The Bible does not record Jesus saying something like, "Do not celebrate my birth but rather my death." Catholics follow Jesus' example of celebrating often and celebrates Jesus' entire life from His Annunciation to His Ascension and most points in between including His Birth, Death, and Resurrection. With love in Christ.

I do not beleive there is anything like that in the bible.

are you thinking of Ecclesiastes 7:1 A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.

Regarding birthdays ,,, Birthday Definition: The day of one’s birth or the anniversary of that day. In some places the anniversary of one’s birth, especially that of a child, is celebrated with a party and the giving of gifts. Not a Biblical practice. Do Bible references to birthday celebrations put them in a favorable light? The Bible makes only two references to such celebrations: Gen. 40:20-22: “Now on the third day it turned out to be Pharaoh’s birthday, and he proceeded to make a feast . . . Accordingly he returned the chief of the cupbearers to his post of cupbearer . . . But the chief of the bakers he hung up.” Matt. 14:6-10: “When Herod’s birthday was being celebrated the daughter of Herodias danced at it and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked. Then she, under her mother’s coaching, said: ‘Give me here upon a platter the head of John the Baptist.’ . . . He sent and had John beheaded in the prison.” Everything that is in the Bible is there for a reason. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) Jehovah’s Witnesses take note that God’s Word reports unfavorably about birthday celebrations and so shun these. How did early Christians and Jews of Bible times view birthday celebrations? “The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.”—The History of the Christian Religion and Church, During the Three First Centuries (New York, 1848), Augustus Neander (translated by Henry John Rose), p. 190. “The later Hebrews looked on the celebration of birthdays as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days.”—The Imperial Bible-Dictionary (London, 1874), edited by Patrick Fairbairn, Vol. I, p. 225. What is the origin of popular customs associated with birthday celebrations? “The various customs with which people today celebrate their birthdays have a long history. Their origins lie in the realm of magic and religion. The customs of offering congratulations, presenting gifts and celebrating—complete with lighted candles—in ancient times were meant to protect the birthday celebrant from the demons and to ensure his security for the coming year. . . . Down to the fourth century Christianity rejected the birthday celebration as a pagan custom.”—Schwäbische Zeitung (magazine supplement Zeit und Welt), April 3/4, 1981, p. 4. “The Greeks believed that everyone had a protective spirit or daemon who attended his birth and watched over him in life. This spirit had a mystic relation with the god on whose birthday the individual was born. The Romans also subscribed to this idea. . . . This notion was carried down in human belief and is reflected in the guardian angel, the fairy godmother and the patron saint. . . . The custom of lighted candles on the cakes started with the Greeks. . . . Honey cakes round as the moon and lit with tapers were placed on the temple altars of [Artemis]. . . . Birthday candles, in folk belief, are endowed with special magic for granting wishes. . . . Lighted tapers and sacrificial fires have had a special mystic significance ever since man first set up altars to his gods. The birthday candles are thus an honor and tribute to the birthday child and bring good fortune. . . . Birthday greetings and wishes for happiness are an intrinsic part of this holiday. . . . Originally the idea was rooted in magic. . . . Birthday greetings have power for good or ill because one is closer to the spirit world on this day.”—The Lore of Birthdays (New York, 1952), Ralph and Adelin Linton, pp. 8, 18-20. Wholesome gatherings of family and friends at other times to eat, drink, and rejoice are not objectionable Eccl. 3:12, 13: “There is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good during one’s life; and also that every man should eat and indeed drink and see good for all his hard work. It is the gift of God.” See also 1 Corinthians 10:31.

