St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church

Let us pray to the Lord. Almighty God and Creator, You are the Father of all people on the earth. Guide, I pray, all the nations and their leaders in the ways of justice and peace. Protect us from the evils of injustice, prejudice, exploitation, conflict and war. Help us to put away mistrust, bitterness and hatred. Teach us to cease the storing and using of implements of war. Lead us to find peace, respect and freedom. Unite us in the making and sharing of tools of peace against ignorance, poverty, disease and oppression. Grant that we may grow in harmony and friendship as brothers and sisters created in Your image. These things we ask In the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now and Forever and unto the ages of ages, amen.

An Orthodox Christian Prayer for Peace

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy Independence Day for our most blessed United States of America!

As many of you may know, I just returned, along with 14 other people attached to our parish from a Home Building Mission Trip to Project Mexico. We planned out trip with the good people of the Church of the Resurrection in Castro Valley, CA, and we were subsequently paired with them on the building sight.

Over all, there were just over one hundred builders last week and we completed, by God’s grace, four homes for four deserving families. Each of us started with an uneven building sight.

On Day One: we leveled the ground. Created a framework for the pad, hand mixed 35 batches of concrete and smoothed out the surface of the foundation.

On Day Two: we erected the prefabricated metal walls. We attached the roof, bolted the walls to the foundation and wrapped the entire structure in tarpaper and chicken wire.

On Day Three: We hand mixed and applied the first coat of stucco, attached the ceiling boards and installed the windows and front door.

On Day Four: We hand mixed and applied the second coat of stucco, applied the flashing and drip guards to the eves of the house and roof, painted the exterior (orange, per the home-owner’s choice), blessed the home and presented the family with the very first key to their very first front door.

The week we spent in Mexico was filled with prayer, hymns, fellowship, exhaustion, bugs, love, and mutual respect for the people that live south of our border. Ours was a mission of peace and dignity. I believe that our mission was accomplished.

Our plane touched down in Salt Lake City just last night. We were all happy to be back for the Fourth of July. On more than one occasion, I have been out of the country on Independence Day. It is a surreal feeling to be sure, walking the streets of Greece, Guatemala of France, seeing the world go by without a care or thought of our independence from the Crown. No banners, no red, white and blue, no fireworks.

For me, it was important to be home today. I did not want to spend another 4th of July under the shadow of the flag of a different nation. Why? Because of the immense gratitude I feel for our country. I am thankful for grandparents who sought out a better life for me, well before they ever knew me.

I am thankful for a nation that would allow us the opportunity to worship God in our way, identify Him through our traditions and seek Him out through our doctrine. Orthodoxy came to America from many other lands. Yet, together with the creeds and confessions of all other people, we stand in our houses of worship and give glory to God, respecting the right to believe that others’ also hold dear.

On our trip, we saw immense poverty. We didn’t just see it from the window of a passing van. We entered into it. We worked to combat it. We fought it head on and wrestled with its realities.

But upon the faces of the impoverished, was joy and radiant light. You would not believe the dignity and grace of the single mother who now occupies the house we built. Almost every day, she was present on the building sight with her two, young daughters. She held her head high and smiled and looked everyone directly in the eye.

She was happy.

The guy that almost crashed into me on his bike was happy. The people driving by our building sight were happy. The father of the new occupant was proud, and grateful, and helpful and happy.

Indeed, there is much in the news today about the people who are literally dying, attempting to escape that poverty, and find security across our boarder. We encountered people who are proud of their nation, proud of what little they own, thankful for our attachment to their lives and humble before God in permitting all this to happen.

Mexico, in large part, is a poor country. Ours is a rich and powerful country. Today, we give thanks for our Nation from its very inception. Thirteen small colonies gave rise to all we enjoy. And there is much, much, much that we enjoy.

So today, on our Day of Independence, I offer up the above prayer because it is a prayer for peace. We have treasure, we have security, we have ingenuity, we have might, we have prominence. But very seriously, we need peace. We need peace at home and we need peace abroad.

God Bless America.
God Bless Us All.

