Happy Feast of the Incarnation!

                                                    The greeting "Merry Christmas" was put under attack because it was biased to the Christian faith. In the United States, they were encouraged to greet "Happy Holidays" instead to make it a general celebration. Since when is a religious celebration a general celebration? While we Christians do not exclude and stop others from celebrating Christmas, why would our greeting be changed to a compromised greeting?

I came to know that almost all countries in the world are celebrating "Christmas"; but non-Christians celebrate it only in the external aspect. Christians celebrate it because of the birth of Jesus Christ, their savior. "Christmas" comes from the two words, "Christ" and "Mass". People of non-Christian religions join the celebration and at times make their own symbols and activities. Bug to change the very tradition of the religion to which the celebration belongs, is a very arrogant act. I was surprised that Christians affected by this do not plead and fight for their cause. Hs Christmas really become a general celebration? 

But come to think of it, the greeting "Merry Christmas" really needs change. I believe the appropriate greeting must be "Happy Feast of the Incarnation" or "happy Incarnation Day". The greeting perfectly gives the message of Christmas, which is the birth of the Savior. Specifically, the supreme act of God to save man by humbling Himself. He was God but decided freely to enter into humanity by becoming fully human! This is the essence of this feast. "merry Christmas" does not give due justice to the merit of the event.

Other religious feasts are more accurate and faithful to what they celebrate. For example, Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of the Ramadan. It literally means "Festivity" (Eid) and "to break the fast" (Fitr); the Jewish Hanukkah means the Festival of Lights commemorating the rededication of the Jewish Temple. The celebration is marked by the lighting of the candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah; or the Buddhist Vesakh which is a Full moon Day. If Christmas is the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ and specifically God becoming man, the apt greeting should be "Happy Incarnation". In this way, the real meaning of the celebration is proclaimed just by the greeting alone. If changes are to made in order to help the faithful appreciate and reflect on the meaning this significant Christ-Event, "Happy Incarnation" is a very good replacement.