The Magnificat, today’s reading at Mass “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my savior. For he has looked upon his lowly servant. From this day all generations shall call me blessed; the Almighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” This is just part of the reading found in Luke 1:46-55. Mary gives God all the glory with specific clarity proclaiming the greatness of the Lord, she never elevates herself above her Son nor should we. There is a great misconception with Protestants in regards to Mary. Mary is the Mother of God and as servants of Christ we are to honor her just as Jesus did. God gave us Ten Commandments and the fourth is to Honor your father and mother. When we get the wrong idea about Catholics and Mary just ask yourself how you would defend your own mother if someone spoke against her? Jesus will always come to the defense of his Mother Mary. We thank Mary for saying yes to giving birth to her son Jesus and we are ever mindful of her contribution for this celebration of Christmas.
If your home is lit up with Christmas light, a Christmas tree and exchanging gifts you are celebrating the birth of Christ. You can call it a cultural tradition but it has Christian roots. According to the Pew Research 81% of Christians in the United States celebrate Christmas but 87% 0f non-Christians also celebrate this holiday. What joy it must be in heaven to see such a diverse group of people come together to celebrate our Savior’s blessed event.
It seems that we have secularized most things of Christmas but even Santa Claus is real.
St. Nicholas,was born December 6, 280, a bishop from Patara, modern day Turkey. There are many legends about St. Nicholas, my favorite is how he helped three poor sisters by putting gold in stocking for their dowry, this saved them from being sold into servitude. The Dutch continued St. Nicholas celebration but to them he was known as Sint Nikolaas but his nickname was Sinterklaas. He came to America in the 1700s and became part of the Christmas celebration. It was the poem “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” by Clement Clarke Moore that made him who he is today. So this once charitable bishop evolved to Santa Claus.
Christmas is about giving gifts and sharing love right? Not when it come to my neighbors peanut butter fudge. Adele makes the most delicious fudge in the world and I never, ever share it with anyone. It is unfortunate that no picture can be posted because it’s all eaten up. It took two days of taking small enjoyable bite of this delicacy and the feeling of this Christmas joy rush was blissful. Not one person in my family will ever experience this euphoria, thank you Adele.
May all of Americans celebrating Christmas think of you Lord and may you bless them with a prosperous New Year of peace that surpasses all understanding. From our humble abode to yours, Merry Christmas!
