Who is the Real Santa Claus?

Last Tuesday (December 6) the Church celebrated the feast of Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra. The Gospel for that day (Matthew 18:12) is about the good shepherd who left his 99 sheep just to look for one stray sheep. The priest said that the Gospel reading suits the story of Saint Nicholas because he acted as a good shepherd during his stint as a bishop. Saint Nicholas is a good shepherd because he knew the needs of his flock, or the people in his Diocese. The saint is widely known for his charity and generosity to poor.

There is one story where Saint Nicholas discovered that a poor widower, unable to support his three maiden daughters, decided to make his daughters work as prostitutes. The saint placed the church's gold in three bags and secretly threw them through the window of the widower's house. The gold served as the dowry for widower's daughters. Saint Nicholas was also involved in other stories wherein he is shown as the helper of the poor and the needy.

I thought that the priest's homily about Saint Nicholas end there until he said that that saint is the popular Santa Claus. Devotion to Saint Nicholas became popular years even after his death. Many people were inspired by his story of charity. Even the oil, known as Manna di S. Nicola, flowing from the relic of Saint Nicholas is highly valued for its medicinal powers.

So, how Saint Nicholas of Myra, who looks like this:

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came to look like this:

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(Source: Web Design Hot)

The transformation of Saint Nicholas to Santa Claus came about when Dutch Protestants brought the distorted story of Saint Nicholas to America. The Dutch portrayed Saint Nicholas as a Nordic magician who helps the needy. Santa Claus is now a jolly, fat, white-bearded old man who enters chimney just to give gifts to “nice” kids.

I always lament that Santa Claus replaced the baby Jesus during the Christmas Season. Instead of anticipating the birth of Christ, people are waiting for their gifts under the Christmas tree courtesy of Santa Claus. Well, it seems like it is not only Jesus who was replaced by the commercialized Santa Claus. The first victim is Saint Nicholas.

Santa Claus has a shallow kind of generosity. If you are a nice person, then you can expect a gift from Santa. In this case, the gift became a bribe to make the child behave well. It teaches a child to expect an instant gift whenever do good things.

Saint Nicholas' generosity is much deeper. Being “nice” is not a requirement for him whenever he helps someone. The widower in the story is not a nice person because he wanted his daughter to become prostitutes. Saint Nicholas did not turn his back to the widower and his daughters. On the contrary, he gave them three bags of gold!

Jesus Christ told us to love our neighbors, including those who are not nice to us. Our Lord said “for if you love those that love you, what reward shall you have? Do not even publicans do that? And if you salute your brethren only, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the Gentiles do that?” (Matthew 5:46-47).We Christians are expected to love and aid anyone like Saint Nicholas did because if we love and aid just those who are nice, like what Santa Claus is doing, then are we doing more than the others?

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I encountered an amusing story about Saint Nicholas. A heretic named Arius is teaching that Jesus Christ is not Divine but merely created by the Father. Saint Nicholas can’t stand the lies of Arius so he punched Arius on the face. Here is the painting that immortalized the smack down of Arius:

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Because of Saint Nicholas violent action, he was stripped off of his rank as a bishop and was sent to prison. Nicholas’ personal copy of the Gospel and the Episcopal pallium, symbols of being a bishop, was taken away. Jesus Christ and Mama Mary visited Saint Nicholas in his cell and asked him what he is doing inside the prison. Saint Nicholas answered: “Because I love you, my Lord and my God.”

Jesus then gave Nicholas his copy of the Gospel and Mama Mary vested her of his pallium, thus returning to his rank as bishop.

No one can ever imagine the commercialized Santa Claus to pull a punch to the naughty boys and girls. All he can do is laugh “ho ho ho” all the way. Well, the real Santa Claus knows how to use his fist for the sake of his love to God.

I am not telling you to punch those who blaspheme the Lord. What I am saying is that we should not hesitate to the hard things to make other people realize the Truth.

