[weegee]

“If we do not recognize that God was made man, what sense does it have to celebrate Christmas?”

To have a big party in the here and now because “that’s all there is”. Materialism/hedonism rules the day.

[Alex Murphy]

"If we do not recognize that God was made man, what sense does it have to celebrate Christmas?" the Holy Father asked. "We Christians must reaffirm with profound and heartfelt conviction the truth of Christ's Nativity."

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue doesn't like how Mike Huckabee reaffirms the truth of Christ's Nativity:

"Because there's a pattern here," he added. "Every other word out of [Huckabee's] mouth is that 'I'm Christian.' He's calling into question Romney's Mormonism...let people talk about their faith, but don't sell it on your sleeve."

Added Donahue, "Yeah, I believe in freedom of speech and freedom of religion, but don't become a salesman. Don't hawk it like that on the street."

The Catholic League president suggested that Huckabee was relying on his faith too heavily as a campaign tactic.

"If it was just the Christmas ad, I wouldn't have one complaint about it," he said. "But when you juxtapose that with all these other kinds of things, there's a subliminal message there, and it's all done intentionally...what he's trying to say to the evangelicals in Western Iowa is 'I'm the real thing.'"

[roamer]

Thank you for posting this marshmallow.

Zenit has this one if you are interested...
A Christless Christmas Is Senseless, Says Pope
http://www.zenit.org/article-21341?l=english

Thank you marshmallow.

[xzins]

Precisely. The Pope is right on this one.

Wish this were on the Front Page News section of FR instead of the religion forum.

[Salvation]

Concentrate on the birth of the Christ Child at Chrisit-Mass.

All are invited to a Christmas Mass at any Catholic Church. Time to come home, folks!

[jboot]

B16 hits another one out of the park! Bravo!

I may be a Protestant, but I love this Pope.

[maryz]

Reminds me of C.S. Lewis's essay on "Christmas and Xmas"! OTOH, maybe the secular celebration has its uses for those who don't understand -- I saw something in First Things a year or two ago, citing St. Francis of Assisi saying that the animals should be given an extra portion of food on Christmas, so that they too can rejoice, even if they don't understand why! ;-)

[iowamark]

Secular Christmas Celebration Pointless, Pope Says

Obviously, Benedict missed the Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog:

[Charles Henrickson]

At his weekly public audience on December 19, Pope Benedict XVI said that a secular Christmas celebration is impossible. "If we do not recognize that God was made man, what sense does it have to celebrate Christmas?" the Holy Father asked. "We Christians must reaffirm with profound and heartfelt conviction the truth of Christ's Nativity."

As a Lutheran pastor, I do not agree with the Pope on a number of issues. But I do agree with him on this!

[Salvation]

BTTT!

[ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton]

Thanks MM for posting this.

Is it just me or are the main stream yet again off base in saying the Pope proclaimed an ‘environmental’ message.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20071225/D8TO6N8O0.html