Banning Christmas

[Petertherock]

I am sure you have all heard about stores and cities banning Christmas and the outrage that goes on around this. I have to admit I was very upset about this until I read this post from someone in the Rebecca St. James forum. This is a point of view that I never thought of and I think is valid…

Christmas is a Christian holiday that has been adopted by non-Believers. They have stripped it down and built it back up as something that is disgusting to me. I believe that Christians should re-think their views and practices for Christmas and take it back (reclaim what has been profaned, if you will).

My family (wife and child, not extended family) do not decorate with wreaths, trees, and ornaments. We exchange a simple gift or two, read Scripture, sing CHRISTmas songs (not holiday songs - down with Rudolf). We will NEVER go to a “Christmas” party hosted by a non-Christian but would be happy to go to their winter party. We do not wish non-Christians a “Merry Christmas” and if we are unsure of their standing, we just wish them “good times” or something else.

Or, look at it this way, while I do eat pork and drink booze around this time of year, I don’t do it in the name of Ramadan. I wouldn’t go up to a Jewish person and say “yeah, I’m celebrating Hanukkah - I have a pig roasting on a spit as we speak. I’m also looking for good Passover recipes - do you have any with a lot of yeast?” Such things would most assuredly be denounced by their respective groups as “hate-filled” and rightfully so. Christians have lost their zeal for their Holy Days and traditions and until we stand up and say “This is our day, leave it alone” we will ALWAYS be playing into this problem.

When Christmas starts to approach and I need something, let’s say a new computer or a new game that’s just been released, I plan on avoiding the stores that market Christmas. I am more likely to go to a “holiday” store and spend my money there. Why? Because they are not using OUR holiday to make money. If a store had a “Big Communion Celebration” by slashing prices on stereos and TVs, would you buy one from them? Or, take this: a store in my area was celebrating Martin Luther King Jrs. birthday by selling fried chicken at a lower-than-cost price. Imagine the outrage (and, once again, rightfully so), yet we continue to shop and support places that MOCK our Holy Day.

Now, since most people would probably balk at the idea of us taking Christmas away from them, what I propose is this: a new, secular holiday should be set up for non-Believers. It can be on Dec. 25 for all I care, just don’t call it Christmas. Just don’t sing CHRISTmas songs. No manger scenes, no star, no three wise men (even though they didn’t appear at Jesus’ birth). This would allow the non-Believers their time to splurge without attributing it to a false worship of our Lord. This is something that all sides can celebrate, not just them, not just us. It won’t really exclude anyone that believes in celebrations (yes, the JWs would probably still refuse to celebrate, but that can’t be helped).

 

[Milliardo]

The spirit of Christmas is to give, to share. It would not be in keeping with Christmas, or indeed with the Christian spirit, to deprive non-believers of their right to celebrate our Lord’s birthday the way they wish it to. It is up to us, who believe in Him, to educate them and show them what Christmas is all about. But to deprive them of it? It would reflect badly on us who believe.

 

[the-3rd-parent]

Petertherock:

Now, since most people would probably balk at the idea of us taking Christmas away from them, what I propose is this: a new, secular holiday should be set up for non-Believers. It can be on Dec. 25 for all I care, just don’t call it Christmas. Just don’t sing CHRISTmas songs. No manger scenes, no star, no three wise men (even though they didn’t appear at Jesus’ birth). This would allow the non-Believers their time to splurge without attributing it to a false worship of our Lord. This is something that all sides can celebrate, not just them, not just us. It won’t really exclude anyone that believes in celebrations (yes, the JWs would probably still refuse to celebrate, but that can’t be helped).

But this is what we already have. They call it Xmas. Instead of focusing on Christ, they focus on the “Christmas spirit” which is just about their newly redefined families. I also heard an ad for an organization called “Christmas is for children” which has the cause of giving toys to kids whose parents can’t afford it, but I honestly hate the title. Christmas is for all! Not just for children.

Non-believers already don’t have manger scenes. They just have trees and focus on gift giving and family get-togethers. The reason so many celebrate xmas is because our country is rooted in Christianity. What has occured is a loss of faith in suceeding generations.

Do we want secularism to be the dominate force in our country? Do we want our country’s roots to be torn out? Do we want our faith to be something just personal that is practiced practically underground?

