Nativity Message of the GOC Synod under Abp. Kallinkos

[Priest Siluan]

NATIVITY MESSAGE

YEAR OF SALVATION 2012

To the entire Church

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Beloved children of the True Church of Christ,

The incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ was the determinant point in the history of man. As evidenced by the eye-witnesses, the shepherds, the holy angels sent up praise during the time of Christ’s birth, chanting: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” But many wonder, why doesn’t peace prevail upon the earth since then, according to the angelic hymn, and why do wars and other evils continue to afflict mankind? This is because the peace of which the Angels speak, is the “peace from above,” the peace that God gives to those who have been reconciled to Him through repentance and their incorporation into the Church of Christ. Those who have been reconciled to God have a quiet conscience and peace in their souls, and they can confront any misfortune and human suffering, rejoicing and praising God.

In this way the Holy Martyrs, tortured by tyrants, glorified God. Similarly, the Righteous also bore the cross of asceticism, as well as all the Saints who endured every human misfortune giving thanks to God. Many people wonder why God allows Christians, and even Saints to suffer. They think that fulfilling some typical Christian duties is a means whereby they may avoid unpleasant situations. But when they are troubled by illness, accidents, the death of loved ones, or other similar things they say: "God, why did you do this to me?” They are unaware that the sorrows of this life are teaching methods through which our salvation is worked out, according to the words: “We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14: 22). It is sufficient that we confront woes with patience and thanksgiving to God. In this regard, the Apostle Paul says: “We glory in tribulations: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Rom. 5 3-5).

Beloved children in the Lord,

Our Orthodox Fatherland is going through an economic crisis which is testing many people around us. Let this crisis become the occasion for repentance and return to God. Let us pray for our weak brethren, because the past two years have been an unsettling phenomenon.

Firstly, suicides are rampant. Greece was formerly a country with a minimal suicide rate compared to other European countries. During the last two years suicides have rapidly increased. This means that those of our brethren who have reached the point of hopelessness, have increased significantly. This reveals a decrease of faith in the providence of God among a greater number of Greeks than has been before. Our materialistic lifestyle and affluence have had negative consequences. Wherefore it is necessary to reinforce the faith and hope of our fellow men through prayer, and by encouraging them, but primarily by a good example.

Another woeful phenomenon is blasphemy. Our disappointed brethren blaspheme God, thinking that through blasphemy they can ease their pain. The wife of Job the much-suffering foolishly advised him to do the same when the Righteous-one tasted the most sever evils which may afflict a person: the deprivation of one’s belongings, grave illnesses, and the death of his ten children! Then his wife, having enumerated all that had happened, urged him to say some word against the Lord, and die. But he looked on her, and said to her, “Why hast thou spoken like one of the foolish women? If we have received good things of the hand of the Lord, shall we not endure evil things? In all these things that happened to him, Job sinned not at all with his lips before God. (Job 2:9-10). And not only did he not blaspheme God, but he glorified Him saying: “I myself came forth naked from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither; the Lord gave, the Lord has taken away: as it seemed good to the Lord, so has it come to pass; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21-22). Through patience and thanksgiving to God, Job was delivered from suffering and was deemed worthy of eternal life. St. James the brother of the Lord invokes his example saying: “Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” (James 5:11). It is our duty not to endure blasphemy when we hear those around us blaspheming. We must react against blasphemy when we hear it, by praying for the one who is blaspheming, and by admonishing them by pointing out the error of their blasphemy, using discretion as is appropriate to the situation.

But primarily, all we who have been reconciled unto God through the incarnation of His Son and Word, let us give a good example. Let us even rejoice in sorrows, and let us have our hope in God unabated, and steadfast peace in our hearts, because:

“From on high Christ our Saviour hath visited us” and “we who were in the dark and shadow have found the truth, for Christ the Lord is born now of the all-blameless Virgin Maid."

In the year of salvation MMXII the 14th / 27th of December

THE HOLY SYNOD

The Archbishop

† KALLINIKOS of Athens

The Members

† AKAKIOS of Attica and Diauleia

† MAXIMOS of Thessalonica and Demetrias

† ATHANASIOS of Larisa and Platamon

† JUSTIN of Euripus and Euboea

† PAVLOS of America

† GERONTIOS of Piraeus and Salamina

† CHRYSOSTOMOS of Attica and Boeotia

† MOSES of Toronto

† GREGORY of Christianoupolis

† PHOTIOS of Marathon

† THEODOSIOS of Bresthena

† SERGIOS of Portland

† DEMETRIUS of Boston

† CHRISTODOULOS of Theoupolis

http://www.hotca.org/documents/401-nati ... ssage-2012

[Maria]

NATIVITY Message of the GOC Diocese of Portland under His Grace Bishop Sergios

5 January 2013 (civil calendar)
23 December (ecclesiastical calendar)

The Nativity of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ
To the Clergy and Laity in the Portland Diocese, greetings on the Nativity of our incarnate Lord.

Whether worshipping in communities, or chanting services individually in homes, the Church is guiding us with a sure hand through the Royal Hours just celebrated, through to the Liturgy of Saint Basil the Great on Christmas Day - 3 days ahead of us as I write these lines.

Our liturgical texts powerfully bring those who will encounter them to a moment when truth ceases to be an academic abstraction, and becomes the wondrous presence of the living God. The Royal Hours we have just heard connect us to the intense expectation of the people of the Old Testament for the Messiah’s coming.

Announced by Prophets long in advance of the event itself, Israel thirsted for the day of the coming of the Lord. As the New Israel, we the Church inherit all of that expectant excitement as we near the Feast. And our expectations are fulfilled on the Festal Day itself, when once again we immerse ourselves in the singular beauty of the Divine Liturgy, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ Himself.

