The dramatic situation faced by refugees as an emblem of the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt, the suffering of children who are born in war zones, the proclamation of hope which emanates from the Grotto of the Nativity despite it all and the importance of testifying the love of God for today’s disoriented mankind, in search of direction. These are the recurring themes in the Christmas Messages issued by the Patriarchs of the Orthodox Churches to their faithful and all their Christian brothers and sisters in general.
“In the midst of human toil and suffering, crisis and challenge, greed and hatred, anxiety and despair, the mystery of the divine incarnation presents the same charm as a truly tangible and ever contemporary reality,” Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople writes in his message. “Unfortunately, however, in our age, many people think like Herod, that illicit and utter slayer of children, annihilating their fellow human beings in manifold ways. To escape his murderous intentions, the Infant Jesus, about whom the angels spoke, was forced to flee to Egypt, becoming (as we might say in today’s terminology) a “political refugee”, together with Mary, his most-holy mother and Theotokos, as well as the righteous Joseph.”
“In our time, which is considered a time of progress, many children are forced to flee as refugees with their parents in order to save their lives, which are undermined by diverse enemies. This is truly a disgrace for the entire human race,” his message continues.
For this reason, “every society must guarantee the safe development of children and respect their right to life, education and normal upbringing, which may be secured by their nurture and formation within the context of the traditional family, based on the principles of love, compassion, peace and solidarity, which are gifts offered to us today by the incarnate Lord,” Bartholomew concludes. “Our support and assistance to the persecuted and displaced, irrespective of race, ethnicity and religion, resembles the most precious gifts of the wise men to the newborn Lord, like the invaluable treasures of “gold and frankincense and myrrh” an inviolable and permanent spiritual wealth that remains incorrupt to the ages and awaits us in the heavenly kingdom.”
Jesus did not choose a sceptre to preach the salvation, Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, John X, writes in his Christmas letter for 2015. Jesus was instead born in a grotto, where his mother had taken refuge without uttering one word of complaint at the discomfort. This was the same patience she showed years later when she accompanied her Son to Mount Calvary. Despite these “difficult days” we face, “we are called upon to be united,” with “an undoubted hope in God”; “we are called upon, as much as possible, to bury our afflictions by keeping the unity of souls and hearts,” remembering “Jesus Who did not incarnate in days better than ours”. “He sees a world in bondage to the forces of evil… He Himself enters that darkness to bring a divine light,” this is the description given by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon, of the Orthodox Church in America. This land may not be at war but Christ’s message certainly risks being seen as anachronistic as it did in the early centuries.
The Patriarch of Antioch and all the East invited faithful to follow in the footsteps of the early Christians and with the Cross as their only weapon to pray for peace in those lands and for the Lord to stand by refugees, martyrs, the exiled, those who have been kidnapped.
A question that is enough to give anyone a sleepless night came from Estonia’s Metropolitan Stephanos: On the night of Christmas eve we are gripped by the mystery of a Child’s birth but are we really capable of celebrating, forgetting the suffering of our brothers and sisters? “How can we bear witness to the joy of the Lord who came to this earth, without sharing in their strife?”
Too often we complain about our own difficulties, becoming absorbed with ourselves and our own mediocrities: this is Christmas, Tallin’s Patriarch writes: “Of course it takes courage to bring God’s hope to today’s world,” but our life as Christians depends on the actions we are capable of performing.
It may seem naive to speak about a child God, adds the Metropolitan of France, Emmanuel, we are called to recognise him in all those who are poor and vulnerable in our opulent society, in all foreign citizens seeking asylum.
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