Austria Arsenios: Communion with God transforms the whole beingtranslated

On Sunday, November 15, 2026, His Eminence the Metropolitan of Austria and Exarch of Hungary Mr. Arsenios presided over the High Priestly Divine Liturgy at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Vienna during the celebration of the German-speaking Orthodox Parish of St. John Chrysostom. Collaborating with him was the Priestly Head of the Parish Protopresbyter Dr. Nikolaos Rappert and Hieromonk Savvas Kucenko.

In his sermon, His Holiness referred to the Gospel passage of Luke 8 and the figure of Saint John Chrysostom. The parable of the good Samaritan, he emphasized, reveals the mystery of divine mercy, and in the person of the Saint we meet the good shepherd, who through the truth of faith bears fruit and offers practical love.

The lawyer's question, "Teacher, what eternal life shall I inherit?" it touches the deepest longing of human existence, the thirst for eternal life and communion with God, the sharing in grace of His life and its fulfillment in the image on the way to the likeness. The Lord leads His interlocutor to recognize for himself the commandment of love towards God and towards the neighbor and tells him "this...