First Dormition Parish Gathering Held at Saint Sava Church in Ealing
On the Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, His Grace Bishop Nektarije of London and Great Britain and Ireland celebrated the Divine Liturgy at Saint Sava Church in Ealing.
His Grace was concelebrated by the Episcopal Vicar for Southern Britain, the Very Reverend Protopresbyter-Stavrophor Dragan Lazić, and the Reverend Father Zlatko Milovanović, parish priest of Saint Sava Church in Ealing, with the prayerful participation of the faithful and the assistance of Subdeacons Simon Tingley and Nenad Kačarević.
In the church, filled with the faithful, the parish community of Ealing solemnly celebrated, for the first time, its Dormition Parish Gathering.
Following the reading of the Holy Gospel, Bishop Nektarije addressed the assembled faithful in a homily in which he reflected on the Gospel parable of the wicked husbandmen. His Grace emphasised that each of us has been entrusted with a vineyard which we are called to cultivate and whose fruits we are to offer to God — love, repentance, humility and good works.
He called upon the faithful to examine themselves and ask whether they have remained faithful to God, who has not given us life so that we might selfishly claim it as our own, but rather so that we might sanctify it and, with thanksgiving, return it to Him by bearing the abundant fruits of Christian virtue.
Following the Prayer Behind the Ambo, a short memorial service was offered for all the departed parishioners. Afterwards, the parish feast bread was ceremonially broken together with the members of the Church Council.
Following the service, refreshments were provided for all those present in the church grounds, where the festive gathering continued in a spirit of brotherly love, joy and fellowship.
