WEBVTT 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:06.919 Did you notice, dear people, that phrase that 00:00:06.919 --> 00:00:12.759 Herod was speaking to the Magi about searching 00:00:12.759 --> 00:00:20.460 for the new king? And I suppose we could say 00:00:20.460 --> 00:00:22.800 there are a lot of books, a lot of articles. 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:26.440 A lot of religions searching for the historical 00:00:26.440 --> 00:00:28.899 Jesus, searching for the true God, searching 00:00:28.899 --> 00:00:31.640 for experience of God, searching for something 00:00:31.640 --> 00:00:35.640 that's just spiritual experience. But nativity 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:40.359 tells us it's not searching for God, it's the 00:00:40.359 --> 00:00:44.719 searching of God for us, for each one of us. 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:47.560 With that in mind, I'd like to read the pastoral 00:00:47.560 --> 00:00:52.060 letter of His Eminence Archbishop Benjamin. for 00:00:52.060 --> 00:00:56.119 the Feast of Nativity. He says this, the last 00:00:56.119 --> 00:00:58.439 days of our preparation to celebrate the coming 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:03.060 in the flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ also are 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:06.819 the dwindling days of the year. Each year, of 00:01:06.819 --> 00:01:12.280 course, is a measurement that is man -made. Nonetheless, 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:17.040 the passing of the year is a sobering time. Each 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:20.560 year has an abundant number of moments that can 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.200 lead one to assume that the last days are upon 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:30.299 us. Wars, rumors of wars, elections, financial 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:34.879 ups and downs, sickness and suffering, social 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:40.680 upheaval, all can lead to a spiritual angst that 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:43.180 tempts us away from our Savior and our trust 00:01:43.180 --> 00:01:48.890 in him. Then we feebly hope, but the new year 00:01:48.890 --> 00:01:54.730 will bring better days. But as we celebrate the 00:01:54.730 --> 00:01:56.989 cycle of services around the nativity of our 00:01:56.989 --> 00:02:00.010 Lord, the church leads us to an encounter with 00:02:00.010 --> 00:02:04.549 the living Son of God, taking upon himself our 00:02:04.549 --> 00:02:08.590 human nature, uniting it with his divine nature, 00:02:08.810 --> 00:02:12.550 thereby offering us liberation from the shackles 00:02:13.069 --> 00:02:16.969 which sin and death has placed upon his creation, 00:02:17.449 --> 00:02:21.210 offering us the possibility of becoming by grace 00:02:21.210 --> 00:02:26.030 what he is by nature. On the eve of the Nativity, 00:02:26.090 --> 00:02:31.169 at liturgy, we heard these words yesterday. God, 00:02:31.169 --> 00:02:34.330 who at various times and in various ways spoke 00:02:34.330 --> 00:02:37.650 in time, passed to the fathers by the prophets, 00:02:38.069 --> 00:02:42.509 has in these last days spoken to us. by his Son, 00:02:42.689 --> 00:02:45.169 whom he has appointed the heir of all things, 00:02:45.430 --> 00:02:49.009 through whom also he made the worlds, who be 00:02:49.009 --> 00:02:51.509 in the brightness of his glory, the express image 00:02:51.509 --> 00:02:54.210 of his person, upholding all things by the word 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:57.909 of his power, when he had by himself purged our 00:02:57.909 --> 00:03:01.729 sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty 00:03:01.729 --> 00:03:08.189 on high. Hebrews 1, 1 through 3. We are reminded 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:12.840 that the last days, have been upon us since the 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:16.360 coming of the Messiah. There's nothing more to 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.879 anticipate. The kingdom has been inaugurated 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:24.900 in a simple cradle in a cave. We read the prophets, 00:03:25.120 --> 00:03:28.139 but they just point to the one whom we already 00:03:28.139 --> 00:03:32.979 know. We marvel at creation, but are reminded 00:03:32.979 --> 00:03:35.979 that he is not only the creator, but the heir, 00:03:36.180 --> 00:03:41.800 and we are his inheritance. He is the bright 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:45.060 and perfect image of the Father, and in the life 00:03:45.060 --> 00:03:50.479 of the church, we become images of him. As the 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:53.060 creator, this son also has the authority to forgive 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:56.560 his creation, their sins, and he purges those 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:00.580 sins. We look at these dwindling days, markers, 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:05.099 as it were, that remind us life is passing. The 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:08.800 years are passing. And we enter into this celebration 00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:12.939 asking to be liberated from our weak and faithless 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:17.139 concerns about the future. Asking to somehow 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:20.079 transcend the descent of these holy days into 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.600 the consumerism and fluff of the season. The 00:04:24.600 --> 00:04:29.180 child, the heir, the judge, the image of the 00:04:29.180 --> 00:04:32.879 father, God made man, has been sent into our 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:35.300 world to uphold all things by the word of his 00:04:35.300 --> 00:04:39.889 power. The word of his power is the word made 00:04:39.889 --> 00:04:44.350 flesh. That word shakes us out of any angst about 00:04:44.350 --> 00:04:50.329 history because history is over. This moment 00:04:50.329 --> 00:04:55.350 is the moment that allows us to simply anticipate 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:58.810 the fulfillment of everything brought to us in 00:04:58.810 --> 00:05:01.829 that child. Today the son of God becomes the 00:05:01.829 --> 00:05:05.660 son of man. God has spoken to us in these last 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:08.660 days through his Son. Let all darkness be filled 00:05:08.660 --> 00:05:12.399 with light. Let all worry be washed away in gladness. 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:17.560 For Christ is born, and nothing remains the same. 00:05:17.819 --> 00:05:21.360 May each of us offer ourselves in humility to 00:05:21.360 --> 00:05:24.980 the one who in humility offers himself. Christ 00:05:24.980 --> 00:05:30.139 is born. Glorify him in the newborn child, Archbishop 00:05:30.139 --> 00:05:30.500 Benjamin.