His Eminence Archbishop Elpidophoros
Closing Remarks – L100 General Assembly
29th Annual Leadership 100 Conference
February 21, 2020
The Breakers—Palm Beach, Florida
Although we are barely halfway through this 29th Annual Conference, I feel as though I have known you all for even more than those twenty-nine years of these gatherings.
This conference has been a real “palette cleanser” for me, because your faith, your enthusiasm, and your generosity are exceedingly timely reminders to me of just what good people our Faithful are!
All of you – from those you have honored, and I congratulate Michael Kratsios, Tim Tassopoulos and the other honorees, to those whose contributions are quiet and reserved – all of you deserve my thanks.
You know, being Archbishop has as many challenges as it has advantages. So often, the ones whose personal negativity deserves our compassion and our pity, are the ones who make their voices the loudest and try to drown out reason and truth. It is sad for me to hear the echoes of such voices, because I understand that they are reacting from their disappointments and their pain. Nevertheless, as Archbishop I am called to serve all the people, and so I have to push through the darkness to embrace the light.
So, that is what you are to me, Leadership 100. You are the light of the world, the city set on the mountaintop that cannot be hidden.[*] You have made it a point to let your light shine before all people through this marvelous endowment, and through your many other personal philanthropic activities. And what is the result? That people give glory, honor, and praise to our Father Who is in Heaven.[†]
The blessings of this blesséd assembly flow well beyond your own lives and families. They abound in every corner of our Holy Archdiocese, and have improved the lives and faith of our people. For this, each and every one of you is to be thanked, and I do so from the bottom of my heart.
And thank you for welcoming me into the Leadership Family. It is a precious relationship that I vow I will never take lightly.
May we all continue to be blessed by your love and by your faith, and enjoy the good things that our Lord ordains for us, all the days of our lives.