Eparch's Christmas Message
To the Clergy, Laity and Friends of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton
December, 2002
|
|
Eparch's Christmas Message To the Clergy, Laity and Friends of the Melkite Eparchy of Newton December, 2002 |
Two thousand years ago, an event happened in Bethlehem, a cosmic event, which
divided human history into two parts: "Before" (BC) and
"After." (AD). As we are looking to the year 2003, are we getting one
year farther away from the "Birth of Light" or closer to the
"Rebirth of Light" as His Second Coming?"
"When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman,
born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive
adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of His son into
our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!" So you are no longer a slave
but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God. (Galatians 4:4-7)
What a delightful feeling to know that we are loved, that we are adopted, that
we may wholeheartedly and with confidence shout "Abba! Abaana!
Father!" Oh! How comforting it is to look at our Savior, Emmanuel (God with
us) He comes down to be our "Big Brother", looking up at us from
his humble manger, and uplifting us to heavenly spheres!
Do we celebrate Christmas as "History" of past events which took place
2000 years ago, or as "Mystery," a throbbing reality of His constant
love as present today as in the first night of Christmas? His constant love, as
fresh today as two thousand years past, stirs us to love and to praise and to
serve. In brief, Christ wants us at the celebration of His Nativity to be alive,
to be truly alive.
Christ is being born for the world at Christmas. Each one of us is called to
make Christmas real and dynamic, to allow Him to be born in our own hearts. To
parody a well known song:
"Let there be peace on earth,
And let it begin with me!"
"I welcome Christ the Savior born in Bethlehem!
I give Him birth and make Him really live in me!"
St Ambrose wrote: "May Mary's soul be in you to exult in God... If it
is true that one only is the Mother of Christ according to the flesh, all souls
generate Christ in the faith because each believer accepts in himself the Word
of God" (on Luke II,26).
An old story tells that Baby Jesus was stolen from the crèche, which was
displayed in a church yard. Too late to shop around for another statue, the
priest had the ingenuous idea to place a mirror in the manger. If you came close
in search of Baby Jesus, there you would see him in the mirror alive and staring
at you. Let us make Jesus alive and smiling and inspiring joy and hope during
this holy season and throughout the year.
CHRISTMAS IS THE FEAST OF LIFE
The Birth of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ marks the beginning of His
human life outside of his Mother's virginal womb. We celebrate joyfully our
birthdays and we thank God for the first and the greatest gift of all, the gift
of life. One beautiful definition, which I heard of a birthday: "It is the
day when everybody is happy because YOU were born." At Christmas, everybody
is happy, because CHRIST is born. He is the greatest gift of heaven to earth. As
we celebrate our individual birthdays, it is good to remember that the Birth of
Christ brought our birthdays to a higher level of value. As true believers, we
do not celebrate our physical life only, but rather we celebrate our spiritual
life as children of God. There is a clear order ascending from motionless to
lively to human and to spiritual. The Birth of Christ in the flesh gave to our
life in the flesh the potential to be impregnated with the life of the Spirit.
Our life in the Spirit is to our life in the human level, as our life in the
human level compared to our animal life, or our animal life compared to our
vegetative life.
All creations reflect the beauty of the Creator in their own respective order. A
tree is beautiful; it bears leaves, flowers and fruits. It is full of a life of
its own. But that life of a tree is nothing, compared to the life of a bird
perched on its branches. A bird feels and moves and sings and praises God in a
much better way than a tree.
"On the tree, Is a bird
That sings And swings,
Because It has wings". (Victor Hugo)
Yet the beautiful life of a bird is nothing compared to the life of a human
being. What is the use of living if you don't know that you are alive? A bird
has only instincts. It reacts to its surroundings; but it is not capable to
reflect upon them. Only a human being knows and knows that he or she knows. So
the human life is much much higher than animal life. Yet as beautiful and noble
is human life, it is nothing compared to the life in the Spirit that Jesus came
to give us: "I came," he said, "that they may have life and have
it to the full" (John 10:10). He also said: "I am the way, the truth
and the life".(John 14:6) The true human life, in its highest form,
is the life that God gave to our first parents, as they came out pure from God's
hands. "Let us make man at our image and likeness", He said, (Genesis
1:26) ... And He blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and so man became a
living being" (Genesis 2:7) All creation came to be by a word from God. Man
alone is a divine breath, an authentic image. This is the true life given to us
and then lost through original sin. This is the life that Christ came to
restore. We sing in the Troparion of the Vigil of the Nativity:
"Christ is born to bring back to life
The likeness that was lost of old"
By the Birth of Christ, our life takes a new meaning. I have good news for
you, my friends: Life is worth living. Jesus came down from heaven "so that
(we``) might have life and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10)
In conclusion, I wish you the three gifts of Christmas, life, light and joy, the
life of God the Father, the light of God the Son and the joy of God the Holy
Spirit, Three in One. To the One God in whom we live, we move and we have
our being, be glory and honor forever and ever. Amen
Most Rev. John A. Elya
Eparch of Newton
December, 2002