His Holiness Pope Shenouda begins by focusing that the occasion of Christ’s nativity reminds that Christ’s coming to the world carried a central message which is love.

Love as the primary virtue

He affirms that love is the first virtue taught by Christ, and that the new commandment “love one another” is the sign of His disciple in the world.

Love practically and mercifully

Love in Christ is not only words but action: by preaching, healing, and compassion toward all — children and adults, men and women — and its source is that God loved us first.

Love as the basis of the law

He points out that the two commandments: love of God and love of neighbor summarize the law and the prophets, and that the one who does not love does not know God, because light does not unite with darkness.

Love in creation and nature

He uses examples from nature (Adam with the beasts, the bee, the tree, the sun, the rain) to illustrate that giving without expecting return is a lesson of nature and people, and that love transforms existence.

Love as a spiritual life

True religion is not external practices but a journey to the heart of God manifested by love in prayer and virtues, and the measure of judgment on the Day of Resurrection will be the amount of love in deeds.

Love and homeland and peace

He urges that love be a social bond among people in Egypt and the world, and prays for peace and ending wars and helping the afflicted and famines, and calls for love between Christians and Muslims in the homeland.

Conclusion and exhortation

The exhortation is that we all live by love, to begin from self-forgetting and giving for others, and that love be our motto in the home, church, and homeland.

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