Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew urged everyone to abide by the precautionary measures imposed by the competent authorities for as long as the pandemic lasts, in his homily on Saturday, the 19th of December, during the Christmas online Festival of the Associations of Constantinople, Imbros and Tenedos.
“We are shocked by the pain caused and continues to be caused by the coronavirus pandemic. However, we were impressed by the self-sacrifice of the doctors and nurses who, at the risk of their lives, stand by the patients. It was also revealed that our problems are global and common and that it requires cooperation and solidarity to tackle them. As long as the health crisis continues, we must abide by the precautionary measures imposed by the competent authorities. We also should have faith and hope that sadness and evil will not have the last say in history. The Ecumenical Patriarch prays for you all to come out of this ordeal, after having discovered the power of God’s grace and mercy,” he pointed out in his homily.
The Ecumenical Patriarch referred to the importance of the holiday feasts for people and added: “The way we celebrate is directly related to who we are, how we perceive ourselves and our relationship with the world. What kind of people we will become considering that Christmas turned from a feast of the Incarnation of the Word of God into a consumerist festival, into a way to show our secularism and modesty, and into a ‘Christmas without Christ’? How has Saint Basil the Great, the ascetic and philanthropist, been replaced by the well-known ‘Santa Claus’ in the red suit?”
“The festive celebration of Christmas is today an act of resistance to the decay of the great holiday. Our Orthodox faith, with its ethos and culture, with its celebrations and sociability, with its habits and customs, is full of light that leads us to the liberating truth and, therefore, to the eternal life,” he said.
Addressing the young people, the Ecumenical Patriarch urged them to preserve the tradition of Orthodoxy, the “womb” of the Nation, as well as to save the “blessed traditions of Christian marriage and family”, that is the “great sacrament” of our Church, which is vital for society, as marriage is freedom and unselfish giving.
Finally, the Ecumenical Patriarch wished all the best and hoped that “2021 will be a year of health and creation for everyone, as the nightmare of the coronavirus will belong to the past.” “May God be with you!” he said.
