Santa Claus

The focus of the Church is on the Second Sunday of Advent, and thus St. Nicholas, whose feast day it also is, takes a back seat. However, since so much emphasis is placed on Santa Claus in today's world, a word about him and his significance is not out of place. Indeed, in the Byzantine Rite, the Feast of St. Nicholas, patron of Russia, Greece, and Sicily, is a major event.

St. Nicholas was the bishop of Myra, a city in what is now Southwestern Turkey. He is noteworthy for his piety and zeal. Legend has it that he rescued three young girls from being sold into protitution by tossing three bags of gold through the window of their home to dissuade their father from making the sale. Hence, St. Nicholas is also the patron of pawn brokers, whose symbol of three gold balls is derived from the three bags of gold, and of prostitutes.
We owe the devotion of the Dutch for blending a Scandinavian legend of a magician who gave presents to good children and punished bad children (coal in their stockings!) with St. Nicholas. From the Dutch settlers of New Amsterdam (New York) comes the transfiguration of St. Nicholas into Santa Claus whose profile has now expanded to include a home at the North Pole, a wife, elves, reindeer with names, led by a red-nosed invention popularized by Gene Autry. In the eyes of children, Santa has become a more significant symbol of Christmas than Jesus Christ, whose very title, CHRIST (Messiah) is embodied in the name of the Feast. Presents have overshadowed the real Present, the Gift of the Son of God to us to save us from our sins and demonstrate beyond doubt God's love for us.
Perhaps we can put Santa in perspective in this way. God uses tangible signs to relay to us a deeper meaning. The appeal of a jolly gift giver can been used as a sign of the deeper reality that the Prince of Peace came to show us that happiness and generosity go hand in hand and are the way to live. Despite the frenzy that has evolved in our celebration of Christmas, the day is usually one of joy and extraordinary generosity. Witness the efforts being made to insure that everyone has a Merry Christmas. Can we then imagine a world without Santa, as journalist Frank P. Church asked over a hundred years ago? No, this spirit must live generation after generation, it comes from God, it is God's gift; Santa is its colorful embodiment. Thank you, God, thank you Santa!
Bro. Rene