Bishop Maximos of Melitene presided over the festive Divine Liturgy at the patronal Holy Church of Saint Charalambos in the city of Luton.
The priest of the Community, Reverend Father David Somalis, welcomed His Grace with feelings of joy and love at the propylaea of the Church. The Deputy Mayor of Luton, representatives of the local authorities and other significant personalities of the region attended the Divine Eucharist, as well as the festive meal that followed.
His Grace preached the divine word in English and Greek. Connecting the life of the honoured Saint Charalambos with the meaning of the Gospel passage concerning the Final Judgment, he focused on the essence of the Christian witness. His Grace drew the attention of the congregation to the fact that, during the exit from this life, the only provision will not be material goods, but practical love.
Specifically, he stressed that neither luxurious garments, nor inflated bank accounts, nor social recognition and the “parchments of vanity” will accompany us. The only things that will be saved, as the Gospel clarifies, will be visits to prisoners and the sick, the clothing of the naked, the feeding of the hungry and the time which, with a sacrificial disposition, we dedicated to the sick, the elderly and the orphans.
His Grace made special reference to the danger we often avoid for the sake of “our good name”, refusing to associate with the marginalised. He underlined that the words of Christ do not admit misinterpretation: “identification with the least brother brings blessing, while denial, for whatever reason, brings a curse”.
He castigated the tendency of man to resort to hypothetical terms and excuses in order to avoid contact with the drug addict, the stigmatised or the prisoner, pointing out that the “vocabulary of flight” is always rich. We pretend, stressed His Grace, that we did not hear the “I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matt 25:36) of Christ.
Let us remember, however, the “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt 25:41), which constitutes the future of the spiritually slothful and the hypocrites. It is written clearly in the Gospel and no one can dispute the words of Jesus Himself.
No matter how many “ifs” or “buts” we put forward, the Gospel is not going to change. The Bishop concluded with the warning that before Christ, when all excuses collapse, we will remain speechless.
After the end of the Divine Liturgy, a festive meal was served in honour of His Grace and the official guests.
Photographs: Alexios Gennaris
