So, is it harmful to let your children grow up believing there is a Santa Claus? Those who have been following this blog for a number of years know that I do not have a problem with this! Why? Because Santa Claus was a REAL person! No, he was not the commercialized Coca-Cola Santa, or the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Santa, but he was the Catholic Bishop of Myra - and he did give gifts! If we wipe away the commercialism of Santa, the "spirit of giving" or the "Christmas spirit" is the "Spirit of St. Nicholas!" We keep that spirit going in giving gifts.
Then there's the story of the "Kneeling Santa" - which is an interesting spin on this, you can find that here: http://www.catholiccompany.com/emails/111009Kneeling%20Santa.html
Patrick Madrid did his "Right Here, Right Now" podcast on December 4, 2013 on this topic too, give it a listen:
And don't forget! TODAY (Dec. 6th) is the Feast of St. Nicholas! Bring your children home a gift in honor of St. Nicholas!
We celebrate it every year. The kids put there shoes outside the door. They receive chocolate coins and a small gift (for all of them). This year they got a 50th Anniversary Dr. Who Monopoly game "St. Nick" managed to find on sale. (We are huge Dr. Who fans) Because of the snow storm that was to hit us today, St. Nicholas came early and so we played monopoly late last night. The kids enjoyed it very much.
ReplyDeleteBTW, St. Nicholas Day is also the anniversary (7th now) of my oldest going to the hospital for what turned out to be over a week when he was diagnosed with type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. The nurse at the hospital asked my son a question to see if he was "in his right mind." The nurse asked him what day it was and he said, "It is St. Nicholas Day." She thought he might be 'out of it' because she thought he meant Christmas. I explained to her about St. Nicholas and that we celebrate St. Nicholas Day in our family. Ironically, his diabetes doctor turned out to be Catholic and knew that Brendan was telling the truth--so there was nothing wrong with his brain. My son spent 4 days in intensive care and 4 or 5 days (I don't remember) on the children's ward. So, he did make it home for Christmas. But it is not hard to remember what day he was diagnosed, and considering how hard a time I have remembering things, I think that the timing was perfect--a child finding out he has a life-long condition on the day the Church celebrates the saint who loves children was encouraging and helpful to my son.
Thank you so much for sharing this! Happy St. Nicholas Day!
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