Athesists and all those supporting the secular beliefs defend their actions against our faith by abusing and distorting what it means to have freedom of religion. “I have freedom to my beliefs.” They use freedom of religion to defend their beleifs and their freedom to believe as they do, but when it comes to establishing their system of beliefs as the one endorsed by our government, than they go behind the idea that “we’re not an organized religion. We’re not the same. This doesn’t go against the constitution.”

We have to stop being afraid of offending people over petty things and if we are to live together as one nation with diverse people, we can’t get offended over petty things like witnessing someone expressing a different set of beliefs, or having their own faith influence their view on politics. We have to live as different people allowing the cultures to be more of a tossed salad than a melting pot. The incrediants only melt with the heat of intolerance and injustices like not being able to express your faith in public.

We have to learn to get along not by creating a new culture for us to grow ethnocentric about while criticizing other cultures for being ethnocentric, but rather by simply not permitting violence and by not establishing ridiculas laws that restrict the free expression of all faiths.

They can celebrate their own holidays but let’s neither try to get them to have their holidays act as some sort of substitute for ours to try to mix all the holidays of all cultures into one secular one by saying Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Its the Christmas Season. We can’t help the fact that Christianity has its roots stuck in so deep that this holiday has become so domineering, but still I think as Christ has been taken out of Christmas, it has become even more domineering and less in the spirit of the true holiday it originates from.

 

[BlestOne]

I think some of the things you talk about are self defeating. I never say happy holidays…it is either Merry Christmas or Happy Haunakah to everyone I see. If I know they are jewish it is happy haunakah and everyone else gets a Merry Christmas from me, it is the nicest greeting and most sincere wish I can give them. Perhaps someday the non believers will finally get it with God’s grace! I am very lucky at the moment I am working for a very Catholic man and his family, in fact there is only one person in our office that is not Catholic. On All Saints Day we all went to noon mass together then lunch (except fot the non Catholic person) it was so nice to be a part of it. Tonight(Saturday night) my boss called me up as I was shopping with my husband and daughters to ask if I could meet with the pastor of our neighboring parish and find out what his needs are for computers and get him what he needs and teach him how to use it well. I called the pastor of that parish and we are meeting tomorrow to discuss his needs. Last year at this time I was working at a place where discussion of religion was so prohibited that you couldn’t even say God Bless you when someone sneezed…no kidding!!! What a difference it has made in my life to be working in this wonderful enviornment! I sincerely wish this experience for everyone! Anyway, back on to the topic… If someone is offended by what I say, I will apologize to them but if they are not, all the better!! I am a hard butt about expressing myself to people and I know it, but it is because I have this idea that the people that complain about Christmas being a holy day should have to work on Christmas since it isn’t important to them. The problem with our society is that somehow we think that we have to cater to a minority and respect their views when they clearly have no respect for ours. In this country we are overwhelmingly a Christian nation, so why should we have to shut up about one of our important holidays? Christmas is a holiday even for the US government, so if you don’t believe in God, isn’t it hypocritical to take this holiday off? It is just one example of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. I don’t particularly think that we should place presidents day or Martin Luther King day ahead of our religious holidays but if I was truly opposed to those days, shouldn’t I be the one to volunteer to work those days? Yet I don’t see any non christians volunteering to work on Easter or Christmas because they don’t believe in them. When I was in the military I had to work every New Years, Memorial Day and Veterans Day, not because I didn’t believe in those holidays, but because society, especially the military, has designated them as “drinking” holidays and I don’t drink. Is that fair? Maybe or maybe not, I wouldn’t want any of my coworkers to get killed working on high voltage lines after having a few drinks, so I shut up and took it as a sacrifice that I could make for my coworkers and my country. Part of this ideology is that we have to think of others not just ourselves sometimes. This is truly where this country has gone astray, we live in such a secular, me me me time that we forget what is best for ourselves and others requires sacrifce sometimes. Now I am officially done my rant! Sorry about that! As Christians we have an obligation to set a good example for others to lead them to God. Are we going to do this by not greeting them with the tradional greeting of the season? Are we really doing them a service by letting them take control of our holy days? No, we are not pointing them to Christ. If you truly love your fellow man, try greeting your neighbor with a big smile and a cheery Merry Christmas or a nice Christian Christmas Carol. After all, you do want to see the redemption of all men don’t you?

