Archbishop Makarios of Australia: “We come to truly know God when we allow ourselves to be humbled and emptied”
On Wednesday, 26 February, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios of Australia, officiated at the Doxology Service for the beginning of the new academic year at Saint Andrew’s Theological College in Sydney.
As this Service marked the 40th year of the Theological College, which is the pride and spiritual nurturer of the Orthodox Church in Australia, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios remembered with gratitude his predecessor, founder of the College, the Late Archbishop Stylianos of Australia. “It was his vision to establish a Theological School on the fifth continent,” he noted, “and he brought it to fruition with hard work and wise administration. May his memory be eternal.”
He then interpreted that it must be an act of Divine Providence that the milestone of the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Theological College and its imminent relocation to new and modern premises will take place during the same year. As he pointed out, the new facilities will allow the integration of traditional theological study into a very modern environment, which will fully serve the needs and educational standards of our time. “I am fully aware,” he assured, “of the importance of equipping our future clergy, teachers and leaders with the best resources, so as to ensure that they will be well prepared to serve and inspire our people to follow Christ. In a rapidly evolving world filled with endless distractions—distractions that often overlook the spiritual dimension of the human person—this investment is more crucial than ever.”
On the occasion of the start of this year’s spiritual journey into the world of Theology, the Archbishop and Dean of the Theological School also addressed spiritually edifying words to both the continuing and newly enrolled students. Inspired by a saying of Saint Silouan the Athonite, that “It is one thing to speak of God; it is quite another thing to know God”, His Eminence emphasised that the study of Theology “can never be reduced to merely learning facts about God”. “Your engagement with Theology will not be a purely intellectual endeavour”, he pointed out to the students and added: “Theology requires a deeper involvement– an involvement that not only informs the mind but also forms and transforms the heart through these saving truths”.
During his inspired address, His Eminence Archbishop Makarios explained vividly that the experiential knowledge of God presupposes the attraction of the grace of the Holy Spirit, which in turn is achieved through humility. “We come to truly know God,” he concluded, “when we have as our goal humility, allowing ourselves to be humbled and emptied. In this way, we will allow – we provide space – to the inexhaustible grace of God, so that it may fill our emptiness through and through; thus making this emptiness, that very place of our encounter with Christ, our Lord.”
The Doxology Service for the new academic year of Saint Andrew’s Theological College was attended, among others, by His Eminence Metropolitan Seraphim of Sevasteia, clergymen of the city of Sydney, Associate Professor Philip Kariatlis, Sub-Dean of the College, and the other members of the Teaching Staff.
