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Why the Church celebrate the Birth of Jesus on December 25th

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There are many theories as to how the Church determined when to celebrate the birth of the Christ. Here is another one.

This is the time of year when we hear of arguments being raised against the display of nativity scenes in public places and the substitution of generic holiday greetings for ‘Merry Christmas’ in department stores and retail outlets. Initially, the argument was based on the constitutional separation of church and state, but motivated by an exaggerated fear of offending non-believers, the celebration of Christmas has been under attack. Even some practicing Christians have begun to retreat from celebrating Christ’s birth on December 25th because they have been told that the origins of Christmas are pagan and have nothing at all to do with God sending His Son.

Perhaps it is time that the full truth were known.

It is not exactly true to say that the Scriptures never mention the date of the birth of Jesus. Actually they do, since the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke all make it clear that Jesus died on the 14 of Nissan, a day which corresponded to March 25th in the Latin calendar or April 6 in the reckoning of the Greeks. The ancients believed that a person died on the day which marked his or her conception, and this is one reason why the Church celebrates the feast of Our Lord’s conception - the Annunciation - on March 25th and then counts nine months to His birth. This is also why the Eastern Catholic Churches celebrate the birth of Christ on January 6th, while we commemorate his Epiphany.

Do the Gospels contain any other information which would help us calculate when Christ was born? Indeed they do and while this may read somewhat like a mystery, if you follow closely you will gain a great insight.

First, turn to St. Luke’s Gospel, to the passage referred to as the ‘Canticle of Zechariah,’ in 1:5-24. The story tells of a high priest named Zechariah who had been chosen to offer the sacrifice of incense in the temple at Jerusalem. Outside, St. Luke tells us, the people were waiting for the priest to make his appearance, but inside the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to tell him that his prayer has been answered. Gabriel goes on to say that Zechariah and his elderly wife Elizabeth will conceive and bear a son, whom they are to name ‘John.’

Catholics are familiar with this story and remember that when the Angel’s promise comes to pass Zechariah and Elizabeth become the parents of John the Baptist. What most people fail to realize is that St. Luke has given us some important clues in his story concerning the birthday of Jesus. What Zechariah is celebrating in the Holy of Holies of the Temple is the Jewish Day of Atonement, called Yom Kippur. Even today on Yom Kippur, one week after Rosh Hoshanah, the Jewish New Year, pious Jews the world over will ask God to release them from their sins . Rosh Hoshanah generally falls in early to mid September (counting 183 days from Passover), so Yom Kippur falls in mid September, about the 21st of the month (although it can be as late as October).

Continuing to read in Luke (1:26-56) we come to the Annunciation of Our Lord, when Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary, asking her to cooperate in the most significant event is history: the birth of Our Savior Jesus. Much can and has been written of this, but of relative importance to our question about when Christ was born is Luke’s note that this second annunciation occurred six months after Elizabeth had become pregnant.

Now this is where your math skills come in handy! Elizabeth conceives around September 21st and six months later is March 21st. This is the date that Mary conceives. The length of a woman’s pregnancy is 40 weeks, or 9 months and a couple of days. Add nine months and a couple of days to the date of Our Lord’s Annunciation in mid-March and we arrive at December 25th, Christmas Day, a date, which confirms the calculations made working backwards from the date of Our Lord’s crucifixion.

These were the same calculations that the early Church made when they chose December 25th for the annual celebration of the birthday of Jesus. While the pagan Romans were celebrating their feast of Saturn (the Saturnalia) from December 13th through the 18th, the Christians in the empire were preparing for a much more important celebration one week after the end of Saturnalia.

Romans celebrated no holiday on December 25th until the last quarter of the third century when Diocletian (Emperor from 284 to 305) made that day the “Feast of the Unconquerable Sun.” (Some scholars believe this was the work of Diocletian’s predecessor Aurelian.) Since there is clear evidence that Christmas was already being celebrated in the principal cities of the western empire, Diocletian’s new feast must have been meant to usurp the Christian holy day by turning the day into a pagan feast and a civic holiday.

Thus it was not the Catholic Church that introduced a pagan celebration into Christianity; but the pagans who attempted to usurp a Christian holy day. And now, as we hear it said, “you know the rest of the story

Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic- Part 2

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Prayer-

In researching what separates the 7% of Dynamic Catholics from the other 93%, Matthew Kelly found 264 distinct characteristics. However, he grouped them into four areas. The first is daily prayer.

But let’s start with a math quiz. Suppose that there are 8 Catholics eating dinner discussing this issue. Now suppose that 3 of them decide to leave and try to change or upgrade their lives. How many Catholics are left at the dinner? Answer, there are still 8. Deciding or even trying to do something is not the same as actually doing it. You need to actually do it. This book goes to great lengths to not overwhelm a person. We can commit to small changes each week and form new habits. Usually it takes about a month to form a new habit.

When asked almost all Catholics say that they pray; most say they do each day. But they do so when the mood hits them. Whereas the committed Catholics actually have a routine within a routine. This is to say that they pray at the same time each day in the same place each day and the same way each day. They find a comfortable quiet place and follow the same exercise each day. What do they do?

