To all the Faithful of our God-protected Archdiocese; to the Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, the Honourable Trustees and Esteemed Parish Councillors, and all our Brothers and Sisters in Christ: Grace, peace and mercy from our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! O foremost in the ranks of Apostles, and teachers of the world, Peter and Paul, intercede with the Master of all to grant peace unto the world, and to our souls the Great Mercy.
(Apolytikion of the Apostles Peter and Paul) It is with great joy that we come to celebrate again the feast of the Princes of the Apostles, Peter and Paul. Although with different talents and different temperaments, together they demonstrate to us that both are needed for the good management of the Church. Our Archdiocese, likewise, needs and requires the many different skills and talents from each of you to fulfil our Gospel mission. Each one of you is necessary that we carry on the apostolic work of St Peter and of St Paul, of St Simon Zelotes and of St Aristobulus, and preach the Gospel of the Kingdom throughout our countries in these Islands in the Western Ocean. We must work together, as the Apostle so beautifully describes in his first Epistle to the Corinthians, as one body: “For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” (12:12) You and I are one body whose head is Christ and we must act together as did the Apostles. Being one body with one another, we are one with the Antiochian See. The Great City of Antioch, from where Paul went on his missionary journeys while Peter took up the pastoral care of the city, where “the disciples were first called Christians,” (Acts 11:26) where countless saints have trodden is our inheritance. We must learn carefully from what we have received that we may faithfully pass it on to as many as will receive him (see John 1:12). For us to be faithful witnesses of what we have received we are in need of more clergy: it is the responsibility of all the faithful to pray and work for this to happen. If we are to be the “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church,” in the tradition and according to the example of the Holy Apostles, we must increase the proclamation of the Resurrection of our Lord by celebrating the Divine Liturgy throughout all these lands. We must pray together, fervently and often, for more faithful men to come forward for ordination and that we all may support them, spiritually and financially, to perform this sacred task. I greet you all again with great joy on this feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul and I ask for your prayers for me and our Archdiocese that we all work together, as one body, for the building up of the Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. God bless you!
Your prayers!
I remain your Father in Christ
+Silouan