CHRISTMAS PASTORAL: Celebrating Christ's birth and the great Jubilee Year (12/19/99)

CHRISTMAS PASTORAL

Celebrating Christ's birth and the great Jubilee Year

Christmas pastoral letter of Metropolitan Stephen Sulyk and Auxiliary Bishop Walter Paska of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia.

To the Reverend Clergy, the Venerable Monastic Orders and our Beloved Faithful: Peace in the Lord and our Archiepiscopal Blessing. Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

After the miraculous liberation of the Israelites from the bondage of Egypt, the Lord God directed through Moses that every 50th year was to be observed solemnly as a Holy Year, a year of God's forgiveness. The beginning of the Holy Year was to be announced throughout the land with the sound of a horn, in Hebrew "yovel." Moses then announced to the people of Israel: "The 50th year will be for you a jubilee ... which shall be sacred for you" (Lev. 25:11-12). The holy time, or rather, the Jubilee Year was to emphasize to the people God's forgiveness, that is, the coming of the promised Messiah, who was to "save his people from their sins" (Mt. 1:31).

"When the fullness of time had come, God sent His Son, born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4), so that everyone "who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). So, on this blessed might, when the Virgin Mary brought into the world the Messiah promised to us ages ago, "the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35), the angel of the Lord, surrounded by heavenly glory, appeared to the humble shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem and said, "I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manager" (Lk. 2:9-12). With these words, the angel of the Lord revealed, not only to the shepherds, but to all of us, that the Child born of the Virgin in a cave of Bethlehem and resting in a manger, was truly our Messiah, our Savior, Christ the Lord.

Beloved in Christ, the innocent Child, covered in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger in Bethlehem, is the Eternal God, who came into the world for the salvation of the human race. He is our Savior, and accordingly, the Heavenly Father bestowed upon Him the name of Jesus (Lk. 1:31), in Hebrew - Joshua; literally meaning God saves. The angel at the manger of Bethlehem identified the Child as Christ, the Greek word which accurately translated means "Messiah," the One anointed by God, or rather, appointed by God. In the Old Testament the Lord God appointed by anointing the kings of Israel (I Sam. 16:1).

In the prophetic book of Samuel, then, we read that, at the direction of the Lord, Samuel anointed with oil David, the son of Jesse and "the spirit of the Lord rushed upon him (1 Sam 16:13), and he began to rule in Israel (2 Sam. 5:3). As it was with David, so also it was with the Lord Jesus, when at the time of His baptism in the river Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him (Mt. 3:16). This is why our Divine Savior could truly testify of himself, "the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me ... to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord," the year of salvation for humanity (Lk. 4:16-21).

On this blessed night, commemorating the birth of the Son of God, we too, inspired by this great announcement, come with joyful hearts to Bethlehem, so that together with the shepherds, we adore the Christ Child, lying in a manger (Lk. 2:16). This is the Lord God, promised to us throughout the ages, "who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. By the power of the Holy Spirit He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man" (The Creed). The prophet Isaiah, foreseeing in spirit this day, joyfully exclaimed, "Behold our God, to whom we looked to save us! This is the Lord to whom we looked; let us rejoice and be glad that He has saved us" (Is. 25:9). And so, we too rejoice on this day, for the Lord God "blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (Eph. 1:3).

The birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, is an epochal point in the history of the world. In Him were fulfilled all the prophesies of the Old Testament. Dying on the cross, He was able to affirm: "It is finished!" (Jn. 19:30) He marks the beginning of the New Testament, the testament of "grace and truth" (Jn. 1:17). He came to the world, freeing us from the heavy slavery of sin (Jn. 8:34), and from "eternal ruin" (2 Thes. 1:9). He "gave us a new birth to a living hope" (1 Peter 1:3), and restored us to the dignity of being "children of God" (Jn. 1:12). He established for us the way of salvation (Jn. 14:6) and opened the way to His heavenly kingdom (Mt. 7:21), "so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). Thus by the coming of his Son into the world, the Lord God revealed to us "what is the plan of the mystery hidden from ages past in God who created all things" (Eph. 3:9).

It is most understandable, then, that Christians, as well as Christian nations, and eventually the entire world began counting the years from the birth of Jesus Christ the second person of the Most Holy Trinity, the Word of God who "became flesh and made His dwelling among us" (Jn. 1:14).

This year, as we approach the holy feast day of the Nativity of Christ, we shall cross the threshold of a special jubilee, the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. His Holiness Pope John Paul II has appropriately proclaimed this to be a Holy Year, a year of God's forgiveness. The Holy Father on Christmas Eve will open this Jubilee Year, anticipated by the entire world, with the opening of the holy doors to the Basilica of St. Peter in Rome. This will be a sign that throughout the Holy Year our merciful Lord God opens the doors of his infinite mercy, as He did 2,000 years ago. At that time, He sent His Only Begotten Son into the world (Jn. 3:17), and "the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship the Holy Spirit" bountifully descended upon us so that we may "abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rm. 15:13) and may joyfully and courageously progress to our "eternal glory through Christ Jesus" (1 Pt. 5:10).

In the course of this memorable Holy Year, may we approach the eternal source of God's mercy and by living a virtuous life give witness to Christ and to His Holy Gospel. Let us always remember that Christ "is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb. 13:8) and that He is our promised "Emmanuel - which means 'God with us'" (Mt. 1:23).

May the message of peace, joy and love that the heavenly angels brought to the shepherds on that first holy night, remain with you, and your dear families all the days of this Holy and great Jubilee Year of the Nativity of our Lord God and Savior, Jesus Christ!

And may the blessing of the Lord, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace be with you always!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

ÝStephen
Metropolitan

ÝWalter
Auxiliary Bishop

Given in Philadelphia at the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Most Pure Mother of God, the sixth day of the month of December 1999 A.D.

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