January 5, 2013
Christmas Encyclical of His Grace Jerome, Bishop of Manhattan

Christ is born, glorify Him!
Christ is come from heaven, go forth to meet Him!
Christ is on earth, be exalted...

Beginning on the feast of the Entry of the Theotokos into the Temple of Jerusalem, Russian churches resound with the words of the hymn, "Christ is born, glorify Him… Christ is come from heaven… Christ is on earth..." But this may seem a bit inappropriate to some. After all, the Lord was born over 2,000 years ago, and for more than two millennia, has ceased to be an infant; and all this time has gone by since His Ascension unto Heaven. It would seem that Christ is not on earth, but in heaven.

It might seem somewhat more appropriate to us, if we sang, not "Christ is born," but rather, "Christ was born;" instead of "Christ is come from heaven," to sing "Christ is in heaven." That would appear to fit the present situation more.

But there immediately come to mind two reasons for this:

First, the Nativity of Christ is not simply a past event: it has changed our life forever, and continues to affect each of us, because His Incarnation makes us all into blood relatives of the Lord. Likewise, the Holy Eucharist is celebrated on earth without ceasing, therefore under the appearance of Bread and Wine, Christ never leaves us.

But there is also another explanation: time exists only for us, in this life, while in the world to come, with God, there is no time.

It would be hard for us to imagine a life without time. But there is a parallel in daily city life that can give us some idea. Cars pass down the city streets, and the drivers look mostly at what is in front of them; however, if we look down from a tall building, we see them, and what is in front of them, what is in back, what is on either side, and even what is taking place on other streets. For God, most likely, this is how events must appear: everything is "now" for God, and for those in heaven – the past, the present and future. Everything "is," rather than "was" or "will be."

In this way, the celebration of Christmas should remind us that the events in the Gospel still have a direct bearing on us, and also that we should live in this world, for the world to come, the Kingdom of Christ, seeking to build up that Kingdom, the Church in this life, which will bring us unending and timeless consolation in the Kingdom of Heaven, where there is neither time, nor age, nor sickness, nor fatigue, but where we are to be reborn in the Lord.

+ JEROME
Bishop of Manhattan
Vicar of the Eastern American Diocese
Nativity of our Lord 2012/2013

Media Office of the Eastern American Diocese