Let’s rejoice. Let’s celebrate. Let’s sing. Be happy. Merry Christmas!

Thanksgiving, a time to thank our Lord for an abundance of love and grace has left us, but the best is yet to come. We are entering the Christmas season, one of the most joyous seasons there is. Sure, the lights are great, the decorated trees stand out like a moving painting, the movies dot the tv screen. But is that really the true meaning of Christmas or simply the feel good sentiment of a secular world that has made Christmas into “the holiday”? Maybe a bit of both.

Additionally, for many this can also cause stress, anxiety and depression, thinking of the Christmas seasons long past with those you may have loved and lost. Speaking for myself, I miss the celebrations, the laughter, the warmth of the season and the prayer with my parents, but is it fair to put the blame of these maladies on a day that brought us the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ? I find it incompatible if we are celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. If anything it brings us joy beyond imagination. For Catholics Christmas holds deep spiritual significance. It commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of our faith. It trumps it all. So rejoice, don’t dwell!

Think about it, Mary had to do several things to bring Jesus into the world, according to the biblical accounts and the Christian tradition. Some things Mary had to do were:

• Accept God’s will and consent to be the mother of Jesus, when the angel Gabriel announced to her that she would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38).
• Travel to Bethlehem with her husband Joseph to register for the census ordered by Caesar Augustus, even though she was in the final stages of her pregnancy (Luke 2:1-5).
• Give birth to Jesus in a stable, because there was no room for them in the inn, and wrap him in swaddling clothes and lay him in a manger (Luke 2:6-7).
• Present Jesus in the temple, according to the law of Moses, and offer a sacrifice off two turtledoves or two young pigeons as a sign of her purification after childbirth (Luke 2:22-24).
• Flee to Egypt, in a gut wrenching, long dangerous journey with Joseph and Jesus to escape the wrath of King Herod who wanted to kill the newborn king of the Jews (Matthew 2:13-15).
• Return to Nazareth with Joseph and Jesus, after Herod’s death, and raise Jesus as a faithful and obedient son, teaching him the scripture and traditions of their people (Matthew 2:19-23, Luke 2:39-40)

These are some of the things Mary had to do to bring Jesus into this world. For us. He would later die on the cross for our sins and give us salvation. God loved us so much he offered his son up to pay for our sins and it all began with that one day in December.

So if you are down and yearn for the Christmases gone by remember, Christmas celebrates the birth of the king who would die and suffer for all of us to redeem our sins. It is a time for celebration, not sadness. Without His birth we would not have His death and resurrection, and with it our renewed life with God.

To us Catholics Christmas holds deep spiritual significance. It commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the central figure of our faith. Let’s rejoice. Let’s celebrate. Let’s sing. Be happy. Merry Christmas!