A Rebuttal to Catholic Apologetics makes the claim that mass actually means "death sacrifice" and quotes the Catholic Encyclopedia in a statement that defines this sacrifice as the "complete destruction of the victim." Who is the victim being destroyed? The book suggests Christ as the victim, after all He is the one who sacrificed Himself for us. In addition, Christmas is essentially the same as Mass of Christ, which by this definition means “death sacrifice of Christ” or “the complete destruction of Christ.” That would mean when you say Merry Christmas, you are actually said "happy complete destruction of Christ."[9]

Jesus isn't a victim, though; He's the Son of God and God in the flesh. Another site that quotes this passage refers to the 1975 edition Catholic Encyclopedia, which I can't seem to find online. The version I did find online says the following about sacrifices:

To confirm this and understand the context of the quote used, I will have to locate a copy of this book (probably at the library) and do some reading. Just as you should never consider only a portion of the Bible without consider the rest, I don't think it would be fair to jump to a conclusion based on this small segment. When I have found more information, I will update this section.

If you took Spanish, or know the popular song "Feliz Navidad" then you know that this is the Spanish equivalent of Merry Christmas. Feliz means happy in Spanish and Navidad translates to Christmas in English. The etymology of Navidad stems from the Latin words nativitas, natus, and nativus which all reference birth or the nativity.[6]

Joyeux Noël is the French equivalent of Merry Christmas. While I haven't heard the phrase from anyone, the word Noël often appears in holiday decoration and songs (e.g. The First Noël). Noël, is a variant of nael which comes from the Latin natalis (dies). Natalis (dies) would translate to birth (day).[1] Noël (or Noëlle) is a relatively popular name (more so in Europe than in the United States), and was given to children born on Christmas day during the Middle Ages.[2] Both Dictionary.com and Merriam Webster reiterate this definition.[4][5]

Another source states that the word Noël could come from the Celtic words novo, meaning new, and hel, meaning sun. This would be a reference to the winter solstice and sun worship.[3]

Yuletide is rarely said today, but it appears in many songs (like “The Christmas Song”). Generally, it is considered a synonym for Christmas, but Yuletide refers to a pagan Celtic holiday that was celebrated long before Christmas. Yule celebrated the winter solstice and honored the sun, as it was a sun worshipping holiday. This holiday included decorating a tree, wassailing, and honoring the sun through lighting (such as candles).

I did a post earlier about gospel and contemporary Christian music that sneaks up on you with ungodly lyrics; Christmas music is no different. How many time have you sung "The Christmas Song" or "Deck the Halls?" Both songs include references to the pagan Yuletide. Similarly, Merry Christmas, while not pagan in origin, may have ill meaning behind its etymology as well.

Many may say, "So what? That's in the past." Well, let me ask you this, the LGBT community has preempted the rainbow as a symbol of pride, do you think God suddenly recognizes the rainbow as a symbol of gay pride or does He still consider it a sign of His covenant with Noah? The real issue here is not just the word, surely many words mean different things when crossing languages and traveling through time, but the fact is, the same traditions are being paraded as Christian traditions. So, not only are we calling a rock a tree, we're treating the tree like a rock.

At the end of the day, the question is not what did we mean when we said those words, but what did God hear? Do I think God is angry at those who do not know better and refer to the Yuletide as though it is a Christian holiday? Not necessarily, but I don't think He's happy either. Say you're allergic to roses; they guy you are dating buys you a dozen because he doesn't know. You'd probably not be angry, but you'd also end up having an allergic reaction and/or tossing his gift. Then you'd inform him of the problem and expect it not to happen again. Through Jesus we can know that any accidental offense we've caused can be forgiven, however, through Jesus (otherwise known as the Word) and history books, we can also study to help us avoid such pit falls.

In short, if you tell me "Merry Christmas," I'm going to tell you "Happy Holiday." (The fact that it's not actually Jesus' birthday is a topic for another post).