Communication tools are evolving, and people today live with more and more information, both useful and useless to us. All kinds of news reach us, whether it is true or false, useful or unhelpful, constructive or destructive. However, let’s ask ourselves: is the news or information useful to you, is it true, does it help you achieve your life goals; Does it make you a better person, or does it poison your life and destroy the goodness in your heart that God has poured out on us since we were born?
For when we are born, we are all good, honest, good-natured and loving people, even if we have a tendency to sin. Then we grow up a little, get hurt, inflict wounds on others, especially when we act not according to our heart, but only rationally, or even instinctively, out of fear.
Our society today is riddled with lies and fraud, often stemming from fear. Lies spread through all channels and try to make us hard-hearted, joyless, and anxious. In Ukraine, the situation is much more serious. How many lies we hear from all sides. It is almost impossible to get to the truth.
Lies, fear, anxiety and estrangement do not come from God. Evil and falsehood come from those who have not submitted to God’s will and who have rebelled against His reign of love and joy. Speaking with the Pharisees, scribes, and religious leaders of the time, Jesus said: “Satan is your father, and you tried to please your murderous father from the beginning, and he did not persevere in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he draws it from himself, because he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8). , 44).
These words of Jesus have not lost their validity and truth even today. The lie that poisons our personal life and society is intentional – behind it or are those who want to destroy our personal relationships at any cost, who want to divide people of good will at any cost, who want to disrupt our lives, who want to incite quarrels and create hatred. In this reality, in the fragile world of love, we want to pay special attention to the divine love embodied these days and learn from it how it is possible and worthwhile to care for each other, respect and love each other, and strive hard. For peaceful coexistence in spite of everything.
Let’s turn our gaze towards Bethlehem and observe the miracle of God becoming a man, let’s get close to this miracle that knows no bounds, there is no evil in it, only simple and pure love without benefit! The birth of Jesus testifies to the power of God and to the fact that the acceptance of love is the force that binds God and man, the source of peace. Around the manger of Jesus, we see the shepherds who represented the weakest strata of the social class at that time. At the same time, we also find the wise men, as representatives of distant peoples who were strangers and did not belong to the chosen people of Israel, among the “teachers and academics” of that time. Then there are the angels and archangels, God’s heavenly host, who together rejoice at the gift God has given people in Jesus. Their singing fills everything—let’s admit it, it even warms our hearts when the events of the first Christmas come before us these days.
What does it mean for us not to see a single white European Christian next to Jesus’ manger?
Let us embrace the joy and love of Bethlehem! Let’s open ourselves up to God’s surplus love for our neighbors and our immediate environment! Let this feast be a renewal, a renewal of love: Metanoia, as the early Christians called it. May the Divine Love that came between us in Jesus strengthen us and encourage us so that the hearts of people around us are not poisoned by lies and evil, but filled by the accepted Divine Love with joy!
So let’s be brave and say no to lies! Let’s say no to heart poisoning and all kinds of hate! Let’s say no to the lies that are told about us, that hurt us and poison our lives here, in Serbia or in neighboring countries! And let’s say a sure yes to Christmas cheer!
Let us ask ourselves: If an angel of God appeared in our lives today and called us to Bethlehem to worship the Son of God, who is also the son of Mary, what would we give him as a gift? The shepherds brought him the fruits of their labor: milk, cheese and wool. The wise men offered him gold, frankincense and myrrh.
What will be my gift to the Prince of Peace, as the Bible aptly calls the born Jesus? What will be my gift to the source of truth, knowing that Jesus has revealed himself to the world as the way, the truth, and the life?
Perhaps declaring yes to Christmas cheer and declaring no to incitement to hate would be the most appropriate gift? Let us step back for a few moments into the depths of our souls and try to find there the gift that we place individually and collectively at the feet of Jesus born in Bethlehem!
To all of you celebrating Christmas now according to the Gregorian calendar, or a little later, according to the Julian calendar, I wish you Merry Christmas full of grace and joy!
