Hebrews 11:9-10, 32-40; Matthew 1:1-15
V. Rev. Fr. Andrew Stephen Damick
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
We are now one week away from celebrating a great mystery of the Christian faith—the birth of the God-man Jesus Christ into this world. Yet as we approach this ancient Christian feast, whose date is not dependent in any way on paganism (despite what urban legends you may have heard) but actually on the feast of the Annunciation nine months before on March 25, we often experience an encroachment, a corruption of this great feast.
Every year, we hear about the so-called “war on Christmas.” We hear defiant complaints about people saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” We see painful commercialism rampant everywhere. We literally have an economy whose consumption requirements depend on buying and selling at this time of year.
And we see more insidious corruptions of this feast, as well. We are told that the true “meaning of Christmas” or “spirit of Christmas” is about being kind to other people, about giving to other people. We are told that the purpose of Christmas is to bring families together. And we even see some Christian churches closing their doors this next Sunday precisely so that people can spend time with their families but not worshiping the Lord Jesus in the House of God.
Read more at this link.
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