 

[cheddarsox]

Nope, it is never fair. Life is not about being fair. It is up to each one of us to decide how we will go, which way we will live and then to follow through.

The only person’s behavior that we have control over is our own.
Celebrate those events and holy days that have meaning for you and do so in a meaningful fashion. Invite others to do the same with you and your family.

None of us has to “buy into” anything that someone else is selling.

Society has tried to make “gifts” the point of the season. They are pushed for Hannuka and Solstice as well. Christians aren’t the only ones “just saying no”.

The season has whatever meaning you give to it. Consumerism is not the reason for the season, unless you want it to be. And watch what charities you give to and when. If you don’t push gifts in your house, then don’t spend all your $ on toys for tots at Christmas. Give year round. Take your kids to donate with you year round, or put the stamp on the envelope or whatever.

It gets to us in subtle ways. Stay aware. Decide what you will do, who you will be. Decide as a family. Mark the holy days, and the days of celebration on your calendars. Plan ahead. Read the stories, eat the foods, sing the songs througout the year, and Christmas will be put back into its proper perspective.

It has become a monster because people let it. Because we slouch through the year and then let this be THE event. But we could do a series of smaller events, and let Easter take precedence as it should. There are rich traditions that could be resurrected for various Saints days and feast days. Avail yourself of these traditions, and you wont have to “pack it all in” on Christmas, if you allow the spirit to enrich your entire year.

cheddar (our family has cut the Christmas monster down to size, and made our year a gift to be celebrated. Big presents are for birthdays, our OWN birthdays)

 

[mlchance]

cheddarsox:

Life is not about being fair.

That is the exact opposite of the truth of the matter.

– Mark L. Chance.

 

[kevb]

Sounds a bit “holier than thou” attitude to me. The last thing a Christian should be around Christmas is as grouchy or elitist as this guy sounds. Is protesting secular society’s celebration really in the spirit of meekness or is it just plain selfishness? Even for many non-believers, Christmas might be the one time of year that they actually feel some sort of joy or peace, or brotherhood with their fellow man. No doubt this is due to the Holy Spirit entering their hearts. Who are you to tell them they’re not allowed to experience that!

 

[Lorrie]

kevb:

Sounds a bit “holier than thou” attitude to me. The last thing a Christian should be around Christmas is as grouchy or elitist as this guy sounds. Is protesting secular society’s celebration really in the spirit of meekness or is it just plain selfishness? Even for many non-believers, Christmas might be the one time of year that they actually feel some sort of joy or peace, or brotherhood with their fellow man. No doubt this is due to the Holy Spirit entering their hearts. Who are you to tell them they’re not allowed to experience that!

Wow! Well said!

As a side note, I put a tree, all the decorations, wreaths, etc. This is how it was when I was growing up and as long as I know and celebrate the true meaning of the season I don’t see a problem with it. I love all the songs (even if it does include the Rudolph one).

 

[deb1]

Although I admire these people’s zeal to put God into the holidays, I find myself disagreeing with some of their means of doing so. From reading on the web-and coming from a fundamentalist background-I have noticed a trend among some to try and turn Christianity into a form of Puritanical drabness. I don’t know if this is a extreme reaction against our materialistic culture, perhaps, but I don’t think that it is neccessary.

It is not the decorating of your house, or the giving of gifts that take Christ from the season. It is the selfishness of not thinking beyond yourself or your immediate family that makes Christmas more secular.

There are all sorts of way to help others at this time of year. The angel trees that you see all over the place are a good start. IF you can, then helping at a food bank or taking meals to seniors, could be another way.

As far as reading the scriptures, I read the bible to my children anyway. I do try and emphasis why Christmas is celebrated and, on Christmas day, I have a Birthday cake for Jesus. I believe that my kids more then understand the reasons that we celebrate the holiday.

 

[Milliardo]

kevb:

Sounds a bit “holier than thou” attitude to me. The last thing a Christian should be around Christmas is as grouchy or elitist as this guy sounds. Is protesting secular society’s celebration really in the spirit of meekness or is it just plain selfishness? Even for many non-believers, Christmas might be the one time of year that they actually feel some sort of joy or peace, or brotherhood with their fellow man. No doubt this is due to the Holy Spirit entering their hearts. Who are you to tell them they’re not allowed to experience that!

