Metropolitan of Austria in the parish of Saint John Chrysostom in Vienna
On the occasion of the feast of the memory of St. John Chrysostom, Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria and Exarch of Hungary visited on Sunday, November 17, 2019 the German-speaking parish in Vienna and celebrated together with the faithful the memory of Saint Chrysostom, its patron saint.
The Archieratic Divine Liturgy was concelebrated by Protopresbyter and Priest of the Parish Nikolaos Rappert, Hieromonk Bartholomew Ungureanu and Archdeacon Maximus Rudko in the presence of a big congregation.
In his sermon, the Metropolitan of Austria, referring to the doctrinal parable of the foolish rich man, emphasized that the passion of greed can be a detriment to any man who thinks that wealth will bring him happiness.
“Obviously we have not understood,” the Metropolitan continued, “that our soul is not satisfied with the material things, since as spiritual beings we live and are happy only with heavenly, spiritual things. Of course, we can only obtain this when we have a personal relationship with God.” For this reason, he urged the whole congregation to have this relationship as a goal by constantly pursuing love for Christ and His gospel.
Before the end of the liturgy Metropolitan Arsenios of Austria, thanked the priest of the German-speaking parish for the love and dedication to his pastoral work, and wished to continue his work with the same zeal in the future.
Source: Metropolis of Austria