Christmas is a time to make God’s love known to fallen-away Catholics and non-believers

(LifeSiteNews) — One thing about the Christmas season is that you can always count on it to test your patience to be a good Christian. At least this is the case for me, in the sense of how it forces me to deal with non-believers or lapsed Christians or Catholics. 

In the world we live in today, with so much busyness at one of the most sacred times of the year, even the most grounded individual can fail, and fail badly, at making sure that the most important of God’s Commandments, to love Him and to love your neighbor as yourself, are being followed. 

Trust me, I have failed many times at observing these simple two commandments, most especially at Christmas. It does not help things when the very nation you live in has become a secular hellhole in many respects, which leads to one taking a cynical attitude towards others. It also does not help that in the Canada that is today, God, and Christianity with it, have been taken out of the picture. He has been erased, cast to the side, and thrown in the trash. Even the simple act of telling someone you still go to church with your family may surprise them, and I’m talking about people who are baptized Christians.  

One gets the feeling that God has been taken out of the picture to the point that there is no hope left for Canada. But is there really?  

Canada is a nation founded by Christians, and Catholics in particular. Were they perfect? No. Did they make mistakes? Yes, but they brought the faith. They built the hospitals and schools. It was the Church through its members and institutions who helped found Canada.  

Yet, today, no one knows these simple facts. They go about their lives shopping for Christmas gifts with oblivion to the fact that the only reason they are celebrating the day is because the Christian faith was brought to this nation. 

Christmas is always an enigma for me when it comes to observing how non-believers, lapsed Catholics, or Christians celebrate the season. But to be honest, I’m glad they celebrate Christmas, even though in a flawed way. I’m glad people still seem to care about the season, even though they may not know the real “reason for the season” as the saying goes.  

One might say, “If you don’t believe, you have no right to celebrate Christmas,” or they might quip, “They are only in for the gifts.” While these may be valid in some respects, the fact is that our ever forgiving and loving Father wants everyone to be saved. This is a fact. I remember this, and while I do not like the hustle and bustle, the commercialization of the season, I realize, as should all of us, that whether one knows it or not, heathens or lazy Christians are celebrating something sacred, which is the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Call me an optimist, but I know that God makes some good out of this.  

Jesus came for all. He came to save, and He forgives all who seek His forgiveness and choose to follow Him. Sometimes those of us who believe and have grown up always going to church, following the rules, etc., forget the simple fact that in God’s eyes, we are all the same.  

I am not suggesting at all that this means centuries-old traditions in the Church, i.e., the Catholic Church, should be cast away for modernism, thanks to those in high places in the Church who should know better. However, I do realize that for the fallen-away, many of them are simply ignorant of the truth. It’s our job to educate them, which is why LifeSiteNews is such a blessing. It is a perfect place for a person to get an unbiased reality take on the truth of all things, especially when it comes the crisis in the Church today.  

The real truth, distilled to its very essence, is that God created man and sent His only Son to die for our sins so that we can all be saved. This may sound simplistic, but it is a fact. Everything else, all truth, flows from God’s pure love for His creation. This is what we need to make known to those who do not believe, through our actions and words, at Christmas time.  

May God bless you all this Christmas.