Nativity Season Salutations

Beloved in Christ,

Grace and peace to you in this holy season of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Tonight the Church does not simply remember an event from the past. She stands before a living mystery. The Eternal enters time. The Uncontainable accepts a cave. The Word through whom all things were made takes flesh from the Virgin and is laid in a manger. Heaven bows low, and earth is lifted high.

As the holy Fathers teach us, the Nativity is more than a sentiment. It is revelation. God does not save us from afar. He draws near. He shares our weakness without sharing our sin. He assumes our nature in order to heal it from within. As Saint Gregory the Theologian reminds us, “What is not assumed is not healed.” In Christ’s birth, nothing human is despised. Hunger, cold, vulnerability, silence, and even poverty are gathered up and transfigured.

Look closely at the icon of the Nativity. Christ is born not in a palace but in a cave, a place of shadows and death. This is no accident. The cave already whispers of the tomb. From His first breath, the Lord moves toward our redemption. The wood of the manger foreshadows the wood of the Cross. Even here, even now, the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

And yet, this holy night is also filled with profound gentleness. The Mother of God treasures these things in her heart. Joseph stands in quiet obedience. The shepherds come as they are, poor and watchful, and are made witnesses of glory. Angels proclaim peace, not to the powerful, but to those of good will. The Fathers saw in this a divine reversal. God reveals Himself not through force, but through humility. Not through fear, but through love.

Beloved, the Nativity speaks directly to our own lives. Many of us carry burdens that feel unseen. Weariness of soul. Anxiety for our families. Quiet griefs we do not name aloud. The birth of Christ proclaims that God enters precisely these places. There is no cave too dark for His light. There is no wound too deep for His mercy. There is no exile so far that He does not come looking for us.

Saint Athanasius teaches us that the Son of God became man so that we might become by grace what He is by nature. This is the joy of Christmas. Not simply that God came to us, but that He invites us into His life. Through repentance, prayer, sacrament, and love, the Nativity continues in us. Christ desires to be born anew in every heart that makes room for Him.

As you celebrate this feast, I encourage you to slow your steps and quiet your thoughts. Stand with the shepherds in wonder. Kneel with the Magi in offering. Rest with the Theotokos in trust. Let the humility of God soften what has grown hard, heal what has been wounded, and renew what has grown weary.

May the newborn Christ grant you peace that the world cannot give, joy that does not fade, and hope that anchors the soul. May He bless your homes, strengthen your families, and guard His Church in unity, truth, and love.

Christ is born. Glorify Him.

Christ comes from heaven. Go out to meet Him.

Christ is on earth. Be lifted up.