News Photo by Barbara Woodham Associate Pastor Father Michael Lingaur, left, and Administrator Father Tyler Bischoff of All Saints Catholic Parish, light candles at Saint Anne Catholic Church on Wednesday.

ALPENA — For Alpena resident Lauren Putz, the true meaning of the Christmas season is clear.

“Christmas is celebrating Jesus’ birth,” Putz said as she shopped at Cabin Creek Coffee on Wednesday.

Many Northeast Michigan residents share Putz’s view that the true meaning of the season is that God sent down his son Jesus, as a gift to the world.

“The true meaning of Christmas is the celebration of Jesus,” Alpena resident Mya Bellanger said. “It’s a time to show love to your family members and friends and just celebrate the birth of Jesus.”

Father Tyler Bischoff, Administrator of All Saints Catholic Parish, said that Christmas is when God makes himself visible to people, so it’s not just the idea of God or the story of God, but that God makes himself visible to people in his son Jesus.

He said that God shows himself to us in each other, the sacraments and the scriptures.

“Christmas is all about that in the darkest moments of our lives and the darkest time of the year, God sends us the light of his son Jesus,” Bischoff said.

“Even in the midst of a pandemic and all the things that may be bringing us down, that Christ would give us joy,” he said. “Which is different than just happiness. It is a sense of purpose and the gift of heaven.”

Pastor Paul Frey of Cathro Baptist Church said that there are many verses that talk about Christmas and the coming Saviour to a lost world. One he cited is Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Bischoff believes that Christmas is about hope, peace and joy and the church is emphasizing joy this year as its Christmas theme.

Associate Pastor Father Michael Lingaur of All Saints Catholic Parish, said that Christmas marks the time when God created the first Christian family in human history and he intended for that family to grow.

“So that those that don’t have a family may join a family and share in the joy of being a member of a family,” he said.