The Youth of SA ask about Humility, Pride and Forgiveness

With the blessing of His Grace Bishop Silouan of Sinope, on Sunday 22nd of August 2021 the Parish-Community of Prophet Elias Norwood played host to the second live Q & A session for the youth of the Archdiocesan District of Adelaide. The evening was targeted at the 15-30-year-old age group and was organised as an initiative of the St Stephen’s Central Youth Committee (CYC).

Building on the success of previous events, the evening followed an innovative format similar to other Q & As organised by the CYC. With the help of the online service “Menti”, participants were able to anonymously submit questions or vote on a range of existing questions using their smart device. The facilitators were then able to select the most popular questions to present to the panel.

The panel was led by His Grace Bishop Silouan of Sinope, supported by our two youngest priests Fr Michael Psaromatis (Prophet Elias) and Fr Panagiotis Kouvoussis (Holy Monastery of St Nectarios).

The theme for the evening was “Humility, Pride, and Forgiveness”, a rich topic that touches on many of the core aspects of our Faith, and one that everyone must grapple with in order to progress in their own spiritual struggle.

That the youth themselves chose such a topic over something that (superficially at least) is more “exciting” is a testimony to their spiritual maturity and their hunger for the spiritual life.

The answers from the reverend clergy (drawing heavily on the inspiration of St John’s Ladder of Divine Ascent) were equal to the challenge – being enlightening and thought provoking.

They all emphasised the importance of humility as the “mother of all virtues” and an essential component of true repentance.

The event was again enthusiastically received by those present and gave the CYC confidence to continue holding similar events in the future.