Joseph Ben Joseph and Thor

What does Christ' Mass mean to you?

My dad was born in 1910, before the invention of the car.
He insisted all of his children go to the Roman Latin Catholic mass on Sunday.
If you refused you didn't have Sunday dinner and we had roast beef.
I had a theological conundrum with my hunger for roast beef and lack of Christian faith.
Dad's house was four blocks from Harvard University and I attended a humanistic grammar school.
I was taught about Charles Darwin's "Ascent of Man" in the Peabody Grammar School.
Of course, I was skeptical about magical Jews, who flew through the air.
I asked the Priest, why the Mass was said in Latin when Jesus spoke Aramaic?
Dad was not pleased with me, "Jesus could speak any language. He is the Son of God."
Fr. Kean answered, "The Council of Nicea was run by the Italians and they wrote the Mass in Latin."
Fr. Kean added, "I like the choir."

While working at Home Depot in Newington, I was asked what Christmas meant to me.
"I remember the douglas fir dad bought and decorated with large multicolored lights and a bright star on top."
I also like the scent of pine.
This fellow pressed me, "Do you believe in Jesus?"
"I do not know if he is God, but he has helped people all over the world." My answer did not please him.
The Home Depot had an annual Christmas party, which I attended for the pot lunch brought in from other employees.
As I was scooping stewed roast beef, the lady who made it asked, "Are you Jewish?"
I had let it be known my grandmother had married a Jew and my mother was Jewish but converted to Catholicism.
"No, but I believe Jesus was," I replied with a grin.
"Imagine a world without religion," I quoted John Lenon's query.
She laughed.

Reflections~I hope we can avoid another world war.


Bob County