Monday 21st April 2025

Home » Frontpage » Currently Reading:

G.K. Chesterton And Christmas

December 24, 2017 Frontpage No Comments

By JOHN YOUNG

It is not surprising that G.K. Chesterton wrote a great deal about Christmas, because he was fascinated by the wonder of childhood, and Christmas is about the wonder of a Divine Child.
Chesterton was a realist, and he saw realism exemplified in the outlook of the child, for no child doubts the reality of the world. Innocence, too, shines forth in the child. The child is fascinated by reality, a fascination that lessens as the child grows older.
As Chesterton puts it, a seven-year-old is thrilled if you tell him that Tommy opened a door and saw a dragon; but a three-year-old is thrilled if you tell him that Tommy opened a door. Unlike most of us, Gilbert Chesterton never lost the wonder he experienced as a child in the presence of everyday realities, never lost the child’s realism.
He is famous for his paradoxes; but there is no paradox greater than God becoming a human baby.
As he says in his wonderful book The Everlasting Man, part two, chapter one: “A mass of legend and literature, which increases and will never end, has repeated and rung the changes on that single paradox; that the hands that had made the sun and stars were too small to reach the huge heads of the cattle. Upon this paradox, we might almost say upon this jest, all the literature of our faith is founded.”
Reality is full of paradoxes, not only in relation to Christmas but all the time. Matter and spirit could hardly be further apart, yet each human being is composed from both. We live in time, yet are destined for eternity. The choices we make in life will determine whether we will have everlasting happiness in Heaven or everlasting sorrow in Hell. We are aided by a multitude of good angels and tempted by a multitude of evil angels.
These paradoxes may seem remote from daily life, although they are not; but the paradoxes surrounding Christmas are concrete and comforting. To quote Chesterton again from the same chapter: “It might be suggested, in a somewhat violent image, that nothing had happened in the fold or crack in the great grey hills except that the whole universe had been turned inside out. I mean that all the eyes of wonder and worship which had been turned outward to the largest thing now turned inward to the smallest.”
He points out that Christianity has connected two ideas that are not naturally or necessarily combined: the connection of God with an infant. He maintains that the Christian child who has experienced Christmas will be left with a psychological impression on his mind. Because of this, he claims, there is a difference between the person who has experienced Christmas and the one who has not.
“Omnipotence and impotence, or divinity and infancy, do definitely make a sort of epigram which a million repetitions cannot turn into a platitude. It is not unreasonable to call it unique. Bethlehem is emphatically a place where extremes meet.”
The outlook that develops from the reality of Christmas leads to a true humanism. To quote Chesterton again: “It would be vain to attempt to say anything adequate, or anything new, about the change which this conception of a deity born like an outcast or even an outlaw had upon the whole conception of law and its duties to the poor and outcast.”
Chesterton maintains that any agnostic or atheist who has experienced a real Christmas in his childhood retains ever afterward an association in his mind between the idea of a baby and the idea of the unknown strength that sustains the stars. That observation is particularly relevant today, with attempts to eliminate Christmas.
The reality celebrated at Christmas and conveyed in vivid imagery is in such sharp contrast to the secularism which aims to conquer the world that it must be seen by the secularists as their great enemy. And it presents a special danger to them at Christmas time because it confronts them so concretely there. So they do their best to erase Christmas from the calendar.
It is easy to become depressed and pessimistic as we see the spread of so much corruption in our world. But if we keep the realities of Christmas before us we will never give way to pessimism. God’s ultimate victory is certain.

Share Button

2019 The Wanderer Printing Co.

WHAT WILL IT TAKE? An Open Letter to My Brother Bishops (and to the lay faithful!)

You gather here today, present-day apostles, as the Church and, therefore, the world stand perched on the edge of a cliff. And yet you who are entrusted with the keeping of souls choose to speak not a word of the…Continue Reading

Former Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards Dies Of Brain Cancer At 67

(LifeSiteNews) — Former Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards died Monday of brain cancer at age 67, leaving behind the largest abortion chain in the nation.  “This morning our beloved Cecile passed away at home, surrounded by her family and her…Continue Reading

Vatican and USCCB leave transgender policy texts unpublished

While U.S. bishops have made headlines for releasing policies addressing gender identity and pastoral ministry, guidelines on the subject have been drafted but not published by both the U.S. bishops’ conference and the Vatican’s doctrinal office, leaving diocesan bishops to…Continue Reading

Biden says Pope Francis told him to continue receiving communion, amid scrutiny over pro-abortion policies

President Biden said that Pope Francis, during their meeting Friday in Vatican City, told him that he should continue to receive communion, amid heightened scrutiny of the Catholic president’s pro-abortion policies.  The president, following the approximately 90-minute-long meeting, a key…Continue Reading

Federal judge rules in favor of Gov. DeSantis’ mask mandate ban

MIAMI (LifeSiteNews) – A federal judge this week handed Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis another legal victory on his mask mandate ban for schools. On Wednesday, Judge K. Michael Moore of the Southern District of Florida denied a petition from…Continue Reading

