Beloved Brothers and Sisters,

Congratulations with the feast of the Nativity of Christ!

It is not by chance that the Holy Evangelist Luke writes that the righteous Joseph and the Most-Holy Virgin Mary came to Bethlehem to be enrolled according to the laws of the Roman Empire. Blessed Theophylact notes that not only the names of Joseph and Mary were put down in the census, but also that of the newly-born babe, Christ. In this, it would seem, chance event of history are hidden deep spiritual truths.

As we all know, today we celebrate the birth not of an ordinary child, but the nativity of the God-Man. We mark that moment when God emptied Himself and became a most real human. It is marvelous that God came to earth “not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mark 10: 45).

From the first moments of His earthly life, the Divine Babe, our Lord Jesus Christ, became not only a man, but also a subject, we could say even a slave, of an earthly master – the emperor Augustus. Jesus was belittled and subjected Himself to him. The name of the innocent, sinless Christ, the Creator of the universe, is recorded so that later, tribute can be demanded from Him. He is enrolled as a member of the human race. This formal, legalistic, bureaucratic act emphasizes the reality that God became a man and accepted upon Himself all of the consequences of such an action. But having signed, so to say, a contract between heaven and earth and having become a man, the Lord ransoms Himself for our sake and frees us from sin and death. He invites us mortal humans to become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today, on such a joyous and festive day, let each one of us feel like a full-fledged subject of our Heavenly King. Let us pay the required tribute not in gold, but with good deeds. Let’s enroll ourselves into the spiritual regiment, taking up the arms of prayer and fasting, so as to defeat the enemy – the devil. Having defeated him, let’s enjoy that peace which our Lord and God Jesus Christ inaugurates today, by becoming a man, between the Creator and His creation.

priest Alexis