ep Nativity Epistle

[Kollyvas]

http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/mod/ne ... le_id=6521

PATRIARCHAL PROCLAMATION UPON THE FEAST OF THE NATIVITY
The human soul feels deeply the need to be loved. The widespread sense that life has no meaning, which plagues in particular our young people, is to be blamed on the absence of love. Patriarch Bartholomew

• B A R T H O L O M E W
  BY THE MERCY OF GOD ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE, NEW ROME, AND ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH, TO THE PLENITUDE OF THE CHURCH, GRACE, PEACE, AND MERCY FROM CHRIST OUR SAVIOUR, BORN IN BETHLEHEM

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (John 3:16)

Beloved Brothers and Sisters,Children in the Lord,

The human soul feels deeply the need to be loved. The widespread sense that life has no meaning, which plagues in particular our young people, is to be blamed on the absence of love. Our fellow human beings are for the most part trapped within their individual pursuits and seek to fill the emptiness caused by the lack of love with the acquisition of material goods, carnal pleasures and fame. However, the soul is only satisfied with personal recognition and love, and not these other things.

For love exists in the Lord and holds the world together, recognizes everyone by their name and is offered generously. God created the universe through His Logos out of love, so that we all may participate in the joy whose source is this unifying personal love.

However, beginning with the first created human being and ending with today's, humankind, throughout its entire history, has been rejecting the love Creator has offered to them and turned love away from their hearts; instead, they turned to the faceless world and sought unsuccessfully the recognition of their personal existence in the pursuit of superiority and self-absorbing satisfaction; they did not accept the love offered to them nor did they offer it back. As a result, a world of competition, hatred and bloodshed emerged, which we continue to experience as our daily reality.

God's love never diminishes, regardless of our rejection of it; God sent His only begotten Son to the world in human form out of love, not to judge people for having gone astray but to save the world through Him (John 3:17). He was born in a humble manger by the Virgin Mary in order to show that might, fame and material riches, in which humankind has sought joy and salvation, are not the true sources of life and happiness. Christ came to Bethlehem to bring again the message of the unconditional love of God for humankind. God has continued to offer this immense love for the two thousand years since Christ's birth. He came to the world as a weak and innocent infant, filled with love, yet threatened with death by slaughter by Herod. Herod represents a humankind that loathes love even when it is offered through the innocent and peaceful eyes of a child.

Many of today's people, who erroneously think of God as an unyielding judge, rather than as an affectionate Father who awaits the return of His prodigal son with love and forgiveness, have distanced themselves from the Incarnate God Jesus Christ, the Logos and glory of God the Father, and the consubstantial Holy Spirit; they have broken away from the life-giving and loving Holy Trinity, and thus rendered their world secular, deprived of hope in God and genuine love. They turned to substitutions for divine love, and based their hopes on the expansion of their might in the secular world, on the amassing of more wealth, the subjugation of nations, the global expansion of trade, the promulgation of ideas against God. They disregard, even deny, the reality of death, and turn to anything to alleviate the stresses that come from living without love. Some, unable to find deliverance from despair in these pursuits, are driven to reject the greatest gift of God to humankind, life itself.

Nevertheless, beloved children, the love of God is an undeniable reality. Our Lord Jesus Christ waits to be born in the heart of each of us in order to bring to everyone the meaning of life. This means that He has chosen us to enjoy life in mutual love and to experience the fulfillment of our existence in our relationship with Him, the Incarnate God, and with our fellow human beings and all creation. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before Him in love" (Eph. 1, 3:4).

Love is the equivalent of the foundation and the roof of a building, the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega of creation. The mysteries of the manger and the Birth, the Cross, the Resurrection, the Ascension and the continuing presence of Christ on earth, in general, point to love. The hymn of the angels that is chanted during the Nativity service, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace, good will among men" (Luke 2: 14) is an expression of the admiration angels felt when they realized the inconceivable love of God. Christ tolerated his crucifixion among outlaws not out of weakness, which is a quality unbefitting an omnipotent God; He tolerated it out of His love. All God's actions are filled with love for every single person.

Let us, then, beloved children abandon the course that leads to secularism and let us return to our Father God in repentance; let us return to Jesus Christ who was born as our brother, who came to our world out of love for us who had been deceived and had distanced ourselves from Him. His love for us is a fact. In His presence there is no fear but forgiveness, peace and joy.

