Jesus Birth Nativity Gregorian Julian Calendars What Is the Real Date

LINK to Wikimedia: Icon image source.
Iconographer: Andrei Rublev (1405)

There is much discussion and controversy about the exact date that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, was born.  I suppose speculation and attempts to document the moment are good intellectual pursuits since keeping the mind occupied keeps it sharp.  Also among us are those who create a stir over how Christmas takes place in December as a replacement of winter solstice activities, and maybe it is true, maybe not.

Today, January 1, 2015, as I am in the final preparations for our Ukrainian Christmas Eve supper according to the Julian Calendar, I am thinking that not knowing the precise date, that is getting it right, matters little in comparison to the intent and content of how the gift given to us at the Nativity of our Lord is received.

Do I come with a grateful heart to my Lord?  Do I grasp the powerful moment of what happened in Bethlehem? If not, than I am sore of heart and hope can only go as far as what I am able see and understand right before me at any moment in time.

That the Christian world prepares and celebrates on a particular date each year means that we return to the beginning at least once each year. Christ came as a child and so must each one of us begin at the beginning before we can grow.  Remembrance of the Nativity of our Lord prepares us to go with Jesus on his journey to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the resurrection after which our Messiah, the First Born of the Dead ascended to Heaven where He prepares a place for us.

Receive the gift given at the Nativity. Refresh your faith journey: come and see the wonder of Christ's birth as often as you need, bow down before the Lord's presence and the Paraclete--the Comforter--will refresh you and fill you with  joy, hope, and peace.

This blogpost article offered by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com.