Issue 61 September 2026

Parish life

Celebrate Father's Day with us

This Father's Day, we warmly invite all our St John's families to come together as we celebrate the wonderful fathers in our community.

Following the service, we will enjoy a special lunch, with a menu specially curated in honour of our dads.

Fatherhood is a beautiful calling and a profound responsibility. In Proverbs 20:7, we read: "The righteous man walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him." Our fathers, grandfathers and father figures play an invaluable role in shepherding their families with love, faith, patience and sacrifice.

Each day, they are called to lead not only with their words, but through their example: teaching their children what it means to trust God, serve others and walk faithfully with Christ.

This Father's Day, we give thanks to God for the men who guide, protect, encourage and nurture the families within our community.

May the Lord continue to strengthen and bless every father as he shepherds his family in faith and love.

Join us as we celebrate our dads!

Reflection

Where is our treasure?

Evram Narouz · "The abomination of desolation"

Today's Gospel is a very important one. In the wisdom of the Church, these words are considered so significant that we will hear the same Gospel again next week.

In this Gospel, Christ gives us a warning about what He calls "the abomination of desolation."

Jesus is referring to something that happened almost 200 years earlier, when a Greek king invaded Israel. Knowing that the Temple was the most sacred and precious place to the Jewish people, he entered it and, in the Holy of Holies, the place where God dwelt, he removed what belonged there and placed an idol to Zeus in its place.

It was literally an abomination: something so offensive and detestable that it left the dwelling place of God desolate, empty.

The Temple in those days had an altar, just as our church has an altar today. And we can see how much reverence and respect we have for this altar. We would never allow something unclean or worthless to be placed upon it.

Yet Scripture tells us:

When I was younger, I used to think this verse simply meant: don't smoke, don't drink, don't do this or that. But I have come to realise that it speaks about something much deeper.

It asks us: What have we placed in the place where God should dwell?

Are we guarding the altar of our hearts?

Please forgive me for this example, but imagine if someone walked into the church carrying a rubbish bag and tried to place it on the altar. We would be outraged. I am certain that person would not even make it to the front of the church before someone stopped them.

We would never allow rubbish to be brought near the place where God dwells.

But what about the altar within our own hearts?

Do we treat it with the same sanctity? Do we protect it from the things that do not belong there? As I prepared for this talk, I reflected on the different kinds of rubbish that I have allowed into my own heart. I came up with three.

The first type: sin

The first type of rubbish is the most obvious: sin.

This is perhaps the easiest type to identify because, deep down, we know that it does not belong there. The Church gives us so many resources to help us on the path of repentance. We have confession, our fathers of confession, the writings and experiences of the Church Fathers, Scripture and the life of the Church.

If we are willing to participate in these gifts, the Church gives us everything we need to begin clearing this rubbish from our hearts.

The second type: clutter and restlessness

The second type of rubbish is more difficult to recognise. It is the clutter of our lives: restlessness, distraction and, at its core, despondency.

I have been reading an incredible book by an Orthodox author called Time and Despondency. There is one passage that felt as though it had been written specifically about my life.

The author writes that despondency can have an infinite array of disguises and symptoms. One of its most universal signs is inner restlessness.

For some people, this restlessness makes it difficult to sit alone, to finish reading a book, to pray for any significant length of time or to complete a task at work.

Others may be able to do all these things but find themselves constantly hounded by anger or boredom.

And for others, despondency appears as an inclination towards sleep, eating, distraction or worry.

The author speaks about one of the Desert Fathers, around 1,600 years ago, who was the head of a monastery. He would become frustrated with the younger monks because they would spend their time simply staring at the sun.

He described this kind of distraction and wasted time as the suicide of the soul.

And I thought: imagine if that monk were alive today. Imagine what he would think of our distractions.

The endless scrolling. The notifications. The constant background noise. The music that never stops. Work. Children's extracurricular activities. Messages. Emails. Social media.

Our distractions never stop.

And if we are not careful, all this clutter can slowly fill the altar of our hearts, leaving less and less room for God.

The third type: our false treasures

The third type of rubbish is perhaps the hardest of all to recognise.

In Philippians 3:8, St Paul reflects on his former life (his accomplishments, his success, his status, his influence, his education and his leadership) and he says that all of it is rubbish compared with knowing Christ.

