In the Name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, One God, Amen.
I congratulate
all of you for this glorious Feast of the Nativity and the new year of 2014.
I wish upon all of you the blessings that come with the birth of the One Who
was born in the manger; blessings of goodness, joy, peace and love for
everyone in Egypt, and in all our churches throughout the world, all who
celebrate the New Year by the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ
The incarnation
of God is an event that combined the earth with heaven. God, through His
love for mankind, was incarnated and came to mankind. As we learn from the
verse that is often referred to as “the little
gospel”, (John
3:16) states:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
This meeting of
heaven and earth was a meeting from God, Who gave us His love, by coming
down from above to mankind. This was also a meeting from man who showed his
eagerness of going up to God. This meeting happened in the fullness of time,
as stated in the Holy Bible, and, in the womb of our mother the Holy Virgin
St. Mary where He was incarnate by His love.
In the creation
of man, God showed His love to everyone. In His incarnation, He confirmed
this love. In His crucifixion and resurrection, the Lord concluded this
great love toward man. In fact, in the story of the Nativity, we have plenty
of contemplations. We read about the heavenly star, and we read about the
earthly manger.
We read about
people who came from far countries, and we read about people who were close
to the place of the event. We read about young people such as the shepherds
and our mother the Virgin Mary. We also read about elder people such as St.
Joseph the carpenter, St. Simon the elder and St. Anna the prophetess. We
read about all kinds of people.
But the world at
the time of our Lord Jesus Christ was classified into two main groups, Jews
and gentiles. And there was a separation between heaven and earth. Heaven is
full of angels and heavenly creatures, and the earth is full of people who
were divided into Jews and gentiles. In the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ,
those three groups came together.
First, the
shepherds who were awake arrived. Those shepherds were very simple people,
and were from the simplest sector of the Jewish society. Their work and
efforts were in the wilderness with the flock that they used to shepherd,
and out of those sheep, the sacrifices were selected to be offered.
The shepherds
were always traveling and did not have a place to dwell. Even their witness
were invalid in courts. But the Lord had chosen them for their honesty and
simplicity. God wanted to honor them, so He revealed to them His birth by
the angel who appeared to them saying: “I bring you good tidings of great
joy which will be to all people.”
The awakening
shepherds were Jews. As if God had chosen the shepherds to represent the
Jews. The reset of the world were considered pagan gentiles. As such, God
had chosen the worshipping magi on behalf of the gentiles. They came from
far countries in the east. They endured the long travel. The roads were not
like what we have now. They were scientists in astronomy, and in predicting
events that may happen.
They traveled
for long periods, coming from far countries to search and worship the birth
of the King of the Jews. We all know the story, but the most important
points were that they reached their goal and they were considered high class
in their society. They arrived to Jerusalem, to the place of the manger
where the Baby Jesus Christ was, and offered their gifts.
By their gifts,
they expressed their eagerness to witness the born, King of the Jews.
Therefore, the earthly world came to the manger to the Lord Jesus in two
groups, in addition to the third group which was from the heavenly world
represented by the multitude of singing angels.
The angels were
singing the famous song: “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace,
goodwill toward men.” Everyone was presented in the manger and around the
Lord Jesus Christ. The earthly world was presented by the two groups of the
Jews and the magi, and the heavenly world presented by the angels.
What we are most
interested in and what I would like to put before your eyes is the fact that
the magi who came from the far countries presented gifts to Him: gold,
frankincense, and myrrh. Most of us know that gold is a symbol of being a
King; frankincense is a symbol of His priesthood; and the myrrh is a symbol
for His suffering and crucifixion.
These gifts
signify those characteristics of our Lord Jesus Christ. The question here,
why did they choose those gifts specifically? We all know that the gift is
offered according to the taste of the giver and according to the condition
and position of the receiver. So why did they choose those gifts? I would
like to tell you that those gifts which were offered by the magi symbolize
the life of man.
The life of man
throughout its entirety is characterized by gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
I mean every one of us through life has days of gold, days of frankincense
and days of myrrh. The days of gold are the days of success, good health,
victory, wealth, and days of comfort, as well as all days of joy either at
work, business, various successes, or study. Each are considered the gift of
gold.
The gift of
frankincense presents the days of work, study, labor, hard effort and
services, and other days that take large space in the life of man. The days
of myrrh, as the life of man should have time of myrrh according to this
philosophy of the gifts, presented by the days of grief tribulations, need,
suffering, illness, and all the days in which man aches from negative
emotions and anxiety.
All those are
represented by the gift of myrrh. But all those gifts represent the mix of
man’s life. Each of our lives fall into the gold, frankincense and myrrh.
That is why if there are days of myrrh, there will be days of frankincense
and gold. In the life of man, as the Bible says, all things work together
for good to those who love God. All the days with all their kinds work
together for good to those who love God.
The birth of our
Lord Jesus Christ gives us hope, courage and new life in a new vision for
our daily life. I congratulate all of you, all clergy, congregations, and
families. I would like to especially congratulate our youth and children. I
congratulate every church with her board, servants and deacons. I ask the
Lord to give you grace and to fill your life with the joy of Nativity every
day. May our life be for the glory of His name, and glory be to God,
forever, and ever. Amen.
Signed
Pope
Tawadros II
Pope of
Alexandria & Patriarch of the See of St. Mark