What a strange spectacle in our present day situation of trying to do away with the Christian meaning of Christmas, so much so that every reminder of the origin and true meaning of this Holy Day and Season is to be erased and replaced with references to other religions, with a “holiday tree” in place of a crèche, with “Jingle Bells” instead of “Silent Night.” Even Time and Newsweek have chimed in with their “great theological and historical expertise,” printing stories by “Christians,” who have lost the Faith, that deny the historical basis of Christ’s birth as recorded in the Gospels. Why, I would ask, is the historicity of the New Testament doubted or dismissed simply because the Scriptures are religious in nature? The presumption is, according to these “scholars,” that if something of the past presents itself as supernatural in origin it must be simply a fable or fairy tale. But this presumption is not coming from a true scientific or historical perspective; it is, rather, springing from a certain philosophical stance, and a narrow one at that, which denies the possibility of miracle. Now, one’s personal philosophy is of his own choosing, true enough, but, please, let’s not parade it around as if it is hard science or the fruit of historical research; for the historical evidence for the occurrence of miracles is overwhelming, and it is very unscientific to ignore such evidence.
    Nearly everyone, it seems, especially the retailer, enjoys the spirit of these holidays we Christians still dare to call Christmas: the beautiful scene of the Madonna lovingly holding her precious Child with St. Joseph watching with protective, fatherly care; the message of the Angels to poor shepherds assuring them, and us, that this world is not without hope of a Savior; the slow, intelligent march of the Wise Men from the East, representing all nations, toward the place of the Holy Family’s residence to pay homage to this One Who is the Gift of God Himself, a message come-in-the-flesh showing us that God-is-with-us. This is all beautiful and has been the inspiration for the greatest art ever produced in this fallen yet redeemable world. What would it be without Christ? Can we still with joy carry on with our holiday giving without an awareness of the Gift our own giving is to reflect? Can we Catholics go on feasting in late December without the knowledge that Christ came into our world to offer His flesh and blood for our salvation, received in the daily Feast of the Most Holy Eucharist? Can we citizens of the modern world retain the spirit of Christmas if we forget or do away with the underlying “body” of the Christian story of a true and real Virgin Birth of One who Himself claimed repeatedly to not only be from God but God Himself come in human flesh?
    For a long time now the West has been trying to live off the fruits of the Christian story while denying the reality of it, and in a brazen act of an absolute denial of history, the European Union could not even bring itself to mention Christianity in its founding document and constitution. But this is a symptom of a much deeper problem, the sign of a disease that has infected many so-called Christians, including Catholics. Let me illustrate. In nearly eight years of priesthood, I have often heard the complaint that I pay too much attention to dogma and doctrine, when “we should all be seeking to live out practically the message of Jesus” (or something to that effect). But what is, in the Bible and Catholic Faith, the “message of Jesus”? It is precisely the doctrines of our Faith. Whence I ask those who claim that dogma is not important – from where is the unique Christian understanding of love that so shocked the pagan world at the time of Christ’s birth and the later evangelization of the empire? I answer: from the revealed dogma of the Blessed Trinity, source of all love, who is Love, the Being of God Himself, the divine and eternally joyful communion of Three Persons in perfect love. “I made known to them thy name,” Jesus prayed to the Father, “and I will make it known, that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.” From where did the understanding of the worth and dignity of the human person come, an understanding that is at the very root of Western ideals of human rights and freedom? It also came from the dogma of the Trinity – indeed, as has our insight into the very idea of a “person” – that man is created in the image and likeness of God, a Community of Divine Persons, whose love, unity, and fellowship we are to reflect in human society, first and foremost in the family. Whence the Western idea of the dignity and equality of women if not from our Lord’s teaching (yes, doctrine) concerning the Sacrament of Matrimony?
    I could go on and on. But there is further evidence for what I am claiming: as the modern world rejects Catholic dogmas and doctrines – those concerning Christmas as well as the ones mentioned above and others – we see behavior that is starting to conform to this denial of Christianity: in our country with some four thousand abortions a day, rampant divorce (and the damage done to the human heart, especially the hearts and psyches of children and women), the sexual abuse of “partners” in liaisons that are devoid of any semblance of that self-giving love that so marks the Christian understanding of God (especially at Christmas!), which is to be incarnated into every Christian life. In the land that once stood against Hitler in a self-sacrificing solidarity with the Jewish people – Holland – postpartum infants are euthanized as well as the elderly, even against their will. The marvelous Christian revelation of the heart of God – that He would come among us through her who is the pattern of all womanhood and motherhood, He Who would venture into our world as a tiny child – is overtly rejected in the selfish contraceptive lifestyle that is depopulating Europe and soon America.
    So, what is needed is not the silly admonition to ignore dogma and just “live out the message of Jesus.” His message is the dogma and doctrines of the Church. In other words, there is no Christmas, nor even any genuine “holiday season,” without Christ. The dogmas of the Trinity, the Annunciation, the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Hypostatic Union (Christ’s divine and human natures united in the Divine Person of the Son of God), the nature of the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, where Christ’s followers are bound together in faith and love – all that Jesus Christ revealed to us of God, His purpose in coming among us, are essential to any true living out of the Christian life. Modern man has by and large rejected these dogmas and now wonders why a dark curtain is closing over much of the world. He tries to keep the “Christmas spirit” while rejecting Him who is the source of the Spirit who really makes Christmas what it is.

Don’t be afraid to say “Merry Christmas”!