Memorial (Lord’s Evening Meal) Definition: A meal commemorating the death of Jesus Christ; hence, a memorial of his death, the death that has had effects that are more far reaching than that of any other person. This is the only event that the Lord Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to memorialize. It is also known as the Lord’s Supper, or the Lord’s Evening Meal.—1 Cor. 11:20. What is the significance of the Memorial? To his faithful apostles Jesus said: “Keep doing this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19) When writing to members of the spirit-begotten Christian congregation, the apostle Paul added: “As often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.” (1 Cor. 11:26) So, the Memorial calls special attention to the significance of the death of Jesus Christ in the outworking of Jehovah’s purpose. It highlights the meaning of Jesus’ sacrificial death particularly in relation to the new covenant and to the way that his death affects those who will be heirs with him of the heavenly Kingdom.—John 14:2, 3; Heb. 9:15. The Memorial is also a reminder that Jesus’ death and the way it was accomplished, in harmony with God’s purpose as expressed at Genesis 3:15 and thereafter, served to vindicate Jehovah’s name. By maintaining integrity to Jehovah down till his death, Jesus proved that Adam’s sin was not due to any flaw in the Creator’s designing of man but that it is possible for a human to maintain perfect godly devotion even under severe pressure, and thus Jesus vindicated Jehovah God as Creator and Universal Sovereign. Besides that, Jehovah had purposed that Jesus’ death would provide the perfect human sacrifice needed to ransom Adam’s offspring, and thus make it possible for billions who would exercise faith to live forever in a paradise earth, in fulfillment of Jehovah’s original purpose and in expression of his great love for mankind.—John 3:16; Gen. 1:28. What a tremendous burden rested upon Jesus on his last night on earth as a man! He knew what his heavenly Father had purposed for him, but he also knew that he had to prove faithful under test. Had he failed, what a reproach it would have meant for his Father and what a loss to humankind! Because of all that would be accomplished by means of his death, it was most fitting that Jesus instructed that it be memorialized. What is the meaning of the bread and the wine served at the Memorial? Regarding the unleavened bread that Jesus gave to his apostles when instituting the Memorial, he said: “This means my body.” (Mark 14:22) That bread symbolized his own sinless body of flesh. This he would give in behalf of the future life prospects of mankind, and on this occasion special attention is drawn to the life prospects that it makes possible for those who would be chosen to share with Jesus in the heavenly Kingdom. When passing the wine to his faithful apostles, Jesus said: “This means my ‘blood of the covenant,’ which is to be poured out in behalf of many.” (Mark 14:24) That wine symbolized his own lifeblood. By means of his shed blood, forgiveness of sins would be possible for those who put faith in it. On this occasion Jesus was highlighting the cleansing from sin that it would make possible for his prospective joint heirs. His words also indicate that by means of that blood the new covenant between Jehovah God and the spirit-anointed Christian congregation would be made operative.

The wise writer of the Bible book of Ecclesiastes said: “A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one’s being born.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1) Why would the day of one’s death be better than the day of one’s birth? Because at birth a person has no established reputation. His personal slate is totally blank. His life course will result in either a positive or a negative reputation. For those who have established a good name over the years, the day of death is indeed better in that respect than the day of birth.

Certainly the Bible does not contain instructions from Jesus that we should not celebrate the day of his birth. However he does tell us at Luke 22:19 "Keep doing this in remembrance of me." with regards to observing the memorial of the last supper. Certainly this was an important enough event that he saw fit to instruct us to do so. Interestingly, there are no such instructions for the celebration of his birth. In fact many people are aware that Dec 25 is not actually Jesus' "birthday". So where did that date come from? What about the customs of the holiday? It makes for some interesting research. seahorse and pawsisme also make good points.

birthdays were not celebrated..only 2 mentioned in whole Bible and those were pagan kings!! Jesus never voiced "do not celebrate my birth" it had a PURPOSE ,so HE could DIE.... if HE had not died,we would still just be DEAD in ours sins and NO HOPE..HE had to die to give us HOPE...that is most important to REMEMBER of HIM..HIS DEATH......the Birth was not what HE came here for : to DIE AND RISE WAS,FOR US.... HE just never said a word about us celebrationg or HE would of told us a date, it wasn't important to the Purpose!!! he never mentioned it..:)justme

the bible will give instructions even specifically when a certain date needs to be remembered. Jehovah God always informs his serveants of important dates to be observed. obviously december 25th is not such a date. seahorse gave a very thorough well researched explanation on this matter. for more information go to www.wtchtower.org