My Beloved,
I wish you all a blessed and joyous Nativity Feast and a happy and prosperous new year. Let us welcome this holy feast with an enlightened heart and mind, with repentance, renewal, and rededication.
The Monday Theotokia resounds the verse: “He shone in the flesh, taken from the Virgin, without the seed of man, in order to save us.” Everything that God does, He does for our good and our salvation. The Nativity Feast coincides with the season of the Jewish celebration of Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights and the rededication of the temple. Befittingly, the Nativity Feast is the celebration of the birth of Christ, the divine God and Man, the Light of the world, who entered our earthly realm to be with us in the flesh. Throughout the world, traditions of celebrating the advent of the Nativity Feast include decorating homes with bright lights and festive colors. Let this joy not culminate at the manger but continue in our hearts throughout the year until the following year. Let the light of Christ shine in you and you shine it unto others.
The birth of the Saviour is a continuum of heartfelt joy. Fear no more for God’s great promise of salvation has been manifested as the angel announced: “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people” (Luke 2:10). Yes, this joy is to all people, for all are called to salvation. Thus, you have a responsibility to preach the good news to others. Do not pause for political correctness on whether to share these glad tidings, but joyfully and boldly proclaim the birth of the Saviour of the world to the entire world. There in a manger, rested God with us. This baby boy personified goodness and purity and shone in the darkness of the world.
In the glorious events of His sacred birth, we trace the steps of the few who approached to see His radiant face. Wise men journeyed from afar following a bright star so that they may find the glorious King. Bewildered shepherds witnessed the proclamation of the birth of the Saviour: “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them” (Luke 2:9).
It is not easy to know the extent of God’s immense love which shone through His only begotten Son. It is beyond comprehension and the farthest imagination to fathom that the unseen God would come in the flesh as an innocent Child who would one day be viciously pierced to the cross that awaited us. This is the night in which profound love was manifested: “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it” (John 1:4–5). Indeed, as recited in the Orthodox Creed, God’s only begotten Son is light of light, and true God of true God. Thus, because we are engulfed in His light, we cannot hide in darkness. He shone upon us and shines within us as children of the light. He shone in the flesh: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Let us repent of all unrighteousness. Let us renew our faith. Let us rededicate ourselves to His service. Let us enter His church with joy and thanksgiving. There, you will find Him waiting for you upon the holy altar so that you may worthily approach Him to abide in Him and He in you.
May the light and love of the glorious Nativity Feast fill your hearts with God’s goodness, peace, and joy throughout the year. Through the intercessions of the Mother of God, we pray and ask the Lord to keep the life of our honoured father, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of the Church of Alexandria and the See of St. Mark, for many years and peaceful times.
Let us all glorify the King of Peace!
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His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef is Metropolitan of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States (www.suscopts.org)
Watani International
7 January 2023