On Sunday, 20 July 2025, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia visited the Parish of Saint Gerasimos, in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, and liturgised on the feast day of Prophet Elijah the Tishbite, and was joined by Father John Kapetas and the Parish Priest, Father Panteleimon Toumbelekis.
At the end of the Divine Liturgy, His Eminence tonsured Mr. Apostolos Averkiou, a pious member of the Parish, as Reader, to whom he addressed spiritual admonitions, urging him to remain devoted to our traditions and to strive to increase his gifts.
This was followed, in an atmosphere of spiritual joy and emotion, by the awarding of the Order of the Christ-loving to three members of the Parish with many years of valuable, selfless service. Specifically, they were honoured and received the grateful thanks of their Shepherd: Mr. George Papakonstantinou, who has served the sacred chanting stand of the Holy Church of Saint Gerasimos for many years, Mrs. Zoe Kartsonaki, who has dedicated herself to sacrificial service to her neighbours through her ministry in the Philoptochos Society of the Parish, and Mrs. Aphroditi Kalotheou, who has served in the Sunday School and the Greek school since the first days of the Parish.
During his sermon, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios spoke first of the sanctifying grace that we receive during our participation in the Divine Liturgy. He then referred to the honoured Prophet of God, Prophet Elijah, focusing particularly on his depiction with a raven, a carnivorous bird, which has been associated throughout history with rapacity and selfishness. “In the case of Prophet Elijah, the raven, instead of taking, we see that it gives,” the Archbishop observed and pointed out: “With the grace of God, everything changes. The bad becomes good. The ugly becomes beautiful. The wild becomes tame. And the predatory becomes generous.” Proceeding, however, to an allegory in the modern era, where the dominant standards dictate that we always put our will first, His Eminence emphasised: “As long as someone does not have the grace of God, he turns to himself and whatever he does, he does for himself. But when he has the grace of God, instead of receiving, he gives and thus is freed. And thus he lives a different way of life and existence.”
Finally, the Archbishop thanked the priests who were present and addressed the Parish Priest Fr. Panteleimon with warm, paternal words. “I truly see his ministry and his path and I am proud of him,” he noted characteristically, speaking of a cultivated human being, who serves the Parish of St. Gerasimos and the Holy Archdiocese of Australia with much love and devotion. In closing, he wished “that God may give him strength and that he may continue to serve you for many years in the same way, and that he may bear much spiritual fruit.”
