Merry Christmas - Or Is It?

First of all, let me say, "Merry Christmas" for today a savior has been born for us, it is Christ the Lord, Jesus Christ the Lord.  We celebrate this day because it marks the point in history that the promise made to us that God would send us a savior was fulfilled. That is news of great joy.  

Unfortunately, it did not happen as our sentimental songs suggest in the silence of winter when everything was cold and people hunkered down inside their houses. We cannot even calculate with much certainty the year of the birth of Jesus.  

If we are to believe the Scriptures in this matter, which I most certainly do, we find that the shepherds were tending their flocks by night.  They would not be doing this in the cold winter months, the sheep would be penned up, close to home.  So it is certain that if you would travel in time back to what you calculated as the birthday of our savior, you most likely would miscalculate and not find what you are looking for.

The Romans had a feast to their sun god and it was on the 25th of December which they called  "the feast of the unconquered sun  or Sol Invictus."  It came right after the longest night of the year and celebrated the triumphant return of the sun.  We Catholics co-opted this holiday and that is why we celebrate Christmas in winter.

Some make a big deal about this and say that the Church has corrupted itself by taking on this pagan holiday and converting it to a Christian one.  But in the long run, the pagan holiday disappeared as all things that are false will and we celebrate arguabily the second greatest day in history.  I say second greatest because I think Easter, where death is destroyed is more important but hey, without Christmas, we would not have a reason to celebrate Easter.