As we journey through the Nativity Fast, the Church places before us two profound readings that illuminate our path toward Bethlehem. Saint Paul writes to the Colossians about putting to death what is earthly in us, while Saint Luke shares the parable of the great banquet where invited guests make excuses and turn away from the feast prepared for them.
These passages speak directly to our present moment. We stand now in the days of preparation, fasting and praying as we await the celebration of our Lord's birth. Yet how often do we resemble those invited guests who found themselves too occupied with fields and oxen and new marriages to attend the banquet? The Nativity of Christ is the moment when God Himself enters our world as an infant, and still we can find ourselves distracted by the concerns of this passing age.
Saint Paul gives us the remedy. He tells us that we have died with Christ and our life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then we also will appear with Him in glory. This is not merely beautiful theology for contemplation. It is a call to radical transformation in our daily living. We are to put to death fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness. We must set aside anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. We are called to stop lying to one another, having stripped off the old self with its practices and having put on the new self.
These words can feel overwhelming in their directness. How can we possibly accomplish such a complete transformation? The answer lies in understanding that this is not merely a moral improvement project we undertake through willpower alone. We are being renewed in knowledge after the image of our Creator. This renewal happens through our participation in the life of the Church, through the sacraments, through prayer and fasting, through reading Scripture and the lives of the saints.
The Nativity Fast gives us forty days to practice this renewal in a focused way. Each day that we abstain from certain foods, we remember that man does not live by bread alone. Each time we add extra prayers or attend add
itional services, we create space for God to work in us. When we give alms and show mercy to those in need, we put on the new self that reflects the image of Christ.
The parable of the great banquet reminds us that God's invitation is urgent and generous. The master sends his servant out not once but multiple times, commanding him to bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. When there is still room, he sends the servant to the highways and hedges to compel people to come in. This is the heart of our God, who desires that His house be filled, who longs for us to accept His invitation.
Yet we must examine ourselves honestly. What excuses do we make? Perhaps we tell ourselves we are too busy with work to attend weekday services during the fast. Maybe we think our spiritual struggles are too small to matter or too large to overcome. We might believe that others are more worthy, more prepared, more deserving of God's attention. All of these are the fields and oxen and marriages of our modern lives, the seemingly reasonable concerns that can keep us from the feast if we let them.
Saint Paul concludes his exhortation with a stunning declaration. In the new self, there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, nor free. Christ is all and in all. The Incarnation that we prepare to celebrate shatters every division. God becomes man so that all people might be invited to the banquet, so that all might be renewed in His image.
As we continue our preparation for the Nativity, let us receive these Scriptures as personal invitations. The feast is prepared. The Master calls us. Our task is to lay aside the old self with its endless excuses and distractions, to put on Christ daily through our choices and practices, and to come with joy to the celebration of His birth among us.
This is the Orthodox life, not a once-a-year observance but a daily dying and rising with Christ. The Nativity Fast teaches us in concentrated form what should mark our existence throughout the year. We fast so that we might feast more fully. We die to ourselves so that Christ might live in us. We accept the invitation so that we might discover that the banquet has been prepared for us all along, and that the Master of the feast is none other than the infant laid in the manger, Emmanuel, God with us.
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