Church Soup Kitchen Marks the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This one was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and without Him, nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, life that was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
(Jn 1, 1–5)
On Easter, 8 April 2018, the Faith Charity Stewardship distributed box lunches on its premises. After the Liturgy and Holy Communion, many goodhearted people gathered at the bottom of Francuska Street, together with volunteers and employees of the Stewardship, who traditionally on Easter spend time with the most vulnerable citizens of our capital.
In the days preceding Easter, hard-working volunteers made sure that everything be ready on the holiday. Over four thousand eggs were painted and close to two thousand meals were prepared and distributed, as customary, at all posts of the Soup Kitchen, most of them at the Kitchen headquarters, on Easter at noon.
On the day of the greatest Christian holiday, volunteers visited eleven homes for children and the elderly, with which the Stewardship fosters cooperation for years already, through frequent visits and various forms of aid. Volunteers brought painted eggs to children and our oldest citizens. That morning, around 1300 Easter eggs were distributed in these institutions.
The distribution of meals began at noon. Owing to Ms Katarina Dojčinović (Kathy Fanslow) and her humanitarian organisation “Our Serbs” and the management of the Faith Charity Stewardship, the meals were particularly rich this year. Each beneficiary of our Soup Kitchen also received small boxes of cakes, regularly given by good people who insist on remaining anonymous.
That day, over twenty volunteers of the Faith Charity Stewardship worked diligently. While the beneficiaries were gathering, our tireless cooks were preparing “mekike” (dough balls fried in oil). Everyone was engaged on a particular task so that the process would be as efficient as possible. Vasilije Kovačević, in charge of volunteers, coordinated the entire procedure.
Priest Vladimir Marković and deacon Branislav Jocić distributed lunch boxes, blessing those who came. The meeting between priests and beneficiaries is invariably interesting and warm-hearted. People give thanks, make jokes, ascertain that someone found his way and no longer comes to the Kitchen, that someone finally got the long-awaited pension, while there are also those who got married. It is noteworthy that our beneficiaries were in good spirits despite the difficult life circumstances that force them to seek help from the Serbian Orthodox Church.
“May your hand be stretched not for the sake of taking, but rather for the sake of giving”, are the words of Venerable Ephraim the Syrian, which that day came true in the best possible way. There is no a more God-pleasing moment to give something than on a holiday, when a saint is celebrated, while on the Resurrection of our Lord, the most glorious moment in the history of our civilisation, each our good deed has a multiple value. The Word from the beginning of the Holy Gospel of John, read on the Easter Liturgy, is thus embodied. The Word becomes a deed, and the deed has come to fruition. Everything has accorded with the new beginning that Jesus Christ showed to us with His life and the sacrifice that He made to save our souls. The least we can do is that everyone, in his own way, should serve and help the person next to him. An example of such service was given, on the Day of the Resurrection of Our Lord, by employees and volunteers of the Faith Charity Stewardship.
