Christmas has become so secularized that it has
lost its original meaning. Even the
President of the United States has lost it.
On “A Charlie Brown Christmas” television special, he said with perfect
political correctness: “They teach us
that tiny trees just need a little love, and that on this holiday we celebrate
peace on Earth and good will toward all”.
It’s now often improper to say “Merry Christmas”. With great advertising frenzy, stores sell
“holiday trees” plus decorations and a lot of “stuff” to give to our loved ones
for the “holidays”. Whether he or she needs
the gift or wants it is another question.
We send “holiday” greetings that celebrate Santa Claus, sleighs, reindeer,
penguins, and snowmen. We have parties
and really don’t know why. Then
everything comes to a screeching halt a day or two after Christmas when we take
down the decorations, return much of the “stuff” to the stores, and buy the lights
and ornaments at half price for next year.
As
part of a national campaign, the Knights of Columbus is promoting the real
reason for the season, a “holy day”.
Council 3335 of St. Louis Church in Gallipolis did something unique. It threw a “Keep Christ in Christmas Party”
for the kids. The children had the usual
sweets and songs. But they also
participated in a poster contest on an authentic Christmas theme. For example: a multitude of angels appeared
to poor Jewish shepherds with the awesome earth shaking “good news of great
joy” that “a savior has been born to you, who is Christ the Lord”……….Jesus
Christ, the Son of God became one of us as a helpless little baby to later
teach us how to live and save us from our sins if we but follow Him! The angels joyfully concluded with the words “Glory
to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will” (Luke
2:10-14).
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| The kids are busy at work on their "Keep Christ in Christmas" posters. |
The icing on the cake read "Keep Christ in Christmas". The party tried to be
faithful to the Advent season of waiting in joyful anticipation for the Messiah
as the Jews did for 4000 years. Today
during the four weeks of Advent, we should prepare our hearts and souls for the
coming of the Redeemer with prayer, bible and spiritual reading, Confession,
penance, adoration, and Mass. Then it
all comes to a climax on Christmas Day as we celebrate and relive the joy of
the birth of the Redeemer, God Himself becoming man! This is the first of the 12 days of Christmas
which concludes with the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. This time the heavens sent another message to
some learned wise men from present day Iran in the form of an unusual star,
indicating that Christ also came to earth for the gentiles, the educated, and
the affluent. Was the star of Bethlehem
a conjunction of planets, a comet, a nova, or some combination of them? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_of_Bethlehem.
Lest
we forget,
almost all of our Christmas customs, celebration, gift giving, and ideals of
peace, love of all, generosity to the poor, family being all together, etc.
ultimately come from that first Christmas in which God loved us so much “that
He gave (us) His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). That gives every person in the world tremendous
dignity. During the Christmas season,
let’s frequently ask ourselves the question whether we’re decorating, buying
gifts, or partying: “Why am I doing
this?” See Blog #52.
As we relive in
joyful anticipation the 4000 year wait for the fulfillment of God’s promise of
a Redeemer as foretold by the Old Testament prophets, may we be prepared for
the coming of the Messiah, Christ the King!
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| Some of the "Keep Christ in Christmas" posters that the kids drew. |
The
Knights of Columbus is the world’s largest Catholic lay organization. It provides members and their families with
volunteer opportunities in service to the Church, their communities, and
youth. With more than 1.8 million
members in over 15,000 councils around the world, the Knights of Columbus
annually donates more than $170 million and 70 million hours of service to
charitable causes. The most prominent
community activities of the St. Louis Council include the Coats for Kids campaign, Substance Abuse Awareness, and the Basketball Free Throw
for developmentally disabled children
and adults of the Rehabilitation Center.
Please visit kofc.org and kofcohio.org for more information.
All faithful Catholic men of the area
are invited to join the Knights of Columbus (call Bruce Davison, the Grand
Knight at 256-1427). Members enjoy great
fellowship along with family activities and opportunities to serve the parish
and the community. A big bonus is the
life insurance program to protect families.
It ranks at the very top as to financial stability among all insurance
organizations and companies. Any profits
do not go to stockholders, but rather are returned to the insured in rebates
and used for a number of charitable causes.
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