英語閱讀：爲什麼要過聖誕節

爲什麼要過聖誕節?

What are the origins of Christmas?

Christmas is the most popular holiday in America. Both the secular and the sacred celebrate it, but for different reasons. Some see it as the greatest business time of the year which is fueled by the buying and exchanging of gifts. Others consider it the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Then again, there are those who don’t care except that they get time off from work and have to buy people gifts. Either way, it is a very important holiday both commercially and spiritually.

聖誕節是美國最受歡迎的節日。無論是平民百姓還是宗教人士都會慶祝這一節日，但是卻有各自不同的理由。有人將聖誕節視爲一年中做生意最好的時機，因爲人們會人們大量購買和互贈禮物。而其他人則將聖誕節視爲慶祝耶穌誕辰的日子。但也有一些人對聖誕節毫不在乎(除非自己能夠放假)，而且還不得不給別人買禮物。但是無論哪種情況，聖誕節在商業上和精神上來說都是一個非常重要的節日。

The word "Christmas" comes from two old words: Christes maesse. It means, "the Mass of Christ." This comes from the Catholic Mass, the practice where the priest re-offers the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross during the time of Communion.

“聖誕節(Christmas)”這個術語來源於兩個詞：“Christes” 和 “maesse”，意指“基督彌撒(the Mass of Christ)”。這來自於天主教彌撒，牧師在領聖餐的時候會給十字架上的基督奉獻犧牲祭品。