Merry Christmas!    

My name is Philip Turgati.
I was born November 20, 1951.
Growing up in “The Bronx”, I attended Catholic schools.
  
Since I was a child I knew from the nuns that the date for celebrating Christmas was an arbitrary one. It was chosen for many reasons, one of which was its proximity to the pagan festival for the winter solstice.
 
When Christianity started making inroads into the surrounding pagan cultures the Catholic Church (which was the only Christian Church at the time) felt that since an exact date for Christ’s Birth could not be both agreed upon and confirmed, choosing one that showed the ending of darkness in our world giving way to light was perfect (the solstice).   

I, personally, have no problem with this date for Christmas. I believe, first of all, as the Bible and history tells us that the First Christian Church was founded upon the Apostle Peter as the head of The Church established by Jesus. So, leading from that knowledge, I am willing to accept this date not only for the common sense of their reasoning but also because their authority to set any Christian Feast comes from God.
    
For more on the origin of choosing December 25th for Christmas.   

What do you think.