Quote:
As I view our recent history, I conclude that religious observances of the birth and mission of the Savior have evolved from Christ-centered observances into an elaborate commercial holiday of gift-giving. In the public square, the focus on worldly gifts has gradually and now almost decisively overshadowed the religious aspects of the Christmas holiday.
As Latter-day Saints, we are uniquely qualified to celebrate the mission of Jesus Christ throughout the year. We have the gift of the Holy Ghost, whose mission is to testify of the Father and the Son. For that reason, we have a duty to testify like the shepherds, who, “when they had seen [what the angels described], they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child” (Luke 2:17).
We know whom we seek and we know why. We are children of a Father in Heaven who declared, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). And our Savior—the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the Lord God of Israel—is fundamental to that work and that glory.
The gifts that Christ gives us are the greatest gifts ever given—the assurance of immortality, the availability of strength and succor for the challenges of mortal life, and, most gloriously, the opportunity for eternal life, “the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7). Those are the gifts we should celebrate at this and every Christmas.
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Dichotomy. It's either gifts OR Christ. You can't have both.
A family in my ward did this. They didn't have any gifts for their kids for Christmas. They just did charitable efforts. Maybe this tradition should spread. If you are a Mormon kid, you get no kids for Christmas.
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How could we improve bringing Christ into Christmas? How about a Christmas eve mass? Or a Christmas mass?
Sorry we don't do that. That's the time we do Christmas gifts. :|