My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Another year takes leave of us as a new one arrives.
As usual at this time we all like to draw up our account of the past year and plan our course not only for the new year but also for our future. It’s good to take this opportunity to contemplate the great things that came along last year but it is also necessary to revisit the unpleasant things that stamped our lives over this past year and the previous period.
Everything that happens has its cause in the near or distant past which means it is the result of other processes and behavioural patterns, whether individual or collective, whether ours or those of our predecessors. For example, here in South Africa, most of the Orthodox believers have origins somewhere far away, back in the mother countries that gave birth to us or our forefathers.
Inevitably our love for our country and respect for our ancestors and for all they accomplished over the centuries is carried through in us. So most of the time we behave in a sentimental way that can relate into a feeling of insecurity about ourselves as we practise this fantasy reality.
We encounter similar situations in the behaviour of groups of people distinguished by their religious or political beliefs and ideologies, where sentimentality has been transformed into fanaticism. Fanaticism is dangerous not only to ourselves but it is also detrimental to the whole world.
The civil wars in North Africa and the Middle East are, without doubt, rooted in fanaticism. Peace has become a rare commodity and every day humanity haemorrhages badly. The discussions with top stakeholders and the so-called great powers have not borne any fruit nor have they changed the information in support of human rights, which they proclaim only for their own selfish purposes. The only solution is to educate the world, and especially our children, to stay away from any fanaticism and behaviour that generates hatred or excessive pride.
If we accept that every nation has its own value and important historical origin, we can give peace a chance and create a future for our children and successive generations.
We as Orthodox Christians follow “the middle and the royal route”, the main feature being our indiscriminate love for every human being and to carry on bearing witness, here on our tip of the world. We are not looking to teach our fellow men and do not want to convert anyone to our religion but we are obliged to support and inform people should they seek our help to get to know our Faith and become members of our Church.
This is the main reason, I think, why the divine intervention of God brought us here. The pioneers of the Orthodox Faith in South Africa were missionaries without actually realising it. As humble carriers of our Faith, they did not transform their fellow inhabitants but created parishes in which, after many years, each of our fellow citizens, regardless of race and cultural origin, has the right to equal participation. So by respecting our fellow man and performing each task with humility and discernment, we will become good members of our society.
In our own way, by offering our way of life as an example, it is not only another option in the peace processes of the world but we can also increase the hope for a better future.
Archbishop Sergios of Good Hope
Metropolitan Bishop of Cape Town
http://www.goarch.co.za/message-for-2014-from-his-eminence-archbishop-sergios/#more-2424
Another year takes leave of us as a new one arrives.
As usual at this time we all like to draw up our account of the past year and plan our course not only for the new year but also for our future. It’s good to take this opportunity to contemplate the great things that came along last year but it is also necessary to revisit the unpleasant things that stamped our lives over this past year and the previous period.
Everything that happens has its cause in the near or distant past which means it is the result of other processes and behavioural patterns, whether individual or collective, whether ours or those of our predecessors. For example, here in South Africa, most of the Orthodox believers have origins somewhere far away, back in the mother countries that gave birth to us or our forefathers.
Inevitably our love for our country and respect for our ancestors and for all they accomplished over the centuries is carried through in us. So most of the time we behave in a sentimental way that can relate into a feeling of insecurity about ourselves as we practise this fantasy reality.
We encounter similar situations in the behaviour of groups of people distinguished by their religious or political beliefs and ideologies, where sentimentality has been transformed into fanaticism. Fanaticism is dangerous not only to ourselves but it is also detrimental to the whole world.
The civil wars in North Africa and the Middle East are, without doubt, rooted in fanaticism. Peace has become a rare commodity and every day humanity haemorrhages badly. The discussions with top stakeholders and the so-called great powers have not borne any fruit nor have they changed the information in support of human rights, which they proclaim only for their own selfish purposes. The only solution is to educate the world, and especially our children, to stay away from any fanaticism and behaviour that generates hatred or excessive pride.
If we accept that every nation has its own value and important historical origin, we can give peace a chance and create a future for our children and successive generations.
We as Orthodox Christians follow “the middle and the royal route”, the main feature being our indiscriminate love for every human being and to carry on bearing witness, here on our tip of the world. We are not looking to teach our fellow men and do not want to convert anyone to our religion but we are obliged to support and inform people should they seek our help to get to know our Faith and become members of our Church.
This is the main reason, I think, why the divine intervention of God brought us here. The pioneers of the Orthodox Faith in South Africa were missionaries without actually realising it. As humble carriers of our Faith, they did not transform their fellow inhabitants but created parishes in which, after many years, each of our fellow citizens, regardless of race and cultural origin, has the right to equal participation. So by respecting our fellow man and performing each task with humility and discernment, we will become good members of our society.
In our own way, by offering our way of life as an example, it is not only another option in the peace processes of the world but we can also increase the hope for a better future.
Archbishop Sergios of Good Hope
Metropolitan Bishop of Cape Town
http://www.goarch.co.za/message-for-2014-from-his-eminence-archbishop-sergios/#more-2424
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