On Sunday the 20th of November, His Eminence Metropolitan Basilios served the Divine Liturgy at St. Mary’s Mount Pritchard. The weekend marked five years since His Eminence’s ordination as Metropolitan of Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.
During his sermon, His Eminence commented on the appearance of the word ‘fool’ in the scriptures, laying out three instances of what it means to be a fool. The first was from Psalm 14, in which the psalmist described the person who denies the existence of God as foolish. The second was from the Gospel of Luke, where the fool was the man who trusted in himself only. The third was from St. Paul’s epistle to the Corinthians “We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ!” (1 Cor 4:10). His Eminence distinguished the third from the former two by encouraging the faithful to value Divine Wisdom over the wisdom of the world.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence received a gift of flowers from a selection of the Sunday School students and took a commemorative photo with them.
The parish council and ladies’ committee then received His Eminence in the parish hall to cut a cake on the anniversary of his ordination to the episcopacy.
Preserve, O Lord, our Master and Chief Shepherd for many years!