2008 Pastoral Encyclical for Christmas (Metr. Hierotheos of Nafpaktos)

Pastoral Encyclical

Sacred Metropolis of Nafpaktos and Agiou Vlasiou

Christmas 2008

Beloved brethren,

God has made us worthy this year to celebrate the Holy Twelve Days, which include three Great Feasts of the Lord - the Nativity of Christ, the Circumcision and His Baptism. As time passes, we are filled with sadness, because the years of our lives pass, but it also fills us with great joy, since we can once again celebrate the events of the Theophany, to praise the Nativity of Christ and to glorify God for His divine condescension.

Saint Gregory the Theologian, in a homily on the feast of the Nativity of Christ, writes: “And He who enriches becomes poor; He impoverishes Himself with my flesh, that I may be enriched by His divinity.” That is, God, who gives His wealth to all, becomes poor, taking my own flesh, so that I may become rich with His divinity.

This is the mystery of the Nativity of Christ, Who, while being God, became man, took on human nature, in order to fill it with the Grace of His divinity. Thus, the poverty of Christ has made us rich, His divine glory has become our enrichment. Within the Church, through the mysteries and the evangelical life, we strive, after we have become poor from sin and humbled ourselves, to clothe ourselves with the Grace of God and to be filled with the riches of divinity.

Beyond this, Christ also lived a very difficult life externally. He was born in a humble and desolate cave, without the most basic human amenities, found Himself among animals, as an infant He journeyed through the desert in exile in Egypt, lived in a poor environment, worked humbly as a carpenter, lived a poor human life. When a certain scribe told Him that He would follow Him wherever He went, Christ replied: “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Matt. 1:20). According to Euthymios Zygabenos, this means: “I am more precious than foxes and eagles.” He urged others to follow Him, after abandoning everything. In this way, He showed us two great truths.

One is to love a humble life, to be content with elementary and necessary material goods and not to seek material wealth and prosperity, which are usually sought by those who succumb to the passions of ambition, sensuality and avarice. Being content with the necessities is an imitation of Christ, who became poor for our salvation.

The other truth is that in the face of our poor Christian brethren, who are deprived of the necessities, but also in the faces of the homeless, the strangers, the refugees and all the suffering people we must see Christ. Every person, of whatever race and religion, is a creation of God, since He brought them from non-existence to existence. No one is a child of a lesser God, since God Himself created all people.

With these two truths, an exhortation is made to all of us, on the one hand, to live as humbly as we can, and on the other hand, to be concerned for those who are in need, who suffer and are tormented, whether on the bed of pain, or in poor houses and are waiting for some affection from us, some hope from God and His people.

If this is the work and duty of every Christian, much more is it the work of the Clergy who are the Spiritual Fathers of Christians. What father is only interested in himself and indifferent to his children? This must be experienced by the Clergy, but also by the monks, who have abandoned worldly things to imitate the material poverty of Christ.

Unfortunately, in our time, apathy and indifference prevail in this matter as well. We are interested exclusively in our personal advancement and well-being, and we overlook our brethren who suffer. But if we are true Christians, we should be moved by the drama of our brethren who suffer and are tortured in various ways. How can we rejoice in enjoying many material goods, when we see human pain all around us?

Saint Gregory the Theologian in his own sermon urges Christians to imitate Christ in everything and to live what He lived in His life. He urges us to become disciples of Christ and to walk in the ages of Christ, experiencing His birth, His baptism, His passion, His crucifixion, His burial, His resurrection and His ascension. This is about the development of our spiritual ages. This means that we must live humbly, simply, without riches and pleasures.

Among other things, Saint Gregory urges: “Teach in the sanctuary, expel those who exploit God.” Just as He Himself expelled the merchants from the Temple, so too should we expel from our souls all the passions that rob it, as well as taking various measures for those who exploit God and the holy things that He has delivered to the world.

However, whoever becomes poor through humility, through the effort to purify his heart and to show love to others, becomes rich from the wealth of the divine life.

I wish you all many years blessed by God.

With warm wishes,

THE METROPOLITAN

+ HIEROTHEOS OF NAFPAKTOS AND AGIOU VLASIOU

 
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.