Put the Mass Back in Christmas

Christmas is a major front in the cultural war going on for the soul of our nation. On the left stands liberalism, progressivism, and secularism, whose chief end is to create a religiously neutral society (leftist slang for ‘hostile to Christianity’). On the right stands Christendom, its advocates seeking to maintain the blend of holy and secular holiday traditions which they have known since their youth. The only common ground the two sides have is the annual rash of spending and consuming that accompanies the ‘holiday season’.

The real problem is that American Christians have forgotten what Christmas is all about. The right is trying to drown out the left’s mantra of “Happy Holidays” with demands to “Put Christ back in Christmas”, and “Jesus is the reason for the season”, and by throwing “Happy birthday, Jesus” parties. Long ago, however, mainstream American Christianity exchanged the true meaning of Christmas for Santa Claus and his catalogs full of toys. While gifts and parties are nice, they are not rooted in any religious understanding of the holiday, but are rather an ill-fated attempt to sanctify secular festivities. This unfortunate reality was most evident a few years ago, when Christmas fell on a Sunday, and many Churches canceled worship services. The problem is that American churches see Christians as individual consumers of spirituality… the only difference between the secular and holy celebrations of Christmas has become the objects of consumption.

We will never be able to put Christ back in Christmas until we put the mass back in Christmas. It is not enough to reduce our spending and curb our activities. We must refocus our attention toward the only true meaning of Christmas. At the Nativity we celebrate the mystery of the Incarnation, that God became Man in the Person of Jesus Christ.

There is no other proper place to celebrate this great Feast than with God’s people, in God’s house, before God’s altar. What’s more, our celebration of the Feast is not limited to mental exercises of imagining ourselves before that manger in Bethlehem two-thousand years ago. In the eucharist the mystery of the Incarnation is repeated before us as Christ becomes present in the bread and wine. If we Christians want to proclaim the truth of the Christian holiday, then we must put the mass back in Christmas, for it is in the mass that we proclaim and celebrate the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation and Nativity.

Fr. Matt

Adapted from: Carlton, Clark. “Putting Mass Back Into Christmas“, Faith and Philosophy: Reflections on Orthodoxy and Culture. Ancient Faith Radio. 24 Dec 2008.