Monk Moses the Athonite
Christ makes Himself man so that the man makes himself god. The man without Christ becomes inhuman. Christianity gave birth to true amiability and empathy and the amiability and empathy comfort humanity. Christ came into the world naked like any man but the man doesn’t think about this well. We think that this is the message of Christ’s Nativity.
Modern life aims to estrange us of Christ. The man considers that his life with Christ is suffocating and limited. Thus being `free` gets enslaved by idols. Orthodoxy doesn’t speak anymore to the heart of the modern man. In Northern Europe or in the Far East is celebrated the birth of the man god. Europe is secularized, has lost its Christianity. Humanity has become inhumanity. Humanity, solidarity, asceticism, ecology, life after death are discussed ironically.
And the man of nowadays from Southern Europe has forgotten that he is mortal and we all shall die. We think that we will live this life forever and we don’t understand that we are visitors and passengers. The feeling of earthly immortality leads the man to the endless chase of the fleshly pleasures, of money and vainglory. Most of the times the result is painful but the man doesn’t stop. Christ came into the world to elevate us and to tell us that we are ephemeral.
Blinded and always hungry after delights the man celebrates the Christian holidays and Nativity in the same way. Denying, ignoring or renouncing at afterlife, the man dedicates himself fully to the earthly affairs, to the present moment, to the pleasures of life. This materialistic view of life can never be a fail of Christianity because Christianity never dominates anyone, it is a free choice of the man on earth.
The weakening of the Orthodox feeling made our Christians to celebrate the holidays in a worldly way. Shopping, consume, advertisement, fashion, copious meals, fancy clothes, the quest for the delights found in material goods left the soul desert.
Nativity in a world deformed by bitter statistics. Christ incarnates Himself for the deification of man, for the restoration of his unique, saint person. The man of nowadays whistles carelessly, limits himself at eating and drinking good wine, at watching TV and idling on the sofa or armchair, at tasting cakes. Infant Jesus is dumbfounded by the fallen condition of the man, who believes everything he sees and catches in his hand. He neglects his soul and the questions raised by his conscience. The life is inhuman, the behavior is shameless, full of selfishness and recklessness.
For whom did Christ came on earth? For all of us. But most of us obviously despise Him. So this means He failed? No, I Think that we failed and we haven’t humbled ourselves yet. We didn’t understand that Christ doesn’t need lawyers. Since His childhood Christ was persecuted and ran to Egypt. The king was afraid of His presence and shed the blood of the children and filled Sion with the cries of the mothers. We imagine that we are really something and that we really do something. We did not understand that we are some nobodies, expelled and humbled and we won’t ever succeed in anything. We should stop saying a lot of words and let the example speak instead. Today we rather need examples of living than preaches.
Infant Jesus in the manger from Bethlehem is quiet but He teaches us loudly what means to be humble. The Orthodox Christians of nowadays need true repentance and humility. The times are hard but we make them even harder.
Ostentatious modernism, excessive consumerism made the man comfortless and joyless. The men of nowadays should remember how nice is communion with the others, should remember the joy and the grace of encounters, the nobleness of spirit that our saints had and taught by their own life.
Despite all these, my beloved ones:
Christ is born; glorify Him! Christ comes from heaven; go to meet Him! Christ is on earth; be exalted! Sing to the Lord, all the earth! And praise Him in gladness, O people, for He has been glorified!
