As the second priest, I have yet to weigh in on our Orthodox Food Festival of 2023, and by weigh in I mean, to say this: thank you. For you see, you and I and the parish of St. Anna's are benefitting directly from the kindness, love, care and genuine Christian hospitality that you all have so generously lavished out upon the community of Roseville; all those who came to our festival, and to all those who have come to our church at some time or another, and you don't even know it...yet. You might be asking yourself, what is Fr. Seraphim talking about? Well, let me explain:
We began our Survey of Orthodoxy course here at St. Anna's last week, like we normally do, right after the Feast of the Elevation of the Holy Cross. And like we always do, we invite all those that have visited our little church, whether it be on a Sunday or during our Orthodox Food Festival, to come and learn about the Orthodox Christian faith through our Survey of Orthodoxy Catechism course. And as usually happens, a small group of people tend to take the opportunity to sign up and begin attending. On average this group averages 10 - 15 people in size... but not this year.
When I opened the doors to our fellowship hall that night, to let the new catechumens in, I was stunned to see the number of people who were lined up outside waiting. It quickly became apparent that I didn't have enough tables and chairs set up for all those that wished to attend. So more tables were quickly added and chairs set up, and what should have been a small, intimate class, turned into something much bigger than I could ever have anticipated. That was just in person too. Little did I know that there'd be more people online waiting to get in as well. I won't say how many have begun attending the class, but I will quote a line from one of my favorite movies, "We're going to need a bigger boat." (fortunately we have a big hall to accommodate them).
But how does all of this relate to the Orthodox Food Festival, and the people who have visited here you might ask? That answer is to be found in the near-unanimous response to the very first question that I had to ask that first night. See, due to my surprise at the number of participants who were at the class, I asked the obvious question that was burning in the front of my mind: What gives? Why are you all here? And here, beloved, is the reason why I feel the need to thank you all.
The near unanimous response to my question about why they were all here(there) was this: Because we were invited and we felt welcomed. Let me emphasize the second half of the answer: we felt welcomed. My next question obviously had to be, when did this happen? To which they responded: at your festival, at your church services on Sunday, during your new church tour, etc... To say that I was deeply humbled by this answer, but also extremely proud of our little parish at the same time would be a serious understatement. Holy scripture is very clear: "By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35 and what this verse implies is this: ... and since these people, who are outside of the Orthodox faith, but are created in God's image nonetheless, and who, by being created in God's image, were created to be loved by God and therefore by extension, by God's Church as well, they will naturally respond to this perceived expression of love, and will want to be part of it and will ultimately want that experience God's love for themselves.
So if I may weigh in on our Orthodox Food Festival and the hospitality of Christ's Church to which you all have so generously given through your time, talents and treasures, all of which has been done with gracious and loving hearts: thank you.
May God, through His most Holy Mother and our Patron Saint, His grandmother, St. Anna, ever guide, guard, intercede,bless and love you in all that you do.
In Christ's love,
Fr. Seraphim Ivey