You can’t prepare
for Christmas and have fun at the same time.
First of all, we
should remind ourselves daily about the day when the Son of God himself
appeared miraculously on earth as a Baby. Looking at Bethlehem, we must realize
how trivial and laughable all our daily routines are in comparison with the
splendor of the coming feast. Before the holiday, we should lay aside all kinds
of hatred, all malevolence, and do our best to be amiable even with those whom
we have broken up with and whose actions we oppose. Let’s remember that kind
parents love their disobedient children even if they punish them sometimes. We
all are children of our Heavenly Father!
We should observe
the fast established by the Church. It is thanks to this fast that we can keep
our passions at bay by avoiding both forbidden foods and entertainment. We must
by no means disregard the fast even when there are people around us who
celebrate the feast of Nativity in their own fashion.
Jesus Christ wasn’t
born twice. He was born of Virgin Mary just once. You can’t prepare for
Christmas and have fun at the same time, thus essentially trampling on the
traditions and rules set by the Church!
It isn’t a way of
celebrating the First Coming of Christ to this earth. It’s a way of pampering
our desire to have fun, which doesn’t benefit us at all.
Let us get ready
for the day when the choir sings the solemn Thy
nativity, O Christ our God, has shown to the world the light of wisdom.
That’s when we shall feel the joy of Nativity. That’s when our souls will make
it to Bethlehem and our hearts will welcome Christ.
By St. John of Shanghai,
From “Sermons and Homilies”
Translated by The Catalog of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/kak-nam-prigotovlyat-sebya-k-dostoynoy-vstreche-rozhdestva-hristova
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