Well said! We can’t keep Christmas all to our selves anymore than we can say that Christ is just for us; the Lord is the Lord of all, and even if non-believers are there, He is still their Lord, whether they like it or not. So in the same way that Christmas then is for all, since our Lord wishes that He be for all, and be made known to all. Why then should we keep Christmas to ourselves? That would be mean, and not in keeping with the Christian spirit wherein we share the Lord wilh everyone, especially to non-believers.

 

[777]

BlestOne:

I think some of the things you talk about are self defeating. I never say happy holidays…it is either Merry Christmas or Happy Haunakah to everyone I see. If I know they are jewish it is happy haunakah and everyone else gets a Merry Christmas from me, it is the nicest greeting and most sincere wish I can give them. Perhaps someday the non believers will finally get it with God’s grace! I am very lucky at the moment I am working for a very Catholic man and his family, in fact there is only one person in our office that is not Catholic. On All Saints Day we all went to noon mass together then lunch (except fot the non Catholic person) it was so nice to be a part of it. Tonight(Saturday night) my boss called me up as I was shopping with my husband and daughters to ask if I could meet with the pastor of our neighboring parish and find out what his needs are for computers and get him what he needs and teach him how to use it well. I called the pastor of that parish and we are meeting tomorrow to discuss his needs. Last year at this time I was working at a place where discussion of religion was so prohibited that you couldn’t even say God Bless you when someone sneezed…no kidding!!! What a difference it has made in my life to be working in this wonderful enviornment! I sincerely wish this experience for everyone! Anyway, back on to the topic… If someone is offended by what I say, I will apologize to them but if they are not, all the better!! I am a hard butt about expressing myself to people and I know it, but it is because I have this idea that the people that complain about Christmas being a holy day should have to work on Christmas since it isn’t important to them. The problem with the world is that somehow we think that we have to cater to a minority and respect their views when they clearly have no respect for ours. In this country we are overwhelmingly a Christian nation, so why should we have to shut up about one of our important holidays? Christmas is a holiday even for any government, so if you don’t believe in God, isn’t it hypocritical to take this holiday off? It is just one example of wanting to have your cake and eat it too. I don’t particularly think that we should place presidents day or Martin Luther King day ahead of our religious holidays but if I was truly opposed to those days, shouldn’t I be the one to volunteer to work those days? Yet I don’t see any non christians volunteering to work on Easter or Christmas because they don’t believe in them. When I was in the military I had to work every New Years, Memorial Day and Veterans Day, not because I didn’t believe in those holidays, but because the world, especially the military, has designated them as “drinking” holidays and I don’t drink. Is that fair? Maybe or maybe not, I wouldn’t want any of my coworkers to get killed working on high voltage lines after having a few drinks, so I shut up and took it as a sacrifice that I could make for my coworkers and my family. Part of this ideology is that we have to think of others not just ourselves sometimes. This is truly where this world has gone astray, we live in such a secular, me me me time that we forget what is best for ourselves and others requires sacrifce sometimes. Now I am officially done my rant! Sorry about that! As Christians we have an obligation to set a good example for others to lead them to God. Are we going to do this by not greeting them with the tradional greeting of the season? Are we really doing them a service by letting them take control of our holy days? No, we are not pointing them to Christ. If you truly love your fellow man and woman, try greeting your neighbor with a big smile and a cheery Merry Christmas or a nice Christian Christmas Carol. After all, you do want to see the redemption of all men and women don’t you?

Even Jehovah’s Witnesses? They’ve also been the cause of what we’re up aginst.

 

[Petertherock]

This is a follow up from the person who originally wrote the article when I mentioned the responses from here and another message board…

PtR, I understand the points being made and I respectfully say that they are junk. Here are the things that you and the other poster would HAVE to accept as “OK” to be consistent with the thoughts you posted here:

Black Mass and other vile uses of the Cross and Crucifix.
Giving transubstatiated Communion to non-Catholics and non-believers.
Saying “Jesus Christ” and ‘GD’ in offensive ways.
Non-priests, non-monks, and non-nuns wearing priest, monk, and nun outfits for any purpose.

(Bah, sidetracked by the phone).

By doing what you are proposing, we would be allowing secularism to destroy our traditions from the inside. Allowing a shadow of Christmas to be celebrated by non-believers doesn’t strengthen our position in the world, it cheapens it.

