Does the Mas in Christmas Mean Death?

[promethius]

The reason is that Christ died on a March 25th, which the people believed was the anniversary of His conception (because they believed that the true prophets die on the anniversary of being conceived) so they started celebrating the Annunciation every March 25th, and then about 80 years later began to celebrate Christmas exactly nine months later than March 25th, which happens to be December 25th.

Not to mention the several secular roman calendars and historical records which list a Jesus being born on Dec 25th.

I think we can generally dismiss the validity of the timing of the Jewish priestly rotation as pointing towards Dec 25th if it were standing by itself, but in conjunction with all the other evidence it does fall in line with a good argument for Christ’s birth on the 25th.

And I’m IN the middle east. The argument that it couldn’t be december because shepherds would be too cold feeding their flocks at night is hogwash, there are nine year old boys with AK-47 tending their flocks outside the villages here…

 

[BiffRuffle]

We can’t forget that ‘Mass’ refers to a ‘sending forth’ - “Let us go forth, to love and serve the Lord,” as we’re exhorted to at the end of every mass. Likewise, Christmas is ‘Christ’s Mass’, that is, Christ’s sending forth from God. It points to the life and death of our Lord, as the perfect example of what going forth to love and serve the Lord really means, what we are told to do at the end of every mass - to go out, love selflessly others and God, ‘even to death, death on a cross.’ Christmas is a celebration of selfless love, not death.

 

[Aner]

…yep, it’s what the early Christians preached and practiced: 1 Corinthians 11:26

Admittedly, I see little relationship between 1Cor11:26 and the common mass. A simple reading of the text indicates that this was an actual meal, etc. There was no priestly blessing or turning of the bread or wine into anything except as a memorial. At least in this text - that is all that is present.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

Don’t we celebrate Christ’s death (and resurrection) in every mass?

In the Liturgy of the Eucharist

When we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim your death O Lord, until you come in glory."

 

[Bookcat]

The term “Mass” is derived from the Late Latin word missa (dismissal), a word used in the concluding formula of Mass in Latin: “Ite, missa est” (“Go; it is the dismissal”).[1][2] “In antiquity, missa simply meant ‘dismissal’. In Christian usage, however, it gradually took on a deeper meaning. The word ‘dismissal’ has come to imply a ‘mission’. These few words succinctly express the missionary nature of the Church” (Pope Benedict XVI, Sacramentum caritatis, 51)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_(liturgy