Archbishop Sotirios of Canada issued the Encyclical on the New Year 2024.
“The loss of time, or the bad use of time, can be corrected only by one thing – and that is repentance. This is the greatest gift of God to us. We can claim without any reservation, that our salvation and our eternal life absolutely depend on our faith in God, revealed in three Persons, as well as in our good use of time and our repentance for our sins and for our bad use of time.” stressed Archbishop Sotirios in his Encyclical.
He also noted “We have closed behind us for good, the door of last year. We now stand on the threshold of the New Year. God opens His door for us. A quick glance at last year, can convince us that we could have used our time much better than we did. Let us look at our successes, and our failures. Let us grade ourselves. Above all, let us repent for our sins and failures, and let us apply and put into practice our change of mind and our repentance, so that we can “redeem the time.” Doing this, we will be able to pass from death to eternal life, and live with God – both now and forever”.
Read below the Encyclical of Archbishop Sotirios of Canada
His Grace, Reverend Fathers, Honourable Presidents and Esteemed Members of the Boards of Directors, Honourable Archons of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Members of the Philoptochos Societies, Teachers, Students and Youth Members of the Communities and to the Entire Plenitude of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada
Time – Eternity – Salvation
Archbishop Sotirios of CanadaLet us leave it to the philosophers to quarrel and debate if time is real – something that is tangible – or if it is simply a concept. For the purpose of our discussion, this debate does not matter in the least. However time is understood, it is a creation of God, and is at man’s disposal and use.
We can further say that time is neither good nor bad. Everything depends on how we use time: either to our advantage, or our disadvantage. If we make good use of time, then the results for us will be good. If, however, we make bad use of time or squander time, then it is to our detriment.
Every second of our life is time passing. Even eternity can be defined as time without end. There has never existed, and there exists no time that is independent of God. God does not have beginning nor end, just as eternity has no end. What significance would the words “life without end” have, if time had an end?
Some people have a mistaken understanding with regard to the life of man in eternity. The materialists do not believe in life after death. They believe that everything ends for man underneath the cold tombstone. Their slogan and their manner of life is: “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” How great a mistake they make!
Others in turn believe that only the righteous will inherit eternity. They too, are in error. Eternity belongs to both the righteous and the evil, with one big difference between them. The righteous and those of faith will inherit eternal life: a life of bliss; a life in communion with God. The evil and the faithless will “enter into everlasting punishment.” They will live forever alienated from God. They will be in eternal punishment – in eternal damnation and misery.
Each person who has correctly understood the meaning and the purpose of his life, realizes that he is here on earth only temporarily – a sojourner and a foreigner. He understands even more that eternal life – bliss or hell – are rewards dependent on the kind of life he has lead here on earth. His state of being after death will depend on his faith in the true God, and upon his good or bad use of time.
Our glorious and outstanding ancient ancestors urged us to “use time sparingly.” God, our Creator and our Father, also prescribes us to live “by redeeming time.” That is, to make good use of our time here on earth.
The time that we will live our life here on earth, in comparison with eternity, is less than a drop of water in the ocean. And yet: it is from this minuscule amount of time, that our eternal life – either in bliss or in punishment – will depend. Perhaps this appears absurd in terms of human logic, and this is why many end up believing in the restoration of everything. This is what Origen taught, and the reason why he is still considered a heretic. Our Church condemned this heresy and rejected Origen’s teaching.
Just as the good use of time in our youth, makes for good results in the rest of our life on earth, even more does the good use of time during our earthly life, have substantive results for our life in eternity. Every second that is lost, is lost for good. This loss is a mistake that cannot be fixed. We can never again re-live the second or the time that has passed.
The loss of time, or the bad use of time, can be corrected only by one thing – and that is repentance. This is the greatest gift of God to us. We can claim without any reservation, that our salvation and our eternal life absolutely depend on our faith in God, revealed in three Persons, as well as in our good use of time and our repentance for our sins and for our bad use of time.
We have closed behind us for good, the door of last year. We now stand on the threshold of the New Year. God opens His door for us. A quick glance at last year, can convince us that we could have used our time much better than we did. Let us look at our successes, and our failures. Let us grade ourselves. Above all, let us repent for our sins and failures, and let us apply and put into practice our change of mind and our repentance, so that we can “redeem the time.” Doing this, we will be able to pass from death to eternal life, and live with God – both now and forever.
Blessed Christians, may you correctly understand the importance and the value of time, especially the more you live on earth. Make good use of the time that God has given you, so that you can live forever with Him. I extend to you all, my best wishes for a Happy New Year, with Christ and His Peace abiding in your hearts. May God bring peace to the whole world, liberty to those in captivity, and salvation to every human soul.
With fatherly love and blessings in the Newborn Christ,
ARCHBISHOP SOTIRIOS
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Canada
