Monday, May 27, 2013

Christmas 2012 - Mas Christ
12-26-12 WOSO Commentary

I trust you had an enjoyable Christmas. Did you keep Christ in mind?

In Spanglish, Christ  Mas  or mas Christ would lead us to increase the inclusion of Christ in Christmas.

One of the things that irks me the most is to see Christmas written as Xmas, akin to K-Mart or Wal-mart or Walgreens. All great retail chains that I respect very much, but Christmas is a religious holy day (in addition to a holiday).  With Santa Claus, and the gifts, there needs to be the remembrance of the birth of the Christ child.

My wife Pinky is a German descendant (Bauermeister) and for the past three years we visited the Christmas markets in Bavaria. Bavaria is very Catholic and it is said that Santa Claus comes from St. Nicklaus (Sankt Nikolaous) a bishop whose death is celebrated on December 6th in Germany.

The  merger of many cultures makes Christmas a very complex combination on which a very lengthy book could be written with respect to each country, including Puerto Rico.

Of course, in Puerto Rico, we still benefit from our dual culture and for some on our Island, gifts are given on Three Kings”s Day and not Christmas that is more religious. Unfortunately, this tradition has been overwhelmed by Santa Claus (formerly Saint Nicholas) and there is no turning back.

Although we cannot resurrect Three Kings’ Day to what it once was, we can make sure that the religious importance of Christmas is not entirely overwhelmed. It is up to us. Mas Christ.  God bless you.


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