Merry Christmas greetings from Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol

Two thousand twenty-four years ago, the night of Bethlehem connected Heaven and Earth. The Savior of the world, the Divine Infant Christ, was born under the Roman Emperor Augustus, in a cave where livestock were kept in winter, because there was no place for the Holy Family in the city of Bethlehem. However, the entrance to the Bethlehem cave became the entrance to the New World, where perfect love was revealed in the Incarnate God, Whom before His Nativity “no one had ever seen” (John 1:8).

In order for a person to regain the ability to see God as He is, Christ becomes like us in everything, except for sin. The birth of the God-man Christ became the basis for the understanding that our world cannot exist without love, which “suffers long, is kind, does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, does not act in excess, does not seek its own, does not think evil…” (1 Cor. 13 , 4–7).

Love is an action that overcomes all social, racial, religious prejudices. Love casts out fear so that we do not “waste away” from fear in anticipation of disasters (see Luke 21:26). Love is communication that leads to the improvement of our lives through works of mercy, prayer for the peace of the whole world. The Apostle Paul calls us: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). Christ came into our world not by human command, not by royal decree, but by the good will of the Heavenly Father, so that “the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17).

Christ, by his incarnation, took into His heart all of human history and atoned for our sins, but we stubbornly increase sin, which leads to death. Almost all “new discoveries” are primarily used to improve tools for killing others. Therefore, humanity must learn to love and thereby draw closer to God, because “God is love” (1 John 4:16).

The Nativity of Christ is evidence of the real presence of God in our world. Let us more often strive to know God’s will for ourselves, forgive the sins of our neighbors, and let us make the New Year of God’s goodness – 2024 – a year of peace, joy and love. We are children of God, let us glorify the Born Christ!

God is with us!

I cordially congratulate you all on the New Year of God’s goodness and Merry Christmas!

Christ is born – meet!

Christ is born – praise!

Metropolitan John of Belgorod and Stary Oskol