CHRISTMAS MESSAGE OF PATRIARCH PORFIRIJE: „Overcome divisions, embrace and extend a hand to one another“ (VIDEO)

The Patriarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church, Porfirije, in his Christmas message congratulated the faithful on Christmas and pointed out that it is a holiday of peace when we should overcome divisions and extend a hand to one another. He emphasized that today, more than ever, humanity needs to return to the source of peace that is not imposed by force but is discovered in humility, in love that “seeks not its own.” The Patriarch says that neither the crises of our time, nor wars, nor the loss of trust, can be the final measure of human life nor the last word about man.

„Into the light and life in peace and harmony, inspired by the supra-rational joy of Christmas and Christ’s peace, we invite everyone to overcome divisions, to embrace one another, to extend a hand to one another, to understand that we are, in a word, necessary to each other. For the Christian faith does not teach us to wait for better times in a time of crisis, but to ourselves become living signs of the future Kingdom of God – people who already live differently, who do not heal fear with fear nor hatred with hatred,“ stated Patriarch Porfirije.

He pointed out that the situation in Serbia is currently complex and difficult because, as he stated, internal political tensions have led to deep division in society and mistrust among people, and differences in opinion are increasingly turning into irrational hatred.

„The loss of national and cultural identity is particularly worrying, as it calls into question the continuity of the historical and spiritual self-understanding of our people, and yet it cannot be explained exclusively by external influences. Along with this come economic uncertainty and demographic decline: Serbia is facing a distinctly negative natural growth rate and, consequently, one of the fastest depopulations in the world, as well as an increasingly pronounced aging of the population,“ Patriarch Porfirije emphasizes.

Two messages of the birth of Christ

He pointed to two messages of Christ’s birth – that God became man for us and for our salvation, and that every person, precisely because of that, can and should become our brother.

„For only in Christ, the Firstborn among many brothers, do we regain the other as our neighbor and brother. Therefore, before the mystery of the Birth of Christ, God’s question is posed to each of us again, as old as humanity itself: Where is your brother? Not where is your interest, nor where is your side, nor where is your party, nor – ultimately – where are you yourself, alienated and focused only on yourself, but – where is the man given to you so that, by loving him, you pass from death to life. That and only that is our basic question and our central task, this and every other Christmas,“ Porfirije said.

Necessary for humanity to return to the source of peace

He emphasized that today, more than ever, humanity needs to return to the source of peace that is not imposed by force but is discovered in humility, in love that “seeks not its own” and in a relationship that builds trust, community, and respect for every person.

„We live in a time of ever-deepening religious, ethnic, and cultural divisions, in a world in which geopolitical tensions are constantly growing and in which wars are becoming an increasingly frequent means for solving economic and political conflicts. The change in the global order and the struggle of the great powers for supremacy give birth to instability, security crises, and fear of an uncertain future,“ Porfirije stated.

According to him, economic uncertainty, inflation, growing inequality, poverty, hunger, and the uncontrolled exhaustion of natural resources are added to this, while technological transformations bring new ethical dilemmas and give birth to digital isolation, an apparent presence without real community.

„All this leads to a crisis of trust in institutions and the media, to the relativization of truth, to an increase in anxiety and loneliness, and even to a loss of the meaning of life for many people today. And therefore many of us welcome this holy night and this holy day with restlessness in our hearts, worrying for the children and their future, for our daily bread, for health, for tomorrow,“ stated Porfirije.

The world we live in is no longer self-sufficient

The Patriarch called on the faithful not to be afraid, because the world we live in „with all its fractures, conflicts, and fears“ is no longer self-sufficient and self-explanatory, nor is it left to the blind forces of history.

„By the Birth of Christ, God entered the very heart of human history and showed that evil, no matter how aggressive and widespread it may be, does not have the last word. Fear is born where a person thinks they are alone – and the Birth of our Savior Christ reveals to us that we are no longer alone and that we will never be alone again,“ stated Porfirije.

He emphasized that neither the crises of our time, nor wars, nor the loss of trust, can be the final measure of human life nor the last word about man.

Fear still exists, but it no longer shackles life

„Fear still exists, but it no longer shackles life. It is deprived of final authority over man. That transformation has its origin and foundation in Christ Himself, Who reconciled man with God and thereby laid the foundation of peace that fear cannot abolish. Having destroyed the barrier of hostility, He breaks down the divisions that separate people and nations. This reconciliation is shown in the liturgical and sacramental life of the Church as a reality in which ethnic and social, and even natural, differences among people no longer have a decisive significance,“ said Patriarch Porfirije.

The Serbian Patriarch pointed out that peace is not a consequence of human agreements nor a result of a balance of forces, but that it is a state, as he stated, of a transformed person who believes, lives, and walks the path of Christ.

„Since the Christ Child by His Birth gifted her the ‘ministry of reconciliation’, the Church of God constantly heals the wounds of divisions, renews broken ties, re-establishes a communion that knows no human boundaries, blesses peace and peacemakers. That blessing of the Church obliges us to spread peace ourselves,“ said the Patriarch.

Our time bears deep similarities with the time of Christ’s Birth He pointed out that our time bears deep similarities with the time of Christ’s Birth, indicating that at that time in our broadest space there was one great global power – a dominant empire that shaped the world order of the time.

„Today there are more of those powers. They manage the world and dictate the fates of smaller nations, whose authorities, like Herod’s at the time of Christ’s Birth, have formal independence, but are essentially dependent on the economic, energy, political, and military interests of the great powers. Let us remember that the census at the time of Christ’s Birth was also a political-economic instrument of control: whoever is listed – acknowledges the authority and pays taxes. But it is very similar today, when personal data, as much for good purposes as, and increasingly, are used for the purpose of controlling and limiting the freedom of every individual,“ stated Porfirije.

He pointed out that Christ’s birth, by its manner, place, and time, becomes a service of unity and that in it history ceases to be a series of accidents and becomes a space of salvation.

„Christ could not be born in the warmth and security of prosperity. By the nature of the event itself, He is born in a place cold and desolate – in a place hungry for God. Every human heart is such a cave until Christ is born in it. Christ’s Birth in poverty reveals that before Him and in Him, the divisions by which the world values people cease. The family is the first place where a person learns what peace means – or what its loss means. The home turns into the true manger of the Nativity of Christ when there is room in it for forgiveness, patience, and common prayer,“ said the Patriarch of the SOC.

Patriarch Porfirije and the bishops of the SOC once again congratulated all the faithful on Christmas, with the traditional greeting „God’s Peace – Christ is Born.“

„Finally, brothers and sisters, children of Saint Sava and of all our honorable ancestors, of all the holy Fathers and Mothers of Serbia, wherever we may be throughout the globe, in the Fatherland or in the diaspora, and especially in the crucified Kosovo and Metohija, with one voice, one mouth, and one heart, together with the angels let us sing the Christmas hymn, the song of peace: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will among men! God’s Peace – Christ is Born!“, concludes the Christmas message.