On Grace Padaca
BY DUCKY PAREDES
Merry Xmas
Dahli Aspillera
‘The Greek alphabet “X” is the first letter of the Greek name, Xristos.’
HOW distinctly I remember back in primary school at St. Scho the humiliation of a classmate when chastised by the German teacher for writing the word Xmas instead of Christmas. "Very disrespectful of you to shrink the name of your savior Christ into a crude X… as in Unknown."
I’m reminded of that incident almost half a century ago as I read the other day a columnist of the Star. She was carefully disuniting and categorizing the correct uses of Christmas vis-a-vis Xmas. I concluded from this journalist’s explanation that Xmas is okay to use for non-theological statements about this season, like Xmas shopping, the high cost of Xmas, Xmas vacation, or Santa’s Xmas.
Her message: It must be the full word Christmas when in reference to religion, orthodoxy, the Messiah, to deity records, religious hymns, prayers, worship. The columnist avows the irreverence of what she saw as a contraction – Xmas.
Not quite. That high school teacher 50 years ago and the journalist wrongfully assumed that Xmas is taking the name of the Lord in vain; profane, blasphemous.
In fact, go back to history to see that the Greek alphabet "X" is the first letter of the Greek name, Xristos. Fearing heresy, they practiced cryptography, went into using only the first letter of the name, X. This is in line with the law in the olden days not to allow the saying or writing of the name of The Most Almighty. Monks hand-copying holy narratives would leave a blank or an X, in deference to the Christ. All these, even before Rome, before the Roman Catholic mass –Christmas – Christ’s mass celebrating the breaking of bread. Not flaunting the name of the Most Almighty, not writing the name of the Christ in vain, is the highest form of reverence.
Therefore, Merry Xmas! More respectful, more reverential nomenclature for the Savior; correct and ethical from early history, up to the present.
Today there is a sacred peace
That binds the sky to earth,
And angels join the songs of man
To praise our Savior’s birth.
For on this night–so long ago
And many leagues away,
A child was born to save our souls
And light the Christian way.
He was a miracle of birth
That God had made to be,
To cleanse our souls and
Shepherd us unto eternity.
And to be refuge from our griefs
And haven for our sins,
With Grace on earth and Heaven’s joys
For all who trust in Him.
All who have hurt hearts come closer
All who think like children too,
Christ is born again–it’s Christmas
He brings new life, new hope to you.
All who have had dreams that died,
Wing of faith that flew away
Come to Bethlehem again–
Be happy–it is Christmas Day!
(Anonymous)