I am the last person to say that our Christianity should be just personal and practiced underground. What I have proposed doesn’t eliminate Christmas, it allows the true meaning to be celebrated bt Believers that SHOULD invite their non-Christian friends to celebrate. This is the same reason why I invited non-Christians to my wedding (to allow them to see what a wedding used to be and should be again).

Which position is more likely to offend (if that is your goal), my position that says “Christmas is a Christian Holy Day” or that which says “Christmas can be watered-down by anyone that wishes to do so”? However, my point is not to purposely offend but to rightfully reclaim that which is OURS (Christians). Oh, and stating that we shouldn’t be a “melting pot” yet saying that non-Christians should be able to melt their desires with our Holy Days is ridiculous.

No non-Christian celebrates Christmas as the birth of Christ - that is my main point. If someone says they are celebrating Christmas yet take out everything that makes it the Mass of Christ, how is that celebrating the birth of Christ?

PtR, you and the people you are quoting seem to miss my point - by adopting Christmas as a secular holiday, they are mocking, butchering, and trivializing it. Am I stating that Christians should disallow others to celebrate? No. What I am saying is that Christians should be the keepers of Christmas (since it is a Christian holiday). We should invite everyone to participate with us in the celebration of the birth of the Messiah, but the celebration should be hosted by Christians.

 

[cheddarsox]

yey Darryl!!!

 

[Siena]

Darryl, I agree with you, although we are not as puritan about it. My family has the tree, some presents, etc. We celebrate Christmas as I believe a good Christian should. We do not buy into the “X-Mas Spirit”. We do have Santa, but he takes a backseat to Jesus. I have no problem with secularists celebrating a “Winter Holiday” with a foucus on gifts and Santa, but please do not pretend it is “Christmas”.

 

[koda]

deb1:

Although I admire these people’s zeal to put God into the holidays, I find myself disagreeing with some of their means of doing so. From reading on the web-and coming from a fundamentalist background-I have noticed a trend among some to try and turn Christianity into a form of Puritanical drabness. I don’t know if this is a extreme reaction against our materialistic culture, perhaps, but I don’t think that it is neccessary.

It is not the decorating of your house, or the giving of gifts that take Christ from the season. It is the selfishness of not thinking beyond yourself or your immediate family that makes Christmas more secular.

There are all sorts of way to help others at this time of year. The angel trees that you see all over the place are a good start. IF you can, then helping at a food bank or taking meals to seniors, could be another way.

As far as reading the scriptures, I read the bible to my children anyway. I do try and emphasis why Christmas is celebrated and, on Christmas day, I have a Birthday cake for Jesus. I believe that my kids more then understand the reasons that we celebrate the holiday.

Very well put. I get a bonus and we give a lot of different charities. The Augustinians who run our parish have an orphanage in Tijuana and they set up a tree with names and ages and what clothes the kids need - we always take at least two. We watch the Christmas Classics, including Charlie Brown and Rudolph because they contain a message of love, forgiveness and understanding. Every year I cry over “It’s a Wonderful Life” when big brother George is the richest man in town because that is the true spirit of Christianity. We decorate with many religious items, including our Advent Wreath which we set up last night. We send cards to remind people that we love them and that God loves them too. And, yes, even nonbelievers seem to get a little soft this year - who knows - one year they may join the believers! God Bless Us Every One.

 

[deb1]

Petertherock:

PtR, I understand the points being made and I respectfully say that they are junk. Here are the things that you and the other poster would HAVE to accept as “OK” to be consistent with the thoughts you posted here:

Black Mass and other vile uses of the Cross and Crucifix.
Giving transubstatiated Communion to non-Catholics and non-believers.
Saying “Jesus Christ” and ‘GD’ in offensive ways.
Non-priests, non-monks, and non-nuns wearing priest, monk, and nun outfits for any purpose.

(Bah, sidetracked by the phone).

By doing what you are proposing, we would be allowing secularism to destroy our traditions from the inside. Allowing a shadow of Christmas to be celebrated by non-believers doesn’t strengthen our position in the world, it cheapens it.

.

Maybe I am missing something. Some nonChristians are doing things like celebrating black mass, saying GD and Jesus, and wearing religious outfits for costume parties. Not decorating your house isn’t going to have any bearing on their activities.

