Dear Parishioners of St. Michael’s,
Christ is
born! Glorify Him!
In his thesis “On the Incarnation” (4th cent.), St. Athanasius
the Great sums up the purpose of the birth of Christ in the flesh and,
therefore, the purpose and goal in our life in Christ with the following words:
“God became man so that man might become God.” In Christ’s birth and in His
life, death on the cross and Resurrection, we are not merely “saved from our
sins”, but we are given the Person in whom we may become, by God’s grace,
participants in the divine life of the Holy Trinity. In Christ, the Father
gives us the Way to become, by his grace, all that He is by nature.
Much too commonly, this understanding of the cosmic
mystery of the Incarnation is romanticized and reduced to quaint and
sentimental images of a baby in a manger. And while the manger is a real
manger, the animals are real animals, and the “flesh” of the Christ Child is
real human flesh, the Son who is born in the manger continues to sit on the
throne of the Godhead as the pre-eternal Word of God, by whom all things were
made. This is the One whom we worship today and who calls us to receive the
Gift of Himself that we may be lifted up by and in Him to the fullness of His
divine stature. May we approach Christ and receive the awesome gift in holy
fear, humility, thanksgiving and love.
When we are drawn to Him in the miracle of love that
is Christ’s Nativity, and begin to fathom the wondrous, unique gift that He
gives us, we are moved to share this Good News with everyone we know. May God
grant that the coming years will find emboldened to do so, all of us who
sojourn toward Christ’s Kingdom here at Saint Michael’s Church in Greensburg.
It is with great joy that I greet you as we enter into
the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Thank you to everyone for your gifts to me
and my family, May the blessing of the new-born Christ be with you and your
families. A
joyous feast-day to all,
Fr. John, Juliana,
John
and Chloe
Orthodoxy in America