Unfortunately we do a poor job of teaching Catholics how to pray, so they have stumbled into a method by trial and error. Some of them go to daily Mass. Some read a chapter of scripture then dwell on something that catches their attention. Some read a few pages from a spiritual book. Whatever you choose to do start small and add a little each week.

We learn to talk to God as if he is a loving father which he is. For those of us that were fortunate enough to grow up in a loving, fully functional family, this is easy but for others you may have to look to some other relationship that was nurturing as you grew up. Then talk to God about your day and the coming events seeking strength and guidance. Remember to adopt an attitude of gratitude, giving thanks for all the good the Lord has done for us.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Parable of the Good Samaritan

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Let us reason together.

There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said, “Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus said to him, “What is written in the law? How do you read it?” He said in reply, “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” He replied to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But because he wished to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight .He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper with the instruction, ‘Take care of him. If you spend more than what I have given you, I shall repay you on my way back.’ Which of these three, in your opinion, was neighbor to the robbers’ victim?” He answered, “The one who treated him with mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.” Luke 10:25-37.

“what must I do to inherit eternal life?” That is our question as well, maybe our most important question. What must I do to inherit eternal life? That question is raised several times in scripture and we should pay special attention whenever it appears. Therefore, let us reason together.

The gospel says that an attorney with an attitude stood up to test him. That is never a good idea. But Jesus uses the opportunity to teach a lesson. He reads the man’s heart and says to the man you already know the answer. The Lawyer quotes Deuteronomy where Moses summarizes the Ten Commandments. But Jesus adds something that has been missing from the law since shortly after Moses himself. He adds love. The first of the commandments show us how to love God and the later ones show us how to love one another.

The emphasis is as it was originally been designed; it is now on love. In fact he ties love of God and love of neighbor together. To you and me it means that not only must we love that person that we share the sign of peace but also with that person who cuts us off in the parking lot in order to beat us to dinner.

But it gets even worse. The keeper of the law then goes on to ask who constitutes his neighbor causing Jesus to tell us a parable in which the heroine is a Samaritan. Therefore, we should seek to understand who a Samaritan is at least in relation to the Jews.

A short summary of Jewish history would start with the Promised Land around 1250 BC. King Saul is followed by King David who is followed by King Solomon. King Solomon dies approximately 930 BC. His son promises to raise the already heavy tax burden which causes a rebellion which divides the 12 tribes. The northern tribes will from there be known as Israel while the lower tribe will be called the Jews. The northern tribes include a region known as Samaria. In 722 BC the Assyrians will capture the area and deport the men and then bring other conquered peoples into the land to marry the women left behind. This produced and mixed race of people and religious confusion.

This impure blood line together with a mixture of faith caused hatred between the two groups. This hatred at the time of Jesus was more than 700 years old. The lawyer had such a hatred that he would not even say that the Samaritan was a good guy. He simply said that it was the one who was merciful.

You and I cannot even comprehend hating some one that long as we have not even been a country for more than a few hundred years. But the message of the gospel is that we must love that person that we could hate the most.

There is a second lesson. I would like to decode some of the story and then let you see if you can determine the second lesson yourself. First, with most parable stories it should be noted that one of the characters is that of Jesus and one of the characters is you and I. lets first determine who Jesus is. How many of you would think that Jesus is the Good Samaritan. You would be correct of course. However, there is another possibility. Anyone wish to guess. The man who was abused is described as having been “beaten, stripped and left for dead. That describes Jesus during the passion. We should remember that he was both the sacrifice and the one offering the sacrifice. We should note that no one would think that the robbers are identified as God. We know that God is not the author of evil even though he sometimes permits evil to happen to us so that he can turn it into a blessing.

Next we see that the Samaritan washes the man’s wounds with water and oil and wine. What does that remind you of? Think about that one. What does that remind you of? Those are the elements of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation and Eucharist. These represent the sacraments of initiation where we enter the church.

Next we find that the victim is taken to and Inn. What does this represent? Why do we need a hotel in the Old Testament time? People traveled in caravans or large groups with their own bedding.

In order to understand what an Inn was we need to understand that our system of law enforcement is different today that it was then. A person who resided in Jerusalem was protected by the laws and security of the city of Jerusalem. Travelers would occasionally stay at an inn because it provided security for them and their flocks. They would pay for such services. We would call these as a house of sanctuary. Actually you are more familiar with this than you realize. While I am no linguist I am told that the word for sanctuary in either Greek or Latin is “parish”. Here we have another clue.

At the beginning I told you that one of the characters of the story represents you and me. Well I am going to shorten this by telling you that you and I are the inn keeper..

Do you see a theme that has significance to you and me?

Let us reason together. Jesus tells us first he washed him in the sacraments of water, oil and wine. Then he took his to the parish and told the inn keeper to take care of him and that some day he would return and make things right with the inn keeper. Further, he says that someday he will return to settle accounts.

If Jesus sends people in need to the Church what are we supposed to do with them? Administer the sacraments and then love on them. Love them to physical and spiritual health; care for one another, even the ones that we may be inclined to hate.

