CHRIST REPRESENTS THE POOR, THE FOREIGNER, THE SICK
On Sunday morning, February 23, 2020, his Eminence, the Bishop of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontian Islands, Mr. Nektarios did the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Church of Pentanti, in central Corfu.
Speaking in the church, Mr. Nektarios stressed that the second presence of Christ that we remember on Sunday of the Apostles will mark the end of the world, the end of creation. Today we understand that the world is troubled by sin and we see it in the climate change phenomenon. The autonomy of man by God has made creation not to cooperate with man. Thus, this world must end, in order to stop evil and sin, the curse we live through because of the misuse of our freedom. However, we are already judged by this life and the measure of our judgment is love, because God is love.
Christ represents the poor, the hungry, the prisoner, the foreigner, the sick. Those who respond to and receive God’s grace with the practical experience of God’s grace live in Paradise. Paradise is a spiritual state in which God and man communicate lovingly, whereas hell is when we cannot stand up to one another, when we feel that the other is not the image of God, and ultimately we are separated from God, unfortunately for always.
Triodion is a time to lighten inwardly, to see the distortion of our times, that of falsehood, greed, pleasure, the root of all that is selfishness, to receive the grace of God to see the brother with a good eye and fight for unity all together.
