(5 minutes reading time)
There’s something wrong about Christmas …
The 25th of December is almost certainly not the historical date of Jesus’s birth. For strategic reasons, the Church aimed to replace deeply rooted pagan festivals with Christian holy days.
The theological message was powerful: Jesus could be presented as the ‘Sun of Righteousness’ and the true ‘Light of the World’. This directly replaced the pagan sun god celebrated at the winter solstice – the shortest day, after which the light begins to return.
This new Christmas tradition also neatly absorbed Saturnalia, a popular Roman festival from December 17–23. That celebration involved feasting, role reversal, and the giving of gifts like candles and figurines: traditions that subtly shaped our own.
Was “family” always the focus?
Absolutely not. Christ’s mission and teachings even challenged traditional family ties. This is powerfully illustrated by his response to the question, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” (Matthew 12:48).
For most of its history, Christmas was not a domestic holiday, but a public and communal religious festival. The heartwarming image of the family gathering around their own Christmas tree is largely a Victorian invention from the 19th century. This tradition emerged as a direct response to the dislocation and disconnection of the Industrial Revolution. It was then marketed so effectively through literature, art, and popular culture that it now feels as if it has always been this way.
The birth of Christ became a ‘big fiesta’ focused on presents, money and food.
In the Middle Ages, the focus was literally on the “Mass of Christ,” which is where the name Christ-Mass originates. The celebrations were primarily public and communal, often taking on a carnival-like atmosphere with feasting, drinking, and carol singing. It was not yet the private, family-centered holiday we have today.
For those who could afford it, the Christmas feast was a rare winter opportunity to indulge in fresh meat like boar or goose, all washed down with spiced ale or wine.
It was the Victorian era in the 19th century that truly shaped the Christmas we recognise today:
- As industrialization pulled people into cities and fractured rural communities, there was a deep sense of dislocation. Writers and reformers like Charles Dickens responded by reimagining the holiday. In works like A Christmas Carol (1843), he refashioned Christmas as a private, family-centered celebration focused on warmth, charity, nostalgia, and childhood innocence. This powerfully fulfilled a social yearning of the time.
- Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband, brought the tradition of the decorated Christmas tree from his native German to Great Britain. He made it popular there, and it soon became the essential centerpiece of the domestic celebration.
- The modern Santa Claus emerged from a fusion of traditions. The Dutch gift-giving figure Sinterklaas (based on St. Nicholas) blended with other folklore. His image was then crystallised by American influences, like the 1823 poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and the iconic 1860s illustrations by Thomas Nast. This created the friendly, home-loving gift-giver we know.
- The nature of gifts has changed fundamentally. From small, edible gifts or practical presents such as the ‘Christmas box’ for servants, they developed into wrapped gifts that were mysteriously placed under the tree and symbolised the family’s affection. This shift was accelerated by the rising consumer economy, turning gift-giving into a central family ritual.
The 20th century brought about the forces of commercialisation and globalisation, cementing the modern Christmas tradition:
- Through department stores, catalogues, and later movies and television, a standardised set of Christmas imagery (Santa Claus, his reindeer, the North Pole workshop) was created and specifically marketed for mass sales. The Christmas season became a major source of annual revenue for retailers.
- Regional foods often became national traditions, such as turkey in the UK and US, panettone in Italy, or goose, stollen, and mulled wine in Germany. These traditions were often promoted through advertising and the media.
It’s Time for a New, Authentic Christmas
We have taken the story of divine humility – a homeless birth in a stable – and turned it into a festival of materialism, stress and excess.
There’s nothing wrong with a happy family day, a chance to rest from the burdens of work and daily life. Yes, we should all take a weekend every now and then to share delicious food and spend time together.
But why must we do so under the banner of a Roman festival of gluttony, which was later glorified as Christmas and marketed on a massive scale worldwide?
In our eagerness to celebrate, we have forgotten how to truly honour. What if, instead of indulging our desires, we used the core of his teachings to liberate ourselves?
How to Honour the Life of Christ
Christ’s own spiritual preparation involved fasting, not feasting.
To honour this, we can purify ourselves.
Before the Magi presented their gifts, there was a deep emptiness: a quiet night, a bare space and a simple life that held space for the sacred. The spiritual benefits of fasting comes from the space it creates. It quiets the noise of appetite, allowing the inner voice and longing of the spirit to be heard.
What if our Advent season reflected this? Instead of opening a door on the chocolate calendar every day, we could simplify our lives together. We could fast from the things that clutter our inner space: mobile phones, social media, shopping, mindless entertainment, and junk food, for example.
Sincere truth-seekers could also choose to fast, or to fruit-fast, together with friends.
We can honour the Christ-child within us by helping those who are struggling or suffering.
Christ’s mission was centred on the poor, the sick, and the forgotten. He made this connection direct and personal: “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40).
Therefore, an authentic Christmas would turn our attention and resources away from the glittering centre of our own tables and towards the darkened edges of our community.
At Christmas, we can practise being truly present.
This means using our phones less, silencing the constant background noise, and truly listening to a child’s story, an elder’s memory, or a friend’s unspoken worry. It means offering experiences that create a shared consciousness, such as going for a hike together, making music, meditating while holding hands or simply sitting together in silence by the fire. These simple acts mirror God’s ultimate gift of presence and of being with us.
The original Christmas was a quiet event, marked by humble, transformative LOVE, not by noise. Rather than celebrating the inherited Roman tradition of indulgence, we can choose instead to honour the quiet Christ Consciousness within us all.
