"Every year our Church celebrates Christmas. To remind us that evil is not omnipotent and invincible. Violence does not have the last word in the world, the sufferings, the war, human passions, Death.
Man, even in his worst version, has value. And it does not cease to be an image of God. He must fight against evil. He must not settle for evil. Nor be carried away by the intensity of evil and the disturbance it causes.
We must all look the newborn Christ in the eyes, who defeated evil. Let's take courage. And to fight evil with the powers that He gives us", reports, including, the Archbishop of Athens and all Greece Hieronymos in his Message for Christmas.
His Beatitude's message in detail:
” Once more, we have arrived at the great celebration of Christmas. For most of us, the world is in a vortex of tragic events. On a social level: Poverty. Disease. Wars. Corruption. Depreciation and contempt of institutions, due to misguided human actions. In personal level: Loneliness. Disappointment. Boredom. Lack of meaning. Front p’ this situation, many believe that the world has not changed. And that is not going to change.
Nevertheless, things are not like that. Evil has at its core a tendency to expand and dominate. This is done in two ways: The first is the evil act itself. The second is continuous projection, publicity and over-occupation with evil. So, the illusion is created that evil has spread everywhere. Today, p’ this is also helped by technology with the easy and quick dissemination of information.
On the other, the good, for us Orthodox, it is by nature humble. It is identified with the face of Christ. Christ works in a constant way, invisible, silent. God opposes the proud. While his grace is with the humble. Christ's birth took place without any glory or splendor, quietly, in a cave.
Every year our Church celebrates Christmas. To remind us that evil is not omnipotent and invincible. Violence does not have the last word in the world, the sufferings, the war, human passions, Death.
Man, even in his worst version, has value. And it does not cease to be an image of God. He must fight against evil. He must not settle for evil. Nor be carried away by the intensity of evil and the disturbance it causes.
We must all look the newborn Christ in the eyes, who defeated evil. Let's take courage. And to fight evil with the powers that He gives us.
I wish you happy birthday, sanctified and filled with the Grace of our Incarnate Christ”.