Unlike the old Israel, the Church’s joy is the joy of people long-since gifted with the presence of Christ, a presence renewing itself constantly, especially visible in the lives of the Saints, for whom the presence of God is at the heart of everything.

If what we carry home with us from the services for the Nativity is a singular sense of awe at the humility of the Lord God Almighty, Who came to us while we were yet sinners, against all logic and justice, and took flesh from the Virgin Mary, and became man, and shared our exile from Paradise - if this voluntary humility of Our God causes us to catch our breath - then we will have grasped the meaning of the Incarnation of the living God.
And if we take our sense of awe at God’s humility, and reflect on that alone, and if this transforms us - in all our relationships - then the miracle of the coming of God in the flesh will have started its ferment within us, blessing us, and blessing all who share our life.

Since it is certain that the summation of the entire Old Testament is that we love God with all that is within us, and our neighbour as ourself - what better place to begin to reflect on the God Who is not far from us, but very near, than the Feast of our God’s Incarnation in the flesh? What better school could there be than this Feast of the Incarnation of the Messiah, in which to learn to fall to loving this God, more than anything else that we have ever loved - this God Whose love for us is so complete, and so uncompromising, that He humbles Himself in order that we may be transformed, and saved? We repent before the humility of this God, Who is love, and Who loves us more than we can love ourselves.
And can we doubt that God’s transforming love can not transform our contemporary lives, even if we suffer from the catastrophe of indifference - cold indifference both to God and man? Monastics say, “We pray to the God Who surprises us”. Good enough.

And if the Nativity Services take us by surprise - if they catch us off-guard, if they even take our breath away - then we will have celebrated Christmas with the Shepherds and the Angels and the Magi and the entire body of the Church through the ages. Our indifference will have been healed.

Fathers and brethren: May this great gift of Christmas be found within each of us.
And may our sheer delight, and gratitude, and amazement, all bound together by humility, become a light for all who seek a life worth living. This renewed life is just where loving God and our neighbour is going to take us.

In Christ’s saving love, greeting you with the joy of the Feast of the Lord’s Incarnation,

+Bishop Sergios of Portland
05 January 2013
23 December 2012 (ecclesiastical calendar)
1 Luke 10:25-37

[Maria]

Nativity Message of Metropolitan Moses of Toronto

(sent by email)

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

During these blessed days wherein we celebrate the feast of the Nativity, we hear the Kontakion with its strange and marvelous message:

"On this day the Virgin beareth the Transcendent in essence; to the Unapproachable, the earth doth offer a small cave; Angels join in choir with shepherds in giving glory; with a star the Magi travel upon their journey; for our sakes is born a young Child, He that existed before the ages as God."

The world had grown old in sin and as Saint Paul said, “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we should receive the adoption of sons” (Gal 4:4-5).

All mankind has been called to this gift of adoption, yet “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (John 1:3-5)

We look around us and society has, for the most part rejected this Divine call to adoption. The culture in North America in times past looked to the Old and New Testament and the Christian message according to its own interpretation. Presently, society is being engulfed by the ever-expanding darkness of all of the various "isms," beginning with atheist humanism that seeks to replace Christ with the worship of man. For the atheist humanist, God is dead or never existed and man is the measure of all things. The rulers and those who set policy today are increasingly hostile to the Christian worldview. There are many signs that we have entered into the last times wherein, as predicted by our Savior, there will be many personality cults and false christs.

Yet, we as Orthodox Christians have great cause to rejoice. We worship the singular Christ, God the Word, Who put on our nature and was born a man, the God-Man, in Bethlehem so that we may be united to Him. Where there is uncertainty around us, we have been given God knowledge. Where there is purposelessness around us, we know the reason for our existence. Where there is despair and hopelessness, we have the sure promises of our Savior to raise us up.

Now more than ever, we all must seek the light of Christ with all our heart, all our soul, all our strength and all our mind.

The light of Christ shines in the Church of Christ. As much as possible, cling to the liturgical cycle of the feasts of the Church. Let the celebrations of the Church be your celebrations. Let the songs of the Church, be your songs. The angels appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem and chanted, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth, peace goodwill towards men.” Because of the birth of the God-Man, we have reason to rejoice each and every day of our life. Rejoice in the Lord, and do not allow yourselves to be immersed in the entertainment culture to the detriment of your spiritual life. Give glory to God and sagaciously offer to Him the first fruits of your labors for spiritual things. Do all things as walking in the presence of God, not as men pleasers, but working heartily as for God and not for men. (Eph 6:7)

The light of Christ shines in each Orthodox Christian household. Beloved Orthodox Christians, you are of the household of God, you are the tribe of Israel of the New Covenant. This is your identity. As much as possible, encourage, guide and lead your families in the life of Christ. Let the stories of the marvelous love of God and the deeds of the saints be part of your daily conversation. The surrounding secular humanist culture invades all of our lives. It is essential each one of us strives deliberately and consciously to preserve our Orthodox culture within each home. The spiritual survival of our children depends on this.

The light of Christ shines in each of our hearts. Turn your gaze to the mystery of God’s love for us. With the fear of God, faith and love, ponder these mysteries. We stand before the manger and we contemplate the mystery of the Eternal One Who put on flesh that He might give us of His own Flesh, in the Mystery of the Eucharist, the medicine of immortality and the antidote of death. We are nothing without our Christ, but if we are untied to him, we become immortal. Cleave and cling to the remembrance of these things.

“For our sakes is born a young Child, He Who existed before the ages as God.” Rejoice evermore and may Christ the God-Man bless you and your families in this life and in the age to come.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Your fervent suppliant unto the Lord,

+Moses, of Toronto

[Matthew]

Thank you for posting these excellent sermons.