From next Monday we enter the Passion Week. Day by day, through the services of our Church, we will experience the Lord's journey from the travesty of the trial of those who feared the preaching of love, to the reckoning in the pain of the ascent to Calvary and this crucifixion still to come. And then, Holy Saturday into Easter Sunday, gathered in the Orthodox churches, the faithful will sing "Christ is Risen! Thy death, Thou hast abolished death and (...) given life". We thus share in the gift of life and the message of eternal life.
This mystagogy in our tradition and in the Greek Orthodox world carries the message that "our God is love" and that man's innate inclination towards the divine can claim him to overcome the corruption of his nature in this world. Easter, the greatest feast of Orthodoxy, carries the message of transcendence and spiritual elevation towards the grace for which man is destined, with humility and awareness at all times. This is shown by Jesus Christ who took on the form of a man to preach eternal life.
With reverence and devotion, sharing in the universe of the long-standing piety of our people, as these days and the services of our Church present, we have the opportunity for reflection and contemplation. Particularly in this place where the Apostles from the earliest times carried the Word of Jesus Christ and the radiance of the face of man blessed by his faith. As partakers of our Greek Orthodox tradition, we know again that the path is not easy. Dangers and threats constantly loom, but in the face of them we draw strength from faith in man's potential to rise up and harmonize with his intimate universe.
In a world that is constantly being shaken and is nowadays again experiencing the horrors of war, still living under the stigma of a pandemic, with developments that show that even these wondrous achievements of man and technology may contain the seeds of the climate crisis and the destruction of the world itself, the days ahead offer an opportunity for reflection and contemplation. For all the great achievements and progress, man remains vulnerable. But we can all, together, with faith in the message of love and mercy, converge with determination and hope in the light of the human person. The expectation of the victory of life over death gives us strength and courage to continue and strive on the path of virtue and solidarity, for "right communion", the destiny of man to live in harmony in communion.
Our country, our homeland and our lives continue to be overshadowed for 48 years by the Turkish occupation, the constant threat of violence and coercion, as well as the violation of even the simplest rights to life. All around the world the world is dominated by the interests of powerful people who are changing the scales of the world. In this world, which is ever wavering and sometimes even negates accepted values, we are called upon to find and will find our way, just as our people have done in the course of the centuries. Faithful to the roots and origins of our Nation and our faith, we can draw courage from the example of Jesus Christ's journey towards the Resurrection and victory over death. We overcome fears and the temptation of despair, we leave behind disputes and obsessions for individual domination and dedicate ourselves to what we know and feel is worthwhile, to the path of resurrection and our particular homeland.
In the holy days ahead, in the face of contemplation, sorrow and darkness, we light the torch of faith and hope.
In the holy days ahead, in the face of contemplation, sorrow and darkness, we light the torch of faith and hope. We take light, all together, from the common hearth of the message of the Lord's resurrection.
I wish you all a Happy Resurrection and a Happy Easter!
Contents of this article including associated images are belongs to PIO
Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
Source
