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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 CORRES PONDENCE TO THE HON. SE CRETAR Y

O

24

: 8362 4139 . 8431 7789 . 0412 710 037

18-11-12

29. 1426

WEEKLY MAGAZINE

THE WORD OF GODPHONES: 8362 4139 H. 8431 7789 M. 0412 710 037

DATE 18-11-12

YEAR 29TH NUMBER 1426

WEB PAGE:WWW.PROPHETELIAS.ORG.AU

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EMAIL:PROPHETELIAS@ESC.NET.AU

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9th

SUNDAY OF LUKE (Ephes. 2, 14-21) 18th

November 2012

The Apostle Paul in his letter to the Ephesians, and to all people of all time sends

the message of peace. Peace is the one thing that is surely missing from human

society. However what is the peace that the Apostle is talking about? Perhaps it is

the peace that the leaders of nations attempt to negotiate unfortunately without

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any success? Or is it the peace that atheists seek far away from God. Or perhaps

it is the peace that will bring globalisation as the so called progressive people of

our times imagine it.

No dear brethren. The peace that Paul is talking about is the peace that Adam and

Eve received, it is the peace of Paradise, it is the peace that Jesus Christ told us

about. It is the peace for which our Church unceasingly prays for, it is the peace ofthe soul. It is this peace that Paul is telling us about today. This is the peace that

the whole of humanity thirsts for. But who knows this peace? Despite all of this

and because this peace is a gift from God, man is constantly distancing himself

from it. Man does not want to indebt himself to God for something that he thinks

he can achieve on his own. From the time that man lost the peace of Paradise

through his disobedience to God and his obedience to satan, through the ages

until today he is searching to find peace. Unfortunately he has not found it yet,

and there is no chance that poor man will find it, because he is searching therewhere it does not exist.

The Orthodox Church prays through her saints: For the peace from above, for the

peace of the whole world . The first and last pages of the Holy Gospel talk

about peace. The Prophets glorified our Saviour Christ by calling Him: the Prince

of Peace, and of His peace there is no end (Isaiah). At His birth the Angels

chanted ...and peace on earth..., and after His resurrection and before His

ascension into Heaven, He blessed us saying: Peace be with you My peace Igive to you , and He promised us that He will be with us until the end of ages.

We all wish for peace but do not know how to achieve it. The blessed Elder

Paisios gripped by anger, begged the Lord to free him from this passion. The Lord

appeared to him and said: Paisios, if you do not want to become enraged, do not

desire anything, do not judge, and do not hate anyone, and you will have peace. .

Therefore everybody who does not do his will but Gods will always be at peace in

his soul. However he who loves to follow his own desires will not have peace. The

soul that is obedient to Gods will bears every sadness and suffering easily because

he knows that this suffering is seen by God, and he prays: Lord You see my

suffering. You know how sinful and weak I am, help me to endure and to be

thankful for Your goodness and kindness. And the Lord relieves the pain, the

soul feels the security of God and stays near God full of joy and thankfulness.

If you are faced with some misfortune, think: The Lord sees into my heart and if

it is His will, then everything will be for my benefit and that of others . In this

way your soul will always be filled with peace. However if someone starts to

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complain: this is not good, that is not how it should be, then in his soul there will

be no peace, even if he fasts and prays a lot. For man to become calm firstly his

soul needs to be calm, he needs to place Christ as the Ruler of his soul. A sinful

soul captured by the passions cannot have the Lords peace and joy, even if he

rules over the whole world. If such a king sitting on his throne in glory, enjoying

himself together will all his princes, was to be told: King, you will die shortly, his

soul would be disturbed, he would tremble with fear and he would feel his

weaknesses. He would ask for more time to prepare himself, but his panic would

not allow it. Yet there exist many humble people who are rich in Gods love who if

they were told You will die shortly would respond peacefully: May Gods will

be done. Glorify the Lord, He has remembered me and wants to take me to where

the thief first entered. Glory to you Lord, because now I am coming to You and I

see eternity filled with peace and love for You. Your joyful, gentle gaze captures

my soul and it longs for You .

