“Only the pure in heart can accept the Holy God,” — Bishop Mykola Bychok during the Divine Liturgy in the city of Sydney
Bishop Mykola Bychok presided over Hierarchical Divine Liturgy with Fr. Simon Ckuj, protosyncle of th eparchy, Fr. Oleh Stefanyshyn, an employee of the parish of St. Andriy, the Basilian sisters, who prepared the children for the Solemn Sacrament, and the many faithful who came to this wonderful holiday.
During his sermon, the Bishop of Melbourne showed the children several types of bread that they eat every day, but among this bread was prosphora, which, in fact, the priest or bishop uses in the Holy Liturgy for the Holy Communion. The Bishop also called on all other people to follow the example of the children who, before the Solemn Holy Communion, began the Holy Mystery of Confession: “Only the pure in heart can accept the Holy God. That is why the priest calls more than once at the Holy Liturgy: ‘Let us be attentive. Holy to the holy’.
Reflecting on the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, in his sermon the bishop noted that wealth is visible, which we see with our bodily eyes, and invisible. “Actually, the rich man from the parable of the same name was distinguished only by his visible wealth, because of which he was respected by people, perhaps even the majority wanted to be like him. However, from the other side, Lazarus appears before us, who, let’s say, did not have earthly luxuries, but received invisible wealth, because after death he was with God.”
“Let each of us collect the invisible wealth that the Lord is,” the bishop urged.
After the end of the Holy Liturgy, the celebration of the Solemnity of the Sacrament continued in the parish hall, where in the presence of the fathers, the Basilian sisters and all the guests, Bishop Mykola solemnly presented the children with certificates of acceptance of the First Holy Communion. After that, there was a treat for children, parents, godparents, relatives and all the guests. The decoration of this celebration was a cake, which was baked for the children on the occasion of this special and important event in their lives.
