St. Marks Coptic Church Melbourne

How does it feel?

How did it feel when you received something new? Got your new books for school or University? A new mobile phone? Your Christmas presents? These times may be times when you probably felt the excitement of having something new, new challenges, new opportunities; perhaps new aims in life also. It is like that in our spiritual lives also. As nobody likes to become bored in life, doing the same things over and over again, so too do we need to also keep our spiritual lives invigorated, refreshed and exciting. If we don’t do so, we will likewise become disinterested, bored and lose our love for God and for the means of our salvation.  We will lose our love for reading God’s word, attending to prayer, church; lose our interest in the revitalising sacraments of His holy body and blood.  

The incarnation is a term that’s used to mean ‘to become flesh’. Now all humans do take flesh when they are conceived in a mysterious way. Sure it is through the union of a man and woman; but in a slightly different context ST Paul says: “One sows and one plants, but it is God who gives the increase’. But the incarnation actually refers to the taking of flesh of God Himself who created flesh. Many examples and prophecies in the Old Testament had referred to this mystery, but our eyes were not opened until the events of the glorious Nativity.  
  The mystery of the God-Man.

 As we approach the fast and feast of St Mary, it is an appropriate time to reflect on what we gain from St Mary’s life of purity. This is particularly relevant for us today as we live in a world where purity seems to be against the norm of today’s youth and society in general. Some may ask: ‘What does purity really mean?’, ‘Is God so concerned with purity even today?’, ‘What was so special about St Mary that the angel declared ‘Hail O full of grace…blessed are you among women…you have found favour with God’. We need to look a little closer at the life of St Mary to find out what it was that pleased God so much about her.

Every so often we find some members of the church still unaware of the importance of St Mark the Apostle and his place in the Coptic Orthodox Church. It is therefore an opportune time now to reflect on his life, on the occasion of his martyrdom, which is celebrated on the 8th May (30th Baramouda). We shall also attempt, not simply recall his life story, but rather on the personal attributes which made him a great saint.

His childhood

Born of Jewish parents, ST Mark (being his Greek name and also named John in Hebrew) accepted the Christian faith probably through St Peter, who called him his son (1 Pet 5: 13). It is thought he was related to St Peter’s wife and was the nephew of Barnabas.  Since his youthful days, St Mark was known for his zeal and strong faith in Christ, as the famous story of his courage against the lion demonstrated. This occurred whilst he and his parents were traveling towards the Jordan, and were confronted with a lion and lioness. As his father prompted his son to flee, taking the risk to face the lions himself, he comforted his father with his strong faith that Christ would rescue them. Thus his father was converted as he saw the lions fallen on the ground, lifeless. Thus St Mark became a preacher initially, not through a mission as such, but rather through his strong faith- An important point to remember if you’ve ever thought you are not a person of preaching. Let’s all keep in mind that if our faith is sincere and we learn to pray effectively, relying on the Lord, we also can be powerful evangelists and can attract others to Christ.
His service