WESTERN EUROPEAN DIOCESE: January 12, 2021
Nativity Epistle of Bishop Irenei of London and Western Europe

To the Very Reverend and Reverend Fathers, Pious Monastics, and Beloved Faithful of the Diocese of Great Britain and Western Europe

Christ is born! Glorify Him!

This year we have known many blessings, as we always do as the children of a loving God; but our struggling world has also beheld profound confusion and disarray, confronting our societies on multiple levels. Life in this world is at times a great struggle, and in the midst of this we are reminded of the reality taught by our forefathers in the Faith: that the devil always takes advantage of times of challenge to sow discord and confusion, which lead man into yet greater sorrows.

Let us therefore rejoice that, today, we celebrate the clarity of the Gospel of our redemption. The one true God has sent His one and only-begotten Son into our world. This Son, taking our flesh and uniting it to Himself, has made it possible for the divided and broken condition of humankind to be bound in unity to His singular life. He has made of His Body one Church, and bestowed such grace as that through this Church the human creature may reach its one true goal: unending joy and eternal life in the Kingdom of its Creator.

Beloved children of this very Church, do not be deceived, but rejoice in this sacred revelation: there is no other Gospel than this, no other salvation than this, no other Church than that which takes her origin today in the birth of her Head! When, on this joyful feast, we respond to the proclamation ‘Christ is born!’ with the mighty words, ‘Glorify Him!’, let our hearts be fully aware of the precious reality we confess. We glorify God because today He opens anew the gates to the Kingdom. We glorify Him because He sows clarity in the midst of confusion. We glorify Him because He, the Giver of all good gifts, today gives us Himself, and in this same gift leads us out of every sorrow and pain, to the eternal rejoicing of life in His embrace.

May this divine gift of the newborn Christ, our pre-eternal God, grant you every blessing and joy on this most radiant day.

With love in the newborn Christ,

+ IRENEI
Bishop of London and Western Europe