Bishop Mark of Gaborone and Botswana (Patriarchate of Alexandria) said on Sunday at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Iași that the beginning of the Triodion period is a call to authentic repentance, stressing that “the Church calls us to repentance born of humility.”
He warned that a true encounter with God does not come through displaying one’s own virtues or judging others.
“We are not called to show our virtues, nor to judge our brothers, but to open our hearts before God,” the bishop said.
Referring to the teaching of the Holy Fathers, Bishop Mark quoted Saint Isaac the Syrian: “Where there is humility, there God intervenes.”
The place where we meet God
Commenting on the Gospel parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, the Bishop of Gaborone and Botswana said that the tax collector enters the temple fully aware of his own unworthiness and places his entire hope in God’s love.
“The Church is a small place on earth, wholly dedicated to God, which belongs entirely to Him,” he said.
“It is the place where we come to meet not ourselves, not our achievements, but Him alone,” he added.
Referring again to the tax collector’s attitude, the bishop explained that his only hope was divine mercy.
“The tax collector stood at the door like a stranger, fully aware of his unworthiness. His only hope was not his conduct or his merits, but the love of God.”
“Only by offering Him our heart can we truly enter this holy place; only then do we truly cross the threshold,” Bishop Mark urged.
Missionary work in Africa
Bishop Mark was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Cypriot parents. He completed his secondary education in Benoni and graduated from the Greek school of the local Hellenic community. He studied theology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on a scholarship from the Ministry of Education of North Macedonia.
He was ordained a deacon on January 1, 2001, by Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria, and in August of the same year was ordained a priest by Metropolitan Seraphim, who at that time was Metropolitan of Johannesburg and Pretoria of the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
In 2005, he was appointed personal secretary of the Patriarchal Office by Theodore II, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa. He later served in several Orthodox communities in South Africa and was actively involved in the Patriarchate of Alexandria’s missionary work.
On October 9, 2019, he was elected Bishop of Kisumu and Western Kenya, and at the session of the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Alexandria on October 7, 2025, at the proposal of Patriarch Theodore II, he was elected Bishop of Gaborone and Botswana.
Photo: Doxologia.ro
