December 25--The Nativity of Our Lord

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Critics of Christianity sometimes like to point out that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25, or Christmas was instituted by the Emperor Constantine, or the Christians were just using a pagan holiday called Saturnalia to lure pagans into worshiping Christ. Given that the Jewish concept of birthdays was not we have, there are reasons to think it is reasonable to use December 25. The feast of the Annunciation is March 25, which is nine months before Christmas and also held by the ancient Church as the date of Jesus’ Crucifixion and Resurrection. The first recorded Christmas celebration was in AD 336, during the reign of Constantine. And even though Saturnalia was not the basis of Christmas, Christians did take pagan holidays and Christianize them to help convert the people through their culture.

But all that, interesting as it may be, is not the point. The point is that God became man. The incarnation began at the Annunciation, but the birth of Jesus is the birth of the new era of reconciliation between God and humanity. To quote John: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:1, 14). We are the recipients of the greatest gift ever given, Jesus Christ, who, through his Paschal Mystery brought about our salvation. What can we do to respond to such a great gift? We can say thank you. We can give others the gift of our love. We can praise God with joy and offer mercy and grace to our neighbors. We can say “Merry Christmas”!

*https://pixy.org/529082/