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"For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." (Rm 14, 17)

MESSAGE IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2024
FOR THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST


What shall we offer you, O Christ,
because you have appeared on earth as a man for our sakes?
For each of the creatures made by you offers you its thanks:
the Angels their hymn; the heavens the Star;
the Shepherds their wonder; the Magi their gifts;
the earth the Cave; the desert the Manger;
but we a Virgin Mother.
God before the ages, have mercy on us.
(Vespers of Nativity)

Your Grace, beloved bishop of Pärnu and Saaremaa Alexander,
Deacons and Priests so fond to my heart,
Highly esteemed people of our Holy Church of Estonia,
You all who hear us in this moment,

Today a great joy is announced to us, a sign is given: a baby wrapped and placed in a manger awaits us in Bethlehem. Christ God is not somewhere above us. Now, Christ, the Love without limits is not elsewhere but at home with us, in our homes. Today, as yesterday and tomorrow, Jesus, the Love without limits comes to live with us. He is our way; He is the light that is offered to us so that we do not walk in darkness. Jesus Love without limits came among us to open the door of true life. Incredible, you would say. But it is precisely this incredible that we must accept to overcome in the fragility of this Child whose birth we celebrate and who is God himself, made visible in the existence of a man named Jesus.

It takes the audacity of hope to recognize this sign unrecognizable to our understanding: the God of before the ages, the Word that carries everything as the evangelist John (1:1-4) points out to us, the eternal Son of the Father offers himself to us, newborn, in a manger of cattle. This is our hope, the certainty from which joy springs, the certainty that thanks to this incomprehensible descent of our God everything can be saved. What an incredible value our life must have for God to assume it!... There is in this reality something to intoxicate us, something to upset us: we are loved! This is the word that comes from the stable of Bethlehem. Let us receive this declaration, this message of boundless Love, just like the simple shepherds, with humility and joyful trust, so that we too may go where the child Jesus awaits us. Surely, the One who led the angels, shepherds and magi to this cave is the same One who on this special and holy day, teaches and instructs us in the secret of our heart according to this astonishing expression, indeed, but oh how true, of Saint Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians (1:21-25): “since the world, with its wisdom, has not known God in the wisdom of God, it pleased God to save believers by folly... For the folly of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Metropolitan STEPHANOS of Tallinn and all Estonia


It is now appropriate “to ask ourselves, says Jean-Yves Garneau in his book Paroles pour la route, how ready we are to be pushed by God. He hopes that those to whom he wishes to come that they will take the risk of the great adventure with Him.” And he adds: “Are we capable of a bit of madness to go on the adventure with the Son of God who comes to us? Let us follow in the footsteps of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who for love of God said “yes” to what men consider folly. Madness for which Christ will say that it is "wisdom of God".


Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord,

Christ is born, give glory; Christ comes from heaven, go to meet him! Let's put aside our sadness, our hesitations! Today a poor little child was born to us, poorer than us, who is waiting for us in Bethlehem. Let us open the doors of our hearts to Him and on our knees before His manger let us say to Him: to our enemies’ forgiveness, to our adversary’s tolerance, to the most deprived the fire of hospitality, to all the flame of charity. Lord Jesus may every family, every child, every sick person, every persecuted person, every exile, every prisoner, every deportee, every needy person benefits from Your mercy and Your eternal love so that peace may finally come to the earth. Amen!

Tallinn,
Nativity of Our Lord
25 December 2024.



+ STEPHANOS,
Metropolitan of Tallinn and all Estonia,
Chairman of the Holy Synod.

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2024-12-24

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Nativity of Christ 2023


The joy of Nativity concerns all mankind; the Christ Child is a personal gift to each of us. The true Light that enlightens every man who comes into the world and leads us to the Infant that lies in the Manger, as St. Athanasius says of Him, „The incorporal Word of God, who was never far away from us, comes to dwell among us to show His love towards mankind. He does not let creation be destroyed, so that His Father's work would prove useless. So He takes our flesh...“

An anonymous author has said:

If our greatest need had been education, God would have sent us a teacher.
If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us an engineer.
If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us a banker.
If our greatest need had been entertainment, God would have sent us an actor.
If our greatest need had been health, God would have sent us a doctor.
But our greatest need was forgiveness. So God sent us a Saviour.

The Saviour does not come to us with all the pomp. He comes to us as a humble child in a simple cave. He came among the poorest, those without hope, the persecuted, the sinners. He comes for those who suffer in Ukraine, in the Holy Land and elsewhere, where war and injustice prevail.

May the divine Infant of Bethlehem find in our hearts and in all the hearts of good will much justice, love, peace and great hope.

I wish You a blessed Nativity of Christ and a happy New Year 2024,

Christ is born, glorify Him!

In Our Lord born in flesh,


† Stephanos,
Metropolitan of Tallinn and All Estonia

In Tallinn, Nativity 2023

 

 

 

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