No Christmas Without Mary

Rev. Fr. Paul Lelen Haokip *

No Christmas Without Mary

INTRODUCTION:
Now, the Christmas hall, the animals for feast, the dresses, the liturgy, the Bible passages and the preachers are ready to decorate the feast of Christmas. In one interesting occasion, I came across a banner which read "MARY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR". In my mind I added, "MARY CHRISTMAS AND JOSEPH NEW YEAR". Probably, the artist must have intended "MERRY CHRISTMAS...".

NO MERRY CHRISTMAS:
I would agree with Joyous or Happy Christmas but not Merry Christmas. It was joyous as the angels and the shepherds rejoiced at the good news of hearing the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem. "And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors" (Luke 2:13-14). Merry is too mean to describe the birth of the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace who rejects none but embraces every being on earth.

MARY CHRISTMAS:
Even if one is unaware of the daddy, every child has to be normally born through a mother. Keep aside the IVF or surrogate motherhood for time being. Definitely, Mary had a tough time to be included in the historical event and story of the birth of Jesus Christ. Mary asked the angel "How can this be since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34). Her 'YES' came later after the assurance from the angel "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy: he will be called Son of God. And now your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:35-37). You can't possible leave out the mother at the birth of a child. Every culture has the good custom of visiting a child's birth with gifts and dietary items for the mother. What the mother consumes become the food of the child through the mammary glands. In reality, we are visiting, congratulating, strengthening and encouraging the mother to care the child. Therefore, in this way, Mary has 100% spiritual and physical participation in the life and history of Jesus.

CHRISTMAS IS A GOODNEWS:
Sadly, you will find a mixture of good news and bad news on Christmas. The good news is for the open heart, the listening ear and upturned eyes. The bad news is not to let Jesus enter your heart (life). The good news is conversion of the heart, not conversion to poverty through heavy expenses. The good news is family union not drunkenness and licentious life.

HOW DO WE HONOUR JESUS AT HIS BIRHT?
To me this is a continuous disturbing question. Somehow, it appears that we honour ourselves, the Christmas committee or some others on Christmas. In the Catholic Church we do have the reverence of the newly born babe Jesus through some gifts (money or kind) – the proceeds being used for some orphans, poor etc. Even if we don't butcher animals or make big expenses in the hall preparations, a simple visit to Jesus and devout attendance at the Holy Eucharist (thanksgiving) is a perfect Christmas. Christmas without Mass (Holy Eucharist) is empty and emptiness celebration is never valid.

CHRITMAS MEAN CHRIST-MASS:
The word 'Christmas' is centered around 'Christ' and 'Mass', not on the number of programs, the number of animals or the amount of money collected. It is from Middle English 'Cristemasse', which is from Old English 'Cristesmæsse', a phrase first recorded in 1038 followed by the word Cristes-messe' in 1131. 'Crist' (genitive Cristes) is from Greek 'Khristos', a translation of Hebrew 'Mašîa?/Messiah"; and 'mæsse' is from Latin 'missa', the celebration of the Eucharist. The form "Christenmas" was also historically used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal; it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse, literally "Christian mass". "Xmas" is an abbreviation of Christmas found particularly in print, based on the initial letter chi (?) in Greek 'Khristos'.

CONCLUSION:
Try celebrating your birthday without your mother and see how fulfilling/empty the celebration is. Try celebrating the birth of Jesus without Mary and her sacrifices, see how empty or fulfilling the celebration is. You can't celebrate Christmas without Mass, Mary and your Mother. You need 3Ms on Christmas. May you celebrate a meaningful Christmas with Mass, respecting Mary and thanking your Mother. Wishing you all a new way of celebrating the Christmas.