishop of Australiato all the Reverend Clergy and devout faithful

of our holy Archdiocese.

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The Beloved disciple and Theologian chose just one word to describe the

unfathomable essence of God. He did not choose to say wisdom or

holiness or justice or omnipotence or tolerance. He said LOVE.

It is impossible for God not to love, because His essence is love. Yet

because He loves, this does not mean that God is weak in relation to us, as

we are when we love someone, and we say we have a weak spot for that

person.

On the contrary, God can only love, which is why He is able to do all

things out of love. And so, He is not only powerful, but all-powerful!It is, then, to love that the Incarnation of God can be attributed. And to the

very same love we can attribute the corresponding miracle of the deificationof the human person.

However to realise the depth and power of Gods love, we must know its

two basic characteristics: Firstly, that it is all-encompassing, covering theentire creation from when it came out of nothing. Secondly, it is a love that

cannot be reciprocated. In other words, it is not given in return for anythingthat we have done, but totally free. For this reason, in the language of theChurch, the love of God is called grace. Because it is given as the gift ofGod, not as repaymentfor something else.

All these characteristics of the love of God were not so clear before the

Incarnation. In spite of the infinite goodness shown towards all creation from

the beginning, the Lord of Glory had not yet taken on the form of a

servant in order to save the human person and the world.

Yet with the Incarnation of the Son and Word of God, divine love

surpassed every previous measure. It made all benefactions up to until that

point look like pale shadows and humble pre-figurements by comparison.

This is why John, the disciple of love, again tells us: the law was given

through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

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The words came through (rather than appeared or revealed) are

sufficient to show us how drastically and absolutely the love and truth of God

are identified with the Incarnate Divine Logos.

To Him be honour and glory to all ages. Amen!

With fervent prayers to Him

Archbishop S T Y L I A N O S

Christmas 2010

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News from our Community-ParishChristmas CarolsLast Sunday evening, we enjoyed yet another successful function of our blessed

Community-Parish in the Community Centre Hall. The Christmas Carols Concert

was superb in every way. Congratulations to the Byzantine Choir John the

Damascene and the Archon Protopsaltis of the Holy Archdiocese of Australia Mr

Elias Fragoulis, the trio of superb voices brothers Andrew, Con and Michael

Psaromatis, the nightingale-voiced Tsambika de George and Vicki Kanakaris, the

Sunday School and Greek School pupils and the Youth Group in their wonderful

roles, our Community-Parish Ladies Choir of beautiful voices, the ladies of the

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Philoptohos for their abundant and delicious loukoumades, the teachers and

Sunday School teachers, Alexandra Vakitsidis for the inspirational Christmas

Experiences in Australia, and last, but not least, the amazing 13-year-old

Victoria Kakoulis who sang in faultless Greek and English with trained voice and

operatic style and who was met with huge sustained applause. We thank His

Grace Bishop Nikandros of Doryleon for his timely Christmas message and

fatherly blessings, the Mayor of Norwood, Payneham and St Peters Mr Robert

Bria for his attendance and Christmas greetings, the Vice-Consul Mrs Eleni

Theologitos representing His Excellency the Consul-General, with their families,

for their greetings, the MP for Norwood Mr Steven Marshall with his two children,

Mr John Kiosoglou with his wife, children and grandchildren, Frs SpyridonVounasis and Christos Kelidis with their presvyteres, the President of the Greek

Welfare Centre of our Holy Archdiocese Mr Michael Ikonomou with his wife and

family and also the President of our Community-Parish Mr Evangelos Georgiou

for his words. The enthusiastic crowd which filled the hall to capacity thanked the

Christmas Function Organizing Committee led by Mr Andrew Psaromatis. The

team-leader also made presentations to four High School graduates who also

assist Fr Stavros in the Sanctuary: Nicholas Ikonomou, Demosthenes

Panagiotidis, Michael Glezos and Anthony Lisacet-Kiosoglou, for their admirable

success in their High School exams. Finally, we thanked Mr Nick Anargyros for

his perfect execution of his roles as grandfather and as Santa Claus. The

Committee wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed 2011.

