People will frequently talk about the fact that we shouldn't take Christ out of Christmas.

Not long ago, a Protestant friend of mine, a biblical scholar, posted on his social media

that it just occurred to him that while his Protestant friends are often concerned about

taking Christ out of Christmas, they seem less worried about taking the Mass out of Christmas.

What connection is there between Christmas and the Mass?

That's the focus of this talk here.

Before we get underway, I'd like to begin with a prayer.

This is the prayer before study that is attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Ineffable Creator, you are proclaimed the true font of light

and wisdom and the primal origin raised high beyond all things. Pour forth a ray of your brightness

into the darkened places of my mind. Dispers from my soul the twofold darkness into which

I was born, sin and ignorance. You make eloquent the tongues of infants,

refine my speech, and pour forth upon my lips the goodness of your blessing,

grant to me keenness of mind, capacity to remember, skill in learning, subtlety to interpret,

and eloquence in speech. May you guide the beginning of my work, direct its progress, and bring it to completion.

You who are true God and true man, who live in reign, world without end. Amen.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

At the heart of any depiction of Christmas has to be the nativity scene.

At the heart of the story of Jesus' birth, we have the child in a manger. The immortal song,

Away in a manger, celebrates this. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus

laid down his sweet head. Why is it so important that Jesus is born in a manger?

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