Father John's December 1999 Message

Rev. Fr. John Asimacopoulos, Protopresbyter

Christmas 1999
Message from Father John

Dearly beloved,

As I am writing these lines, I come to the realization that this is the last, the final Christmas Season and Christmas celebrations of the 20^th Century and the second millennium! Regardless of the time, the year, the century or the millennium, we are going to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Christmas offers us all the opportunity to recapture glimpses of childhood’s sacred memories. There is a timelessness about gazing into the crib and coming face to face with the truth that God came down from heaven and dwelt among us a helpless baby. The Gospel story tells us that at Bethlehem on a cold and dark night, the son of God was born. Angels sang at His birth, and a brilliant, shining light startled the shepherds. It is the simplicity of this happening that captures the imagination. But Christmas is more than a story that is told; it is about a birth that brings heaven down to earth. Love came down at Christmas, broke the barrier between creature and Creator, and brought an eternal value to our lives. God has given us the gift of reaching beyond ourselves and discovering the joy of heaven.

There was nothing romantic about the first Christmas. Christ and His mother were the picture of poverty – there was no room at the inn, and they were forced to find shelter in a stable outside the walls of the city. Christ Who was to die on Calvary outside Jerusalem, was born outside of Bethlehem.

The message is clear from the very beginning: God’s love is available, belongs to all, poor and rich as well. The message clearly tells us that grace and goodness can be seen in all people, the deprived and the affluent. Christmas means that we welcome Christ in every person that reflects Christ’s value and dignity. Christmas is also about kindness, about giving and receiving love. It is the time when we give to those from whom we don’t expect to receive. We become more alive and sensitive to the many needs of the poor, the sick, the prisoners.

May your Christmas be a holy one, because if it is holy, it will be a happy and a joyful one.

Celebrate Christmas more in the spiritual way than in the social and material. It is the last Christmas of the century and the millennium.

A blessed and merry Christmas!

Father John