May the grace, blessing and abundant mercy of God be with you all during the Nativity season and throughout your lives, unto the ages of ages.

At the Phanar, Christmas 2005

• Patriarch of Constantinople
  your fervent intercessor before God

To be read in Church at the Divine Liturgy of the Feast of the Nativity, after the reading of the Holy Gospel

[Kollyvas]

See pics on link...
http://directionstoorthodoxy.org/mod/ne ... le_id=6601

Patriarch Bartholomew celebrates Christmas liturgy
Photos of Patriarch Bartholomew II celebrating Christmas liturgy at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in Istanbul, Turkey. (AP)

A priest greets 7-year-old Helen from Greece after she receives the Holy Sacrament from Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew (wearing a light-colored robe in the background), spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, at the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in Istanbul, Turkey during the Christmas liturgy.

Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I leads the Christmas liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)

Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I leads the Christmas liturgy at the Patriarchal Cathedral of St. George in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005. (AP Photo/Murad Sezer)

[Jean-Serge]

Here is this year Christmas Epistle by Bartholomew, Patriarch of Consantinople. My opinion is that the Patriarch has a real problem with his encyclics... They are spiritually flat...

In this one, I would reproach two things. An unaccurate economic analysis accusing free trade for all our woes; the crisis is a complex phenomenon in which the banking system, both private banks, central banks and the states have a big responsabilitity. The Patriarch blames greed but do not dare to say who are these greedy people, and denounce the financial oligarchy of central bankers and Golman Sachs... He fails to understand that free trade helped countries like Corea, Taiwan and is helping other countries go out of poverty. Generally speaking, poverty has been declining all over the world in the last 50 years...

The scary thing is when he says : we ask for the support of all persons and governments of good will in order that we may realize the Lord’s peace on earth – the peace announced by the angels and granted by the infant Jesus.

Lord's peace on Earth will not come through human action but thanks to Christ's return; we must be dubious and cautious about the actions of government.

2012 Patriarchal Christmas Encyclical

• BARTHOLOMEW
  By the Mercy of God Archbishop of Constantinople-New Rome
  And Ecumenical Patriarch

To the Plenitude of the Church
Grace, Mercy and Peace
From the Savior Christ Born in Bethlehem

---

“Christ is born, glorify Him; Christ is on earth, exalt Him.”

Let us rejoice in gladness for the ineffable condescension of God.The angels precede us singing: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will among all people.”

Yet, on earth we behold and experience wars and threats of wars. Still, the joyful announcement is in no way annulled. Peace has truly come to earth through reconciliation between God and people in the person of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, however, we human beings have not been reconciled, despite God’s sacred will. We retain a hateful disposition for one another. We discriminate against one another by means of fanaticism with regard to religious and political convictions, by means of greed in the acquisition of material goods, and through expansionism in the exercise of political power. These are the reasons why we come into conflict with one another.

With his Decree of Milan issued in 313AD, the enlightened Roman emperor, St. Constantine the Great, instituted freedom in the practice of the Christian faith, alongside freedom in the practice of every other religion. Sadly, with the passing since then of precisely 1700 years, we continue to see religious persecution against Christians and other Christian minorities in various places.

Moreover, economic competition is spreading globally, as is the pursuit of ephemeral profit, which is promoted as a principal target. The gloomy consequences of the overconcentration of wealth in the hands of the few and the financial desolation of the vast human masses are ignored. This disproportion, which is described worldwide as a financial crisis, is essentially the product of a moral crisis. Nevertheless, humankind is regrettably not attributing the proper significance to this moral crisis. In order to justify this indifference, people invoke the notion of free trade. But free trade is not a license for crime. And criminal conduct is far more than what is recorded in penal codes. It includes what cannot be foreseen by the prescription of statutory laws, such as the confiscation of people’s wealth by supposedly legitimate means. Inasmuch, therefore, as the law cannot be formally imposed, the actions of a minority of citizens are often expressed in an unrestrained manner, provoking disruption in social justice and peace.

From the Ecumenical Patriarchate, then, we have been closely following the “signs of the times,” which everywhere echo the “sounds” of “war and turmoil” – with “nation rising against nation, dominion against dominion, great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues, alongside dreadful phenomena and heavenly portents.” (Luke 21.10-12) In many ways, we are experiencing what St. Basil wrote about “the two types of love: one is feeling sorrow and concern upon seeing one’s beloved harmed; the other is rejoicing and striving to benefit one’s beloved. Anyone who demonstrates neither of these categories clearly does not love one’s brother or sister. (Basil the Great, Shorter Rules, PG31.1200A) This is why, from this sacred See and Center of Orthodoxy, we proclaim the impending new year as the Year of Global Solidarity.

