“Happy Whatever”? How about Happy Holydays?

Dear Bay Weekly:

I always look forward to reading Bay Reflections as they usually are wonderful word pictures about the beautiful area we are blessed to live in.

However, I must take exception to the Dec. 6-Dec. 12, 2007 (Vol. xv, No. 49) article entitled “Happy Whatever.”

The author, Diana Beechener, related a story of combining Christmas and Hanukkah with a friend when she was a young girl. The only experience the author seems to have had of Christmas up to that point was to discover that her dad was Santa Claus. She goes on to say that she is “not Catholic, nor religious, but as my Grandmother told me, no one puts on a show like the Catholics.”

The Catholic Mass is a show? I think not! As her part of  Christmukkah, the author took her Jewish friend to a Catholic midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. She then says she and her friend, Becca were confused about receiving Holy Communion, and Becca pondered that eating a host which represents the Body of Christ was “religious cannibalism.” And because they could not receive Communion, the next year when they again attended the midnight Mass, her Jewish friend bought a bag of cookies to Mass to share at Communion time.

How sad that she had not been given a religious background by her family. Ms. Beechner thought it was all right to share the idea of a Catholic Christmas experience with her Jewish friend, not really knowing what it was all about and then years later write about it, share it with your readers, and we are supposed to see the humor in her article? I did not find it funny at all and am amazed that Bay Weekly would print such a negative article about the faith that has been practiced for 2,000 years and has more than 500 million people.

“Happy Whatever”? How about Happy Holydays?

–Linda Carullo, Shady Side

Please Help Make a Merry Christmas for the Gray Family

Dear Bay Weekly:

Wendy Gray is a hard-working, loving and compassionate woman who serves hundreds of people every day by driving the commuter bus from Calvert County to Washington, D.C. (Route #902).

Although Wendy has to fight the gridlock rush hour traffic of Washington every day, she always does it with a smile on her face.

Currently, Wendy is very ill and is undergoing constant medical treatment for kidney complications. She and her family have been hit hard by this illness, both emotionally and financially. Please join the #902 commuters in demonstrating their love and concern by making a contribution to Wendy and her family for the holidays.

Wendy will receive 100 percent of all contributions, as all administrative costs have been paid by the individuals who initiated the drive.

  Patuxent Playhouse (what community theater was meant to be) is sponsoring a web page where you can donate to this wonderful woman and her family this holiday season. No contribution is too small.

Please visit www.patuxentplayhouse.com/wendy

–Jack Reynolds:

President, Patuxent Playhouse