Fr Greeley--We don't have to take Christmas back

[Maeve]

Remembering that "Christmas" doesn't end on Christmas Day--it starts then--I thought you might enjoy this from a priest in his 50th year of service:
http://www.suntimes.com/output/greeley/cst-edt-greel31.html

The final paragraph:
"So with all due respect to our "evangelical" brothers and sisters who fight to "take back" Christmas, I am arguing, with some irony, that they've got it all wrong. We don't have to take it back because no one has ever taken it away (even the New England puritans who kept public schools in Boston open on Christmas in the late 19th century). Nor can anyone ever take it away.

The Light came into the darkness and the darkness cannot put it out."

[Hans Delbrook]

1. That was wonderful!

That summed up my feelings perfectly. How ironic - I just had a similar "discussion" w/ My Mom and brother earlier tonight.

[Reverend_Smitty]

2. What a great article

I was flipping around the television last night and I stopped upon that Jack Van Impe show for a few minutes of vomit inducing fire and brimstone. They were railing against all of us "secularists" because when Macy's employees can't say Merry Christmas that is somehow on par with eliminating Christ entirely from our memories. My feeling is, if you are so insecure with your religion that you need to be beat over the head with bible verses and Christian symbols everywhere you turn are you really a good Christian at all.

Guys like Van Impe and Robertson make me think that they have no idea about the history of Christmas at all. Every time I hear someone say that we have taken Christ out of Christmas I want to reach through the TV and slap them (I know not very Christian of me). There was an interesting show on the History Channel that chronicles the history of Christmas and there were many times throughout history that Christmas wasn't even observed (like puritan england) and only the Catholics would attend mass on the 25th.