Bucharest, Nativity of the Lord 2016
“ For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
Your Holiness / Beatitude,
The purpose of the Incarnation of the Son of God by the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary and of His birth as a man in Bethlehem is the salvation of mankind from sin and death, i.e. attaining everlasting life.
The New Testament shows that the Mystery of the Incarnation expresses a special bond between the Son of God and creation, since the Incarnation of the Son of God was the very purpose of the creation of the world (cf. Ephesians 1:4; 2 Timothy 1:9), because all were made in Him and through Him and for Him (cf. Colossians 1:16). Kenosis or humbleness of the eternal Son of God, Who was made man, aims at raising or exalting the human being to the celestial glory of the Most Holy Trinity. His love is not only compassionate, but He assumes to Himself our lives mixed with death in order to make all human beings of all times partakers of His eternal life.
In today’s world, permeated by a profound spiritual and moral crisis, individualism and insensitivity to the suffering of others undermines love within family and society, diminishes solidarity with those in need and produce more alienation between people. Now, when Christ the Lord comes mysteriously to us, through the poor and the alone ones, the sick and the afflicted, through widows and orphans, through our Christian brothers forced to leave their homeland because of armed conflicts, let us go out to meet Him by charity, through fraternal help and solidarity.
On the occasion of the Holy Feasts of the Nativity of the Lord, the New Year 2017 and the Theophany, we address to you our wishes of good health, peace and joy, along with the traditional greeting: Many years to come!
With great esteem and brotherly embrace in Christ our Lord,
† DANIEL
Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