The Holy Apostles and all of the Saints desired the salvation of the people, and

when they were amongst people they perpetually prayed for them. The Holy Spirit

gave them the strength to love everybody. And if we do not love each other, we

cannot find peace. If on the other hand we can become accustomed to fervently

praying for and loving our enemies the peace will always remain in our hearts.

A soul cannot have peace, if Gods law is not studied day and night. Gods law was

inspired through the Spirit of God which comes through Scripture into the soul.And the soul feels sweetness and contentment and so it does not wish to love

earthly things. Since the love of earthly things leads to the devastation of the

mind, the soul then is occupied with despondency, it is frightened and ceases to

pray. The enemy seeing that the soul is distancing itself from God, pounces and

easily vexes the mind with various mischievous thoughts. And so the whole day

passes without it being able to clearly see the Lord.

Peace of the soul is a great gift, and to receive it we must take things seriously.

We need to take a step back and think: I would like to have the inalienable

peace of God in my soul, therefore I should work with love and honour. I will not

just call myself Christian, but I will work, interact with others, behave, and live as a

Christian. This means that not only do I need to attend church regularly, or even

participate in the sacraments of our Church, but I need to live the Sacraments and

the life ofour Church. I will study Gods word and then peace will fill my heart,

and I will be able to bring peace to all those around me who are battered by life.

Brethren the Lord gave us the commandment to love our enemies, and whoever

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loves his enemy is on par with the Lord. Loving ones enemy is only possible

through the grace of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, as soon as someone wrongs you

pray for them to God and in this way you will keep the peace of God in your soul.

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, Vigil, 9 pm. The Vigil comprises Mikro Apodeipno, the

24 verses of the Akathistos Hymn, Great Vespers, Prayer in the Narthex,

blessing of loaves, homily and Matins and Divine Liturgy, concluding with

blessing of the table around 1 am. This is a spiritual opportunity for thosewho humbly desire to feel the living presence of God within them.

Thursday, 8th November, Mr Symeon Nikolaidis from Limnochori Florina

passed away aged 83 years. His funeral took place in our Church on

Tuesday 13th November at 11 am. The burial took place at Payneham

Cemetery and the coffee of comfort offered at our Community Hall. The

Priest, President, Executive Committee and Philoptohos extend their

sincere condolences to the widow, children and grandchildren of the

departed and pray they may have strength and comfort from above. Father

Stavros and the members of the Executive Committee are wholehartenly

thank those kind people who donated to the Church in memory of late

Symeon Nikolaidis.

On Saturday 10th November, the charming son of Mr Basili and Mrs Christina

Alexander was baptized in our Church. The godmother Mrs Andriana Natsios

gave him the name Thomas. We congratulate the parents and godmother and

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pray they may work together in the fear of God towards the spiritual progress of

the newly-baptized Thomas.

With the help of God, from 8th November 2012 until 1st January 2013, Divine

Liturgy will be celebrated in our Church daily, 7.30 am 9 am, apart from the

major celebrations when services will run as usual. Please also be informed that

on Christmas Day, the service will begin at 6 am, as in previous years.

The year is passing and the Festival of St Nicholas is nearly upon us. Prophet

Elias is the only Church of our Holy Archdiocese in South Australia to celebrate

the memory of St Nicholas annually with Great Vespers, anoixantaria, Holy

Unction and Vigil. The program is as follows:

Wednesday evening 5th December, Great Vespers with anoixantaria, artoklasia

and homily, 7 pm8.30 pm. Holy Unction, 8.45 pm9.45 pm, followed by Vigil

with teaching on the life and work of St Nicholas.

Thursday 6th December Day of St Nicholas, Matins and Divine Liturgy with

artoklasia, homily and procession of the holy icon of the Saint around the church

grounds, 8 am11 am. Afterwards, delicious lunch of fish, salad and skordalia in

our Community Centre.