The Greek word used by St Paul is skubala, a word understood to carry a very strong meaning, referring to something worthless or even disgusting.

Think about that.

St Paul looked at everything that the world might have considered valuable (his achievements, reputation, education and influence) and compared it all to what he had found in Christ. And in comparison, it was nothing.

This brings us to the words of Christ in Matthew 6:21:

So it is important for us to ask: Where is our treasure?

Imagine if, just as our phones can tell us our daily screen time, we could measure other things in our lives.

What do I constantly talk about? Because Christ tells us: "For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." (Matthew 12:34)

What do I constantly think about?

When I am alone in the car, when there is no music, no conversation and no distraction, where does my mind drift?

Where does my time go? Where does my energy go? Who receives the best of me? And who receives the scraps?

And perhaps most importantly, especially for many of us at this stage of life: What am I chasing next?

What is the thing I keep telling myself, "Once I have this, then I'll finally be satisfied"?

A few years ago, a good friend of mine was approached by his boss and asked to work on a Sunday.

He said, "I'm sorry, I can't. I've got church."

His boss tried to persuade him. He increased his hourly rate dramatically.

Once again, my friend said, "I'm sorry, I've got church."

Finally, his boss said, "What if you only come from 8am to 9am? That's when I really need you. I'll pay you for the whole day."

Essentially, he was offering him the equivalent of two weeks' wages for just one hour of work.

And once again, my friend said, "I'm sorry, I can't. I've got church."

This was not because he did not need the money. The money would have been incredibly helpful at that point in his life.

But his treasure was somewhere else. His treasure was God.

Go back to your Galilee

So how do we reach a point where our hearts are once again filled with God?

I recently read something beautiful titled: "Go Back to Your Galilee."

At the end of the Gospel of Matthew, after Christ had died and risen, the women went to His tomb. When they encountered the risen Christ, He told them to go to Galilee, where they would see Him.

It seems strange at first. He was standing right in front of them. Why tell them to go to Galilee?

Galilee was where it had all begun.

It was the place of their first encounter with Him. It was where they came to know Him, to love Him and to walk with Him. It was before the tragedy, before the confusion, before the suffering of the Cross.

In many ways, Galilee was the place of their first love.

And perhaps, if we want to encounter God again, sometimes we need to go back to our own Galilee. Go back to the place where you first encountered Him.

Where did you first experience real communion with God?

Maybe it was in your childhood bedroom. Maybe it was in your parents' home. Maybe it was during a quiet liturgy. Maybe it was during a candlelit prayer. Maybe it was at a camp, a retreat or a moment when, for the first time, you truly tasted the presence of the Lord.

Wherever that place was for you, go back there. Remember. Return.

Be free from what enslaves us

The second step is to become free from the things that enslave us.

Fr Bishoy Kamel, a prolific modern-day saint, wrote about the gift of the forty days of fasting. He described fasting as an opportunity for us to struggle and become liberated from bitter slavery:

The slavery of hatred and prejudice. The slavery of worldly desires. The slavery of idleness in prayer. And the slavery of disobedience to the commandments. Sometimes we tell ourselves that we are free.

But are we?

We say we are free, but we panic when we cannot check our phones.

We are free, but our minds are constantly consumed by work.

We are free, but we devote hours of our lives to scrolling.

We are free, but we cannot sit quietly with God.

That is not freedom.

The Church gives us gifts to help us become free: the discipline of fasting, the discipline of prayer, the discipline of repentance.

So as we continue the remainder of the Liturgy, may we honestly look at the altar of our hearts.

What have I allowed to sit there? What has occupied the place that belongs to God?

And may we ask Him to cleanse it. To free it. And once again, to take His rightful place upon the altar of our hearts.

Amen.

Kids corner

Coptic Football Academy

A 10-week boys' football training program at St John's, built on faith, excellence and community.

• Teamwork: building friendships on and off the field.
• Skill development: fun, age-appropriate training sessions.
• Confidence: encouraging every child to grow and improve.
• Faith and values: learning, respect and sportsmanship.

The program costs $100 per child, and all proceeds go as donations to the St John's General Fund. Spots were limited and registration was through an online form shared by the church. Ask at the church office or through the St John's app for details of the next intake.