It’s December and you know what that means, Christmas!!! As
we all know Christmas was a holiday originated to be a day of giving. Last month was
November, and what's usually associated with November? That’s right, Thanksgiving, a day to give thanks to the Lord. However, as years and years go
by, the more these two holidays, and other Christian based holidays, are being
disregarded for their religious significance.
Hello y’all (that was not meant to be a stereotypical
Kansan slang term, but to be a gender neural salutation (and now you might be
wondering why I included this brief explanation, but honestly I don’t know (for
the record I use the terms “y’all” and “you guys” interchangeably (I would like
to apologize for starting out like this, but I promise I think that this post gets
better))))! My name is Corbin Sedlacek, and I represent the East Vicariate all
the way in Manhattan (KS). I am 17 years old, and I am junior at Manhattan
High School. I am involved with many extracurricular and co-curricular
activities; such as NHS (National Honor Society), BPA (Business Professionals
of America), Student Council (Student Body Vice President), as well as a few
others. And I am very actively involved in Seven Dolor’s CYO and the church as
a whole.
Thanksgiving always falls on the fourth Thursday of
November. It is a day to give thanks to the Lord for family, friends,
opportunities, all the little things we take for granted, and for just about
everything else. The day is, usually, filled with family, food, and football
(or whatever your family likes to watch or play). The day that follows is
almost a complete opposite that we know as Black Friday. Black Friday brings
low prices as well as the news stories about people getting trampled, various
accidents, and many statistics over the numbers of arrested shoppers. This
“holiday” is all about paying the, lowest price for material items. It is bad
enough that this day follows a day to give thanks, but Black Friday has been
starting closer and closer to midnight. This year, Walmart, and a few other
stores, had special Black Friday sales ON Thanksgiving. This is sickening how a
day to give thanks is be overlooked by the materialistic society that we live
in. Eventually, Black Friday will probably turn into Black Week, and
Thanksgiving will be a thing in the past.
The true meaning of Christmas is to celebrate the birth
of Jesus. But if you were to ask any little kid “Who does Christmas celebrate?”
or “What is Christmas all about?,” the odds them saying “Jesus” for either is
very slim. The answers you will most likely hear are “Santa Claus” and “presents.”
We all know that Santa is an old man with a white beard who lives in the North
Pole with his elves, and they make and deliver toys for all the children in the
world. Stories about who Santa really is go back from Saint Nicholas to a Norse
god. The modern Santa figure we all know was created by Thomas Nast during the 1880’s
and was derived from St. Nicholas. However, some children could care less about
Santa and only care about getting presents. But hey, at least Santa is based
off of St. Nick right? Our society started materialized Christmas in the 1880’s
when St. Nick became Santa Claus, and kids began focusing on what they were
going to get as presents. We need to trade receiving for giving, Santa Claus
for Jesus Christ, watching holiday special for Mass. We need to return to the
true meaning of Christmas which is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ.
It is sickening how both of these holidays are becoming
more and more materialized and commercialized when, in reality, we really need
to be going back to their Christian roots. I firmly believe that we desperately
need more religious values in our society. Although it may sound cliché, we
need to remember “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” and to “Keep Christ in
Christmas.”