St Nicholas was truly a man of faith, meekness, self-control, humility and

integrity. The apolytikio of St Nicholas is one of the most beautiful hymns of

praise to a human. All his life was evidence of his sainthood. As soon as he

heard the heretic Arius blaspheme the deity of Christ during the first Ecumenical

Council, he struck him in front of everybody present, in front of the Emperor and

many distinguished people. He struck him because he could not bear the sound

of his lie. His gesture was indicative of the high Orthodox courage of the saint.

Surely, if St Nicholas was among us today, he would strike in the same manner

and even more boldly, all those who falsify the truth. Nonetheless, St Nicholas

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was also a deeply humble man: it was out of humility that he hid to avoid being

made Bishop. Thus he would chastise upstarts today: schismatics, heretics and

Protestants who dare to behave with the authority of an Orthodox Bishop. Today,

we can only ask St Nicholas to correct the unwise as he did so long ago and

bring the love of God amongst us.

Last Wednesday, we had the opportunity to discuss The Attributes of the

Church. This Wednesday, we shall study The Church Hierachy. Discussions

are in English, with Greek as required. The studies are suitable for all, especially

those who have not attended catechism. Groups meet in the rooms of our

Community Centre every Wednesday evening 7pm8pm.

Donations for the air-conditioning system continue to come. We thank everyone

for their various amounts and those who promise to pay little by little. The

members of the Executive Committee take heart from your financial support of

the needs of our Parish. May the Lord grant you health and every joy.

Approximately every ten years, we update our record of addresses of our blessed

parishioners. There is usually significant change over this period of time,

requiring this small effort. Please would you provide name, address and

telephone number(s) on the form available at the front counter of our Church.

This is an important help to the priest in arranging Agiasmos of your homes.

Please return the forms by 9th December 2012. CONCERT REHEARSALS

SATURDAY 1 DECEMBER 2012

AT OUR COMMUNITY CENTRE FROM 9.00 AM TO 12.00 PM

Please note that rehearsals for the end of year concert will be held on Saturday 1

December2012 (9.00am12.00 pm) at the church's community centre at the rear of

the church. All Primary & High School students are required to be there with their

props and costumes.

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Please note that school will be held as normal on Tuesday 27 November, Thursday 29

November and on Friday 30 November.

The last day for classes held on Saturday mornings at our Community Centre will

be on Saturday 17 November due to our participation in the Norwood Christmas

Pageant on Saturday 24 November and the end of year concert rehearsals on Saturday 1

December.

READERS & WORKBOOKS TO BE RETAINED FOR 2013

Please note that students should retain their current readers and exercise/workbooks at the

end of this year as they will continue to be used in the coming year (2012).

END OF YEAR CONCERT - SUNDAY 2 DECEMBER 2012

The end of year concert will be held at our community centre at the back of the church

starting at 5.00pm on Sunday 2 December 2012 and finishing at about 7.00pm -

7.30pm.

Students are required to arrive half an hour earlier i.e. at 4.30pm.

NORWOOD CHRISTMAS PAGEANT PARTICIPATION

Classes will not be held at the Community's Centre on SATURDAY 24

NOVEMBER 2012 due to our participation in the Norwood Christmas Pageant and

access issues to the teaching venue. For those that will be participating in the pageant,

the program for the day is as follows:

8.00 AM Students wishing to dress up in the Community's costumes for the pageant are

to assemble at the hall at the rear of the church. Please note that thecommunity's costumes will not be worn if it looks like that it will rain during

the pageant.

(Please note that roads will be blocked off soon after 8.00am. If you come

after 8.00am, you will have to park in a side street.

09.00 am Depart for assembly on The Parade (corner of The Parade and Sydenham

Road)

09.15 am Arrive at The Parade and report to the Ethnic Section within the ChristianChurch's Segment at the beginning of the Pageant.

10.00 am Pageant moves off along the pageant route (1.5 kilometres). As people in the

Ethnic Section walk along, music of the well known carols will be played.

10.40 am Pageant finishes. Return to hall at rear of church and change into normal

clothes.

11.00 am Finish. Students picked up.

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We, the students of the Greek School of Prophet Elias Norwood,

welcome all of you people to our school ending celebration, on Sunday