The Celebration of Christmas:  The Fluff vs. Our Fulfillment

“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 ‘gives 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 exult with 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 Saviour 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 of Kronstadt

Dearest Spiritual ‘Ohana,

We now come to the conclusion of the Nativity Fast, through the month of December, and enter into the celebration of our Lord’s Nativity.  The Fast has afforded us the opportunity to deny ourselves of rich foods, excesses, and overindulging the flesh, in order to help guide us to ponder the true meaning of Christmas.  It is all too easy to get caught up with all the “fluff” of the Holiday Season, over focusing on It’s true meaning and purpose for all of humanity.

The “fluff” is all the sentimental experiences we have with the Christmas Season, like the decorations, preparations, parties, tasty delicacies, sounds and glitter that capture our attention, to name a few things.  These are all nice, but are all in vain if we leave out Christ in this Holiday Season (Holiday = Holy Day).

St. John of Kronstadt, as quoted, gives us a glimpse into the Mystery of our Lord’s Incarnation and what Its implications are for all of us.  Of course a Mystery requires an eternal effort on our part to grasp Its full meaning, which we never ever could fully comprehend.  We are able to only comprehend a smidgen of It.  If we ponder this Mystery, we could not cease to marvel at God’s immense Love for us and to what lengths He would go through to save and redeem all of humanity.

The Word condescends to take on our human nature through the Incarnation/taking on of flesh.  To condescend, is to go to extreme lengths in humbling oneself.  But this is what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has done for us!  He so humbled Himself, because He loves us and wants to save and redeem us!

Here are a few examples of our Lord’s condescension.  As the Word, in all His Glory, He was instrumental in creating everything, including the whole universe, the suns, the stars, the world, the seas, the mountains, the beautiful nature, the animals, living creatures, and all of us humans.  In His Extreme Humility (Condescension), He was born of the Virgin, and had to be contained in Her womb.  He had to be fed and taken care of by the Theotokos and Joseph the Betrothed.  He even had to learn to speak, He Who by a word alone, created everything.  There are so many things we can say that He did to show His Love for us in His Extreme Humility.

I believe that St. Gregory the Theologian expresses our Lord’s Condescension the best.  He says this:  “In Christ's human nature, He has no father.  In His Divine nature He has no mother.  He assumed human nature through the Incarnation.  He was baptized as a man, He remitted sins as God; He was tempted as a man but He conquered as God; He hungered, but He fed 5,000; He thirsted but says if anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink; He was wearied as a man but He is the rest of those who are heavy-laden; He prays but He hears prayers; He is bruised and wounded, but He heals every disease and every infirmity; He dies, but He gives life!”

I wish all of you a Joyous Nativity!

CHRIST IS BORN!  GLORIFY HIM!

With Continued Love and Joy in Christ,

+Fr. Alexander