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Melbourne Correspondent
Joseph Haweil
Assyrian Church of the East

His Grace Mar Meelis Zaia, Bishop of the Diocese of Australia and New Zealand paid an important visit to the Melbourne Parish of the Assyrian Church of the East on Sunday the 11 th of March 2007. The Melbourne Parish was blessed by the presence of His Grace whose visit proved to be extremely successful both practically and spiritually. Indeed the unusually sunny and warm weather on the Sunday was a blessing and respite from the usually cold weather of the city of Melbourne.

His Grace Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia commenced the day by offering the Holy Eucharist. The service took place at the Ishtar reception complex owing to the lack of room in the small St. George Church located in Reservoir. Encouragingly in excess of 750 faithful were in attendance from among the small Assyrian community of Melbourne. The parishioners were soothed by the heavenly voice of His Grace throughout the Mass which was abounding in praise and worship to the Lord God. His Grace gave an inspiring and spiritually uplifting sermon in which he focused on the personal relationship between Christians and God, emphasizing that Christians must obey God’s instructions in order to fulfill His will. Drawing on ‘TheParable of the Two Sons’ (St. Matthew 21:28-32) His Grace exhorted the faithful to abandon the weak and foolish of the world and complete the work the Father ask us faithful to busy ourselves in. As demonstrated in the parable, the Father, God, wants the faithful to live God’s way of life and follow His commandments. His Grace emphasised that while often individuals are quick to promise to follow His will, as did the second son in the parable (‘I will, sir’; St. Matthew 21:30), they neglect to work for the glory of God, to fulfill His divine will and to commit to the strengthening and progress of His Holy Church. His Grace implored the faithful to be among those who repent from wickedness and to live in grace.

Following the offering of the Holy Eucharist the attendees moved to the largest reception of the complex (which is comprised of three receptions) where a breakfast was prepared in honour of His Grace. Parish Priest Rev. Fr. Gewargis Toma offered a prayer following which those in attendance were treated to the breakfast prepared by the hardworking members of the Ladies Auxiliary.

Much to the joy of the faithful His Grace Mar Meelis Zaia took the floor following breakfast. The faithful were as always astounded by the progressive pragmatism of His Grace and listened intently to his visions for the future of the Church and of the Melbourne Parish in particular. His Grace briefly addressed the current situation within the Church worldwide and expressed his sadness at the current legal proceedings taking place in California undertaken by a schismatic faction within the Church. Although not wanting to dwell on the unfortunate actions of some, His Grace moved on to inform the faithful that he had spent many hours in consultation with relevant individuals from among the community as to their view and opinions regarding the future of the parish. A small overview of the progress in other parts of the Diocese was also given. His Grace explained that pending the agreement of the members of the Church and the approval of His Holiness the Catholicos-Patriarch, he had developed a set of plans which he hoped would be commenced, implemented and completed within the sphere of one and a half years. The following areas were outlined and His Grace gave the following recommendations:

• The conversion of the largest reception of the Ishtar complex into a new and large Church for Melbourne. His Grace commented that the beauty of this edifice to God would even rival any Church in the Diocese.
• The amalgamation of the remaining two receptions into a large and leading reception for the benefit of the Parish and for the future of the sons and daughters of the Church.
• The placing of classrooms on the premises for Assyrian language school classes to take place in.
• The construction of a day-care-centre which would cater to Assyrian children from among the Parish and others.

His Grace commented that the completion of such a large project should not be viewed by the faithful as daunting but rather should be commenced with rigor. His Grace affirmed that the Lord God would provide for that which is or becomes necessary. A vote was taken by His Grace from among the members of the Parish which sought to grasp who supported the current plans and who had reservations or suggestions to make. Astoundingly the membership of the Parish voted unanimously in favor of the plans and committed to assisting the Church in anyway possible for the completion of the ambitious project. The members of the Parish were then encouraged to ask any questions or discuss any reservations which they had regarding the characteristics of the project. One member enthusiastically noted that “I support these plans and hope that the Lord will guide and help us to successfully bring them to fruition”. Also among His Grace’s visionary and ambitious plans for the Parish was the establishment of an English speaking parish which would utilise the St. George Church in Melbourne. This Parish would be built upon the groundbreaking example of the Ss. Peter and Paul Parish in Sydney and would be an attempt to further make inclusive young Assyrians who have strayed from the Holy Church and the teachings of the Lord.

As always the progressive and fruitful visit of His Grace was concluded by Bishop Mar Meelis Zaia personally greeting all the faithful who were in attendance and granting his blessings to all the members of the Parish and the Assyrian community in general.