BUt I take even more offense to the words ‘by allowing a shadow of Christmas to be celebrated by non believers’ This is a free country. That means that I can’t stop atheist from making a mockery of anything that they want to. I can debate them and express my right to free speech. But I can’t force them to stop. Unless this man is advocating passing some sort of Christmas ordinace, I don’t see how he can allow or disallow others the ability to practice Christmas…

At the same time, it isn’t the decorations, or gift giving or Santa that ruins the holiday. I read that we are 75% Christians in this country. Let’s stop blaming others and blame ourselves for not helping our fellow man, or reaching out to one another.

If we followed this person’s thinking to a logical extreme then wouldn’t we have to take In God We Trust off of currency. Atheist use money and we don’t want them using our symbols for nonreligious activities. We could also take that little phrase about our God given rights out of the consititution. Afterall, freedom of speech is often used against Christians. (so, I am not misunderstood, I am not advocating taking these In God We Trust off of currency, nor am I suggesting we remove God from the constitution)

Just as an aside, how does someone ‘respectfully’ think another’s opinion is ‘junk’. The two words seem to contradict one another.

 

[deb1]

Siena:

Darryl, I agree with you, although we are not as puritan about it. My family has the tree, some presents, etc. We celebrate Christmas as I believe a good Christian should. We do not buy into the “X-Mas Spirit”. We do have Santa, but he takes a backseat to Jesus. I have no problem with secularists celebrating a “Winter Holiday” with a foucus on gifts and Santa, but please do not pretend it is “Christmas”.

If I am not mistaken, this is not Darryl’s belief. He is debating a poster on another forum.

 

[Milliardo]

Petertherock:

Black Mass and other vile uses of the Cross and Crucifix.
Giving transubstatiated Communion to non-Catholics and non-believers.
Saying “Jesus Christ” and ‘GD’ in offensive ways.
Non-priests, non-monks, and non-nuns wearing priest, monk, and nun outfits for any purpose.

There is a difference: these acts defile in a very real way our Lord; celebrating Christmas does not. Even if non-believers do not celebrate it the way we do, in some way it still honours our Lord. The acts above do not in any way honour Jesus.

What I have proposed doesn’t eliminate Christmas, it allows the true meaning to be celebrated bt Believers that SHOULD invite their non-Christian friends to celebrate.

Then by all means invite them and show them how Christmas means to us. It doesn’t mean doing away with being happy, giving gifts and all. Being gloomy and dreary wouldn’t make our Lord happy on His birthday. Would you like it if people are gloomy on your birthday?

Which position is more likely to offend (if that is your goal), my position that says “Christmas is a Christian Holy Day” or that which says “Christmas can be watered-down by anyone that wishes to do so”?

Christmas is a holy day, but Christmas is also meant to be shared. It doesn’t have to be gloomy. If there are people who wish to celebrate it in another way, then let them be. We don’t see Muslims asking us to celebrate Idil Futri the same way they do, do we now? Bottomline is that we can testify without becoming Scrooges ourselves.

However, my point is not to purposely offend but to rightfully reclaim that which is OURS (Christians).

I think this smacks too much of elitism. Christmas is for everyone, because the Lord is the Lord of all.

PtR, you and the people you are quoting seem to miss my point - by adopting Christmas as a secular holiday, they are mocking, butchering, and trivializing it.

We are allowed to celebrate it the way we want it to. Of course, again, we Christians should celebrate it with the Lord in mind, and we should reflect that by showing others how it is. But to be all dreary and sad isn’t how it’s done.

We should invite everyone to participate with us in the celebration of the birth of the Messiah, but the celebration should be hosted by Christians.

That should be the spirit, but it still shouldn’t be about gloom, but a real sharing and happiness for the coming of our Lord.

 

[CatholicMetis]

deb1:

If I am not mistaken, this is not Darryl’s belief. He is debating a poster on another forum.

Well, I wouldn’t call it debating. This was from another poster and I do agree with the spirit of what he is saying but I also agree with people here who said you can’t force people to not celebrate Christmas.

Realistically, the only thing we, as Christians can do is make sure we put Christ first and make ourselves a good example to the rest of the world of what Christmas is all about.

 

[AlanFromWichita]

Of course, no matter what, around the world, every day of the year, Catholics will still celebrate Christ’s Mass.

Alan