SCHMEMMANN ON THE MANGER AND CREATION

SCHEMMANN ON MANGER AND CREATION

Dear Friends:

Allow me to share, on this Christmas morning, the following reflection by the Russian Orthodox liturgical theologian, Alexander Schmemmann:

“One of the Christmas hymns asks: ‘What can we offer you, O Christ, who for our sakes has appeared on earth as man?’ And then comes the answer: ‘All Creation offers You thanks, the angels offer a hymn, the heavens, a star, the wise men, gifts; the shepherds, their wonder; the earth, its cave; the wilderness, a manger. And we offer you a Virgin Mother!’ “

“The profound significance of this remarkable hymn is that the world and all creation do not merely thirst for union with God or wait for His coming: they prepared for it, so that it is precisely the meeting of God with man, in freedom and love, that is at the heart of Christian faith.”

“Poetry knows this, faith knows this. In Christ’s birth, therefore, poetry and faith see not only that He comes into the world, but that the world goes to meet Him . . . The Gospel says, ‘God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son’ (Jn 3: 16) The Church answers, ‘The world so loved God that it gave Him the one whose beauty and purity reveal the world’s deepest meaning and content . . . ‘ “

“And at the heart of Christmas there is the image of Mother and Child streaming with blinding light . . . The world becomes a hymn of praise, words become a song of love, matter becomes a gift and all of nature becomes a manger.”

Oremus pro invicem