Merry Christmas, Heavenly Parent, True Parents, Brothers and Sisters!

True Parents celebrate Christmas with over 500 Brothers and Sisters of the 2nd Generation at East Garden on December 25, 1999

True Parents celebrate Christmas Eve with their grandchildren on December 24, 2007

True Parents speak with Brothers and Sisters on Christmas Day, December 25, 2007

True Children arrive to the United States on December 18, 1973 On Christmas Day​ ​in 1973​, True Father explained:

Today, Christmas, is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. We must grimly realize and rededicate ourselves, knowing first of all that Jesus did not come to die on the cross. So we must not celebrate a false Christmas in which we believe that Jesus Christ was destined to die on the cross. We must celebrate Christmas as welcoming the birth of the Messiah, the son of God, who came upon the face of the earth to be the realization of God’s ideal.

Today, no church, no nation, no group of people, no group of Christians, celebrates Christmas as the birth of the Messiah, the Lord of glory. Therefore, our group must reflect God’s celebration of the birth of Christ as the Lord of glory, as an individual, church, nation representing the world. The salvation of mankind, the salvation of the individual soul, does not come from the cross, but comes from the resurrected Jesus. Through the resurrection alone we have the power of salvation. The beginning of Christianity came after the resurrection when Jesus assembled all the broken pieces into one so that Christianity could begin. …

So today is December 25, 1973. There are many millions of people celebrating Christmas. But no other people, no organization is celebrating Christmas in our spirit. We know for what purpose Jesus was born, for what purpose he worked, and what was the real meaning of the crucifixion. All these things are now no longer dark for us – we are in the light. Now the whole world is singing Christmas carols and having tremendous parties and banquets. But here, your celebration, under this humble roof in this small room, is where God and the hope of Jesus dwell. ​❖

“Birth of Jesus”​ by Gentile de Fabriano (1370- 1427)

In “The True Meaning Of Christmas” on​ ​December 25, 1979​, True Father said:

What is the true meaning of Christmas and why do we celebrate? It is not done for America’s sake or for the sake of the world. We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. The central issue of this day is what kind of Christmas Jesus would have wanted. Who sent Jesus? God sent him, and God had a certain will for sending His son. Considering the political situation in that part of the world at that time, what kind of Christmas would God have wanted people to celebrate? Who should have been the first person or people to celebrate Jesus’ birth? Not Jesus himself, certainly, because he had just been born. The first person truly to celebrate should have been God Himself, who caused His son to be born. Furthermore, the angels and all spirit world joined together, glorifying and praising that great day. Here on earth, however, Jesus’ birth was only quietly welcomed because few people knew of his coming. We can see that the birth of Jesus was truly celebrated in heaven, centering upon God, but on earth hardly any celebration took place. The Christian world honors Christmas by setting up nativity scenes of Jesus in a manger. Actually a manger is a very lowly place. They are proud of Jesus being placed in a manger, but is this the kind of place God’s son, the King of kings, should be born? Do you think God truly wanted His son to be born in a stable? What about Jesus’ mother, who knew through revelation what kind of son she was bearing? Do you think she was happy that her son, the Messiah, was born in a stable? I’m sure Mary would have thought that the son of God would deserve more than the most elegant palace. The appropriate way for the son of God to arrive would be with announcements of hour-by-hour bulletins and a proclamation throughout the land when he arrived.

If the priests, scribes and rulers of Israel had known of Jesus’ coming, I’m sure that during the ten months before his birth everyone would have been eagerly awaiting his arrival, and would have come to worship even before he was born. Mary would have been treated like a queen wherever she went. A record would have been kept of everything she did – if she ate a snack, how many times she went to the bathroom, how long she slept. If people had truly known that the son of God was in Mary’s womb, the twelve tribes of Israel would all have competed in trying to serve him before his birth. If that had been the case, do you think the people would ever have allowed him to be born in a stable? A great fanfare would have been prepared, great bells readied to ring and bands to play. Should the birth of the son of God be an event greater than America’s independence day? America preserves her cracked Liberty Bell, but a small bell that rang to herald the day of Jesus birth would be preserved in a shrine as a priceless item. If there were a record of the Jews fighting each other to be the first to offer the new baby some gift at his birth, would that make Jesus unhappy?

Jesus came after God had worked for 4,000 years in preparation. After all that preparation the greatest event was the coming of God’s son to this earth. Is the fact that he then came in such a humble way to a lowly place the pride or shame of history? Ultimately Jesus was crucified, but if Jesus had begun his life in the recognition that he was the son of God, would the history of his life have been different? Truly he would have been treated as the king of Israel. Furthermore, if he had been embraced by the chosen people, then he should have received more glory as God’s representative than the emperor of Rome.

God wanted to see all the great priests of the day gather to hold the holy child. If Jesus had been recognized from the moment of his birth as the son of God and the long awaited Messiah, then all the chiefs of the twelve tribes would have competed to serve him as he was growing. Then when he was 21 he could have exercised the authority of the Messiah, and because the people would have been so busy serving him, he never would have an idle moment.

What kind of education would Jesus have received? Truly he would have been taught about the importance of the mission and responsibility he had. From the early days Jesus would have known he was born as the son of God and his mission was to be the King of kings who would initiate God’s kingdom here on earth. Would history have been different then? Then wouldn’t the entire world celebrate Jesus’ birth, generation after generation? ​❖

“The Magi”​ by Henry Siddons Mowbray (1858-1928)

Merry Christmas 2017 and Happy New Year 2018! May you and your loved ones have a wonderful celebration of Christmas! May you be blessed with good health and great progress in the year ahead! With our love and best wishes,

Wayne and Mary Jane Despres