Sacredness Amidst The Secular

I read the first couple chapters of Luke this morning, because the words there are so good at making the depth and breadth of the Christmas miracle real -- the prophesies, the recognition, God's hand in multiple lives to make his will known, and most miraculous, that God's spirit would enter a young woman to make a God-child because, of course, God has that power.

The simple, awesome wonder of Christ born stands in contrast to the secularization of Christmas, and every year the gifts, decorations, fru-fru and fruitcakes of Christmas cause many spiritual Christians discomfort, just as they make non-Christians incredulous of the entire religion.

Rev. Robert Sirico settles the discomfort like a spiritual Bromo with his Christmas essay, Christmas Sacred and Secular. Sirico, who serves as president of the Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty, writes:

A big Christmas need not be an insincere Christmas. This point was made by Benedict XVI before he became Pope. He noted in a 1977 essay that “nowadays a
theologian or a preacher is all but expected to heap more or less sarcastic
criticism on our popular way of celebrating Christmas ... Christmas, we are
told, has been commercialized irredeemably and has degenerated into a senseless
marketing frenzy; its religiosity has become tacky.”

“Of course,” he continued, “such criticism is largely justified, even though it might too readily forget that, behind the facade of business and sentimentality, the
yearning for something purer and greater is not entirely extinguished; indeed,
that the sentimental framework often provides the protecting shield behind which
hides a noble and genuine sentiment that is simply reluctant to expose itself to
the gaze of the other.”

For those who are offended by the commercialization of Christmas, Sirico goes back to the Pope's 1977 essay and finds a balm of solace:

[The Pope] is speaking about the core of good and virtuous intentions behind much of what is assailed as “commercialism.” Much of what people buy is for others. But what people do to commemorate Christmas reflects an inner sense that something extraordinary is occurred and continues to occur on the night of Jesus’ birth. All this fuss would not take place over a fat man in the red suit; it takes more than that to create the astonishing display that Christmas has become..

Yes indeed, all this fuss would not take place over a fat man in a red suit. It would be purer if the energy Christmas generates were focused more entirely on the spiritual, but it is undeniable that a great energy exists around this holiday, more so than any other.

And only one thing made it that way: Christ