Some high school students were decorating their school auditorium in preparation for a Christmas celebration. Since the crucifix did not seem appropriate for the season, they were thinking of removing it from the wall when one of their teachers, a priest walked in. The priest urged them to allow the crucifix to remain. "After all," he said, "that is why Jesus was born - to die on the cross".

It was a point Jesus Himself had to make. The episode in today's gospel occurred just after the transfiguration wherein Jesus gave three of His apostles a preview of the glory that would come to Him in His resurrection. The transfiguration was intended to prepare them for the ordeal of the passion. Jesus appreciated how difficult it would be for them to accept the fact of His death, and so He took the occasion of their question about Elijah to emphasize once again the necessity of His death. The second coming of Elijah was realized in the person of John the Baptist, a man who went unrecognised by the Jewish leaders and who was put to death. And Jesus added, "The Son of Man will suffer at their hands in the same way." In God's plan the evil actions of men would be the means of achieving the glorification of His Son and the salvation of the world.

For those who fail to recognize the true meaning of Christmas, the crucifix may seem out of place, but it is not. Jesus was born to die. Let the crucifix remain.