Church Newsletter: "Axion Estin"

Our monthly publication is mailed to all paid Holy Cross members. It contains the pastor’s monthly message, ecclesiastical divine liturgies schedule, special upcoming events and news from all the various church groups.

Father Nick’s Message:

Welcome to all our friends and especially to the youth of our community. Our youth, is the most valuable asset of our community. You, are the bright hope of our Church, and land. You, who hold with pure hands our world’s future. Our greatest hope and wishes are sealed in this web site dedication for your life-long success. Knowing that life’s path is full of traps, and that danger lurks in your every step, the lapse of virtue is only a slip away.

Our community welcomes you all. Those of you who are seeking guidance with consultation available to parents and tutors, as well as effective admonition to youngsters, we aim to bridge opposing views and to offer hints for identifying dialogue. Our prayers are always with you, the youth, in hope that you may return in the bosom of the Church, and there experience the true freedom and joy that can only be found under the wing of Jesus Christ.

Drawing inspiration from Him, may you find yourselves leaders of our community, our Church, our country as well as of the whole mankind: Leaders of a future greater than the past. Do not hesitate to enter or continue in His path. Do not hesitate to contact us in your need.

True Love
True happiness can only be found through the Love of God and fellow-humans. These are the wings that have the ability to offer one true joy and God bases everything on True Love; He refers to himself as Love. True Love transforms an individual into a divine being. It erases gender and race boundaries, space and time, calculations, selfish means/egocentrism, and all other dividing factors.

True Love causes one to sacrifice for his worst enemy; such is the case of Jesus Christ’s Love for all humanity. The only Love we need and wish today and always: sincere and great. There is another love, the one requiring our fellow being - be it our spouse, child, friend, or other - to be as per our expectations, desire and need and it is a kind of pseudo-love, i.e. a love without substance. The kind that eventually destroys families, friendships, unions, alliances, and other bonds, as these cannot continue to exist without True Love.

In today’s world, in order to be loved, one conforms to the demands and expectations of others. One is not loved for who one truly is, but for who he or she "becomes" or portrays. Otherwise, one is unfairly accused, ignored, neglected. Worst of all, such treatment takes place within the confines of a home, between spouses, parents and children - the latter being the worst case. The modern world parent places a tremendous burden of demands on their children. God forbid a child does not meet its parents’ expectations. There are also the cases where a child deviates or when something happens to a child of ours; then, instead of our unconditional love, support and compassion, a child is dismissed! With great pain, yes, but we dismiss our own child first thinking of our needs and of our importance, and then considering what it is that would make our child truly happy.

Look at our Father and Creator, our Mother, Mother of all; what is that is expected of us? A world of love and peace, without violence, war and crimes, injustice, terrorism, hunger and humiliation of human life. Still, these factors exist in great numbers, while love and peace are found in small amounts. Then, one may wonder, what is God doing? Has He deserted us? Has He disappeared?

NO! Because if this were the case, our planet would be dust. Our God suffers along with us. He stands by us during good and bad times, even during our fault. He withstands us, but also hopes that we choose to return to His path of love as in the case of the ‘lost sheep’ and the ‘prodigal son’.

We are all in need of True Love that is deep and sincere and it is a love that is greater than all possible knowledge, all possible miracles, all possible powers. Surely, when one is not loved, one becomes a savage beast; everyone feels content and at ease when loved. But today, such good instances are fewer and far apart.

Finally, my dear friends, if we wish to revive our world, we must first begin by passionately pursuing True Love.

"Your shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all you mind".

"You shall love your neighbor as yourself".

Truly , nothing else matters.

With Paternal Love,
Reverend Protopresbyter
Father Nikolaos Kouvaris