HOLY HOMEWORK

Does Santa Claus Pray?

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Some congregations of priests and nuns have the practice of praying the Hail Mary three times whenever they get into a car. They do this to ask for God's protection during their trip and, perhaps, to remind the driver to navigate safely. In some cities and on certain highways more than three Aves may be in order. This is not a magical incantation, but rather, like grace before meals, a genuine act of faith that God watches over us, especially when we remember to ask for His blessing.

What would you tell your children if they asked whether Santa also blesses himself before eating his cookies and milk or prior to buckling himself into his sleigh and charging his reindeer to dash away all? Is it okay for Santa to pray? Since the very act of praying is itself an admission that we are creatures and that God is our Creator, and even more so a submission to His governance over us, would it be acceptable if some citizens lobbied our civil authorities to ban such exhibitions in public, even in the privacy of our own automobiles?

In 1976 Ray Gauer commissioned the renowned sculptor, Rudolph Vargas, to create the first figurine of Santa Claus kneeling in adoration before the Christ child in His manger crib. We might assume that the artist's intention was to symbolically depict two opposing worlds according to their proper relationship: namely with the secular power acceding to the sacred.

Last month the officials on the Board of Education in Montgomery County, Maryland decided to strike all religious holidays from their school calendar. Would they be appalled by the bond between Church and State which Gauer's statue captures? If so, they may have forgotten that, like all the saints before him, Santa Claus, or more accurately St. Nicholas, knew and deferred to the rightful source of truth, justice and love.

In this sense, there is no logical contradiction in placing both these symbols together in the way that the Gauer sculpture does. But if there is any objectionable reaction to this Santa and Baby Jesus scene, it should stem from the fear of losing our hard-won liberties rather than a need to enforce them. All freedom-loving Americans should tremble at the prospect of a coming day when such a creative blend of secular and sacred art is considered so politically incorrect as to be completely banned from our merchants' shelves. On that calendar date the hot sales of Black Friday will become a hot bed for the black market.

For Holy Homework: If we do not already do so, let's begin the practice of offering a short prayer for God's blessing of safe journey each time we turn on the ignition in our cars or board a bus or a train. We might even make the sign of the cross while we still have the choice to do so in public.

Comments can be sent to: FatherBobPagliari@Yahoo.com