Festive Christmas music filled the rooms of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America for the annual Christmas Open House, held this year on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Archdiocese staff members and Greek Orthodox faithful from the community celebrated the Nativity together, greeting one another and taking the opportunity to offer their personal well-wishes for a blessed Nativity to His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros of America.
After Archdiocese guests were greeted by His Eminence and offered commemorative Christmas ornaments, Chancellor of the Archdiocese His Grace Bishop Nektarios of Diokleia, spoke, welcoming guests and introducing His Eminence.
His Eminence began his remarks by noting the uncertainty of the world around us, recognizing that “As we watch the events unfolding before our eyes in the Middle East, in the very lands where our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Apostles first ministered, we are caught between the gratitude we all feel for the blessings of this Christmas Season, and the grief we feel for the brokenness of the world around us.”
Continuing, His Eminence also noted that the Archdiocese staff’s annual Christmas Open House is a “concrete demonstration of our openness to all people who desire to know God and experience His love.” Our sacred Archdiocese, he stressed, is “more than an Institution, a structure granted by the Mother Church of Constantinople for the spiritual benefit of the Faithful of America,” but also a family:
“And…in any family, there is an unspoken understanding that each member is committed to the best outcome for each other. This should be able to be taken for granted – to be, as they say, a ‘given.’ But also like every family, we should express our love and concern for one another; not merely assume that everyone feels welcome and wanted in the home we share. Thus, my beloved Christians, our very big family of this Sacred Archdiocese of America must strive to let everyone feel welcome, feel wanted, feel seen, feel heard, and ultimately, feel loved.”
Following His Eminence’s remarks, Master Chanter Dimitrios Katsiklis chanted Nativity hymns, with fellow singers and attendees joining him in songs, and Archdiocese staff and guests continued to mingle and enjoy the Christmas season together.
Photos: GOARCH/Brittainy Newman.
