Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

This is the traditional greeting we Orthodox exchange during this most holy season of time.  We will use this greeting up until the Circumcision of our Lord (Jan. 1).  I am so grateful for the language of our Holy Orthodox Church, which in so many ways clearly states truth. It teaches us how we are to live as Christians in this world and how we are to be in it but not of it.

These words “cut to the chase” so to speak.  We know the truth of our time, that Christ is born and we are to glorify Him.  It is essential that we hold onto and utilize this exchange in order to combat the many distractions that seek our immediate attention, time and energy in our lives.  Our days are filled with many things to do, and this season takes on a life of its own.  I encourage each of us to hold onto the one thing needful:  to make room in our hearts and daily lives for our Lord’s coming by preparing to receive Him.

Christ, the Light of the World is Born!

The first ode of the Nativity canon, sung at the Matins Service during the Nativity Fast and Season truly sets the tone by which we may anticipate the celebration of our Lord’s Nativity in the Flesh:

Christ is born, glorify Him!  Christ is come from heaven, receive Him!

Christ is on earth, be ye lifted up.  Sing to the Lord all the earth, and praise Him with joy, all people.  For He has been glorified!

The truth of these words reminds us that the whole of our Christian life and the entering into the liturgical life of the Church is to unite us to Christ.  Indeed, the liturgical celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Flesh, has a present effect for us.  It is not merely a past event to be remembered.  No!  We transcend time and space in the celebration which renews and actualizes the event of our Lord’s birth.  Celebrating the liturgy of the feast of Christmas takes this event out of the past and makes it immediate, offering us the appropriate grace to align ourselves to and be with Christ!

The Nativity of Christ our Lord

We, like those of old, eagerly await the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the Flesh.  We long to see Him, be with Him, and to know Him.  He is coming.  He has come and He will come again.

So how do we prepare for Him?  How do we receive Him?  We are to be present to all the ways He makes Himself known to us here and now! Who is before you?  Attend to him.  What work is given to you?  Do it with joy.  “Lay aside all earthly care.”  All is from God, given for our salvation.

Finally, how do we glorify Him?  We give our God glory when we reverence Him in the daily living of our lives, as well as the Liturgy itself.  We glorify Christ when we love Him in one another. Christ asked Peter, “Do you love me?  Feed my Sheep.”(John 21:17)  Let us serve one another, be Eucharist for one another, so that our God who is present in each of us and in the community that is made up of you and me may be made known.

“The more a person loves God, the more he loves other people.  He loves them with holiness, respect and refinement, as images of God.” (Elder Amphilochios Makris)

Christ is born!  Glorify Him!

Kh. Christina Reimann, Church School Director