Up until a few years ago, my family belonged to an Orthodox church that had never been large in membership and whose numbers were steadily declining.
My husband and I created a religious education for the handful of youth (which actually grew in number during this time). We also created space for a youth group by remodeling buildings on our property and adding an additional one.
We also planned a number of programs to engage them (and us!) in the liturgical life of the Eastern church.
One of those programs was an annual retreat shortly before the start of the Nativity fast. Most people know this season before Christmas as Advent, except that, in the Eastern Christian church, Advent begins on November 15.
The retreat consisted of activities, lunch, plenty of conversation, and a workbook that I wrote. Yes, if I couldn't find the materials I wanted, I wrote my own.
Below is the introduction to one of those workbooks, this one from 2006. The attempt was to explain eternal truths in a way that children and adults could both grasp.
I'm sharing it today because it's the first day of Advent in the Orthodox church but, more importantly, I'm sharing it today because maybe you, the reader, may find something of value in it - a word, a phrase - that deepens the Christmas season for you this year.
The Orthodox church, in its
wisdom, gives us a few weeks to prepare our bodies, minds and hearts to receive
the gift of salvation that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ offers to us. The
Nativity (Christmas) fast begins on Nov. 15. It is also sometimes called St.
Philip’s Fast, because Nov. 15 is the feast day of St. Philip.
In a traditional Orthodox fast, people do
not eat any milk, cheese, butter, ice cream, sour cream, eggs, meat or olive
oil until Christmas. But for many of us, this will be impossible. We should try
to give up at least one of these foods until then. Either way, we try to eat
less, so we can feel hungry. This will remind us that we need God in our lives.
But we can also do some other things too to prepare for Jesus’ birth.
We should go to Holy Confession at least
once during the fast and try to fast from sin. What kinds of things are sin?
We can also try to cut down on the things
that amuse us—movies, video and computer games, CDs and ipod, talking on the
telephone—and replace that time with reading the Bible or other books about
Jesus (see our church library) and doing do things for other people.
What other kinds of things can we do?
Why is this preparation necessary? Have you
ever had a birthday party? Supposing you had been playing outside all day.
Perhaps you might want to take a shower and put on some clean clothes before
the party.
Well, that is kind of what the Nativity fast
is like. By sinning, we have been playing in dirt. But now we are preparing to
receive a gift greater then the best birthday present, Jesus Christ, who takes
the punishment for our sins and restores us in image and likeness of God.
There is another reason why we prepare. Remember
how when Mary was about to give birth to Jesus she and Joseph had trouble
finding somewhere to stay? Remember what they were told?
If we compare our hearts and minds to an
inn, then we can understand how important it is to make room in our lives—our
inn—to let Jesus come into it.
What a beautiful miracle Jesus’ birth is.
Let’s think about this. He who created the whole world is born as a helpless
baby. He, who holds the entire universe in the palm of His hand, was held in
the arms of his mother Mary.
The Nativity of Jesus Christ—Christmas—is
not just about God coming down to us, but us rising up to Him.
Sin makes us dead to God. The more we sin,
the less we want to pray, go to church and read about God. Without God, we are
dead inside because we are not the people he created us to be.
It is only with God that we can ever live a
full life. When a baby is born, the doctor gives it a little slap to make it
cry, to force air into its lungs. If this doesn’t happen, the baby will not
live.
Christmas, for us, is like this. Some wise
person once said that people took their first real, deep breath when the baby
Jesus cried His first cry.
Because only then could life in God happen.
“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” John 10:10.
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