Some are aghast to think of putting an X in the place of the name Christ in ‘Christmas’. But is Christ really in Christmas? And if the word mass means death then we are celebrating His death! From the book “My Catholic Tradition” “The Catholic Mass is a true sacrifice and the Eucharist a representation in an unbloody manner of the sacrifice of Christ.”
And the word 'merry' means: to be joyful and happy, cheerful and lively: Are people really saying “Have a Merry Cheerful Christ’s death day” when they say “Merry Christmas”? If so, they don’t know it. They mean well, but they don’t understand what they are saying. Even some in the media are adamant in saying that people should say “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.”
But why do people celebrate the birth of Christ in the middle of winter when He was really born in the fall and then also call it a mass? After all, as was previously mentioned by this examiner, the word mass means death.
We know that Christ was born and we should be very, very thankful! And some of the words to the songs sung at this time of year are beautiful and very meaningful, but why do people wait to sing them now? Why not during the year? Some say that the Christmas story was told in the scriptures of the Gospels. Not so! The story of Christ’s birth was told in the scriptures of Matthew and Luke. We can count and know the probable time of year of His birth which would be in the fall, but the scriptures do not tell us the day!
If Christ wanted us to celebrate His birth don't you think that He would have been very specific on the day that He wanted it to be celebrated? He was very specific about the fact that He wants us to observe His death – the Passover. He came to this earth to live His life as a human being to show us how we should live and then to die to forgive us of our sins; and then He was resurrected so we could have eternal life and live with Him for all eternity!
His death forgives our sins; His resurrection three days later gives us life. But, He doesn’t tell us to celebrate His resurrection as far as setting apart a day (Easter). Just like Christmas, Easter is a holiday set by men to celebrate which is not commanded by God. He gives us specific times during the year to celebrate His Holy Days. But, the holidays were made by men. In the Old Testament Jeroboam decided to honor God the way he wanted to and set aside a feast to Him on his own, without the permission of God. (I Kings 12:32.)
To be continued…
For those in the Lexington, Louisville and Henderson, KY areas and would like to know more about God's Holy Days please click here. For those in the London, KY area please click here.
Links to previous articles on Christmas by this Examiner
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-lexington/are-you-the-christmas-spirit-yet
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-lexington/what-is-the-origin-of-christmas
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-lexington/when-was-christ-really-born
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-lexington/what-does-santa-claus-have-to-do-with-christmas
www.examiner.com/christian-living-in-lexington/what-is-the-origin-of-christmas-conclusion
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