Korça celebrates Christmas/ Monsignor Joani holds the liturgy in the "Resurrection of Christ" Cathedral

2024-12-25 10:54:00, Aktualitet CNA

Korça celebrates Christmas/ Monsignor Joani holds the liturgy in the

The Orthodox believers of Korça have celebrated Christmas, one of the holiest events in the calendar of the Orthodox Church.

Many believers have attended the liturgy held by Monsignor Joan Pelushi at the "Resurrection of Christ" Cathedral, from 9:00 a.m. this Wednesday.

In the speech delivered at this mass, Monsignor John congratulated those present and all believers on the holy day of the birth of Christ.

He has given strong messages to perform good deeds in society, to be compassionate towards the needy and to help them, to be fair and loving.

Monsignor Joan Pelushi wished this Christmas for more love, solidarity, peace and prosperity in every family.

THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. METROPOLITAN OF KORCA, HIS GRACE, MONSTER JOANI.

Your birth, O Christ God and Lord, gave birth to the world the light of divine knowledge. This is how we sing in the Christmas carol, because truly, the celebration of His Birth revives the hope of the triumph of light over darkness and shows before us God's boundless love for all people, without exception. God became one of us in order to free us from the captivity of corruption and illuminate our darkened icon again, giving it its first beauty. God became what we are, so that we can become what He is - writes Saint Irenaeus of Lyons. This is the greatest and happiest news of all human history. This event is also a call to all of us to be illuminated by this divine light. Draw near to Him and be enlightened, and your faces will not be ashamed (Ps. 34:5).

The hymnology of the Church, based on Holy Scripture, tells us that the eternal God was born in a cave as a baby boy. The birth of Christ in a cave is an indication of all his teaching: humility, compassion, kindness, love and peace, because He came into the world to enlighten us and change us completely. The events of the Nativity have a double dimension. They are historical events that happened over 2000 years ago, but they also have a deep spiritual dimension, because everything that is touched by God transcends the historical dimension and becomes trans-historical. These events are relevant for all times and for all people.

Therefore, in anticipation of Christmas, we sing, also, some important verses for our spiritual life: Take shelter, O cave, rejoice Bethlehem, prepare Ephratha. These verses remind us again and again that we are all called to prepare, that we may share deeply in the joy of this event, and that our hearts may be cleansed, beautified, beautified, and rejoiced like the cave of Bethlehem, for waiting for the birth of Christ within us, as Saint Paul writes: until Christ is formed in you. (Gal. 4:19).

The true celebration of Christmas must be the actualization and experience of this event in our very being, because only in this way will He be alive and present in our life and will direct it to a spiritual life, to light and joy without described.

The world is facing numerous economic crises, wars and poverty. Today, more than ever, the revival of a spiritual life is necessary, because economic crises, wars and poverty stem from a spiritual crisis. Without healing the spiritual crisis, we cannot heal the economic one and we cannot have peace, and without peace we will always have wars, conflicts and poverty.

Spiritual life is the daily effort to live according to the values ??that come from God's teaching: love and compassion for all people, humility, justice and kindness. Let's not only think about ourselves, but also about everyone else, especially the poor and people in need.

We must be present in the daily life of society, to spread, not only with words, but also with deeds and personal example, the warm spirit of love and compassion between people, so as not to let human society freeze in the wind of ice of selfishness and arrogance and be fragmented by indifference and apathy.

Dear brothers and sisters! Let's light the candle of our heart in the source of true light, because only in this way will we enlighten ourselves and many people around us. On this holy day I would like to wish you all:

Merry Christmas and many years to come!

Metropolitan of Korca,

Pogradec, Kolonje, Devolli and Voskopoja

+ John./ CNA