The Eucharist should not be received unworthily, says Nigerian cardinal

Priests have a duty to remind Catholics not to receive the Eucharist in a state of serious sin and to make confession easily available, a Nigerian cardinal said at the International Eucharistic Congress on Thursday. “It is still the doctrine…Continue Reading

Donald Trump takes a swipe at Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him

Donald Trump complained about Catholics and Jews who did not vote for him in 2020. The former president made the comments in a conference call featuring religious leaders. The move could be seen to shore up his religious conservative base…Continue Reading

Y Gov. Kathy Hochul Admits Andrew Cuomo Covered Up COVID Deaths, 12,000 More Died Than Reported

When it comes to protecting people from COVID, Andrew Cuomo is already the worst governor in America. New York has the second highest death rate per capita, in part because he signed an executive order putting COVID patients in nursing…Continue Reading

Prayers For Cardinal Burke . . . U.S. Cardinal Burke says he has tested positive for COVID-19

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — U.S. Cardinal Raymond L. Burke said he has tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19. In an Aug. 10 tweet, he wrote: “Praised be Jesus Christ! I wish to inform you that I have recently…Continue Reading

Democrats Block Amendment Banning Late-Term Abortions, Stopping Abortions Up to Birth

Senate Democrats have blocked an amendment that would ban abortions on babies older than 20 weeks. During consideration of the multi-trillion spending package, pro-life Louisiana Senator John Kennedy filed an amendment to ban late-term abortions, but Democrats steadfastly support killing…Continue Reading

Transgender student wins as U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs bathroom appeal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to a transgender former public high school student who waged a six-year legal battle against a Virginia county school board that had barred him from using the bathroom corresponding…Continue Reading

New York priest accused by security guard of assault confirms charges have now been dropped

NEW YORK, June 17, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — A New York priest has made his first public statement regarding the dismissal of charges against him.  Today Father George W. Rutler reached out to LifeSiteNews and other media today with the following…Continue Reading

Untitled 5 Untitled 2

Attention Readers:

  Welcome to our website. Readers who are familiar with The Wanderer know we have been providing Catholic news and orthodox commentary for 150 years in our weekly print edition.


  Our daily version offers only some of what we publish weekly in print. To take advantage of everything The Wanderer publishes, we encourage you to su
bscribe to our flagship weekly print edition, which is mailed every Friday or, if you want to view it in its entirety online, you can subscribe to the E-edition, which is a replica of the print edition.
 
  Our daily edition includes: a selection of material from recent issues of our print edition, news stories updated daily from renowned news sources, access to archives from The Wanderer from the past 10 years, available at a minimum charge (this will be expanded as time goes on). Also: regularly updated features where we go back in time and highlight various columns and news items covered in The Wanderer over the past 150 years. And: a comments section in which your remarks are encouraged, both good and bad, including suggestions.
 
  We encourage you to become a daily visitor to our site. If you appreciate our site, tell your friends. As Catholics we must band together to rediscover our faith and share it with the world if we are to effectively counter a society whose moral culture seems to have no boundaries and a government whose rapidly extending reach threatens to extinguish the rights of people of faith to practice their religion (witness the HHS mandate). Now more than ever, vehicles like The Wanderer are needed for clarification and guidance on the issues of the day.

Catholic, conservative, orthodox, and loyal to the Magisterium have been this journal’s hallmarks for five generations. God willing, our message will continue well into this century and beyond.

Joseph Matt
President, The Wanderer Printing Co.

Untitled 1

Catechism

Today . . .

Pope Francis has died aged 88

Pope Francis’ reign in the papal throne spanned more than a decade, and witnessed the spread of widespread confusion on numerous matters of the Catholic faith.

Pope Francis put on ventilator after ‘sudden worsening of condition’

Pope Francis has had a ‘sudden worsening of his respiratory condition’, the Vatican has said. Pope Francis‘s health has suddenly worsened with a spasm which resulted in his breathing in vomit. The pontiff suffered the bronchial spasm on Friday, with the Vatican saying the development required non-invasive mechanical ventilation.

Pope Francis receives blood transfusions, Vatican keeping prognosis confidential

(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis, who remains in critical condition, was recently administered a blood transfusion and “high flows” of oxygen, the Vatican announced Saturday, adding that at this time his prognosis is being withheld from the public.

