03/24/2008 - Daily Prayer

Tomorrow, March 25, Greek Orthodox Christians here in California and around the world celebrate two significant events. First, we celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, when Mary the Mother of our Lord received the joyful announcement foretelling the birth of Jesus Christ. We also commemorate the proclamation in 1821 by Archbishop Germanos of Patras announcing the freedom of Greece – the political and spiritual emancipation of the Hellenic people from four centuries of slavery and oppression under the Ottoman Empire.
On this day Greeks around the world and here in California, celebrate and ponder the concept of FREEDOM in all its dimensions. Ancient Greeks knew that freedom was as necessary for life as air and water; only in freedom can human beings thrive. Freedom, as we understand it, is not a license for unbridled pursuit of power and profit. True Freedom means ridding our lives of all that is immoral. True Freedom safeguards the dignity of every person against exploitation, discrimination, and social injustice of every type.
On the occasion of this double celebration, we thank God for our political freedom as we pray for the political freedom of all people around the world, holding in our hearts most especially brother and sister Greeks who are still suffering political and spiritual oppression in places such as Turkey and Cyprus. The sad truth, witnessed throughout history, is that freedom is won through struggle and defended through sacrifice. We remember prayerfully those who have gone before us and those who are presently engaged in heroic defense of freedom, willing to sacrifice even their own lives to smash the chains of bondage, oppression, and human degradation.
Let us pray to the Lord.
Lord our God, living source of freedom and love and justice, who, throughout the ages has enlightened humans, keep also, under Your loving care, the members of the Government, the Senate and the Assembly of our beloved State of California and guide them to always do the right thing for the people of our State and the entire nation, teaching them how to use every good and perfect gift wisely.
You have implanted in each person the inclination to love and protect and nurture all that is good and beautiful and true. Do you, the same Lord, be present here now. Make us worthy of the ideals we hold dear, the gifts of freedom and liberty that we have inherited, Grace us with the wisdom and prudence to govern well, and freedom from the temptations of power. So that, through our work, all people may know and enjoy the blessings of freedom, increasing health, prosperity which leads to generosity, and the security that blossoms from true freedom and your peace. For you are holy, and to you we ascribe glory, now and forever and to the ages of age. --AMEN.