It is our hope that in this way we may be able to sensitize sufficient hearts among humankind regarding the immense and extensive problem of poverty and the need to assume the necessary measures to comfort the hungry and misfortunate.

As your spiritual father and church leader, we ask for the support of all persons and governments of good will in order that we may realize the Lord’s peace on earth – the peace announced by the angels and granted by the infant Jesus. If we truly desire this peace, which transcends all understanding, we are obliged to pursue it palpably instead of being indifferent to the spiritual and material vulnerability of our brothers and sisters, for whom Christ was born.

Love and peace are the essential features of the Lord’s disciples and of every Christian. So let us encourage one another during this Year of Global Solidarity to make every conscious effort – as individuals and nations – for the reduction of the inhumane consequences created by the vast inequalities as well as the recognition by all people of the rights of the weakest among us in order that everyone may enjoy the essential goods necessary for human life. Thus, we shall indeed witness – at least to the degree that it is humanly possible – the realization of peace on earth.

Together with all of material and spiritual creation, we venerate the nativity of the Son and Word of God from the Virgin Mary, bowing down before the newborn Jesus – our illumination and salvation, our advocate in life – and wondering like the Psalmist “Whom shall we fear? Of whom shall we be afraid?” (Ps. 26.1) as Christians, since “to us is born today a savior” (Luke 2.11), “the Lord of hosts, the king of glory.” (Ps. 23.10)

We hope earnestly and pray fervently that the dawning 2013 will be for everyone a year of global solidarity, freedom, reconciliation, good will, peace and joy. May the pre-eternal Word of the Father, who was born in a manger, who united angels and human beings into one order, establishing peace on earth, grant to all people patience, hope and strength, while blessing the world with the divine gifts of His love. Amen.

At the Phanar, Christmas 2012

Your fervent supplicant before God

• Bartholomew of Constantinople

[Matthew]

Indeed there will be no real peace forged my man. Only Christ brings that, and he prophesied clearly that there would be no peace but greater and greater sin and apostasy as the Final Day approaches.

[Revnitel]

Final day approaches? I have been taught that we should all live in preparation and joy for that final day of our Meeting with the Lord and be prepared with a wedding garment when He comes. I don't fear it. I think Christ's return is something to be glad over. I was recently told by a Priest that every day in the Church is like the Second Coming if we do our part, becasue the Holy Spirit is always with the faithful in His Church and never leaves them.

[Matthew]

Final day approaches? I have been taught that we should all live in preparation and joy for that final day of our Meeting with the Lord and be prepared with a wedding garment when He comes. I don't fear it. I think Christ's return is something to be glad over. I was recently told by a Priest that every day in the Church is like the Second Coming if we do our part, becasue the Holy Spirit is always with the faithful in His Church and never leaves them.

I would agree with you, and of course, both sides of the coin are true. We ought to welcome and fear the coming of the Lord, for we are all sinners. For this purpose we are encouraged to consider the toll-houses and have some sobriety and fear since nobody truly knows their own heart as God does, and no one can be certain about how they will precisely fare in the dread judgement. For this reason, we should both love and fear his appearing. However, I think you are right that if we are truly walking closely with Christ and keeping all the commandments and confessing all things properly, and our conscience does not condemn us, then perhaps we can have some boldness with regard to His Awesome and Dread Second Coming. However, presently, I am too faulty a member of the Church to have such boldness. If God has granted that boldness, you are very privileged and may He preserve you in that blameless state.

[Revnitel]

For me, a religion of fear and guilt are things I try to avoid. Christ shed His Blood to wash away our sins. Love Him. Honor His Gift on the Cross. Be washed in the Blood of His Sacrifice and take steps when you stumble to continue loving Him, cleansing your heart: your actions will follow suit. Take all you have have weighing on you to Him, leave it there at the Cross, confess, but work to keep that weight off. There is a joy in Christ to be lived amidst the gloom of the world. The Church is that joy and not simply a place to make that gloom religious. The joy of its holiness should spur us to live a life of fidelity and love so that we can be with Him in the moment of our end times, to bring about holy moments of "Apocalypse" in our lives, when all we have is Christ.