The Bishop of Messinia in Corfu
His Eminence, the Bishop of Corfu, Paxoi and Diapontian Islands, Mr. Nektarios invited his Eminence, the Bishop of Messinia, Mr. Chrysostomos, who is a Professon in the Theological School of the University of Athens. The two Bishops did the Divine Liturgy together with his Eminences, the Bishop of Rizan, Mr. Markos and Mr. Paisios (from the Russian Patriarchate). In the Divine Liturgy, there were also Mr. Gkikas, MoP of Corfu and the president of the local Council, Mr. Dimitris Metallinos.
Addressing the crowded pilgrims, the Bishop of Messinia asked what is it that makes us citizens of the Kingdom of God: the relationship with Christ or the observance of the works of the law. We need both, stressed Mr. Chrysostom. We need the wholeness and completeness, the fulfillment of the works of the law by faith, through the mystery of the cross. Christ did not come to abolish the law but to complete it.
The sterile observance of the commandments of the law does not save, because it is unilateral. The works express the totality of the faith. Christ’s call is for everyone and it also endorses man’s worldly life, since it has to do with the mystery of the cross.
Faith is all actions of man that are not merely verbal wording or emotional or psychological confession. Faith is the fact that through practical expression expresses confidence in God and the hope he saves. Trust means depositing every vital concern, but ultimately our very life in God without conditions and conditions, as the child does to the father!
Trust is not rational or emotional, but lies in the prospect of the future, in the hope of conquering the Kingdom of God. This expectation becomes a hoped-for substance, a control of things I see. The reality of faith is personified in Christ himself, but also the hope of the future that is not yet materialized. This road crosses the cross! The crucifixion of ourselves, our selfishness and our friendship, is the sacrifice of our individual moods and pursuits, through which we are surrounded and separated from others.
With this crucifixion we can accomplish the works of faith within the Church, where we are all saved together, not individually. And that is why the cross is the love of all, even of the enemies. This is how faith is established!
At the end of the Divine Liturgy there was also the annual memorial service for the musicians of the Old Philharmonic Corfu.
In his address, the Bishop of Corfu, Mr. Nektarios, after thanking the Metropolitan of Messinia, praised the chorus of the Holy Pilgrimage for offering both to the place and the preservation of Corfu’s culture and tradition, as well as to its share and ministry he also expressed his joy at this connection of the Church with culture, as served by Philharmonic and choral polyphonic music!
