When the Secular Meets the Sacred at Christmastime

During this time of year, we see many attempts to separate the secular from the sacred, as you often hear “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!” and it is often referred to as the “holiday season” instead of Christmas season, which is the most common holiday celebrated. Everyone is eager to reference Santa and his elves and reindeer, but is mum on the Holy Family and the baby Jesus, the true reason for the season. But every once in a while there is a reminder that the two can and should coexist, like an ornament of the Baby Jesus in the manger with Santa kneeling next to Him. It’s a reminder that even with all the attention that can be put on the secular aspects of this season, the real reason is still focused on the sacred and the birth of the Child Jesus to save us and that even the secular parts can point to this.

Another example is a picture that has been on social media of the popular Elf on the Shelf, where parents move the elf around the house and position them doing different activities. One idea was the elf kneeling in prayer by an open bible. This helps parents lead their children to remember the true reason we celebrate and what we should really be preparing for leading up to Christmas. The children learn that even though we enjoy some aspects of the secular side of Christmas, we should never forget about God and preparing our hearts to receive His Son, Jesus Christ.

The other night, my mom and I saw a painting in the window of a shop that depicted Santa Claus holding a snow globe that had the Holy Family inside. It was a beautiful depiction of these two parts of the Christmas narrative. And it seemed that the secular part, Santa, was actually pointing toward the sacred and directing the viewer to remember what the real reason for celebrating is. This makes sense because we actually get our modern view of Santa Claus from the person of Saint Nicholas, who would naturally point us toward Christ. In this case, the secular comes from the sacred and points us back to where it came from and where we should be looking as well.

There is nothing wrong with enjoying certain parts of the Christmas season that come from society, as long as we know the real reason we are celebrating and can point these secular aspects toward the sacred and keep in mind that we need to go deeper. Perhaps we can find new ways to incorporate the sacred with the secular parts of Christmas. It’s nice to know that they can coexist and that even the secular can meet the sacred and become part of pointing us to Christ.