Christmas Carolling around the homes of our parishAs previously announced, the Sunday-School children began last Monday their

annual mission, conveying the Christmas message around the parish. The

children did their duty, sacrificing their time, leisure and games. Unfortunately,

they found some homes locked. The children and their drivers thank everyone

who opened their doors and welcomed them with joy. It is worth the effort and

sacrifice to continue this tradition to see it maintained even to the fourth

generation here in Australia.

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Death-FuneralIn these joyful days, there are yet times of sadness that we share. Last Tuesday

morning 21st December 2010, Mr John Zographos, born in Cairo, Egypt of Samos

Greece descent, passed away at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, aged 77 years. His

funeral will take place at our Church, On Wednesday morning at 10.30 am. After,

ondolences and coffey will be in Churchs hall. Father Stavros, the President,

members of the Executive Committee and Ladies Philoptochos express their

sincere condolences to the family of late John Zographos

At the Front CounterBoth the program for the Twelve Days after Christmas and the Diary of our Holy

Archdiocese may be picked up from the front of the Church. The Diary, which hasmore information than before, costs $5.

Annual Youth BBQFor the last 27 years, the day after Christmas is an opportunity for the members

of all the committees and subcommittees of our blessed Community-Parish, as

well as Youth, Sunday & Greek school children and friends to get together so we

can go over the past year and make decisions for the coming year. So tonightSunday, the break-up BBQ will be held in our Community Hall at 7 pm. Everyoneis welcome in this friendly Christian atmosphere.New Years Eve DanceNext Friday New Years Eve, there will be a beautiful family dance here atProphet Elias to welcome 2011. There are a few tickets left, so please book your

place as soon as possible. The details are the same as usual: DJ Valantis will

entertain us, there will be door prize (gold lira donated by Alchemy Designer

Jewellers), raffle, plenty of delicious food and sweets (drinks extra),

entertainment, family atmosphere; all for $30 adults, $15 for children 10 15

years and free for under 10s.

The Greek School of the Community-Parish of Prophet EliasThe new school-rooms of our Community-Parish are ready for parents and

students to visit when they wish. Some parents have already seen them and

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congratulated the School Committee for their initiative in housing all our schools

in our own Greek environment: with maps and flag of Greece; with pictores of

ancient and modern Greek history and learning; with the heroes of 21 and the

war in 1940; with the birth-place of Alexander the Great, his origins and his

conquests. There the student will feel proud of his origins and will focus his

interest on learning more of the place of his forebears; the place which gave

gave birth to Democracy, the arts and real civilization. Lessons will utilize the big

screen and the lap-top. A student who misses his Tuesday lesson will be able to

make up the same class on Friday or Saturday. The programme for classes in

2011 is as follows:Every Tuesday: Pre-schoolYr 7, 4 pm7 pm, including dancing.Every Friday: Pre-schoolYr 7, 4 pm6.30 pm, including dancing.Every Saturday: Pre-schoolYr 7, 9 am12 noon, including dancing.Every Thursday: High school 4 pm6 p

5 10.30.. 2.30... Norwood, Beulah Park, Kent Town, Stepney, Maylands. 3.00.. 7.30. .. Evandale, Trinity Gardens, South Payneham, St. Morris, Firle,Glynde.

6 10.30 .. 3. .. Joslin, College Park, St. Peters, Marden, Felixstow, Klemzig,

Windsor Gardens, Teringie, Tranmere, Hectorville. 5.00 .. 9.00.. Kensington, Kensington Park, Kensington Gardens, Magill Rosslyn

Park, Wattle Park, Auldana.

7 9.30 .. 3. .. Glen Osmond, Glenside, Dulwich, Rose Park, Toorak Gardens,

Tusmore, Beaumont, St Georges . 5.00 .. 9.00..