Tel. 2564 5516, Mob. 6694 2888

   

Greetings to you in the Holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 Month of June is considered a month of rest, off from all our spiritual activities starting from Great lent through the week of the Lord’s Passion, Resurrection to the Advent of the Holy Spirit promised by Christ – a period of 100 days.  The faithful think that with the feast of Pentecost, they have gained enough spiritual strength for their voyage to Salvation.  But, for those of the Orthodox Faith, the journey which starts at birth is perpetual.

This month we have an important lent commemorating All the Apostles of Christ, concluding with the Feast of St. Peter, St. Paul and The Apostles.  Orthodox tradition has every Feast preceded by a Lent preparing all members to partake of the feast.

“The Didache” –is a written record of the teachings of the Apostles taken from the words the Lord Himself spoke. Written in the period 80 AD to 150 AD they became known only late in the 20TH century when the Nag Hammadi Scrolls were discovered.  These were not hard to understand, but rather simple and direct, appealing to the heart and soul.  In this we see the Apostles teaching the newly converts about the New Religion and its practices.  Some of those are:

1.                    Be vigilant on behalf of your life.

2.                    Do not let your lamps be extinguished, and do not relax your loins. But become prepared. For you do not know the hour in which our Lord is coming.

3.                     Now you will gather together often, seeking the things that are appropriate for your souls.

4.                    For all the time of your trust will not profit you, if you do not become complete in the last season.

5.                    For in the last days, the false prophets and the corruptors will be multiplied, and the sheep will be turned into wolves, and love will be turned into hate.

6.                    For when the lawlessness increases, they will hate one another, and they will persecute and deliver up, and then the deceiver of creation will appear as God's son, and he will do signs and wonders.

7.                     And the land will be given up into his hands. And he will do lawless things which have never been done from the age.

8.                    Then human creation will come into the fire of examination, and many will stumble and be destroyed.

9.                    But those who endure in their trust will be saved from this accursed thing.

10.                 Then the signs of truth will appear. First, the sign of an opening in Heaven, then the sign of a trumpet's sound, and thirdly, a resurrection of dead people. But not of all people; on the contrary, as it was declared, "The Lord will come, and all the holy ones with him." Then creation will see the Lord "coming on the clouds of the sky."

 The words are so simple, but touch the heart of all.  The Apostles clearly warn their followers to beware of false prophets.  False prophets appear not only in our times but also in the times of apostles. Christ himself warned his disciples and all who came to hear him to beware of false prophets (Matthew 7:15-23 and Matthew 24:10-13). 

The Holy Lineage of Royal Priesthood handed down through Christ to Apostles and from them to Fathers of Early Church is now held by our present Bishops and Priests.  Hence, Bishops and Priests are ordained into Pastoral Service as commanded by Our Lord in the Scriptures to take care of HIS sheep, by the Apostles.

We have seen the mushrooming of small charismatic prayer houses and pseudo – Christian communities in the last decades of the 20TH century and early years of the 21ST. Most of those are prosperity oriented and lack the blessing of lineage. They consider prayer to be a business and not a service. 

 Beloved brethren, I pray that in this Apostolic Lent, there may be a reason for each one to rejoice, be redeemed form trials and troubles.  Let the intercession of all the Apostles bring a bounty of blessing for all of you.

 With prayers for you in Jesus name,

Fr. George C Varughese

Assoc. vicar.