The Brew: President Trump Keeps Flooding the Zone with Sane Policies That Expose Sick, Squalid Secrets

No, it’s not manna from Heaven or multiplied loaves and fishes, because Caesar isn’t Jesus. We don’t look to Donald Trump, Elon Musk, or any mere human being to save us from our sins; Jesus already did that. But we can and should demand that the men who wield the secular sword aren’t sticking it in our backs or using it to abort babies and sexually mutilate children. Some people say that asking for that…Continue Reading

Trump Defunds International Planned Parenthood

President Donald Trump added to his excellent pro-life record today by reversing Joe Biden’s policy forcing Americans to fund International Planned Parenthood. While on Air Force One today, President Trump signed crucial pro-life executive orders which pro-life advocates have strongly prioritized and advocated for. During his first week in office last term, Trump signed the Mexico City policy in one of his first acts as president. The pro-life policy prohibits American tax dollars to groups that promote…Continue Reading

The King of Kings

Cindy Paslawski We are at the end of the Church year. We began with Advent a year ago, commemorating the time awaiting the coming of the Christ and we are ending these weeks later with a vision of the future, a vision of Christ the King of the Universe on His throne before us all.…Continue Reading

7,000 Pro-Lifers March In London

By STEVEN ERTELT LONDON (LifeNews) — Over the weekend, some seven thousand pro-life people in the UK participated in the March for Life in London to protest abortion.They marched to Parliament Square on Saturday, September 2 under the banner of “Freedom to Live” and had to deal with a handful of radical abortion activists.During the…Continue Reading

An Appeal For Prayer For The Armenian People

By RAYMOND LEO CARDINAL BURKE (Editor’s Note: His Eminence Raymond Cardinal Burke on August 29, 2023, issued this prayer for the Armenian people, noting their unceasing love for Christ, even in the face of persecution.) + + On the Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist, having a few days ago celebrated the…Continue Reading

Robert Hickson, Founding Member Of Christendom College, Dies At 80

By MAIKE HICKSON FRONT ROYAL, Va. (LifeSiteNews) — Robert David Hickson, Jr., of Front Royal, Va., died at his home on September 2, 2023, at 21:29 p.m. after several months of suffering and after having received the Last Rites of the Catholic Church. He was surrounded by friends and family.Robert is survived by me —…Continue Reading

The Real Hero Of “Sound of Freedom”… Says The Film Has Strengthened The Fight Against Child Trafficking

By ANA PAULA MORALES (CNA) —Tim Ballard, a former U.S. Homeland Security agent who risked his life to fight child trafficking, discussed the impact of the movie Sound of Freedom, which is based on his work, in an August 29 interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. “I’ve spent more than 20 years helping…Continue Reading

Advertisement

Our Catholic Faith (Section B of print edition)

Catholic Replies

Editor’s Note: This lesson on medical-moral issues is taken from the book Catholicism & Ethics. Please feel free to use the series for high schoolers or adults. We will continue to welcome your questions for the column as well. The email and postal addresses are given at the end of this column. Special Course On Catholicism And Ethics (Pages 53-59)…Continue Reading

Color Politics An Impediment To Faith

By FR. KEVIN M. CUSICK The USCCB is rightly concerned about racism, as they should be about any sin. In the 2018 statement Open Wide Our Hearts, they affirm the dignity of every human person: “But racism still profoundly affects our culture, and it has no place in the Christian heart. This evil causes great harm to its victims, and…Continue Reading

Trademarks Of The True Messiah

By MSGR. CHARLES POPE (Editor’s Note: Msgr. Charles Pope posted this essay on September 2, and it is reprinted here with permission.) + + In Sunday’s Gospel the Lord firmly sets before us the need for the cross, not as an end in itself, but as the way to glory. Let’s consider the Gospel in three stages.First: The Pattern That…Continue Reading

A Beacon Of Light… The Holy Cross And Jesus’ Unconditional Love

By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON Each year on September 14 the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Exultation of the Holy Cross. The Feast Day of the Triumph of the Holy Cross commemorates the day St. Helen found the True Cross. It is fitting then, that today we should focus on the final moments of Jesus’ life on the…Continue Reading

Our Ways Must Become More Like God’s Ways

By FR. ROBERT ALTIER Twenty-Fifth Sunday In Ordinary Time (YR A) Readings: Isaiah 55:6-9Phil. 1:20c-24, 27aMatt. 20:1-16a In the first reading today, God tells us through the Prophet Isaiah that His thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. This should not come as a surprise to anyone, especially when we look at what the Lord…Continue Reading

The Devil And The Democrats

By FR. DENIS WILDE, OSA States such as Minnesota, California, Maryland, and others, in all cases with Democrat-controlled legislatures, are on a fast track to not only allow unborn babies to be murdered on demand as a woman’s “constitutional right” but also to allow infanticide.Our nation has gotten so used to the moral evil of killing in the womb that…Continue Reading

Crushed But Unbroken . . . The Martyrdom Of St. Margaret Clitherow

By RAY CAVANAUGH The late-1500s were a tough time for Catholics in England, where the Reformation was in full gear. A 1581 law prohibited Catholic religious ceremonies. And a 1584 Act of Parliament mandated that all Catholic priests leave the country or else face execution. Some chose to remain, however, so they could continue serving the faithful.Also taking huge risks…Continue Reading

Advertisement(2)