Among other things, today is the secular New Year. But, as we wish each other a happy New Year, we do well to recall that, for the Church, the New Year begins, not on January 1st, but on September 1st. In a way, it is a blessing for us that the Church is “out of synch” with the world; for we are in this world, but not supposed to be of this world. We are called to a different way of living; and when we encounter what appears to be a “disconnect” between the Church and the world, as with the calendar, it can help to remind us that this world is not meant to be our home. It is temporary; it will one day cease to exist. Our true home is in eternity; and the way to enter into that life without end in a state of blessedness is the way that we can only find in the Orthodox Church.
Today is also the Sunday before the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ; and, on this day, the Church recalls the Holy Fathers of our Lord, as evidenced in the reading from the Gospel according to St. Matthew assigned for use today. The Gospel begins with the genealogy of Joseph, showing him to be the “son” – that is to say, the heir – of David the King, whom God had promised that one of his sons would always sit on the throne as king, as long as they were faithful in following God, as David had been. Joseph is not the father of our Lord in the sense that “father” means “procreator”; but he certainly was a father to the young child born of the Theotokos, Who is Christ the Lord. Indeed, the Church Fathers tell us that Joseph was chosen by God and appointed to be the protector of Mary and her Child; and he shows his fatherhood in giving the Child the name proclaimed by the angel, naming Him “Jesus,” because He would save His people from their sins. By naming the child, Joseph also gives the child his lineage. When we read the genealogy set forth in St. Luke’s Gospel, we see that the Theotokos is also of the lineage of King David; and so our Lord is the fulfilling of the prophecy from both His earthly parents.
Joseph, we are told, was a righteous man; and we see his righteousness demonstrated in this reading from the Gospel. Finding that the young woman to whom he had been betrothed was pregnant, and knowing he was not the father of the child, he knew that he could not marry her, for it would have been marrying someone guilty of adultery; and so, in his desire to do what would be pleasing to God, he resolved to put an end to the betrothal. We also see righteousness with mercy; for he would have been within his rights to have had Mary stoned; but instead, he resolved to divorce her secretly. The Fathers tell us there is more; for Joseph, knowing she had conceived of the Holy Spirit, knew he was not worthy to keep as his wife this woman who had received such divine grace. But the angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream, and told him not to fear taking Mary as his wife, and to raise the child as his own.
One of the key points in the angel’s words to Joseph have some significance for us, as well. The angel said, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Of course, it was the Son of God Who had taken human being in her womb, that He might save us in the fullness of our being. The Author of Life came to life in her womb, and she gave birth to the Creator of the World, that He might be also the Savior of the world.
That which is conceived in us who have been baptized is also of the Holy Spirit; and we also have developing within us the life of Christ, the Son of God, born of the Virgin, the Savior of the world. We are meant to bring Him forth into the world; we are meant to reveal Him by giving ourselves to His service, and by laboring to be transformed into His likeness. This process of transformation is the foundation of the way of life taught by the Church: of prayer, and fasting, giving alms and offerings and tithes and sacrifices, and struggling against the desire to indulge our passions and our flesh, doing instead what is virtuous and pleasing to God. Yet how many of us live in such a way that we can be seen to be bearers of Christ? How many of us have been given the great gift of new life in Christ, and yet continue to live according to the ways of this world, and are unrecognizable as Christians? We will rightly receive a greater condemnation at the great and terrible Day of Judgment than will those who knew nothing of our Lord Jesus Christ, if we have failed to follow the heavenly way of life to which we are called, and instead bury within our flesh the image of the Son of God, Who should shine forth from within us to be the light of the world.
Brothers and sisters, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, let us renew our dedication of our lives and persons to Him. Let us repent of our sins; let us pray, and fast; let us be generous and humble; and beseech God to have mercy on us, that we may fulfill the ministry given to us: to show forth Christ, born in us by water and the Holy Spirit, in every aspect of our lives – to the glory of God, and the salvation of our souls.
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