Metropolitan Nicolae of the Romanian Orthodox Metropolis of the Americas has called on Christians to bear witness through their lives in a world “increasingly distant from God”, marked by selfishness, indifference and violence, in his Easter pastoral message.
Highlighting the significance of the Resurrection, he cited Saint John Chrysostom, saying: “The day of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is the cause of peace, the source of reconciliation, the ceasing of wars, the trampling of death, the defeat of the devil.”
Liberation from the bondage of death
Metropolitan Nicolae explained that the Resurrection signifies humanity’s liberation from the bondage of death and sin. “Christ is risen because through His life He triumphed over the weakness of human nature with its effects, in the manifestation of this spiritual strength going so far as accepting death for others,” he said.
He stressed that this reality concerns not only the past but also the life of people today, quoting Saint Maximus the Confessor: “The shattering of the eternal bars refers not only to the destruction of hades, but also to the raising up of human nature from its attachment to the earth, to the re-orientation of man from material things to God, to spiritual things.”
“The risen Body of Christ is a fountain of divine life for us in our earthly life; it is a source of power and of purity,” he added.
Christian family as model
The metropolitan also pointed to models of Christian witness, highlighting holy women—mothers, wives, nuns, martyrs and confessors—as examples of courage and faith.
Referring to Christian families, he said that “in times of peace and in times of the persecution of Christians, they, as well as Christian families, showed the family to be a home church, in which the Orthodox faith is lived and passed on in a living way.”
“Let us follow their example,” Metropolitan Nicolae concluded in his Easter message, published on the official website of the Metropolis of the Americas.
Photo: Facebook / mitropolia.us
