My Mother Said

My mother came to the Orthodox Youth Movement (MJO) because of what she was seeing with her early-ailing eyes. Without entering any one of its halls, she joined it with love, which is stronger than every illness. This was before we joined the ranks of the Movement, that is, before my sister grew up in her commitment and I joined her. After this, my mother’s position changed. She did not join our meetings, like we did. Yet, it was our “meetings” that joined her in our home. The young people who dwelt in our house every day taught her many things, which made her have a say in some of their affairs. She found herself sharing their destiny. You could have said anything in front of her except that there are those who violate the freedom of young people in Churches. A crime, she thought, “even more scandalous than a crime”. After my priestly ordination was scheduled, she told me: “preserve yourself in the love of the young people. This will revive in you your ordination every day”. Most priests have heard a sermon during their ordination. I have heard two sermons!