Why is it called Christmas and why is it on December 25th? Article by Troy Stevens, First Sunday in Advent, November 30, 2014 The word Christmas is the combination of two words: Christ and mass. Mass is the coming together of the faithful for the sacrament of communion. Once a year, a special mass is held to honour and remember the coming of Jesus, the Christ. Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew Meschiach, meaning anointed one, or Messiah in its anglicized form. At the time of Jesus birth, the Jews of the Roman province of Judea were hoping for the coming of their deliverer, the Messiah. Christ’s birth is important to us because this is when God spiritually “Hit the reset button of humanity” by coming to earth in order to lead us into the light and away from darkness.There is a parallel with the celebrations in pagan cultures of the winter solstice. Many of these festivals predate the birth of Christ. Because many ancient religions revolved around the external world, they all had their own versions of celebrating the solstice. A common theme was the struggle between good and evil, darkness and light, with good reviving itself in victory as the days became longer. If pagans converting to Christianity could identify with any time of year to understand the significance of the Christian idea of being born again, it would be this one. The winter solstice illustrated to pagan cultures dying to an old life and coming alive to new life in Christ. This came to be an important aspect of the celebration of Christ’s birth near the winter solstice. Romans celebrated the winter solstice with Saturnalia, a harvest festival worshipping the sun god and the god Saturn. Saturnalia was celebrated with six days of overindulgence, and carousing leading up to the solstice. It was usually celebrated on December 17 to 23.The Roman Emperor Constantine declared in 336 CE that people would no longer worship their old gods, but turn to Christianity. Some say that the 25th of December came from the celebration of Sol Invictus a Roman sun god, but Christians in Antioch, of modern-day Turkey, celebrated December 25th as far back as 250CE. In 350CE Pope Julius declared December 25th as the official celebration of the birth of Christ. Early witnesses say that Christmas was not intended to replace any existing festivals, however, since Romans had so many festivals, Christmas was bound to overlap something. As Christianity spread, people left their old religions and, like the Romans brought many of their traditions with them. The Church assimilated many of these traditions to give them new meaning so they could point to Christ. Even Christian Festivals like the “Feast of St. Nicholas” and the “Feast of Adam & Eve” with their traditional practices were amalgamated into Christmas over time. We should note that many pagan traditions that became absorbed into Christmas did not survive the centuries and are no longer practiced. But is December 25th the right date? Oddly enough, when we changed from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar in 1582CE we lost 13 days of the calendar year, meaning the original December 25th is technically January 7th which some denominations still practice. So perhaps the question is, “What’s in a Date?” Scholars today, like the scholars in 350CE, have proposed a variety of alternative dates for the birth of Christ. One of them might be right, some of them could be wrong, but does that change what Christmas is and what it represents? If someone doesn’t have a birth record and a birthday is chosen for them, when friends and family celebrate his or her birthday, is their meaning and admiration any less? Is it any different for Jesus son of Mary? The story is told that during the World Wars, Christmas was able to do what governments could not do and for one day, the fighting stopped. Obviously, the power is not in the date of Christmas; but what it means. God brings hope and joy into history - and into our hearts - starting with the birth of Jesus Christ. No date can change this. On Christmas Eve, December 24, we will be having a Family Service with Holy Communion at 7pm, and a Candle Light service with Holy Communion at 11:00pm. Join us with your family and friends as we celebrate the arrival of Christmas.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 03:15:31 +0000
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