One Random Act of Kindness Can Change to World

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One Random Act of Kindness Can Change to World

More than 25 years ago I heard a story that had a profound effect on my life. It was a story told by a professional story teller. His name you will remember as Mr. Paul Harvey.

The story takes place in a small town in the Midwest during the depression years. I like the think that it may have one of the small towns around where Mr. Harvey grew up and that he may have known the characters personally.

It seems that an old gentleman came to a new town and opened a new general store. Most of the townspeople would probably admit that the new guy had a better selection of merchandise and that his prices were a little better but they preferred to shop at the original store. After all this was an outsider and if you’ve ever lived in a small town then you know how cruel they can be to outsiders. In addition, he was different, he was Jewish.

There was lots of talk about Jewish people in those days. It was the depression era and many had no money and maybe there was some resentment toward the rich and maybe the Jewish people were thought to be the rich.

One fall afternoon, the old shopkeeper stood in his doorway looking down the street. There wasn’t much business because of the local attitude and the fact that no one had any money. It was not a cold fall day but it was too cool for one of the two boys walking down the street to be bare footed. So he called them to his store and wouldn’t let them leave until the one boy had found some new shoes and warm socks. The boy kept saying that he had no money. Finally the old shopkeeper told him that he should keep the shoes and if someday he had money he could pay him, if not then that was ok too but no one should go through a cold winter without shoes. So the boys left and we don’t hear anymore about the old shopkeeper.

But we see the boys again a few years later. They are aboard a troop carrier moving north through Italy toward the German lines. It is during World War II. At one point the caravan stopped and the men got out stretching their legs. Next to the road was an old church with an old priest and several nuns. They were supervising a lot of young kids. One of the boys approached the priest and found out that these kids had been hidden from the Nazis because they were Jewish. Further, they no longer knew where their parents were and to make matters worse, there was no more food to give them.

About that time the horn sounded and all the men reloaded the truck and left. They did not go far before they stopped for the night. But one of the boys could not sleep. Finally he woke his friend and convinced him to help. They quietly snuck out of camp; stole a truck and broke into supply where they loaded the truck with food. Mr. Harvey in his usual fashion detailed how many hundreds of pounds of this and that that they loaded.

Then the boys were discovered and arrested. They were in a lot of trouble. They could be sentenced to death for their crimes but they managed to talk the military into helping them to deliver the food and to keep the priest supplied. Further, they talked the military into helping to locate the parents. As they were unloading the truck the old priest blessed the young man saying that he had the love of God within him. But the young man said in response; “Do not thank me but instead thank the old Jewish gentleman back home who taught me the true meaning of love.

Sometimes an opportunity comes along where we can change the lives of others. This is the true meaning of humility and love; thinking of someone other than ourselves. The old Jewish shopkeeper never knew what impact his act of kindness accomplished but a distant cousin in heaven knows and remembers all our acts; good and bad. One random act of kindness helped an entire group of homeless children. You and I might consider performing one random act of kindness. We too may never know the implications of our actions but we can know that God will use our kindness to change the world if we would only cooperate with him.

What would happen if we convenience those at our Church to do this on a regular basis? With happen that the Church would develop a reputation? Certainly, it would. Would it change your life or mine? Yes, it would.

What would happen if other churches then began to practice this and then maybe the town? Would it change the hearts of the people? Yes it would. It would change the world.

The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic

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The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic- Part 1

By Matthew Kelly

 

iStock_000009018744XSmallWhile this book is addressed to Roman Catholics it is just as applicable to all the faithful. Every pastor would profit from reading this book. I know of one Catholic Pastor who is requiring his entire staff to study and discuss these concepts and I suspect that he will set up classes the introduce these practices to his congregation. Even I am considering how I might share this with my family and friends.

Most everyone is familiar with the Pareto Principle. It states that roughly 80 percent of effects come from 20 percent of causes. In other words, 80 percent of your business is produced by 20 percent of your customers. The author, familiar with this principle, begins the book with the question. “Does this apply to other aspects of life?” In other words, what percent of the people of the parish donate 80 percent of the money and what percent of the people donate 80 percent of the time to parish ministries?

After an investigation he found that 6.8 percent of the people donate 80 percent of the money to the parish. Further, 6.4 percent of the people contribute 80 percent of the hours to the Church. In addition, he found that there was an 84 percent overlap between the two. It is worse than the underlying principle of the 80/20 rule. Here roughly 7 percent do it all. While it may not at first appear so, this is actually good news.

The Catholic Church around the world every single day feeds more people, houses more people, clothes more people, cares for more sick, visits more prisoners and educates more students than any other institution on the planet and they do most of it with only 7 percent of those who are Catholic. Look at how much room there is to grow.

Look at what could happen if it could be raised from 7% to 14% or 21%. What could we do if we found a way to double the involvement and contributions from today over the next seven years? That is just one percent for each of the next seven years. For a parish with 100 families that is just an increase of only one per year. These are pretty modest goals, surely attainable.

The only question is how we do that. If only there was a way to determine what those seven percent had in common and that the ninety-three percent was lacking. Well,…… this is just what the author has researched. Want to know what the four signs of a dynamic catholic would include. I do not wish to give away the ending. You must read the book and then we will talk about it.