Patriarch Daniel, at Christmas Mass: Faith is worth more than all the gold in the world

Faith is worth more than all the gold in the world, because it stands for the human being's living tie with God, the Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (BOR), Daniel preached in his Christmas sermon.

"We see that the three Magi from the East have brought gifts for Jesus. The king in His country chased after Him, but foreign kings came from afar, bowed down to Him and brought Him gifts. This is where we also learned to offer gifts to Christ's Church. Which are in fact the gifts that we offer? We don't necessarily need to have gold to give Christ as gift. The greatest gift of all is the gold of faith. Faith is worth more than all the gold in the world, because it stands as the human being's living tie with God and Eternal Life's handsel," the Patriarch said. 

His Beatitude added that "incense represents prayer." 

"When we humbly, lovingly and incessantly pray and thank the Lord for the gift of life and all the other gifts, we are like the Magi from the east, we bring the gift of our prayers of adoration, of praise, of gratitude to the Lord," the Patriarch pointed out. 

Patriarch Daniel further went on and explained that the myrrh represents "the good deeds." 

"The myrrh of good deeds also. When we do a good deed of merciful, humble love towards our fellow people, we contribute to our soul's resurrection from the death caused by the sin of egotism. When we give something to others, our soul fills with Christ's merciful love and thus we pass from the death of the sin to the resurrection of the merciful, humble love. Thus, all the three gifts - the gold of the faith, the incense of prayers and the myrrh of good deeds are gifts that we should bring the Lord not only on Christmas, but all through our lives, so that we, too, can feel the joy and blessing the three Magi from the East felt," the Patriarch concluded. 

The Orthodox Hierarch officiated the Holy Mass alongside Vicar Patriarch Varlaam Ploiesteanu and Father Qais, Bishop of Erzurum. 

At the end of the Holy Mass, the Patriarch addressed everyone wishes of good health and redemption, peace and joy, as well as strong faith and good deeds, especially to those bearing the name of Christian or Christina. 

Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians celebrate on 25 December the Birth of Christ.