Christmas Message 2024 from the Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) Professor Dr. Michel Abs

"O Child of the Cave"

Professor Dr. Michel Abs

Secretary General of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC)

Around Your cradle, nations gather, extolling Your Incarnation
as the beginning of Your salvific mission,
From the ends of Babylon, the Magi came to the coastline of Phenicia-Canaan to bow before Your humble throne,
The universe announced Your coming, heralding a new covenant for humanity,
Heaven and earth rejoiced at Your dwelling among us,
guiding humankind toward liberation,

O King of Glory,
By Your birth, You honored the children of the world,
and granted the act of birth a sanctity beyond human comprehension,
O Manifestation of Light,
From this humble cave, You sent forth a ray of brightness that illuminates human life.
O Epitome of Truth,
Your Mother’s Annunciation, Your Incarnation, and Your Birth
were preludes to betrayal, followed by the Crucifixion and then the Resurrection, the act of redemption,
so that all things might be fulfilled,

O little Child,
You whose birth made tyrants tremble,
How great is the authority of Your weakness,
how profound the eloquence of Your silence,
how mighty the power of Your innocence!
You taught the world lessons whose depth still resonates to this day,
after more than two millennia, two decades,

O Child of the cave,
In seeking refuge, You taught us to protect the weak, the homeless, and the persecuted,
O Child of the Manger,
By Your humble birth, You taught us to care for these little ones who are Your brethren,
making them the doorway to the Kingdom,
O Child of Humility,
You raised humanity to the rank of divinity, creating it in Your image and likeness,
and You became one of us,

You, the Eternal Human,
thus sanctifying the earth You walked upon,
the same earth where children are slaughtered like sinful sheep by those who rejected Your coming,
and still reject it to this day,

O Child of Holiness,
You bestowed upon life a meaning unlike any before it,
beyond all myths and philosophies of the earth,
turning much human discourse into mere sophistry.
O You who hang the earth upon the waters,
The earth is polluted, and its waters grow scarce as they too are defiled,
the dome of the sky is steeped in poisons,
factories of greed spew lethal toxins around the clock,
forewarning humanity of its impending end,

O You who demolish the temple and rebuild it in three days,
Wills have become shackled,
faith in the future has evaporated,
and doubt pervades our souls, for evil has spread among us,

O child of peace,

The deep state controls our world and our destiny and drags us into endless wars.

To serve their interests,

Violence in all its forms is sweeping the world.

Hate speech kills souls.

It threatens peace in every part of the world,
O Holy One,
How deeply we need to contemplate Your Nativity anew,
in every detail,
in every symbol and lesson,
for we have strayed from the righteous path,
and willfully ignored Your teachings and ways,
because acknowledging them undermines our interests, our individualism,
and our lack of moral responsibility,
turning virtue into a mere choice and righteousness into just another viewpoint,

Children wander homeless, falling prey to the worst forms of exploitation, bereft of joy,
the weak are crushed without mercy,
humanity has lost itself in the desert of confusion,

And false witnesses how numerous they are,
And yet,
Your birth remains a challenge to a lost humanity,
that belittles human life and tramples its dignity,
that grinds the human spirit underfoot,
Despite all this,
Your birth shall remain glorious, honoring humanity,
indeed, truly glorious!