BOSTON, MA –
His Eminence Metropolitan Methodios of Boston shares a moving Christmas reflection, calling the faithful to rediscover hope in Christ amid the turmoil of our times.
The reflection begins as follows:
This Christmas, we are horrified by the ongoing tragedy in Nigeria where countless Christian brethren continue to be slaughtered. We mourn the deaths of our two American soldiers and their interpreter assassinated in Syria. We grieve the loss of two students murdered at Brown University as well as that of a professor at MIT. We lament the violence throughout our own country—its cities, its towns and its neighborhoods. We see violence within our own families. We ask ourselves where exactly can we find “Peace on earth and goodwill among men”? Indeed, the world is continually threatened by violence in many places and in many different ways. God seems to be so distant.
He is not! He is here with us in the persons of the poor and hungry. He is here for the women and children victims of human trafficking. He comes to open His embrace to those crushed by poverty, economic injustice, loneliness and despair. He comes to affirm the dignity of every human being created in the image and likeness of God.
We believe that Jesus was born to restore humanity to its original beauty, to the Kingdom of God, to full blessedness. With His birth, a new world was born. The divine light which filled the heart of the Virgin Mary and guided the Magi and shepherds shines in the hearts of all believers. This is the message of hope and salvation which we are called to share. It is the message of life, of light, of hope and love.
Christmas comes again this year to embrace us in the midst of unending crisis, of passion and enmity, of hopelessness and despair. Our Savior enters the drama of history, bearing flesh, being poor, simple, and unknown. He comes as a humble child to sanctify human nature.
This Christmas, I pray that we grow like a Christmas tree that does not wither, but one which is nourished in our hearts by the presence of our Savior. A tree that spreads its branches everywhere until it unites all humanity in a world of eternal love, goodness, and peace.
I pray that our infant Savior will chose our hearts as His manger and that He will bless the New Year 2026 with health, joy and peace.
† Metropolitan Methodios
