The sermon in church tonight was about the relevance of Christ's birth in our lives. About how we have both knowingly and unknowingly separated Christ from the Christmas. Christmas today is just another celebration. Achen put it as 'Christmas' being no longer a standalone noun, it's almost always used in conjugation with some other noun which shadows Christmas like christmas cake, christmas party, christmas decorations, christmas father and so on.
I remember a skit we had once performed. The idea was the same.
A christmas card maker once got an order to photograph the 'Best Christmas Card' ever. Exhilarated, he calls up all the actors. He calls up Mary and asks her to bring baby Jesus from the cresh. He calls up Joseph. With just these three the card looked plain. So he put in sheep and goats and cows. It still looked dark and gloomy to him. And so he pondered on ways to make it better. He then brought in a tree and decorated it with the brightest lights. He got in balloons and streamers. He called up Santa Claus and asked him to come along with his elves and reindeers and sleigh. He got in flashy gifts and mistletoe and candles. With all this in, the frame wasn't sufficient to contain all of them. As the addendums kept increasing Jesus, Mary and Joseph kept getting pushed out. Finally the photographer thought it perfect and when he clicked the shot which was to be the best Christmas card ever, Jesus was no where in sight in the frame. This play was a hit, people took home a message similar to the one dispensed today. Christmas has become X'mas - we have crossed out the Christ in it.
Let's keep Christ the protagonist in our Christmas activities and celebrate in a way Jesus would want us to. Let us endeavor to make this Christmas beautiful for someone else too. May Love and Charity be the hallmark of this Christmas season.
Wish u all a wonderful Christmas.
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No pasa nada. Don't worry, Jolly. We have to be leaven in the dough. We are the salt of the earth and if salt loses its taste, what use is it?
ReplyDeleteI think if each one of us tries, we can in our own way rechristianize the culture. Cakes, Trees, Creches are all important to make this culture christian. It is the popular culture of Santa Claus and red caps that we have to wary of.
This time, I put up a tree for the first time. I put two gifts under the tree for my family.
The whole point is the love that shows through your efforts. You clean your house, you put up a tree, you make a crib, all this because you care about Christmas and to invite Christ into your house. But this is secondary to the grace we ought to receive by preparing all Advent through reflection on scriptures, Regular confessions to make His paths straight as John the Baptist proclaimed.
I think Christmas becomes Xmas when people simply want to drink or party without thinking that Jesus is the reason of this season. When Jesus is the reason of this season, all things fall in place and get a perspective. The tree symbolizes love, goodwill togetherness, guiding star,ringing bells. The star symbolizes the star that guided the kings, the crib helps us contemplate on the nativity. A defenseless baby a sleep in a manager who controlled the stars in the universe.
When Christ is kept in Christmas like you said, all other things are for glory of God. Perhaps the pagan culture we have to take caution of is people simply waiting for Christmas for just another party with Santa Claus, red costumes, snow, snowmen et cetera. But moved with the joy of Christ, Santa can be a great way to gift your family and enjoy a cake ;-)