Reclaiming the True Meaning of Christmas: The True St. Nicholaus

Hello again everyone! First off let me start by saying Merry Christmas (yes, still within the twelve days, so this is still a valid greeting)! I pray that the birth of Christ is filling all with a renewed hope. In most recent post I wrote a short piece on the writings of St. Leo the great. The idea of that post was a reminder to myself and others that Christ is to be the center of Christmas.

The message transcends time. It is not just simply celebrating the event. No, we must accept Christ into our hearts. The new born Christ must now be given a place at the inn, for if we do not open our hearts to Him, we leave Him cold like He was that night. I say this especially for myself.

It is there that we can really truly reclaim what the the season is. That being said there are things that stem from it as well. So today I want to talk about Santa Claus, sort of. By this I mean to try as much as possible to unwrap (forgive the pun here) who the man behind the suit is. Yes we have the cultural image of Santa Claus, Chris Kringle, or Jolly Old St. Nick, but there was a real person behind this. No he did not have reindeer or live in the North Pole or even come down chimneys, but there is a reason for the character.

The real person was actually a bishop. A man now canonized as Saint Nicholas. But who was he and why is he honored?

The reality is that very little is known about him. All that is really known about him is that he was a fourth century bishop in Myra which is in Lycia, in Asia minor. The real famous story about him has to do with his charity towards a singular man (not to say that the bishop was not charitible to anyone else but this story is seemingly the best known). The man who Saint Nicholaus helped was a poor man who was unable to find appropriate suiters for his daughters of marrying age. Rather than see them sold off into prostitution, Nicholas secretly threw a bag of gold through the window on three different occasions. As a result, the man's daughters were able to get married.

Later on, this story evolved into the traditions of gift giving on St. Nicholas' feast. Eventually the name Santa Claus was born from a twist of tongue. Which brings me to the real man himself and what he exemplifies.

In this season of giving we have to remember why we give. You see we are not to give for the purposes of receiving. Instead, the giving is out of love towards the other. It is a sincere charity of heart. And that really is the example that Nicholas sets. That and the love of the poor preached by Christ.

So now, as we contemplate why we give, let us remember the true St. Nicholas. A bishop leading a holy life by God's grace and prompted by charity to serve the other with nothing in it for himself. It was Saint Francis who said, "it is in giving that we receive," because we often find that we receive more than we give. But the goal is to give without getting anything back. Friends, let us remember this during Christmas and always.

Reclaiming the Reason for the Season

It has indeed been a long time since I posted last. This situation however presents me with the perfect time to post again.

We are now just about at Christmas. For us as Christians, the advent season which almost complete is for preparation for the celebration of Christmas. That is to prayerfully prepare for the profound mystery of Word Incarnate coming into the world in Bethlehem.

I write this in part, because I am most guilty of not prayerfully prepairing myself to recieve and celebrate this mystery. Luckily for me, I had one of the times where the right things were discussed at the right time.

In this case it was a discussion on the Incarnation taken from the sermons of St. Leo the Great. In these sermons, the great pontiff brings to life the mystery and majesty of Christ's entry into the world. He does while imploring the faith to act on and deepen their understanding of the mystery.

And so now, touched by the sword of Truth, I am now graced to write this. It is my blessing to say that by God's grace, I will have a deeper apprecialtion for the Blessed Lord's nativity. And in writing this, I hope that it will encourage all.

With such a short time to go, it is important for us all to prayerfully prepare ourselves to receive the mystery of the savior's birth in Manger. Likewise you should bring us to prayerful meditation of the nativity during the Christmas season to come.

The way we start is by remembering what the season is all about. It is simply put about Christ. In these sermons, St. Leo reminds us who the Christ child is. To paraphrase the great saint (although if I incidentally direct quote him, there will be citation at the end of this), Christ is the Word who "in the beginning was with God and is God. (John:1,1)" He tells us that Christ becomes human without losing any of His divinity.

Indeed it is. Christ by His design deined to become human. In one sermon St. Leo tells us that to defeat the work of Satan, Christ had to become human. He had to be the creature born free of original sin. In so doing defeating the fall.

And there's more. In fact it so much and so packed that I think the best plan is to read them for yourselves. Leo unravels the mystery of God becoming man. That Christ took flesh but remained divine. And yet being human, elivates our very nature. And most importantly he urges us to act upon and meditate on the message of Christmas.

So what do we conclude? We must remember that at the heart of Christmas is Christ. That it is His birth we laud. It is His first act of humility. Once again I paraphrase St. Leo, that Christ had to be Divine to be our remidy and human to be our example. Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the message we are to carry. This is the message to meditate on. Christ, Son of the Living God was born of the Virgin Mary on Christmas Day. All praise and honor to Him.

So now, despite this being all too brief, please let us reclaim the reason for the season.

Resources: http://newadvent.org/fathers/3603.htm (sermons 21-23 were of particular help) (sermons 21-29 are Christmas sermons)