The GIFT of Christmas

    It’s almost Christmas. Even in this day of the internet, people are rushing left and right to pick up those last-minute gifts. They’re running around trying to try to get the perfect feast together. Airports are full and patience is at its wit’s end. But do you really know what Christmas is truly about?        

    I was about 8 or 9 that it hit me. We were raised Catholic and would go to Midnight Mass as a family. Then we’d come home, the adults drinking eggnog with rum or brandy or having a hot toddy (to this day I have NO IDEA what that is!) while us kids had hot cocoa. Then we opened gifts. After dinner on Christmas Eve, we were allowed to open one gift. To make it look like us kids received a lot more than we did, mom would wrap batteries needed to operate a toy. Those she would put on the mantel of the fireplace. We would sometimes open one of those, knowing that if we received batteries, then there would be a cool toy under the tree! That way, we wouldn’t open something stupid like underwear, socks or pajamas. 

  Usually, dad played Santa Claus and we spoiled children would fling open all the gifts without recognizing who they were from, just that we got stuff. Stuff that we would call our friends on Christmas Day to see what they got. There was usually just a bunch of wrapping paper in a pile in the living room, with Grandma wearing the bows. (We should have buried her in a bow!) One could smell the scent of fresh plastic straight out of the box. If you're older than 50, then you know the smell. It’s like the smell of old tubes warming up. Kids these days have no idea how long we had to wait for the TV to warm up! And when it did, we only had 4 channels! But back to the chaos that was our early Christmas morning. Actually, it would start on Christmas Eve, when “Santa”, just a local Kiwanian or Jaycee dressed up as Santa, would bring us a bag of toys around 8pm. There were no socks or underwear or pajamas in there, just TOYS! (My brother ruined Christmas for me when I was about 7. I thought Santa actually brought the toys. But Doug took me into the garage and showed me the toys in mom’s hiding place. A few days later, they were the same toys Santa brought us.) Back in the day, we wouldn’t have to worry about being ripped off. They would call mom or dad to let them know they’d be there in about 5 minutes, so dad usually took the wrapped toys and put them out front so the Santa would put them in his bag when he got there. Then he’d ring the doorbell and shout out, “Ho, ho ho! Merry Christmas!”. Yes, Santa came to our door because us kids were that special. When you’re a kid, it’s all about the toys, as it should be. 

       

    When I was about 8 or 9, coming home from Midnight Mass, it hit me. As a younger child, I never thought about the name Christmas. To me, it just meant I'd get some good stuff like a Lite Brite, Lincoln Logs or an Easy Bake Oven, all of which I had as a child. That was cutting edge stuff! One year, my younger sister, Maureen and I received walkie talkies. So did our friend, Tommy, who lived on the other side of our fence. We had so much fun talking on those and then eventually setting up an illegal radio station. We didn’t know it was illegal until a trucker on the same frequency told us. We went back to just talking. Coming home from Midnight Mass that one year, I realized what Christmas meant: it was CHRIST’S MASS. A Mass for the baby Jesus. I still didn’t understand what Jesus had to do with my Hot Wheels set, but I figured out, all on my own, despite the years of CCD, that for some reason everyone received gifts on Christ’s Mass.  

      

    Scholars say that Jesus Christ was really born in the Spring, not the Winter. But as the Holy Roman Empire grew across Europe, replacing paganism, they needed a way to make it legal to celebrate Jesus and not the earth gods that the pagans celebrated. As December 21st was the shortest day of the year, pagans celebrated Saturnalia, celebrating the days to come that would bring more sunshine every day. To discourage people from celebrating a pagan feast – Saturnalia lasted for days – December 25th, which was about the middle of the Saturnalia celebration, was chosen to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Eventually, as people became Christianized, Saturnalia fell from the calendar and many of the traditions, such as lighting a tree, were taken from pagans and put in Christian traditions.

    But what does the birth of Jesus have to do with Christmas? The Magi, you might know them as the Three Wise Men, came from the East, possibly India, to bring gifts of Frankincense, Myrrh and Gold, to the Christ Child. What a baby would do with these things, I haven’t the slightest idea, but those were considered the top toys of the day. (I would’ve brought a binky or some nappies so Mary wouldn’t have to be washing all day!) It is Christ’s Mass, but why? What did the birth of Jesus have to do with the holiday? And where does Santa fit into all of this? 

I had to become an adult to realize all of that. 

    Many Christians don’t allow their children to sit on Santa’s lap and tell Santa their wishes. They believe that Santa is just a throwback to the pagan traditions of old. However, just as God sent His only begotten Son so that humans could finally mend the relationship with God through a figure they understood, Santa stands in for Jesus, so unbelievers might believe that there IS God, who grants us the ultimate gift – everlasting life.  

   

     Think about it. What was the best gift you ever received for Christmas? Do you still have it? Is it worth your life?     

    Santa grants the flesh tangible gifts. We receive cool stuff from Santa, Mom used to even put on the to/from tags on some of our toys that they were from Santa.

   

     The baby Jesus, would eventually die for our sins, thus fixing the connection we had lost with God because of our sins, the sins of the flesh.      

    Santa teaches us to give gifts. Jesus gave us the ultimate gift, his life, so that we may have Life Everlasting.  

    Wow!  

    

    All we need to do is to accept Him as our Lord and Savior.        

    

    Will it make our lives easier? No, it might even make it harder as Satan tries to get your soul back. But you’ll feel a JOY you didn’t know was possible. A JOY that no toy, be it an Easy Bake Oven or even the latest video game can.

    And this JOY will last eternally.  

    Merry CHRIST MASS!