by Father Matthew Attia

Why did God become man?

In order to transform the world and reconcile all mankind with God.

This transforming and reconciling influence of Jesus Christ is not some process that was set in motion nearly two thousand years ago and now works spontaneously and automatically in the world.

It is a continuous and dynamic process but it works in one way only and that is the way that Christ intended it to work, namely in and through the lives of his followers.  It certainly worked in this way in the first centuries of the Christian era and it worked in spite of the fact that they lived in an almost totally pagan environment in which they encountered fierce opposition to the Christian way of life.

Yet still, through them the world in which they lived was transformed.  With all the changes that have come into our world since those first centuries one things has not changed and it is the way in which the transforming influence of Jesus Christ reaches out to the world in and through the lives of his followers.

People continue to ask: “Is Christianity gradually losing its influence in our modern world? Is it steadily becoming a spent force? Is secularism like some modern form of the paganism that existed before Christ, returning to our world?”

Although we may not have complete answers to these questions, we certainly like to think that the answer to each one of them would be negative.  One thing, however, is true that we are called upon to live in a highly secularized society and in the type of environment that is generated in this society much more is demanded of us as followers of the Lord than would be demanded of us were we living in a totally Christian environment.

Courage

A high degree of courage is certainly demanded of us.  A courage like that displayed by the first Christian Church and the early martyrs of the Church.  To be a Christian in a society that often looks patronizingly on religion though it were some sort of innocuous relic from the past that has little relevance in the life of the modern person requires courage and a courage every bit as great as that displayed by the early martyrs.

A courage that will enable us to overcome the fear of being different means not conforming to the permissive attitudes of our age in regard to forms of human conduct we know are and always will be contrary to the law of God and the teachings of his Church.  Herein lies the challenge that comes to us as Christians as we commemorate the birth of our Saviour .

An attempt to honour would not be complete if it did not include a little self-searching in which we ask ourselves how completely has Christ been born into our lives; how effectively is HE being through us in the world and in the society in which we live and move; and how great is the impact of our lives as Christ’s followers upon that world and that society.  The Australian Coptic Youth must never perceive themselves as small fish in a large ocean, where their Christian role is impertinent or immaterial.  The word of God is powerful and penetrating through sea and fire.

“He may be said to bring forth Christ” writes St Gregory of Rome “Who introduces Him into the heart of another person; he becomes Christ’s mother whose voice (or action) causes the Love of God to be generated in the soul of her neighbour ”.

If as a result of our celebration of the feast of the Birth of Christ, our relationship with him is deepened and strengthened and he consequently becomes more visible to others in our lives and conduct then we can be sure his birth into the world is being continued through us.