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Christianity as Counter Culture

Last Sunday, the Lord Jesus declared the blessedness of Simon and even called him Peter upon whom he builds his Church. Today, he does the opposite: the Lord rebuked Peter and called him Satan. You might immediately conclude that the Lord is fickle-minded: he says one thing today and then its exact opposite the next day. It is easy to accuse the Lord of such because we forget that the apparent contradiction of the names he used on Simon were his response to Simon’s declarations. Jesus called Simon blessed because he listened to the Father. His declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, was something which can be revealed only “by my Father in heaven.” On the other hand, today, Jesus called Simon “Satan” because “you are thinking not as God does but as human beings do.” Simon found the idea of Jesus having to suffer and die as repulsive to his dignity as Son of the Living God. There seems to be nothing wrong about what Simon Peter said. After all, none of us would ever entertain the idea of a loved one having to suffer and die. We humanly find suffering and death as repulsive and as an evil to avoid. But, as Jesus said, this is how human beings think…not God. His thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. We prefer the path of self-indulgence. But His way is one of self-denial. We pursue a burden-free life. He tells us to carry our cross. We want to do things our own way. He tells us to follow him. We measure profits by gains and accumulations. He measures it by losses: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”

The contradiction is so very obvious and we, Christians, find ourselves constantly pressured to compromise with the world in order to make life easier for ourselves. The world has resorted to name-calling to discredit the Church’s fidelity to the teaching of Christ. It has called us “antiquated”, “medieval”, and “irrelevant.” And oftentimes, the world issues us the threat that unless we swim with the tide and move with the times, the Church will simply disappear in anonymity. But to do this is to abandon the uniqueness of the Christian Gospel. To think as human beings do and to oppose the mind of God is to put a hindrance to the spread of the Kingdom of God on earth. The Church must not adjust to the culture of modern times. Rather, she must present to men a counter-culture. St. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, admonishes us: “Do not conform yourselves to this age but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect.” The Christian way is the way of the Cross. The Cross is the sign of contradiction. Christ is the sign of contradiction. And to follow Jesus along this way of the Cross is to swim against the current. To walk along the path of self-denial is to walk against the flow. When we adjust our doctrines and way of life to the standards of the world, we do the world a disservice because we deprive humanity of that opportunity to know Jesus Christ and his Truth that sets us free. What the world needs now is not a Church that dances to its tune, but one who dares to raise the Cross as the only sign of hope and of salvation. GK Chesterton said: in this day and age we need “not a Church that is right when the world is right, but a Church that is right when the world is wrong.” “Whoever loses his life for my sake,” says the Lord, will find it.” Therefore, “offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God, your spiritual worship.”

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This was posted by Father Jojo Zerrudo on his blog, Sense of the Sacred.

Reading Lewis' Book through the Christian Lens

I already watched the movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis fantasy series about Narnia. I liked how the movie “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” because of the fight scenes. I can still imagine myself ordering a battalion of centaurs to unleash deadly arrows to the hordes of the White Witch. However, I have some thoughts after watching the movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis' book. Purists said that the movie adaptation diverged from the book and focused more on the action. Others said that the book is quite simple and many things were added.

What attracted me to read the book are the Christian elements injected by C.S. Lewis to the Chronicles of Narnia, which includes “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

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(Source: Wikipedia)

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is the second book to the fantasy series written by C.S. Lewis. The first book of the series is “The Magician's Nephew.” However, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” was published first before the “The Magician's Nephew.”

The book is about the four Pevensies (Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund), who discovered the magical world of Narnia after entering a wardrobe inside the mansion of an old professor, who kept them during the duration of the World War.

In the story, it is Lucy who first discovered Narnia. She met the Tumnus, a satyr, in her first visit to Narnia.

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Lucy and Tumnus having tea.

The next visitor to Narnia is Edmund who coincidentally met the White Witch. The White Witch ruled the whole Narnia, which she placed under the curse of winter and prevent Christmas from occurring. The witch fears the coming of the “Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve” to Narnia because it spells the end of her rule. The witch placed Edmund under her curse by feeding him Turkish Delight, which makes anyone who partakes of it to eat more and more even if it cause his/her death.

