Entering into Christmas: Christians Are Called To True Worship
This Christmas, come in true worship and stand before the light of the Risen Star
Catholics in love with the Child who is the risen Star understand that true worship is contained in the Liturgy of the Mass. Christians who participate in the Eucharistic celebration are already united "with the heavenly liturgy and anticipate eternal life, when God will be all in all" (see CCC No. 1326).
The depth of meaning in Christmas is as infinite as God Incarnate himself. Enter into that meaning with mind and heart, worship the Father in 'Spirit and truth' (see Jn 4:23).
PrintGLADE PARK, CO (Catholic Online) -- A recent survey conducted via an online panel by LifeWay Research, in which 2,110 adults were polled, found that nine out of ten Americans personally celebrate Christmas in some "form or fashion". However, LifeWay reports a "gap, even among Christians, between the religious emphasis of the holiday and the merry, family-focused traditions."
After a closer look at the survey's findings, president of LifeWay Research Ed Stetzer stated that the celebration of Christmas "typically revolves around family, and that Christ-centered elements are not as common. For many in our culture, the season is disconnected from the reason. For many of those, family is the reason for the season."
Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay, noted the apparent disconnect between the real meaning of Christmas and its celebration as a holiday: "Americans give Jesus a head nod at Christmas but spend most of the season pleasing their eyes, ears and taste buds with decorations, music and meals. Many celebrate Christmas the way most have celebrated Halloween - the fun traditions without sharing the religious significance."
According to the survey, 47 percent of Americans reported that their household typically attends church services as a part of the Christmas holiday.
Christmas: A Time To Purify Our Minds And Lives
If one were to ask Christians in America what they understood the true meaning of Christmas to be, nearly every one of them would respond, "It's about the birth of Jesus Christ." The birth of God Incarnate, God come among us in the flesh, is an event of infinite proportion. All the words used throughout Christian history in describing this pivotal event fall far short of the sublime wonder of it all. Nevertheless, the above survey results are hardly a surprise in this age of militant secularization: The anti-Christian stratagem that labors to erase the true meaning of Christmas, replace it with a merely festive and impoverished notion of "happy holidays," and encourage every sort of consumerism, has indeed made its inroads into the manner in which many celebrate the Christ Child's birth.
During his final general audience before Christmas, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the faithful that Christmas is a time for renewal and purification: "In the night of the world, let us still allow ourselves to be surprised and illuminated by this coming, by the Star which, rising in the East, has inundated the universe with joy. Let us purify our minds and our lives from everything that contrasts with this coming -- thoughts, words, attitudes and actions -- spurring ourselves on to do good and to help bring peace and justice to our world for all men and women, and thus to walk towards the Lord."
In one sense, purifying our minds and lives of thoughts, words, attitudes and actions that contrast with Christ's coming can and should be taken to mean ridding ourselves of all sin -- the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation first comes to mind. Yet in another sense, it can be taken to mean filling a void that exists both interiorly and exteriorly as a result of improper attitudes. This void is something which is lacking, it is a negative aspect of one's life that is not merely unfulfilling or incomplete, but rather is something opposed to holiness, which can block the way along the path of light, and is, therefore, spiritually harmful.
Within the Pope's statement that we ought to purify our minds and lives, and thus walk toward the Lord, is found the key which unlocks the doorway to a wholly new, fully Christian, human existence of freedom and love -- it is a doorway into a "new world" with God, a place in which the old is burned away as a mote of dust before the heat of the Son, allowing the new to shine forth in radiant splendor.
Christmas: A Time To Worship In Spirit And Truth
The obvious question is, "What is this 'something' that can be lacking?" To answer this highly important question, it is necessary to begin by moving to a point in time about three decades after the Christ Child laid in the manger:
Under a piercing noonday sun, tired from a long journey, Jesus sat down at Jacob's well. A Samaritan woman, carrying her jar, come forward to draw up some water. Jesus silently watched her for a moment, and then said plainly and openly, "Give me a drink." Astonished that a Jew should ask such a question, the woman responded, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
The woman wanted to know more about this water: "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where ...
After a closer look at the survey's findings, president of LifeWay Research Ed Stetzer stated that the celebration of Christmas "typically revolves around family, and that Christ-centered elements are not as common. For many in our culture, the season is disconnected from the reason. For many of those, family is the reason for the season."
Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay, noted the apparent disconnect between the real meaning of Christmas and its celebration as a holiday: "Americans give Jesus a head nod at Christmas but spend most of the season pleasing their eyes, ears and taste buds with decorations, music and meals. Many celebrate Christmas the way most have celebrated Halloween - the fun traditions without sharing the religious significance."
According to the survey, 47 percent of Americans reported that their household typically attends church services as a part of the Christmas holiday.
Christmas: A Time To Purify Our Minds And Lives
If one were to ask Christians in America what they understood the true meaning of Christmas to be, nearly every one of them would respond, "It's about the birth of Jesus Christ." The birth of God Incarnate, God come among us in the flesh, is an event of infinite proportion. All the words used throughout Christian history in describing this pivotal event fall far short of the sublime wonder of it all. Nevertheless, the above survey results are hardly a surprise in this age of militant secularization: The anti-Christian stratagem that labors to erase the true meaning of Christmas, replace it with a merely festive and impoverished notion of "happy holidays," and encourage every sort of consumerism, has indeed made its inroads into the manner in which many celebrate the Christ Child's birth.
