Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Congratulations with the radiant feast of Christ’s Nativity!

Today we remember how God appeared among us by being born of the Ever-Virgin Mary in the Judean town of Bethlehem in a cave. By such a strange birth in a dark underground place, at the bleakest time of the year, our Lord teaches us two things simultaneously. First, He reminds us of our own fallen and dark nature. We, mired in our own sins and passions and unable to do anything to free ourselves of this sorrowful existence, are as if dwelling underground in a dark cave. We are separated from God and because of the darkness are unable to find Him. God, seeing His creation suffering, has taken pity on us and has come to dwell in our gloomy and sin-filled world. 

At the same time, the cave points to Christ’s ultimate reason for becoming a man. He did not come to simply live in this dark place, but to willingly take upon Himself all of the consequences of this darkness, that is our sins. Death is the direct consequence of sin, therefore Christ accepted the Cross, death, and burial in a cave and in such a way freed us from this darkness and made us participants in His bright Resurrection. The earthly life of our Saviour began in a cave as a foreshadowing of His death and burial in a cave. 

Truly today we find ourselves in a world overfilled with darkness. A fierce war is raging between Orthodox Christians. Men who profess the same Creed and commune of the same Body and Blood of Christ are now killing each other. Once again Orthodox Christians are denied access to their churches and the homes of the clergy are searched in those same places where the new-martyrs of the 20th century spilled their blood. And is it not awful that here in the West any mention of an upright and moral life is ridiculed, mocked and labelled as hatred? Perhaps worst of all, we continue to live in the darkness of our own sins and passions, thus contributing to the suffering around us and ultimately separating ourselves from God.

And yet, despite all of this, let’s take heart, for today God has willingly entered into this fallen world so as to bring us His divine light. Therefore, seeing His Self-emptying, seeing Him lying in a manger in a dark cave, let us lift up our hearts and minds to heaven. Let’s put aside our passions and sins, our hatred and distrust of others. Let us carry our own sorrows with humility and meekness, just as Christ did when He took upon Himself our lowly nature.

priest Alexis