7/31/2019 The Christless Christmas

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The ChristlessXmas vs.Christmasby Reverend Dr. Doru Costache

They say we need to let us be simply

absorbed by the spirit of Christmas I

wonder what that may mean. Some say itsabout a family feast, yet I know of manyfamily feasts which dont really have a name.

Others say its a moment when one goes out to meet with their friends, yet

again I know of many such opportunities without them deserving a name.Others again say its about letting us be absorbed by the exuberant spirit ofcelebrating no-matter-what, where from the offensive anagram Xmas.

Finally, others say its about shopping! The Grinch undoubtedly exults

For Christians, however, it is never a purely human event at the core ofChristmas and its never Xmas. Christians know that it is not just their

ephemeral joy at stake, nor another reason to eat, drink and have fun no

matter with whom and in what circumstances. They know that this is ourLords birthday, Christs feast, whose meaning and significance go farbeyond having fun with family, friends or no-matter-whom-else. To

them, Christmas is the opportune moment of renewing our commitment to

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, a renewal which takes first thepain of dealing with the fasting period and then to let us be absorbed bythe liturgical rhythm of the festal celebration. Christmas is also, and

consequently, a season of remembrance of who we are and are called tobecome, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Everything else comes after.

It is a matter of fact that all our existential failures reside ultimately in our

inability and unwillingness to acknowledge God and his mercy which wasbestowed upon us through the incarnation of the Son of God. In and

through the ritual we learn to uplift our hearts from everything in order toacknowledge how everything is a gift coming from above; in and through

the ritual we learn to give thanks to our life-giving Lord; in and through theritual we learn to embrace all with divine love and compassion, since there

we learn and manifest the fact that we are sons and daughters of the sameGod, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The secular, Christless, Xmas cannot last. The mystery of Christmas brings

to the receptive souls the ineffaceable joy of renewal as sons and daughters

of God, by the presence of Christs Holy Spirit, the one who enables us

to call God Father. What is it that we celebrate?

Parish priestPEACE AND HARMONY

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ecember2007

NEWS FROM THEROMANIAN

PATRIARCHATE

His Beatitude Daniel became the

sixth Patriarch of the Romanian

Orthodox Church. We wish His

Beatitude a long and fruitful

arch-pastoral service.

The Holy Synod of the Romanian

Orthodox Church has decided the

establishment of the Romanian Or-

thodox Diocese of Australia and the

New Zealand