Merry Christmas! Out upon
merry Christmas! What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills
without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour
richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a
round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my
will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with
'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and
buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should! (Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)
Most of us do not
understand Scrooge’s lack of merriment during Christmas. For us, Christmas is a
warm, cheerful time in which we gather with family and friends, give and
receive gifts, eat too much and sing festive songs. However, it wasn’t always
that way.
The early
celebrations of Christmas were rather somber. There were no festivities. There
was only church, and that consisted of a typical mass. In fact, the name of the
holiday is simply “Christ’s mass.” There were no Christmas carols to sing. The
only songs that spoke of the birth of Jesus were drab. They were only written
in Latin, which was not the common language. Therefore, only the priests could
sing them.
All of that changed
forever, in the early 1200’s. Francis of Assisi, was concerned that the common
people were missing out on the joy of celebrating the birth of Christ, because
they only observed it by going to formal worship services. He wanted the people
to be able to celebrate themselves.
Around 1223, Francis
recruited a few people and gathered some animals together for a new project. He
dressed them in Biblical costumes and staged the first nativity scene in a
nearby cave. He then invited the townspeople to come to the cave to view the
depiction of the Savior’s birth.
About that same
time, Francis also wrote a song for the common people to sing at Christmas.
Instead of the formal melodies they heard at church, he set it to the tune of a
popular song of the day. He called the song a “carol,” which is taken from the
French word for “dancing in a circle.” The word was borrowed from the pagan
ritual of dancing in a circle during the Winter Solstice.
St. Francis wanted people to be joyful and
festive when they celebrate the Lord’s birth. We have Him to thank for making
our Christmas a “merry” time. However, let’s not make the mistake of moving too
far in the other direction. It would be as much of a mistake to get so caught
up in “making merry” that we forget what we are celebrating.
Jesus came into this
world as a baby. He left as our Savior. He was born, died and rose from the
dead, that we might have life. That is why we celebrate. That is why we
remember the night of His birth through our nativity scenes. That is why we
sing, “O Come All Ye Faithful,” and
other carols.
This is important to
remember, so when the decorations come down; when the Christmas songs are no
longer playing on the radio; when all of the gifts have been opened; we will
still have the joy of Christ in our hearts all year long.
“I will honour Christmas in my heart, and
try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the
Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out
the lessons that they teach”…“It's Christmas Day!" said Scrooge to
himself. "I haven't missed it.” (Ebenezer Scrooge)
I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”(Luke 2:10-14)
