Gospel Reading: John 21:15-25 

Dear Community of Christians,

Once a year, during the Holy Nights the name of the 12 Hierarchies are invoked in the Act of Consecration of Man. Their deeds permeate our entire physical-spiritual reality all the time, but in the 12 Holy Nights, as in a magnifying glass, their significance for the whole year is brought to light, and into sharp focus. Is it gratitude? Is it the request for help? Is it reverence for these great beings that moves us when we hear their mighty names? For most of us, we are rarely aware of their active forces in life.

​Their work is of a spiritual nature and yet They physically move our world. If we lose them from our consciousness, we impoverish ourselves, and also make the world poorer. A lot is at stake if we are not aware of their work. Does our difficult world situation also have to do with the fact that we show no or very little interest in the work of the hierarchies? 

Now, in the enclosed and introspective time of the Holy Nights, when their beings are once again present in our consciousness, we can show them our gratitude, our veneration for their work. Our relationship with the hierarchies may then become more intimate and renewed during the upcoming month of the year. 

Dear Community of Christians,

​At the end of his message, John testifies that what he has described in his Gospel is Truth. Why is it so important to John that every word he reports is true?

The resurrection event, that a God overcomes death, was and is of such magnitude that its truthfulness had to be affirmed and emphasized. The rejuvenating creative power originating from the deed of Golgotha that now penetrates the world. That is the unconditional truth for the Gospel writer John.

From now on, it is the defining question in life, to what extent are we open-hearted in recognizing what is reported is also Truth for us?

Heaven, the spiritual world is sometimes very close to us, for example you can experience a friend or a family member show their inmost being shortly before death. It is an intimate and personal experience, and having encountered it, is clearly true and the event is recognized later in light of physical death.

The fact that spiritual forces constantly permeate the earth is a result of the divine creation, and Christs subsequent sacrifice for the earths renewal, which we have to develop a new awareness for. It is an individual experience, which a materialistically minded science cannot regard as real.

When John tells us about the "Seven I Am Words of Christ", we have the opportunity, using today's consciousness, to explore the truth in our daily lives in its various aspects. Namely to recognize that the closeness of heaven will enhance our ability to perceive a Truth beyond earthly senses. If the words 'I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life' become our daily companion, then we will experience the truth of the guidance of our destiny. This helps us to face the difficulties and obstacles through the accompanying help of Christ.`

Gospel Reading: Luke 2: 1-20

Dear Community of Christians,

Turning ourselves around, or turning a page, all that is an external movement is a process that we take for granted. We turn around to go in another direction. We turn when we are called. We turn the page in a book to find out further and new content. And for world history we call the mystery of Golgotha the turning point of time.

At this time, the outwardly inconspicuous birth of the divine Child took place in a completely hidden part of the world. The mystery of this decisive time holds the possibility of change. It calls humanity to recognize the new. And still today we are called to recognize this newness and to take it into our souls as individuals.  

We know how difficult a process of letting go of the old can be; habits, thoughts and feelings. For taking hold of the new sometimes means to take a step, a leap into a different, unknown realm. And for this step we need our will forces and true courage.

The new thing taken up does not always bring personal benefit. Sometimes this step needs to be done for a larger circle of people. The new impulse that has to be seized is perhaps connected with a sacrifice. Precisely this indicates to us that it is a necessary step, now and for the future. 

​Dear Community of Christians,

From legends we know when Joseph was betrothed to the Virgin Mary, he was already an old man. Alongside this, he represents ancient humanity. We can have the feeling mankind was ancient, was settled, and had found his home on earth. 

The human senses are sharpened through earthly occurrences. However, for events that lie beyond physical existence, the perception is lacking. 

Josephs attitude towards something new and unexpected lay in his inability to perceive and acknowledge it. Only when his physical senses were no longer an obstacle during sleep, he was able to receive the message from the spiritual world in a dream. 

