On the scale of the whole world, the victory of Christ can be accomplished only when Christ dwells in the heart of every person. The transfiguration of the world begins with the transfiguration of the human heart, in which the mystical encounter with Christ takes place. Let us remember that with us, who have accepted Christ as our Savior, who have believed in Him as God, Christ's victory over the world begins. Let there not be one Herod among us. Let us be like the angels who came out to meet Christ, the magi who worshipped Him, the angels who sang a heavenly song in His honor about peace on earth and good will among people.

1996

"A foolish man saith, There is no God." Sunday after the Nativity of Christ

Today, on the Sunday after the Nativity of Christ, we hear the Gospel story of the flight of Joseph and the Most Holy Virgin with the infant Jesus into Egypt (Matt. 1:18-25). In this story, in addition to Joseph, Mary and Jesus, there is another character – King Herod. It was because of his wrath that the Holy Family fled to Egypt, it was he who became the culprit of the death of thousands of innocent babies.

The first thought that came to Herod's mind when he heard about the birth of the King of the Jews in Bethlehem was that this King could encroach on his power. To get rid of this danger, Herod calls for the death of all infants from two years of age and under in Bethlehem and its environs. The liturgical texts of the Orthodox Church say about this: "A foolish man says: There is no God. Whoever is filled with ultimate fury is afflicted with Christ-murder, but has fallen away from reason with insolence, to kill the infant who is not artificial, arm himself with everything, and defile the earth with blood." Here is the main reason for Herod's madness – for him "there is no God".

In other words, the whole life of this man passed only in an earthly perspective. For him, God did not exist, he did not fear Him, so in order to achieve earthly goals, he stopped at nothing, even at terrible villainy. It is known about Herod that he was a morbidly suspicious person, and this suspicion was born and nourished by his passion for power. He killed not only the infants of Bethlehem, but also many faithful servants and even his own wife and sons: all of them he suspected of conspiracy. This Jewish prince of the first century went down in history as a madman who opposed the will of God with his ambitions, his desire to hold on to the royal throne at all costs.

But now we see another man, Joseph. The Gospel says very little about him. When he was already betrothed to Mary, it was suddenly discovered that "She is with child of the Holy Spirit.

But Joseph her husband, being righteous and not wishing to make her public, wanted to secretly let her go." Behind these two or three phrases of the Evangelist about Joseph there is a personal drama of man. Undoubtedly, Joseph was righteous. But what could this man think of his wife, the One Whom he, as it is said in the liturgical texts, ": took... from the hands of the priests from the temple" and from Whom I expected only the best and brightest, and suddenly I learned that She was pregnant. But in a dream an angel appears to him and says of Mary that "that which is born in her is of the Holy Spirit." And Joseph immediately rebuilt his whole way of thinking, his whole way of life. From that moment on, his life was entirely devoted to Mary and the Child, who is not his son, but the Son of God. And in order to preserve the virginity of Mary — for we believe that Mary remained a Virgin in Her marriage, and we confess Her ever-virginity — in order to preserve the life of the Child, Joseph takes upon himself the role of head of the family. They flee from Herod's wrath to Egypt, and Joseph guards and protects Mary and the Child. Later, having learned of the death of the impious king, they returned to Judea and settled within the borders of Bethlehem.

Thus, in the Gospel passage that we have read, we have two examples. One person lives without God, for him there is nothing but his selfish aspirations and desire to hold on to everything that he possesses in this world at all costs. Another person is ready to renounce everything and sacrifice even his life for the Christ Child.

The Holy Scriptures tell us that each of us has a choice: to choose the path of life or the path of death, the path of faithfulness to God or the path of renunciation of Him. "Life and death I have set before you," says Deuteronomy, "a blessing and a curse. Choose life, that you and your descendants may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19). Entire nations are sometimes faced with such a choice.

The Jewish people stood before the face of Christ. He could accept Him as his Savior, or he could reject Him. And he rejected Him. But each concrete person, each human soul is often faced with a choice whether to sacrifice himself, whether to devote himself to Christ or to live as if God does not exist at all. Millions of people are faced with such a choice, and some choose life and others death.

Soon, on the eve of Great Lent, we will hear Jesus' parable about the Last Judgment, about how the Lord separates the "sheep" from the "goats" and how some will inherit the Kingdom of God, and others will inherit "hell fire." Let us remember that the division into "sheep" and "goats" takes place already in earthly life. The Last Judgment begins here. And the choice is made by us. It is not so much the Lord who will determine whether we go into eternal life or eternal punishment, as we determine our own destiny when we choose life or death, blessing or damnation.

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