On Sunday, December 7, 2025, His Eminence Metropolitan Nektarios of Corfu, Paxoi, and Diapontia Islands, officiated and delivered a sermon at the Holy Church of Saint Nicholas in the traditional village of Sinarades, Middle Corfu. The service was held on the Sunday of Luke, and Metropolitan Nektarios’s address focused on profound spiritual teachings.
Metropolitan Nektarios Commends Father Spyridon Koursaris’s Dedication
The Holy Church of Saint Nicholas has been served for over 30 years by Protopresbyter Spyridon Koursaris. At the conclusion of the Divine Liturgy, Metropolitan Nektarios paternally congratulated and extended his best wishes to Father Spyridon for his continued parish work. He acknowledged Father Spyridon’s tireless efforts over the years, marked by divine zeal for the spiritual cultivation of the parish through catechetical activities, an active liturgical life, and diligent care for the holy churches under his responsibility.
Sermon Draws from the Gospel of Luke
During his sermon, His Eminence drew inspiration from the Sunday’s Gospel reading. He initially referred to the content of the passage, explaining the incident described from the earthly life of Jesus, as narrated by the Evangelist Luke. The Lord, being of Jewish descent through His mother, customarily attended the synagogue to hear and speak about the word of God from Scripture. Similarly, today, we go to church to be taught the matters of faith and to participate in the sacramental life of the Church for the improvement of our spiritual lives. The passage presents the image of a bent-over woman who had suffered from this condition for 18 years. The passage characteristically states about her condition that the woman in question was ‘unable to straighten herself up at all.’
Then the Lord, as a benevolent God, had compassion on her and healed her simply by saying, ‘Woman, you are set free from your infirmity.’ Thus, this miraculous healing became an occasion for the name of God to be glorified by this suffering woman and by other well-intentioned witnesses, as it became clear that Jesus was someone who transcended natural human limitations.
Critique of Malice and Hypocrisy
On the other hand, this event also became the reason for the Lord to receive reprimand from the synagogue leader, under the pretext that the law of Moses forbade people from working on the Sabbath, as it was to be dedicated to God. Immediately, our Lord, who discerned the malice by which the synagogue leader was possessed, denounced this hypocrisy, as the healing of the woman did not bring any financial gain to Jesus but was an act of philanthropy. The Holy Fathers of the Church teach that man, who was created ‘very good’ by God, when he does not work the will of his Creator, is internally transformed and filled with malice and hypocrisy, like the synagogue leader.
These two elements, therefore, constitute the first point that today’s Gospel passage teaches us. In today’s society, we often delight in easily criticizing others on various pretexts, even when our own lives are not spotless. However, this happens without understanding that this manifestation of malice and hypocrisy actually reveals our estrangement from God and the influence of the devil in our lives. Unfortunately, this malice destroys everything: people, societies, and even entire nations.
The Devil’s Influence and Spiritual Healing
The second point that Metropolitan Nektarios emphasized concerns the phrase Jesus used, ‘whom Satan has bound,’ referring to the bent-over woman. God created people holy, perfect, with the purpose of living eternally. After the Fall, man broke his communion with God and fell into sin. However, the further he moves away from God, the more he becomes a prey to his passions; without repentance, he appropriates the devil, becomes his friend, and the devil gains power over him. Thus, he gives rights to the misanthrope. In this way, he dominates us in various ways, even through physical and mental illnesses. Therefore, the devil is responsible for the illness and corruption of man after the Fall, and he further corrupts him with malice, resulting in man suffering psychosomatically.
Whoever persists in sin, abandons God, and falls into the will of the devil does not perceive the spiritual dimension of his illness. For example, man tries to find a solution to his psychological problems by resorting only to the finite capabilities of psychologists, rejecting the healing that the Church offers through the restoration of a loving communion with God. This cultivation of a relationship with God fills the human soul with His grace, filling it with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, among which are love, joy, peace, and long-suffering. The forgiveness of human sins by God, through the sacrament of repentance and confession, opens the way in the human heart to receive His various blessings. The more man cooperates with God, the more He blesses, heals, and renews him. God is merciful and philanthropic to all, as ‘He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust,’ but we become receptive to His grace when our hearts are also pure.
In conclusion, he urged everyone to be grateful to God and to understand that we are His children, and he wished everyone a blessed and joyful upcoming Christmas.
