“Happy
Holidays or Merry Christmas?”
Soon the world will be celebrating
Christmas. According to the tradition of the Armenian Church, Sunday, November 19,
2000, was Paregentan of Hisnak, i.e. the Sunday before the first
day of Advent. The fifty-day Advent season is a time of preparation and reflection
on the greatest mystery of all: the Birth of Christ, God the Creator becoming
man and living with us to save and redeem us.
Armenians have pious and beautiful
traditions when it comes to Hisnak or Advent. For us it is a time of
spiritual discipline, which includes fasting and prayer. During this season
important saints and martyrs of our Church are remembered and celebrated. Advent
is also a period of self-examination and preparation. Christmas, after all is
the coming of God to abide in us. This is exactly what the name Immanuel means
“God-is-with-us.” Are we ready to receive Christ?
Having said all that I must add
that it is unfortunate that Advent or Hisnak had lost its spiritual
meaning and beauty in our contemporary society. It has become a time to rush to
the Malls and parking lots, get stuck in traffic jams, and be bombarded with
commercials and infomercials turning Advent into a lucrative marketing season.
There is nothing wrong with the business world, including non-Christian-owned
business, making profits because of this holy season. What concerns me, however,
is how the secular world has succeeded in removing Christ from the season. We
also have been influenced by their propaganda and in a way have agreed with them
in reducing Christmas into a mere shopping extravaganza. Yes, Christmas is the
season to express our love to each other through the exchange of gifts. However,
in the midst of this, let us not forget the most precious gift of all, the
reason for the season: the birth of our Salvation, our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
One of the side effects of the
commercialization of Christmas in our contemporary society is the custom of
exchanging the greeting “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
I assume the reason for this custom is so that a non-Christian may not
get offended. I wonder what is so offensive in wishing someone a “merry”
thing? Christians happily participate in liturgical celebrations and services of
other religions. These kinds of “religious” celebrations don’t seem to
offend us. But, my concern is not the practice of the non-Christians. What I
cannot understand is why we do not use the greeting “Merry Christmas” with
our friends, parishioners and relatives who we know are Christians.
Another side effect of the
phenomenon of the commercialization and secularization of Christmas is the
practice of using the word “XMAS” instead of “Christmas.” Why not spell
the entire name of Christ? What is so difficult in adding another five letters
to the word, specially when these five letters will bring back the raison
d’être of our celebration and in fact of our existence: the Lord Jesus
Christ?
I understand that for most of us it has become a custom to use these
phrases and words. May I suggest that we make an effort during this holy season
of Advent to bring Christ back to the center and core of our celebrations of
Christmas.
May the blessings, peace and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be upon you
and your loved ones. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
