The Ideal Toy Company had great success when they brought out the very first Teddy Bear way back in 1902!! The company continued to have a string of hits with Betsy Wetsy and the Rubik’s Cube.
But in 1958, they released their biggest flop – the Baby Jesus Doll. The Pope and the Catholic Church gave their blessing to the new doll. It was advertised as being unbreakable, washable and cuddly. It was packaged in straw with a satin ribbon and plastic surroundings, and appropriate biblical texts were added here and there to make the scene complete.
What the company and the Church authorities did not realize was that few if any parents were going to buy the doll. People just did not want their children playing with a Christ Child doll.
The Christ Child doll did not sell. The manager of one of the department stores panicked. He carried out a last ditch promotion to get rid of the dolls. He brandished a huge sign outside his store that read: “JESUS CHRIST – MARKED DOWN 50% – GET HIM WHILE YOU CAN.”
And that is always the constant danger – that we will remake Christ into a meek, harmless figure – discounted 50% to attract the masses.
As a Catholic priest, I’ve been struggling with doing just that in my homilies, my ministries and in my personal relationship with Jesus for the last 55 years!!
Thanks to Bonnie Kittle for the picture.
Have YOU taken and remade Jesus into a meek, harmless figure in YOUR life?
JESUS DIED FOR YOU, KNOWING YOU MIGHT NEVER LOVE HIM BACK. THAT IS TRUE LOVE!!
We all struggle with today’s Message. So why not share it? TreatsfortheSoul.org. Enjoy my Podcast!
