He was born in the midst of beasts, so that we might turn from beasts who instinctively follow their passions, into rational and deified human beings. But perhaps the most stirring of all, He was born in that lowly place knowing the fate that awaited Him at Golgotha. Our Lord knew that He was to lead a life of perpetual humiliation, one that was climaxed when the human race who He came to save, betrayed Him and nailed Him to the cross. What more could we possibly ask from a humble savior, Who was willing to come so far, and endure so much, out of his love for mankind?

St. Paul in his epistle to the Corinthians says: “Behold NOW is the accepted time; behold NOW is the day of salvation!” Not tomorrow…not when I have time…right now. This Divine Liturgy…listening to THIS Gospel Text…reflecting on THIS moment…because for some of us, there might not be a tomorrow.

….Not only do we have the ability to taste food, see the sky, smell the flowers, and feel the grass beneath our feet, but God has also given us a brain to think and to judge with. We were given a conscience to decipher what is right and wrong. We were given the riches of freedom to choose good or evil. We were given wealth through the Holy Scripture and the church, to illuminate our paths so that we don’t get lost!

“Adulteries and thefts were everywhere. Murder and rapine filled the earth. Law was disregarded in corruption and injustice. All kinds of iniquities were perpetrated by all, both singly and in common. Cities were warring with cities. Nations were rising against nations. The whole earth was rent with factions and battles, while each strove to outdo the other in wickedness. Even crimes contrary to nature were not unknown, but as the martyr-apostle of Christ says: “Their women changed the natural use into that which is against nature; and the men also, leaving the natural use of the woman, flamed out in lust towards each other, perpetrating shameless acts with their own sex, and receiving in their own persons the due recompense of their pervertedness.””

St. Athanasius gives us this very gruesome image of what happens to the human race when it turns away from God. We go from bliss to despair…from paradise to hell…and from life to death. Yet, despite how far the human race has fallen, we are so incredibly blessed to have a loving God Who could not bear to see His own creation destroy itself.

…We serve a God of “second chances,” Who gives us the opportunity to repent, receive forgiveness and set our feet onto the path of righteousness.