Each Divine Liturgy is a summary of the life of Christ. A summary that is not symbolic but real. What we have seen, what we have felt, we take in. It is the Body of Jesus Christ. Thus, in the Divine Liturgy we participate in the Life of Christ, which for all of us is called the Life of the Church, and by communion of the Body and Blood of the Lord we are integral members of the One, Holy, Undivided, Catholic Orthodox Church under heaven. Christ’s earthly life is completed by His command to the Apostles to go to the ends of the world to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Holy Trinity. At the conclusion of the Eucharistic assembly, the final words of the Minister give us “the blessing of the Lord and mercy” after we have tasted the Bread of Heaven. We come out of the Church overflowing with the Blessing of God, solid witnesses of His mercy. “The Lord’s blessing and mercy” we therefore convey through the mission to our African brothers and sisters. We came to their hospitable lands and established local Churches, by the grace of God and the support of our Greek brothers and sisters, so that the Holy Spirit may come and be indulged in this land thirsty for eternal life, so that the light of Truth may come to illuminate every person who comes into this world, whether in Greece, Russia or in Ecuador, in the distant states of Congo-Brazzaville and Gabon, in the mid-western equatorial Africa…
In the centre of Congo-Brazzaville there is no Orthodox church. Yet the State has already offered a large plot of land there to the Orthodox diocese, asking in the most formal way for the establishment of a place of worship of the Triune God! “Go to Macedonia, help us!” Help, brothers, to build a temple, to ring more Orthodox bells on the continent of the future, to dispel the demonic darkness, to shine the light of Christ “before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”! A similar problem exists in the state of Gabon, although Orthodoxy was officially recognised a year ago, an act necessary for our Church to operate freely in that country. The absence of a holy church prevents the establishment of an Orthodox community, which would be the nucleus for the message of the Resurrection to travel to this state. Gabon is particularly plagued by neophyte religious movements and neo-Protestant organisations of American origin, by heresy and delusion, by superstition and by the fears fostered by the leaders of traditional religions with the aim of manipulating people through their lack of freedom. The necessity of establishing an Orthodox parish in Gabon raises a spiritual alarm for everyone. Without the worship of God, everything becomes futile, precisely because every work has value when it is sanctified. Besides, from the earliest Christian years we see that the place of worship of the Triune God and the celebration of the Divine Liturgy was fixed, a point of reference among the early Christians. It was in those holy places that the Apostles celebrated the Divine Liturgy and the faithful partook of the Body and Blood of Christ. This is the legacy of Orthodoxy.
If the purpose of the Church is the sanctification of man, then there are roads leading to this purpose, which our Lord Himself inaugurated. No one, therefore, can say that he has been saved by Christ, that he is in the Church, that he has experienced his personal resurrection, and turn his back on those whom Christ called His brethren, and even the least of them. The more humble one is in this world, the more he is exalted in the eyes of God, and the Church of Christ never forgets this. If, therefore, the purpose of the Church is the sanctification of man, the way to sanctification becomes the healing of the suffering fellow man. Church without practical love cannot be conceived! The protection and care of orphans is not alien to the Orthodox tradition. Already since the time of the Holy Apostles and the later period of the Great Fathers of our Church until today, the Church of Christ has been covering children without families spiritually and materially, not only helping them to survive but also spiritually maturing them, so that they become useful Christian citizens, equal to others in society. This is the tradition of the Church, which we moderns cannot leave in oblivion. Since 2007, when the Orthodox Orphanage “Agios Efstathios” opened its doors with the blessing of our Patriarch Theodoros II, it embraces “the little brothers of Jesus”, the children without a family, becoming a big Orthodox family, so that these children can grow up like all the rest of the world, with safety, proper nutrition, Orthodox upbringing, equal education, and a decent living.
It is said that “as much as one man is worth, the whole world is not worth”. This is the worldview of our Holy Church as well. Thus, she stands individually for each one, since she is responsible for the salvation of each one. Help, brothers! The joy on the faces of our children is the greatest promise that the word of Christ the Savior on this earth is bearing fruit. We are all responsible for this joy and for the continuation of the great work that is taking place. On this road let us strive, looking not to the earthly but to the heavenly. After all, the homeland is common to all of us. This is the Upper Jerusalem that the Lord has promised us. Indeed, on the sphere of the Aquarius, Congo and Gabon are quite far from the traditionally Orthodox countries. Yet, Christ has brought us all together, made us a family. How can my brother be in pain and I not be in pain with him, since we belong to the same Body?
† Brazzaville & Gabon Panteleimon
