In his Christmas pastoral letter, His Grace Mihail, the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Australia and New Zealand, urges the faithful to greet the New Year with persistent prayer.
“We can say that through Christ’s coming into the world, the Kingdom of God was opened to the world,” the bishop wrote.
“It is important to emphasise that the Kingdom of God is lived in the Church. The Church is the ship of love and life. It is the new creation in which we obtain salvation and where the world’s renewal takes place (2 Cor. 5: 17) because it has its origin in God and its path is towards God.”
“Liberation from the law of death (and here we are talking about the death of the soul) is achieved in the Church because here, through the Holy Mysteries, man is renewed and acquires eternal life,” His Grace Bishop Mihail noted.
“This requires much prayer, which is an act of freedom. Through prayer, man enters into communion with God and unites with Him. The prayer in the Church, offered in public worship, must be continued or prolonged in the family and the personal cell.”
“The praying man is humble. He does not quarrel with his neighbour. He seeks justice and peace. He seeks stillness. He does not slander and speaks measuredly and truthfully,” the Romanian Orthodox Bishop of Australia and New Zealand said.
“Prayer, according to Christian teaching, is the mother of all virtues. The Saviour himself prayed and gave us the Lord’s Prayer (Mt. 6:9-13); He taught the disciples to pray persistently and unceasingly (Lk. 18:1-8); then He also teaches us, saying: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (Mt.7:7).”
“Christian brothers and sisters, let us welcome the New Year 2023 that we will enter with persistent prayer. But, unfortunately, the Gospel of Christmas Day is being preached in a restless world, worried about the threat of weapons, where misunderstandings and selfish passions for domination and the desire for power of some produce conflicts, tensions, pain and in some places, even death,” Bishop Mihail noted.
“Let us pray for everyone to the Infant Jesus born in the manger of Bethlehem and sheltered in the poor and cold Cave, together with His Holy Mother and the Righteous Joseph. Humbly worshipping our Saviour, let us ask Him to protect us all, to enlighten our lives.”
“Bending our knees, let us pray to the Lord to give us strength in the work of salvation and victory over sin, adversaries and temptations, confessing with strong faith: “Christ is born: raise your praise to Him! Christ came down from heaven: come, welcome Him! Christ is on earth: be filled with joy!” Bishop Mihail also wrote.
His Grace ended his epistle to the faithful with “wishes for health and salvation, holy joy, peace of mind, help from the Lord and the fulfilment of good wishes.”
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