Hopeful Julian Calendar Christmas!

On January 7th, the Orthodox world celebrates Christmas according to the Julian calendar. Orthodox Christmas is free from the extraneous hassles represented by the pre-holiday shopping frenzy, allowing focus on the true meaning of Christmas – the birth of the Savior and human values such as love, selflessness, and understanding. These are increasingly needed in our anxious world.

Today, may all Orthodox prayers be directed towards achieving peace at a time when battle activities occur near Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, and people are dying, and shots and explosions have been heard in Ukraine for two years.

Let us think today of peace, love, and reconciliation. Regardless of our religious denomination or if we are indifferent to faith, we all need a world that bravely looks towards the future.

Vsevolod Jürgenson