How Politicians Coopt the Christian Message – with Christian Complicity

Earlier I voiced objection to the Massachusetts nativity scene that replaced Baby Jesus with an “ICE was here” sign because it diverts from the purpose of a Nativity scene. A manger on public view is a proclamation of faith in the Incarnation of the Son of God in a culture that is increasingly unaware of, if not hostile to, the Christian message. That is what a crèche is for. Anything that diverts from or dilutes that message, forcing the viewer to filter the Gospel message through some political lens, is WRONG.

I’ve called this an “ecclesiastical front” in the “war on Christmas” (for more, see here) because, whereas secularists would like the Christian winter “holiday” to go away, some Christians are instead bending its eternal verities to temporal political agendas, often in service of the very political groups that would like to drive them off the public square.

My objection today is how this Christian agitprop is then coopted by politicians who might not otherwise be caught dead circulating a Christian message. Consider California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell, who has reposted one of these “ICE nativity scenes” here. Consider Democrat Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts, for whom the Christmas message is “joy in resistance” (see here).

I loathe seeing the Christian message turned into talking points for politicians (especially those who are generally otherwise allergic to it). And I am going to call out our “Catholics” whose need for “relevance” cheapens the Gospel message by turning it into a political poster.

I expected this parody to continue this past weekend. Sunday was December 28. It would otherwise be the Feast of the Holy Innocents but, because it is a Sunday, the Feast of the Holy Family preempted it. On its traditional day, the murder of Bethlehem’s babies is increasingly being pushed aside to turn it into a “refugee feast.” Those who push that point generally do nothing to defend the unborn. And, with their “inclusive” notions of “family,” they would probably do nothing to protect the biologically related family by which human beings have normally hitherto come into this world.

Yes, pace some liberal Catholics and members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, there is a “culture war” ongoing, and it is aggressive. The problem is those who refuse to recognize it or want to hoist a white flag over their doors.

Midnight Mass

I attended Midnight Mass and thank my pastor, Fr. Paul Scalia, for celebrating it at midnight. I make this note because, increasingly, Midnight Mass is drifting away from midnight, even in the Vatican. In the United States, there seems to be a tendency to have “Christmas Vigil Masses” (which is a separate liturgy) until about 7 or 8 p.m., and then “Midnight Masses” at 9, 10, or 11 p.m.

Centuries of Catholics made it to Midnight Mass at 12 a.m., commemorating the birth of Christ “in Bethlehem, at midnight, in piercing cold” (as the St. Andrew Novena Prayer puts it). Yes, I know there are historical questions here, but a tradition that has persisted for centuries ought not to be lost because of laziness masquerading as “pastoral accommodation” when lots of Catholics are not trudging through the snow but sitting in their comfortable, heated cars.

It took a Vatican declaration and chancery instructions to nip another abuse in the bud: an “Easter Vigil” that, instead of beginning after dark, was often coinciding with a parish’s regular Saturday evening anticipated Mass (which, in most places, seems to be 5 p.m.). Do we need something similar to staunch the loss of a long Catholic tradition for no apparently compelling reason?

Christmas Ornaments

Finally, I share an observation from Fr. Marek Chmielewski of the Theology Faculty of the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin in Poland. Absent the spiritual, the “celebration” of Christmas is not unlike an ornament on a Christmas tree: pretty, shiny, adorned with nice colors, but fragile and — in the middle — empty. This is what’s behind the old adage “keep Christ in Christmas” — and not just December 25 but all the year.

God bless us, everyone!