With Grateful Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony Savas

What does the priesthood mean? It means to be an enduring witness to human suffering and to take it upon your own shoulders. To be the one who warms the leper at his own breast, the one who gives life to the miserable through the breath from his own mouth. To be a strong comfort to every unfortunate one, even when you yourself are overwhelmed with weakness. To be a ray of shining light to unhappy hearts when your own eyes long ago ceased to see any light. To carry mountains of others’ sufferings on your shoulders, while your own being screams out with the weight of its own suffering. Your flesh will rebel and say, “This heroism is absurd, impossible! Where is such a man, where is the priest you describe so that I may put my own suffering on his shoulders?” Yes, nevertheless, he does exist! From time to time there awakens within us the priest of Christ who, like the Good Samaritan, will kneel down by the side of the man fallen among thieves and, putting him upon his own donkey, will bring him to the Church of Christ for healing. And he will forget himself and comfort you, O man of suffering.

Father George Calciu (1925-2006)

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

The above quote is from the sanctified Fr. George Calciu of Romania. He lived through great hardships in his home country and eventually served here in the United States. What a blessed soul! I love his description of the priesthood. He articulates the very ideals and virtues that should be expected of every Orthodox priest. To take all the sadness of the people upon our shoulders. Lovely! To be  a man of suffering. Of course! To embrace the leper while freely giving my literal, last breath for the sake of the souls entrusted to my care. Naturally!

Of course, my Beloved in the Lord, you know better than I, that Fr. George’s description of his priesthood; the priesthood that should be the mirror of Christ’s, because the priesthood belongs to Christ alone, is nearly unrecognizable in me. I try. Prayerfully I try to serve with with the same measure of love, commitment, love, sensitivity, love, long-suffering, love, patience, love, sacrifice and love as the description above. Some days I hit it, and I’m grateful. Most days I fall well short, and I am ashamed. But please know that I am always striving and attempting. 

To minister is to be of service. To support, guide, assist and uphold. To willfully do these things means that one has answered the Call that God put forth, awaiting a response. Of course, the priest is only one person, and the parish is only a relatively small group of people. In the case of our St. Anna parish, I estimate over 400 souls are directly attached to our church family. But what of the larger world around us? What of the grater community of which we are a part? What of the people outside the doors of our church who are not “us”? Who will embrace them? Who will bear them upon their shoulders? Who will be the ray of shining light to those who suffer in and around Sandy City?

Well, it should be us. It will be us.

From the moment we started working to pursue a permanent church home for ourselves, I prayed for, and preached about the blessed responsibility we will have to serve our community. Once we move into the Atrium building, we cannot build a protective wall around ourselves and ignore the good people up and down 1300 East. I’ve often asked “Once we establish ourselves in Sandy, what will we be known for”? Will we sponsor the nicest Holiday Boutique? Will we sell the best baklava? Will we have the most beautiful church? Eventually, yes, we will indeed worship in the most beautiful church. But to what end, for what purpose and to Who’s glory? If we are to properly celebrate our precious Orthodox Christian Faith, we have to practice our faith. And that means being known in the community as civic partners. I am so, so grateful that our parish leadership and Women’s Ministry Team share this vision. 

In the coming weeks, we will reveal our entire scope of what we hope to do in partnership with our neighborhood. Even though we are purchasing property in an exceptional part of town, there are individuals, schools and shelters who are in need of our hands, hearts, resources, facilities and man hours. It’s been said that a church that does not engage itself in the life of its city is nothing more than a country club. I do not believe that the founders of our parish sacrificed their comforts, friendships, history in the Greek community and familiar ecclesiastical settings to establish a social center. We are a church. We are the Body of Christ. We have inherited a fantastic legacy which compels us get our hands dirty and share in the well-being of humanity. You will read in the attached Bulletin, the following announcement:

The Women’s Ministry Team is once again sponsoring parish-wide donation drives as part of our community service outreach program to help those in need.  During the month of July, St. Anna parishioners will be collecting needed items to donate to the Midvale Family Support Center. A list of specific items will be posted in the bulletin and at Church starting next Sunday. We look forward to sharing the love and generosity of St. Anna’s with those less fortunate.

This is our next step in developing such a heart; a move-in-ready heart in our new space. There are countless joys to be had. Five years in, we’re only getting started! 

With Much Love in Christ,

Fr. Anthony

Please pay special attention to the attached announcement concerning this Saturday’s Enthronement of our new Archbishop. His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America comes to us with great hope and enthusiasm for the direction of our National Church. We offer him our support, prayers, and humbly ask his blessings as he begins his own ministry, guiding the faithful of our Greek Orthodox Church. He is indeed capable. He is worthy.