“Christ is Risen!” echoed throughout the Metropolis of Mexico on Easter Sunday. Metropolitan Iakovos of Mexico presided over the Easter Divine Liturgy at the Holy Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Theotokos in Panama City, Panama.
Before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy, the Metropolitan read the catechetical word of St. John Chrysostom: “Therefore, enter into the joy of your Lord, and receive your reward, both the first and the second; the rich and the poor together, celebrate the feast; the sober and the heedless, honor the day; rejoice today, both you who have fasted and you who have not fasted”. At the end of the reading, Metropolitan James said: “If I claimed that these words were mine, perhaps I would be called too flexible with the Church’s doctrine or not strict enough, so I have read to you what the Fathers of our Church say, so that we may all leave behind excuses and simply come and receive the light of the Risen Christ.”
At the same time, Bishop Athenagoras of Myrina, Supervisor of the Archdiocesan Region of the Caribbean Islands and Belize, preached the message of the Resurrection of our Lord at the Holy Church of St. Nicholas in Havana, Cuba. Bishop Timothy of Assos, Supervisor of the Archdiocese of Colombia and Venezuela, sang “Christ is Risen!” at the Church of the Archangel Michael in Copacabana, Colombia. At the same time, Bishop Hesychios of Marcian, Supervisor of the Archdiocese of Mexico and Panama, presided over the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Church of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Diocesan Student Boarding School, in the city of Pereira, Colombia.
