On the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the Sunday of St. Mary of Egypt, His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America visited St. Petka Serbian Church in San Marcos. Concelebrating with His Grace were Protopresbyter Rev. Milovan Katanic, the parish priest along with the parish Deacon David Williams and Episcopal Deacon Vladan Radovanovic.In his homily, His Grace said: “…what does the life of St. Mary show us and how are we to embrace her example? Obviously, she was a great sinner and then became a great saint. But one word that describes her ascetical effort is repentance. I would like to remind you of the meaning of this word especially today because we tend to avoid repenting and some would come to church but not to confess their sins. Repentance, or metania in Greek or pokajanje in Serbian, means a change of our entire mentality. So it is not simply a psychological act or admittance that we failed in something, it is also a purification of our senses and a correction so that our relationship with other people is elevated to another level and we don’t condemn or judge because we know that there is the One who is the Judge of all of us. And so, briefly, St. Mary with her entire being met with the Lord, and from that meeting and encounter her whole life is changed. And that is the goal of our lives dear brothers and sisters and dear children, to meet Christ. But how are we meeting Him and where do we meet Christ? That’s the greatest question. Christ, Himself said that He would remain in His Church and as His Church. So after His Ascension to heaven now we have the Church as the body of Christ and this is where we meet Him. We meet Him in the Divine Eucharist, we meet Him in His holy and precious Body and Blood and we meet Him in the community of the people. Everyone is another Christ if he or she is united with Him. St. Mary realized that and the end of her life was crowned by the holy Eucharist. So repentance and the Eucharist, these are two key things in our life dear brothers and sisters and I encourage you to practice that, to not forget the midst of the Church, this context of our communion with the Lord. May this journey continue and find its end in the Lord’s Resurrection which is another proof that the Lord is with us. God bless you all and let us celebrate this Divine Eucharist with our whole heart, mind, and our entire being.

The faithful were given an opportunity to talk and spend time with Bishop Maxim during the lenten lunch prepared in the church hall following the Divine Liturgy.