“Whenever we serve a liturgy at the relics of a Saint it’s a feast day,“ said Bishop Maxim at the conclusion of Saturday morning’s Holy Hierarchical Divine Liturgy. The liturgy, which began with Matins, was served at the St. Sava Church and officiated by His Grace Bishop Maxim of Western America with the concelebration of all the clergy of the Western American Diocese.

Following a continental breakfast and fellowship, the Annual Diocesan Assembly was opened with the Lord’s Prayer at the St. Sava parish hall. During the meeting, reports were heard from the diocesan bishop, treasurer, audit board, and representatives of various other organizations and groups. A detailed financial report was presented, looking not only at the mundane day-to-day income and expenses, but touching upon all the many activities and programs the diocese wants and feels they need to be doing, all of which require the financial means in order to be accomplished. Parishes were thanked for paying their assessments on time, a clear indication the diocese is heading in the right direction towards a bright future. The meeting was conducted in the spirit of Christian love and understanding “decently and in order“ (1 Cor. 14:40).

The lunch afterward led to Rev. Deacon Stephen’s lunch Symposium entitled, The Way, the Truth and the Life of the Cross, which he began with a quote from the Liturgy when the priest says in one of the prayers, “through the Cross joy has come into the world“, pointing to the paradox of joy coming from the horrific event of the crucifixion of our Lord. Or, in the words of Cicero: “To bind a Roman citizen is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to kill him is almost an act of murder; but to crucify him is what? There is no fitting word that can possibly describe so horrible a deed“. But it’s through the Cross that God reveals His love for mankind; indeed, that love itself is revealed.

Through his many vivid anecdotes, he pointed to man’s thirst for love, which he seeks from his neighbor and, at times can be deceiving. For instance, we might say to someone I love you but in reality what we mean is that I love what you do for me, or help me, or give me. What’s more, that love we vseek as bodily nourishment is unfulfilling unless it comes from God. For this reason, the fruit Adam and Eve ate without God’s blessing was not filling, but quite the contrary, it only revealed their nakedness, emptiness – their helplessness. Humanity lives by the Logos and not the nourishment of this world, or as the Lord says, “Man doesn’t live by bread alone…“. We see this nakedness, this helplessness, in the image of the feeding of the five thousand for example when the Disciples tell Jesus that there are many to feed but all they have is five loaves and two fish. The Lord’s response is: Bring them to Me, for all things that are brought to Christ are multiplied. Thus, man is to be a perpetual anaphora, offering. But if Christ on the Cross is offering us everything – complete and unconditional love – how can we meet Him if we don’t go to that place we fear, that dark place in our hearts? That place in ourselves which we mask and ignore and try to forget, yet it is only Christ and His Cross that offers us healing and fullness – and only if we offer it up to Him. As he quoted in one of the slides during the presentation: The Cross is the presence of God in humanity’s experience of the absence of God.

During the late afternoon hours a Women’s Conference and SKSS Meeting were held, youth activities were offered and fellowship was enjoyed leading up to the evening’s Vespers service under the tent on the campgrounds. Vespers was followed by dinner during which the seminarians performed to the delight and enjoyment of all. Later, a live band from the nearby Fresno parish performed to the late evening hours as the hall continued to be filled by Serbs who traveled from neighboring towns with the desire to take part in this year’s Diocesan Days.

DIVINE LITURGY AT ST. SAVA CHURCH