During his final general audience before Christmas, Pope Benedict XVI reminded the faithful that Christmas is a time for renewal and purification: "In the night of the world, let us still allow ourselves to be surprised and illuminated by this coming, by the Star which, rising in the East, has inundated the universe with joy. Let us purify our minds and our lives from everything that contrasts with this coming -- thoughts, words, attitudes and actions -- spurring ourselves on to do good and to help bring peace and justice to our world for all men and women, and thus to walk towards the Lord."
In one sense, purifying our minds and lives of thoughts, words, attitudes and actions that contrast with Christ's coming can and should be taken to mean ridding ourselves of all sin -- the sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation first comes to mind. Yet in another sense, it can be taken to mean filling a void that exists both interiorly and exteriorly as a result of improper attitudes. This void is something which is lacking, it is a negative aspect of one's life that is not merely unfulfilling or incomplete, but rather is something opposed to holiness, which can block the way along the path of light, and is, therefore, spiritually harmful.
Within the Pope's statement that we ought to purify our minds and lives, and thus walk toward the Lord, is found the key which unlocks the doorway to a wholly new, fully Christian, human existence of freedom and love -- it is a doorway into a "new world" with God, a place in which the old is burned away as a mote of dust before the heat of the Son, allowing the new to shine forth in radiant splendor.
Christmas: A Time To Worship In Spirit And Truth
The obvious question is, "What is this 'something' that can be lacking?" To answer this highly important question, it is necessary to begin by moving to a point in time about three decades after the Christ Child laid in the manger:
Under a piercing noonday sun, tired from a long journey, Jesus sat down at Jacob's well. A Samaritan woman, carrying her jar, come forward to draw up some water. Jesus silently watched her for a moment, and then said plainly and openly, "Give me a drink." Astonished that a Jew should ask such a question, the woman responded, "How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" Jesus said, "If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
The woman wanted to know more about this water: "Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where ...
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Those of us that are Catholic must prepare for the Season of Advent(Christmas Season)because, we must remember why Christ was born and because of his birth, he saved man from death. That is why it's very important to celebrate the season of Advent.
Peace to all .May the Blessings of Christmas be with you today and always.Wishing to Every one Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.Peace Good Health and Happiness come through.Praise the God in Heaven Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God.Happy Birthday Jesus I Love you
Two points: 1) It's true that there's a lot of consumerism at Christmas that we should be cautious of (although many consumers aren't strict "materialists" and realistically we do need a boost to the economy in America). As soon as Christmas day comes though the secular and business world drops Christmas and focuses on the next holiday it can promote even though Christmas lasts for two weeks more on our liturgical calendar. I once saw an aisle at a drug store decorated for Valentine's Day on Christmas Eve! Also, many secular bigots attack Christmas and Christians in general protesting Nativity scenes and such. This article is right to assert that the Mass is the place where we meet that same Christ who laid in a manger 2,000 years ago. People must understand that the Mass is the way in which we commune with God in the most intimate way- he offers himself to us in Christ and we offer ourselves in Christ back to the Father. But we need to invite those who have been away back to Mass. Most Catholics who don't go to church except on Christmas and Easter A) don't understand the faith well enough and B) feel awkward as though they wouldn't be welcome after so many years. That's why it's our job to make sure we invite and make others feel welcome when they come to church. 2) We must be cautious not only against a secularization of Christmas but also against a puritanical disgust towards "merry making". The fact that this survey comes from LifeWay (a Southern Baptist organization I believe) should send up a red flag (with all do respect to Baptists and other Protestants; I used to be a Baptist). Christmas has always been under attack by some Protestants since the 1600's. Calvinists such as the Puritans banned Christmas in places like England because they considered merry making and decorations to be idolatry and too "Romish" or "Papist". Baptists actually refused to decorate for Christmas up until the 1800's and some fundamentalist branches still do. Although that might not be the agenda of this organization (most Baptist don't think that way anymore), traces of that kind of ideology which attacks the joyful, incarnational aspects of the Catholic Faith (even the sacraments) might still run in small trickles in American Protestant thought. Such Protestants explicitly or implicitly see the church as an invisible reality only and do not appreciate that the BODY of Christ is meant to appeal visibly to the senses. Evangelicals have even accused Catholic and Orthodox liturgy of sensory overload for people (hence the plain church house with no crucifix, stain glass, etc.) It's not an either/or mentality we should adopt as Catholics but rather a both/and perspective. Christmas merry making should extend from the joy that comes from knowing who our Redeemer is and that we can meet him whenever we attend Mass. That way if we know our Faith well enough we can explain the religious symbolism that is found in just about every secular custom at Christmas. Thank God the Gospel has infiltrated the world through Christmas trees, lights, wreaths, and punch bowls. Let's not forget what the spiritual meaning is of those good earthly things God has given us lest we become Gnostics or Puritans. For me, I'll be going to Mass and enjoying my egg nog too.
Amen. That is all that I can say. Amen.
Thank you for a great article. My thoughts are on how parishes have scheduled early Christmas Eve masses for children and others. It is a small sacrifice for a family to get up on Christmas morning to worship their Lord and Saviors birth. Yes, you have to leave the toys and perhaps delay breakfast. Yes, have to get out of your pajamas and robes to dress up is Christmas reds and greens, to be there in the morning to welcome Him and then to receive Him is what Christmas is all about.
Can it really be Christmas without the Mass? For me and my family it is impossible.