His Beatitude Theophilus, Patriarch of Jerusalem celebrated a recent Divine Liturgy at the temple of the Annunciation in Nazareth.
The Jerusalem Patriarchate is a living and historical testimony to the authenticity of the Orthodox Christian Church and I believe that in his address to the faithful on his recent visit, His Beatitude expresses this quite eloquently.
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"...The Church, being the body of the Godman Christ, constitutes an incontestable reality in the human history, a reality that no one could ever and no one can ever doubt. Testament of this reality is the Church of Christ and in this connection the ancient Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
This very testament of the Patriarchate of Jerusalem stems from the Apostolic and sermonic experience of salvation of the Apostle Paul, in which he was given “a thorn in the flesh, to buffet me” (2 Corinthians 12, 7). And he confesses: “For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness”, (2 Corinthians 12, 9).
We carry this thorn “in the flesh”, being the priests and deacons of the apostolic succession in Christ of James the Brother of Christ. Howbeit we state this, because we as men in flesh and habitants of this world do not do anything by ourselves, or are we able to do anything without God’s grace and strength that is made perfect in weakness. The founder of the Church promised this exact strength to the disciples and apostles stating: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both inJerusalem, and in all Judaea, and inSamaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”, (Acts of the Apostles 1, 8).
Yes, my beloved, the presence of Christ, that is the living Christian Testament in the Holy Land through the Church, is the work of the power of the Holy Spirit that comes to those who hold the mystery of faith “Crucified and Risen Lord in pure conscience”, as the wise Paul states, ( 1 Timothy 3,9).
In other words, my beloved, it is not enough to verbally testify the name of Christ: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven”, states Christ, calling upon the words of the prophet Isaiah: “ This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me”,( Mathew 15,8)
It is time, my beloved, for us to awake. It is time for us to realize because we live as divine Paul reminds us in perilous times, (2 Timothy 3, 1), during which “For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3, 2-5)
It is time, we repeat my beloved, for us to open our hearts to accept the Divine glow of God “to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”, (two Corinthians 4, 6)."
May we all be so bold as to answer this call!
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