The True Meaning of Christmas: A True Story

Once upon a time, a young girl named Lily lived on the very outskirts of the big city with her parents and four sisters. They were a happy family, always going to church, always praying to God, and always always ALWAYS being thankful to the brilliant man who died on the cross to save their sins.

      Now this young girl, Lily, went to an average-sized Catholic school in the city five times a week with all of her sisters. There, the girls prayed to, learned about, and worshipped God. They made friends with other Christian girls and had wonderful play dates.

      But then Christmas time came and Lily was excited to celebrate the birth of God — for that is what Christmas is about. She expected longer prayer ceremonies and even more worshipping than they normally did, but no. Nothing even remotely similar to her idea of Christmas occurred.

      During the month of December, the teachers began to bring in cookies and candies for their students, the school began to set up "Christmassy" fundraisers, selling candy canes and hot chocolate, and the students began to wear red and green as well as those terrible "Santa Claus" hats.

      And then the talking began.
      Every student, young and old, began talking about presents — "I want this", "I want that","my mommy says she'll buy me whatever I want as long as I'm good", and "Santa Claus is bringing me this!" All the students wanted was more more MORE.

      Lily knew this wasn't right. She told her parents about it and they were utterly ashamed.

      "But Christmas is about Jesus, Daddy!" she exclaimed. "Why do they all want presents for themselves?"

      Her daddy knelt down in front of her and told her one of the deepest, darkest truths about humanity.

      "Lily, dear," he started with his wise, old voice. "Sometimes people forget the true meaning behind the things we do. Instead of celebrating the truth, they celebrate something in a way to benefit themselves. For Christmas, we should be celebrating the birth of Jesus but many people have manipulated the holiday to be about gift-giving and so-called 'Santa Claus'.

      "But, Lily, as long as you remember the real reason, it doesn't matter what other people do. They may go to hell for forgetting the true meaning if Christmas but you will go to heaven and be honoured for your gratitude."

      And the next day at school, when everyone began talking about presents and "Santa Claus", Lily closed her eyes and prayed to God, asking for his help through her difficult time.

      She made it through that year — and many years following as well! — but she never forgot what her daddy told her.

      "Christmas is about Jesus, Lily, and we must never forget that.

      And she never will.