We can easily recognize ourselves as a humanity that has deepened our comfort in the materialistic world. A message or occurrence that comes from another, non-earthly world, cannot be recognized with our earthly senses. It is very difficult to see and accept. For man and the world, refreshing rejuvenating forces from a world of creative power, can only be grasped and brought into the world by each individual human soul.   
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After Joseph awoke, he did not ignore the angel's message anymore, but followed its clear task. Certainly today, our ancient humanity, should know that the angels are waiting with their messages for us to receive and grasp it. They want bring those rejuvenating forces for further development into humanity.

 
Dear Community of Christians,

The mysteries of Christianity are infinitely deep. The real mystery is the becoming of the human being. The image of becoming lives in the knowing of God.  The divinity works as a sculptor, and it is a very long process. The sculpture-God uses for this purpose the skills of love and law.

In the paradise, the first commandment was given: “it was not allowed for man to eat from the tree of life”. This necessity had the purpose of educating a still childlike humanity. And we know, if we do not establish rules for children, they would enter their adult life without orientation in nature and in society.

Once mankind was in the state of childhood during the Exodus from Egypt, which lasted 40 years. People became impatient, ungrateful and rebelled against God. Then the LORD said to Moses, “make a serpent of brass, and set it up on a high pole. Whoever is bitten from the serpent and then looks at it, shall live.” Moses made a bronze serpent and set it up on a pole. And if the serpent bit any person, and if they looked upon the brazen serpent with humility, they lived." These words of the Old Testament can only be understood if one considers that people obeyed the laws out of fear, or hope of reward. Also today, when we follow outer laws, we do so because we don’t want to be punished. Although so many laws keep us at bay, today science does not seem to be interested in the law of God, of not eating from the tree of life in their research. The laws of life are untouchable so long as we do not recognize the actual task, the becoming.

Today many laws that govern our external life teach us to accept norms in order to live together as human beings, except for those laws that do not serve the community but are established arbitrarily.

Actually, we are still under the rod of Moses, but we have to be clearly aware that through the outer law, we do not find access to our higher human nature. To the quality of becoming.

It is Christ’s deed that has brought the new law to earth. The free deed of love by Christ which we inherited, calls us to consciously awaken the inner hidden forces, the forces of becoming. Certainly, the external laws were and are a model for the internal law. The sculptor God hands us the chisel for our future development. And now we are obliged to learn and follow the inner law, that it becomes the main impulse in life. The inner law of life enables us to act out of the strength of truth and love. Then we will not only understand the mystery of Christianity, but we will also be able to realize it for the future.   

Gospel Reading: Phillipe 4: 4-9

Dear Community of Christians,

We all know the great, expectant joy when we wait for the visit of a loved one. 

Adventus domini, Advent – is the expectation of the coming of the Lord. We celebrate this time of Advent weeks before Christmas in this spiritual mood of anticipation. In our time, the question may be asked, do we really feel this joyful expectation? 

I think, what we can perhaps feel is this expectation of the Lord, but it is more than our loving look at the little child in the stable. Each of us has an image in our soul of what “Lord” means and we come quickly to the answer: “God”, but it is not the only interpretation, it contains also: “Man”. Can we also say, God in Man? First, we must clarify our thoughts, what kind of image of God and of man do we carry in our selves? For example, is the image of man only a bringing together of a physical-material mass - or can we come to an image of man that becomes the temple for divinity? The human being’s fulfillment lies in the future, but the goal is rooted and contained in us all.  

It seems to be ever more obvious that today's science sees man as an apparatus in need of repair, a science which is geared towards the machine repair workshop of modern medicine. This modern medicine of the machine is greased by corporate interests and the political powers funded by them. If we leave science to follow this train of thought, then the further development, or even the continued existence of mankind stands at the abyss of nothing.  
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What concrete help is available to us during the festive periods of Advent and Christmas? We can turn to the grandiose masterpiece of the Messiah that Georg Fredric Handel gave us containing the knowledge "I know that my redeemer lives". And He wants to live in us as His temple. We can always make this newly alive in these weeks of our festive season.