Πέμπτη 9 Απριλίου 2020

ARCHBISHOP ELPIDOPHOROS OF AMERICA URGES FAITHFUL TO DONATE BLOOD

 
Archbishop Elpidophoros of Archbishop Elpidophoros at the Pearl Harbor Memorial, as part of his arch-pastoral visit to Hawaii (Photo by GOA)



NEA YORK – Archbishop Elpidophoros of America made an appeal through a video posted on the Archdiocese website encouraging the faithful of the Greek-Orthodox Archdiocese throughout the United States to stay at home and not to forget that they are not alone. In his message the Archbishop also invited the faithful to donate blood to mitigate serious shortages that have emerged during the pandemic.

The Archbishop kept his promise to the faithful that he would continue to be in touch with them through videos and daily messages via social media.
He sympathized with people who feel deprived of Holy Communion, but suggested the crisis offers the faithful a new perspective on the Eucharist.
“It is time to receive Holy Communion differently. Let us become Holy Communion ourselves and save the world with our own blood.”
The full message of the Archbishop follows:
“My brothers and sisters, we are living in difficult times. One of our great difficulties is the deprivation of Holy Communion, our abstinence from the Eucharist.
“We have been enjoying our participation in this sacred mystery all this time and we are grateful to belong to the Church, which is the body of Christ, of which we are all members. Now it is the time to receive Holy Communion differently. Let us become the body of Christ and Holy Communion ourselves in order to save the world with our own blood this time. Let us now donate our blood to our fellow human beings. Let us donate our blood to save people’s lives. We will become blood donors, plasma donors. Let us show our gratitude to God.
“This is also a sacred mystery. It is a mystery of love and self-sacrifice in favor of our fellow human beings who are suffering.”