Merry Christmas!

 

I think of this as my Charlie Brown nativity scene.  It was only $12 on Amazon, because it was damaged.  When it arrived, the donkey’s ears were broken off (I could only find one); the ox’s horns were broken off (I couldn’t find them at all); the angel’s right wing was smashed into a thousand pieces (one day I may take a crack at trying to reassemble them); and St. Joseph and one of the Three Kings (in hiding until Epiphany) needed to have their heads glued back on.  Nevertheless, I am very glad to have this nativity scene, and thankful to have a place to display it.

This year, our Owners and Masters throughout the world, and even in the Church, have made war on Christmas, abusing the coercive police powers of the state in order to put the kibosh on any hint of celebration or cheer, allegedly to protect us from a virus, but really because they are godless and heartless.  In some places these edicts are ignored; in others, they are ruthlessly enforced.  

There are some things we need to keep in mind.  Firstly, if we have Mass and the Sacraments available, we need to partake of them today, because this is a holy day of obligation.  Even if it weren’t, we should still partake, because they are our necessary sustenance.  Secondly, no matter how badly this year has gone for us, and continues to go for us, we should still celebrate as best we can.  If we really believe that Christ is born, and that the Word Made Flesh has come to dwell among us, then we should be happy and rejoice!  Misery is for Calvinism, and we Catholics are not a bunch of Calvinists.  Not long ago, we discussed in this space the fact that the holidays and all the good things that attend them are a reminder and a foretaste of heaven, for which we are made.  We also reminded ourselves that the devil’s deputies on earth have tried to take the holidays away from us because they hate the joys in which they do not share because they do not love; they hate the hope of heaven, of which they despair because they think there is no heaven; they hate the people who possess these things; and ultimately, they hate God.  

But no matter how bad things get, we have to remember that There is nothing to prevent us from praying (especially the Rosary), and nothing to keep us from making the best of our circumstances for the sake of God and His holy days.  Even if our Elders and Betters were to succeed in stamping out every vestige of celebration of Easter and Christmas, they cannot stamp out the truths they celebrate.  They cannot eliminate heaven, they cannot undo the Incarnation, and they cannot cancel God.