Earlier this week, an opinion piece entitled “Skipping Christmas“ on the Associated Baptist Press’ website addressed this trend. Brett Younger wrote:

The big issue is not that people will skip church on Sunday. The real problem is that churches are failing to tell the truth about Christmas. … On Sunday, Christians would do well to gather, sing, pray and listen to the story. We should celebrate by remembering the first Christmas and giving ourselves again to the one born in Bethlehem.

In general, I agree (although I take odds with the part about skipping Sunday worship not being a “big issue”; Christians ought to worship every Sunday). I chimed in with this comment:

I think the Catholic Church has the right emphasis on Christmas. It is a holy day of obligation regardless of what day of the week it falls on. Gathering together for worship is the primary emphasis of this holiday (holy-day), and the rest (family meals, exchanging gifts, etc.) is secondary. Perhaps all Christian congregations regardless of denomination should be encouraged to have a Christmas Day service every year, even if it isn’t on Sunday. Our culture won’t “put the Christ back in Christmas” if we believers don’t do it first.

When asked what my family and I will be doing for Christmas, I try to make a point to my friends, extended family and coworkers that we’ll be attending mass. I’m not obnoxious about it, but I try to gently convey that worship is the main purpose of the holiday. After all, it is “Christ’s Mass,” the day we celebrate the Nativity of the Lord.

So if you get in conversations today, encourage people to worship either at a Christmas Eve service or a Christmas Day service. That’s the real meaning of Christmas!

http://www.jimmyakin.org/2011/03/lent-fight-update.html

Jimmy Akin of Catholic Answers provides a great guide for various Lent questions. Enjoy!

Still one of the greatest scenes of any television Christmas special: Amidst all the worldly commercial and materialistic distractions of the season, Linus reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas. He reads from the King James Version of the Holy Bible:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, 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, good will toward men. (Luke 2:8–14 KJV)

“That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

Merry Christmas to all!

At the end of the article, there is a link to a questionnaire (not the full 32 questions mentioned in the article, but an excerpt of 15 questions). See how you do:
http://features.pewforum.org/quiz/us-religious-knowledge

I’d share that I got 15-out-of-15, but that might come across as ”Pride”…one of the seven deadly sins! :-)

Get the full article here: “Episcopal nuns become Catholic nuns“

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7)

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, nor about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add one cubit to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O men of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek all these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day’s own trouble be sufficient for the day. (Matthew 6:25-34)

At every mass, we are reminded of these promises in the doxology said by the priest, right after the Lord’s Prayer: “Deliver us Lord from every evil and grant us peace in our day. In your mercy, keep us free from sin and deliver us from all anxiety…”

But take heart! The good news is that Catholics neither (a) consider Mary to be a goddess nor (b) worship her.

Catholics think that it is appropriate to call Mary the “queen of heaven” for two reasons:

• Her son is the King, making her the queen mother. More than just an honorary role, the queen mother was an office in the Davidic kingdom. As one Protestant encyclopedia explains, “The gebhirah, or queen mother, occupied a position of high social and political importance; she took rank almost with the king.”
• The Bible depicts her as “wearing a crown of twelve stars” in heaven (Revelation 12:1), which is appropriate given her role as the queen mother of Christ the King.

But does the title’s pagan usage make it inappropriate to apply in a Christian context? By all means no! Just because the title was applied to a false queen of heaven in the Old Testament does not mean that the title cannot be used for the true queen of heaven.

There is strong Biblical precedent for this in the title “king of kings”. In the Old Testament, two pagan rulers were called “king of kings”:

• Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon – Daniel 2:37 and Ezekiel 26:7.
• Artaxerxes, king of Persia – Ezra 7:12

In spite of the pagan use of “king of kings”, we appropriately apply the title to Jesus Christ, our ultimate and true King of Kings, in 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14 and Revelation 19:16.

So we see from Scripture that it is certainly appropriate to call the Blessed Virgin Mary “Queen of Heaven.”