Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace, good will to men!

“The Nativity of Christ.—He has come upon earth, He Who in the beginning created us from earth and breathed His Divine breath into us; He has come Who “giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts xvii. 25.); He has come, He Who by a single word called all things visible and invisible from non-existence into existence, Who by a word called into being birds, fishes, quadrupeds, insects, and all creatures, existing under His almighty providence and care; He has come, He Whom the innumerable hosts of Angels continually and joy. And in what humility has He come! He is born of a poor Virgin, in a cave, wrapped in poor swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. Riches, honors, glory of this world! fall down, fall down in humility, tearful devotion, and deep gratitude before the Savior of men, and share your riches with the poor and needy. Do not pride yourselves on your visionary, fleeting distinctions, for true distinction can only be found in virtue. Glory of this world! learn here, before the manger, your vanity. Thus, let us all humble ourselves; let us all fall down in the dust before the boundless humility and exhaustion of the Sovereign of all, of God, Who has come to heal our infirmities, to save us from pride, vanity, corruption, and every sinful impurity.” ~St. John Kronstadt

Dearest Spiritual Ohana,

We come to the annual celebration of the Holy Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It is a time that is set aside, in the year, to focus on the Glory of God and to remind ourselves what this ultimately means to us humans, personally.  I pray that all of you take time in your lives to ponder and focus on the magnificence of the Glory of God, to Whom our hearts and lives ought to truly belong!  It is so easy to focus our hearts and lives on everything else and forget what our purpose as humans is.  We are tempted to focus on the glitter, the feasting, the parties, the stress of shopping for the perfect gifts for everyone, over our fulfilling desire for the Presence of Christ in our lives and His impact on all of us.

St. John of Kronstadt, a most revered and well-loved Saint, in our times, who lived his earthly life in the not so distant past (19th to Early 20th  Century +1909), captures a great deal of the immense, timeless depth of the beauty of Christ’s Nativity in his message to us. His message captures the Glory of Christ through the paradox of His extreme greatness in His Divinity and in

His Human Nature assumed in His Birth and Incarnation. His Greatness and Glory are expressed with such immeasurable depths of Love in the heights of Him creating everything, and at the same time in the depths of His Extreme Humility in lowering Himself by taking on our human flesh to unite all of us to Himself, uniting the heavenly to the earthly, being that Bridge to redeem us all.

The ever-present challenge we face in our lives is to heed and accept the Presence of Christ in our lives by making room in our hearts for Him.  He is always here for us and waits for us to freely respond to His Presence, yet He never forces His Presence upon us, but rather allows us to freely invite and let Him into our lives.  Ultimately, the response is up to us.

There is a scriptural reference of Joseph and the Virgin Mary searching for a place for the Christ Child to be born that captures the dynamics surrounding the Nativity of our Lord, which reads as follows:  “And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)  Due to the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, a guest room was not even available at the inn where it would have been a warm and comfortable place for the Birth of the Christ Child.  Joseph and the Virgin Mary settled for the most humble place of a manger located in a cave in Bethlehem.  This reference calls to mind the inn of our hearts to be available for the Lord to take residence in them.  Do we have room for Him, or are the inns of our hearts already occupied?

We are coming to the conclusion of the Nativity Fast on December 24th, and will break It on December 25th, in celebration of the Feast of the Nativity.  Continue to embrace this Fast, not disregarding It, nor allow It to be a mere dietary exercise.  Allow this Fast to help us focus on the Greatest Joy of Christmas, to give glory and honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Who loves us so much that He would come and fill us with the Joy of His Presence, always. His Gift, the greatest gift we could ever acquire, is the salvation of our souls.

 Have a Joyous Nativity!

 CHRIST IS BORN!  GLORIFY HIM!

 

With Love in Christ,

+Fr. Alexander