Christmas Is the Expansion of Ecumenical Fraternity

Without the experience of Brotherly Love, Human Beings will always be maladjusted.

The atmosphere of December 25*1 must be one of Total Brotherhood, which is now more essential than ever in the world so that Human Beings can really be transformed into planetary citizens, who know how to defend themselves in a positive way against endemic world exploitation.

Tela: Gebhard Fugel (1863-1939)

Not only does the body fall sick, but society too. With the aim of helping to improve this state of affairs, we built in Brasília, Brazil, the Temple of Good Will (TGW), which is the Temple of Unrestricted Ecumenism, or the Temple of the Heart, that is ready to shelter each and every human and spiritual creature, that is to say, the Capital of God. The TGW, along with the World Parliament of Ecumenical Fraternity, is the most visited monument in Brasília, according to data from the State Secretariat of Tourism of the Federal District (SETUR-DF).

Thiago Bianchi

We emphasize the imperative need there is of living the Permanent Christmas, the daily Christmas for the (physical and spiritual) hunger of the people, which is also daily.

Law of Universal Solidarity

The New Commandment of Jesus*2 is the common denominator that is capable of pacifying hearts, by fraternally binding them. This is the Religion of Friendship, of Good Companionship, as emphasized by John the Evangelist in the Apocalypse. This is the Law of Universal Solidarity and, therefore, of spiritual, moral and social solidarity.

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Religion is for eliminating conflicts that are born out of the intimacy, when selfish, of Human Beings. Giuseppe Mazzini (1805-1872), a patriot and Italian revolutionary, stated:

“Life was given to us by God in order that we might employ that life for the benefit of Humanity.”

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The late founder of the LGW, Alziro Zarur, taught that:

“Human Beings were created in such a way that they can only be happy when they are practicing Good.”

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And August Comte (1798-1857), the philosopher of Positivism, concluded:

“Living for others is not only the law of duty, but also of happiness.”

Cannibals feed using cutlery

It is Human Beings who make the world what it is: if they are spiritually bad, society cannot be well. It is mathematical.

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Without the experience of Brotherly Love, Human Beings will always be maladjusted. (...) This is the result of the anti-natural life the multitudes lead. Take a look at the stupid aggression against Nature, which is unending... What is this, if not suicide? We are not just body, but equally Spirit, and the modern community has paid little attention to this, because it restricts its concept to the brain and mind, which are the results, therefore, of a merely organic action; nothing more than this. Hence the cannibalistic culture that threatens us. In analyzing human behavior throughout History, someone once asked if cannibals using cutlery to feed themselves is progress.

Ernst Izgur, a spiri­tualist thinker, quotes a very contemporary outburst by one of the greatest geniuses of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519):

“What kind of civilization is this in which all that Man constructs serves for destroying himself?”

The great lesson of 2000 years of Christianity

Now, my friends, sisters and brothers, when there is a lack of Love there is an abundance of hatred. And the result of this is earthly poverty. Rich are those who love.

If, as citizens of the world in this time of globalization, we finally manage to be humbler and more generous, we shall know how to take from the Christmas of Jesus its great teaching for every day. This is the great lesson that remains: the Christmas of our Divine Master needs to be multiplied like the expansion of Brotherhood, because we shall not survive without it.

Prophet Isaiah and the pollution of the Earth

Afresco: Michelangelo (1475-1564)

Rather than the globalization of unmeasured ambition, we must globalize Solidarity without borders; or there will be no one left to tell the story. Who says this is the Prophet Isaiah in his famous book 24:3, 5, 12, 13 and 20:

3 The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word.

5 The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants (therefore, not because of God), for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.

12 Desolation is left in the city, and the gates are battered into ruins*3.

13 For thus it shall be in the midst of the earth among the nations, as when an olive tree is beaten, as at the gleaning when the grape harvest is done.

20 The earth staggers like a drunken man, and sways like a hut. Its transgression lies heavy upon it. And it falls and will not rise again.

This means that the famous seer of the Ancient Writings, with thousands of years of getting it right, foresaw the pollution of the air, earth, water, of Human Beings, the ruin of the ecosystem, the hole in the ozone layer and other barbarities caused by the folly of earthy beings. These facts prove just how up-to-date the forecasts of the Gospel and of the Apocalypse of Jesus in the New Testament are.

It was not by chance that Christ stated:

“Heaven and Earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”*4 (Good News according to Matthew 24:35)

The veneer of civility of the modern caveman

The atmosphere of Christmas should constantly inspire Religion, Philosophy, Science, Economics, Art, Sports, and, especially, Politics; in short, all sectors of universal culture.

In an age of destructive materialism, not understanding the need to seek to live the true spirit of December 25 permanently means that, despite all the current technological advances, we possess just a veneer of civility that covers a lack of awareness that would cause envy in the most hardened of cavemen.

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*¹In the book Crônicas & Entrevistas [Chronicles and Interviews] (Elevação Publishing House, available only in Portuguese), where this article is published, the reader will also be able to find this important comment by Paiva Netto about Christmas on page 263: "Christmas is the expansion of Brotherhood. This feeling, which should be constant, can make us live as civilized people. Ecumenical Solidarity sums up the proposal that the Legion of Good Will has been presenting to Brazil and the world. Something more has to be allied with the ideal of so many good people who wish to see a better Brazil and a happier Mankind, so that at a certain time in life, they do not declare themselves to be disillusioned, without hope and almost defeated. This is perhaps because they have not perceived the true significance of the Spirit of Charity, which is more than a feeling, for it is a true strategy capable of making Human Beings and everything else that is necessary for life survive."

*2 New Commandment of Jesus — Jesus, the Ecumenical Christ, the Divine Statesman, has taught: 13:34 “A New Commandment I give you: Love one another, as I have loved you. 13:35 Only by this shall all of you be recognized as my disciples, if you have the same Love for one another. 15:7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 15:8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 15:10If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my Love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in His Love. 15:11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 15:12This is my Commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you. 15:13There is no greater Love than to lay down his own Life for his friends. 15:14And you are my friends if you do what I command you. And I command you this: love one another as I have loved you. 15:15No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because everything I have learned from my Father I have made known to you. 15:16You did not choose me; on the contrary, I chose you and appointed you so that you should go and bear good fruit, and that your fruit should remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name He may give to you. 15:17And this I command you: that you love one another as I have loved you. 15:9Therefore, as the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Remain in my Love.” (gathered by Paiva Netto in conformity with the Gospel of the Christ of God according to John 13:34 and 35; 15:7, 8, 10 to 17 and 9).

*3 Note by the author — Cities used to be surrounded by walls. They had gates, which opened and closed so that people could enter and leave. They were closed at night and also during sieges, when enemies wanted to invade the cities. So when the Prophet says "the gate is battered into ruins" it means the city is defenseless (in this case, the world itself), which is why "desolation reigns."

*4 This passage from the Gospel of Jesus according to Matthew 24:35 is part of the Oratorio “The Mystery of God Revealed”, by Paiva Netto and orchestrated by Vanderlei Pereira, which has already sold more than 500,000 CDs in Brazil.