Christ Is Born in Silence and Nearness: Christmas Homily of Metropolitan Borys Gudziak on God Who Enters Human Suffering

December 25, 2025

On December 25, the feast of the Nativity of Our Lord, the faithful gathered for the solemn Divine Liturgy to experience together the mystery of the Incarnation — the coming of God into the world as a small, defenseless child.

During the liturgy, reflecting on the Gospel according to Matthew, Archbishop Borys Gudziak emphasized that the shepherds and the kings became witnesses to an event that overturns human ideas of power and greatness. “Through this birth, God shows us who He is — not through glory, not through loud proclamations, not through special effects,” he noted.

The Metropolitan emphasized that the Son of the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit, becomes the Son of Mary — true God and true Man — entering human life exactly as it is.

In his Christmas homily, Archbishop Borys drew attention to a world focused on achievements, rankings, and comparisons.
“We worship success, power, and money… Yet Jesus — the Son of God, the Creator of the world — comes to us in poverty, in loneliness, in migration. God wants to show us His face, and it is a gentle face,” the Metropolitan said.

He also reflected on God’s closeness, most clearly revealed through a child, “God’s tenderness is revealed to us through a child. A child changes everything,” he emphasized, sharing an example from the life of Deacon Ihor and his wife Ulyana, who welcomed their son, Matthew, this year.

The Metropolitan’s Christmas reflections also touched on the painful realities of today’s world. He asked whether we are able to believe that God enters human suffering, “In Sacred Scripture, which we will be reading in the coming days, there are stories of bloodshed, of the horrific crime of Herod who kills children, of Hamas, of Gaza, of terrorist attacks around the world, of the war in Ukraine — and in all of these stories, God is present,” he said.

The Metropolitan reminded the faithful that the Child born in Bethlehem would later be crucified — as a result of human sin and violence. Yet God does not turn away from suffering, “God is there where it hurts,” Metropolitan Borys stressed, speaking of those who have lost their homes, their health, their loved ones, or their livelihoods.

In the concluding part of the homily, Christmas was described not only as a feast of joy, but also as a challenge — to open one’s heart to God, who comes without threat or coercion. “Can we accept the small One? Because if we insist on a great and frightening judge, then we have created that God ourselves,” the Metropolitan said.

“Let us open our lives, let us open our hearts,” Archbishop Borys urged. “We are afraid — that is why He comes as One who does not threaten. We doubt — that is why He does not philosophize, but simply is. The question stands before you, before me, before this world: do we desire God’s salvation? Do we see the Son of God? And do we dare to live in freedom, in peace, and in joy?”

Christ Is Born!

Let us Glorify Him!