Episcopal Visit to Seattle, Washington
Pastoral visit of His Grace Bishop Maxim
On Sunday morning of November 3, 2019, the clergy and the faithful greeted Bishop Maxim at St. Sava Church in Issaquah, and with the ringing of bells and singing of hymns together entered the Church. Bishop Maxim presided over the Holy Liturgy concelebrated by Rev. Zoran Aleksic and Diocesan Deacon Vladan Radovanovic.
After the reading of the Gospel about the resurrection of the widow’s son, Bishop Maxim addressed the faithful with a sermon reminding everyone how merciful and full of compassion our Lord is, Who came to this world to save us from sadness, corruption and death. This miracle of the resurrection of the widow’s son was quite unique, unheard of and unseen in human history. Bishop Maxim continued:
“When He saw the mother who lost her son, He was moved in the Spirit because He doesn’t want His creation to suffer. The death of a man is not an individual thing, it affects greatly those around him who love him, and that is why the Lord wants to give this young man back to his mother, and then He shows that He has the power over death.
This is also something that we experience every time we come to the Holy Eucharist. We receive this blessing, this certainty that death has been trampled by His death, and that our own death can be conquered only if we accept death of our selfish individual will so that we can embrace the life that is offered to us through the Lord. This is what we proclaim when we come to the Holy Eucharist: Death doesn’t have the final word over our existence. It is the Lord who dominates, and Who gives us through His touch the Life and the Resurrection. When we commemorate the departed ones, we also proclaim and confess this basic and crucial truth of the Christian faith that the Resurrection is the destiny of humankind in which we will overcome the pain, suffering, and sorrow.
Let us now continue this Eucharistic gathering with this awareness that our Lord is ready to suffer and sacrifice Himself for us so that we can rise in His mercy and be a community of people who profess the Resurrection as the final truth of our existence”.
After the Liturgy, Bishop Maxim was traditionally welcomed in the Church Hall by the members of our folklore group with bread and salt. Following the famous “candy rain” for the young ones, everyone enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared with great love by the Parish KSS and this beautiful fellowship continues forever and ever without end.
