Patriarch Theophilos: Be not affrighted – Christ has conquered death

Patriarch Theophilos of Jerusalem. Photo: Jerusalem Patriarchate

His Beatitude Theophilos III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and All Palestine, addressed the faithful with a Paschal message in which he recalled the spiritual meaning of Christ’s Resurrection and urged them to preserve their faith amid the trials of the present time.

In his message, the Primate of the Jerusalem Church emphasized that Christ’s Resurrection is not merely the remembrance of a past event, but a living reality for the Church.

“In the words of the Apostle Paul, ‘Christ is risen from the dead’ (1 Cor. 15:20), and therefore the event of the Resurrection is not simply the remembrance of something belonging to the past, but it exists as a living and active reality, founded upon the mystical power of the Cross: ‘The preaching of the Cross … is the power of God’ (1 Cor. 1:18). In the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the Resurrection, Christ abolished the dominion of death and granted to man the prospect of a new life, ‘that we too might walk in newness of life’ (Rom. 6:4),” the message says. This closely reflects the official text published by the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

Patriarch Theophilos III also noted that Christ’s victory over death opened the way to eternal life and the renewal of human nature. He recalled that the Church continues her saving ministry in the world, bearing witness to the Resurrection and calling people to peace and righteousness. Orthodox Times’ summary of the message highlights the same themes of the Church’s ongoing witness and Christ’s abiding presence.

“The Jerusalem Church together with her pious flock is the unchanging and living witness of the mystery of the Resurrection, that is to say, of the fulfillment of Divine Providence. She unceasingly receives the words of the Lord, ‘Lo, I am with you always’ (Matt. 28:20), not as a recollection of some past reality, but as a living and active presence, transcending times and seasons, human limits, and the laws of nature,” he said. The official Jerusalem Patriarchate message presents the Church of Jerusalem precisely in this living, witnessing role.

Particular attention in the message is given to the situation in the Holy Land. The Patriarch called on the faithful to remain present in their historic places and not abandon their native lands despite hardships. The official message explicitly appeals to the flock across Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Qatar to remain in their ancestral homeland of the Holy Land.

“Heeding also the words of the Lord, ‘Fear not, little flock’ (Luke 12:32), she,” that is, the Jerusalem Church, “calls upon her flock throughout the whole territory of her jurisdiction in Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Qatar to remain in the ancestral homeland, the Holy Land, so that the saying of Saint John of Damascus may be fulfilled: ‘Lift up thine eyes round about, O Jerusalem, and behold; for behold, thy children come unto thee, shining with divine light as luminaries, from west and north, from sea and east, hymning Christ Who is risen unto the ages,'" the Patriarch urged.

As the UOJ previously reported, Patriarch Theophilos commented on the reopening of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

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