Edmund returned to the real world but denied the existence of Narnia to Peter and Susan and made Lucy look like a liar to the older siblings. Eventually, the four Pevensies reached Narnia where they met the Beavers. Edmund betrayed them to the White Witch by giving them information that all four of them are already in Narnia. Peter, Susan and Lucy met Aslan, the Lion and the true ruler of Narnia. Aslan sacrificed himself to redeem and Edmund by letting himself be executed by the White Witch. A great war ensued between the White Witch and her troops with those who are loyal to Aslan. In the end, Aslan returned and finally defeated the White Witch. The Pevensies were installed as Kings and Queens of Narnia and they ruled wisely and made the Narnians happy.

That is a brief summary of the book. The book is quite simple to read and it really fits the mental capacity of young children. There is little detail in the way the story was written and some people commented that this is good because it let the imaginations of the children roam while reading the book.

What gave a strong impact to me is this book's obvious Christian elements. People who understands the teachings of Christianity understands that “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” is full of Christian imagery and themes. The obvious Christian theme is the war between good and evil, wherein in the good triumphed in the end through the deliverance of Aslan, who is used to symbolized Jesus Christ.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe can be read as the summary of the “Salvation History” of Christianity. The entrance of “sons of Adam and daughters of Eve” to Narnia signifies the creation of man and the their entry the world. The Devil hates human beings because he hates the fact that God created them in His image, while was not given that privilege.

The Turkish Delights resembled the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Anyone who tasted the Turkish Delight will want more and more and more. Turkish Delight in the story symbolizes sin and many people keep on doing sin even if they know that it is wrong to do so.

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The resurrected Aslan and the broken table.
(Screenshot from the movie)

Aslan, sacrificing himself for the sake of the traitor Edmund is similar to Jesus Christ's sacrifice for the sake of all human beings who sinned. When Aslan submitted himself to the White Witch, he was maligned, insulted, and abused and in the end executed. In the end, however, Aslan was resurrected and the stone table (where he was executed and the representation of Death) broke in half. In Christianity, Jesus Christ sacrificed Himself for our sake and through His death and resurrection, Death lose its grip on us all.

The Pevensies fought a bitter war against the forces of the White Witch. Many of them had fallen but the people who are loyal to God never surrendered. This war is similar to the war that we are waging today against the forces of evil. Many of our brothers and sisters had fallen but we still continue this fight because we expect our God to return and finally end the war decisively, like the way Aslan defeated the White Witch in the story.

Reading the Chronicles of Narnia and ignoring the obvious elements is like reading the book with your eyes blindfolded. I like the way C.S. Lewis written the book because he was not afraid to show the beauty of Christianity.

I recommend that you read “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” because aside from being a literary masterpiece, the book is a great Christian book.

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Let us Offer Spiritual Bouquet for Pope Benedict XVI

Dear friends, especially to all of my Catholic brethren, may I ask a great favor from you. May I ask that you offer a spiritual bouquet for the Vicar of Christ, Pope Benedict XVI.

Considering the great cares of the Holy Father for being the leader of the Catholic Church, I am sure that he need all the prayers of the Catholic faithful to keep him strong and guard him from his enemies.

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I remember the time when the Pope was attacked left and right when his words, in a interview book, was twisted to suit the stand of the secular media, with vested interests, regarding the use of condoms. I remember how the Pope was insulted and used his words to sow confusion among the Christian world.

I ask you, dear brethren to offer a spiritual bouquet for him. A simple prayer will be good but there other ways or things that we could offer for our Pope's sake.

Head to Fr. John Zuhlsdorf blog and join in offering spiritual buoquets for our Pope.

The Enemy of the Lord is amassing his forces and his poised to atack. The only way to destroy his plan is to faithfully ask God for help to protect us and also the guide the Pope.