A Christ-less Christmas?
Readers may have noted with bemusement a detail in our report last week on the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the US Supreme Court.
In a judgment, Mr Alito once rejected a complaint by a secularist body against a public display that included a Nativity scene and a menorah on the grounds that it also displayed non-religious symbols, such as Frosty the Snowman.
This, in effect, was an acknowledgement by a Catholic judge that Christmas has become a secularised feast, celebrated by Christians and non-Christians, believers and atheists alike—and, above all, by manufacturers, retailers and the advertising industry. Thus Frosty the Snowman and the infant Jesus have attained a measure of cultural equivalence.
To most people, Christmas is a mainly secular feast, with the first syllable being regarded (if any thought is spent on it at all) as an agreeable, traditional idiosyncrasy. Jesus, whose birth is meant to be celebrated on December 25, has effectively been removed from Christmas as far as the majority consciousness is concerned.
Brutally put, in the temporal environment Christmas does not belong to the followers of Christ any longer, but is anyone’s game. Campaigns such as the Knights of da Gama’s “Put Christ back into Christmas” are therefore timely and commendable.
It is indeed essential that Catholics should be reminded, and should remind themselves, of why we celebrate Christmas. In the hustle and bustle of preparations for the feast, one may well neglect the true significance of Christmas, which has little to do with snowmen and red-nosed reindeers.
Sometimes one gets the feeling that the elimination of Jesus from the mainstream version of Christmas does create a void even for inactive Catholics. Many of them attend Mass once or twice a year. Predictably, they will turn up at Christmas, especially at Midnight Mass, often purely for the sake of sentimental tradition.
For those who attend Mass weekly, or even daily, these annual visitors might be a nuisance, especially when they occupy the best seats. This would be a mistaken view. By warmly welcoming them into the parish, Catholics may spread the evangelising Gospel, truly living out the season of good will and perhaps even attract some lapsed Catholics back into the Church.
The Knights’ campaign will have little effect on retailers, most of whom during the Christmas season have their eyes on profit, and scant regard for Christ (never mind the sensibilities of his followers). The appeal to put Christ back into Christmas should above all be directed clearly and forcefully at Catholics.
It is for this reason that this week we suggest Christmas gifts with a Christian flavour. In doing so, we hope to inspire our readers to look beyond the shopping mall culture of Christmas shopping and to explore the variety of potential presents on offer in Catholic repositories and bookshops.
As we enter the season of Advent next week, let the Knights’ message to remember Christ at Christmas reverberate in every parish.
Copyright ? 2005 The Southern Cross. All rights reserved.
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