Concerning the displacing of Advent and the subsequent abandonment of Christmas:
Every December I hear people express grievance over the ever earlier Christmas displays in stores. One might expect such a gold mine of a holiday to be marketed early but I have no complaint here. My complaint regards the misuse of Christmas by Christians. The world may do as it pleases and not concern me, but the doings of my own family warrant at least an opinion. My opinion on this matter is that many of those who bemoan the commercialization of Christmas themselves follow the marketing schedule set by Madison Avenue in favor the liturgical calendar established by the Church. Save for churches of the catholic tradition, there has ceased to be a distinction between Advent and the Christmas season which begins on December 25th and continues for twelve days. (I personally know how easy it is to follow the secular "liturgical year.") Many Christians abandon Advent, a season of fasting and penance, for a month of unashamed gluttony. Now here I am not entirely guiltless as I did serve friends coffee and Christmas cookies just last week. Mea Culpa. By the second day of Christmas, many people are so Christmased out that many Christmas trees are already seen discarded along alley ways, mental gears are shifted, and the remaining Christmas season is abandoned.
Another familiar complaint I hear is that Christ is being squeezed out of Christmas and we must labor to keep him in that holy day. The irony here which both humors and grieves me is that Christ is always present in Christ's Mass, yet many of those in the evangelical tradition from whom said complaint if voiced would perish the thought of attending a Mass whether it be on Christmas or any other day. So the questions becomes, who is being left out of Christmas? It is not Christ, I think.
The way Christmas is celebrated in the United States, one might think the angels appeared to the shepherds saying, "Stress on earth and good shopping to those on whom good credit rests." Were Christmas about worshipping the incarnate Christ instead of having all our cookies baked and Advent were a preparation for the festival instead of a time to shop, shop, shop, then perhaps, just perhaps, a great deal of stress and money might be saved. Perhaps efforts to make Christmas special would cease to be stressful because we would find that Christmas is special in itself without the all the adornments. Maybe, just maybe if we bring ourselves to ChristMas then the day would restore our spirits rather than fray our nerves. Perhaps we would find rest in offering to him the Christmas gift he desires: our worship. And in return, we would receive the gift he offers to us: his presence.
Every December I hear people express grievance over the ever earlier Christmas displays in stores. One might expect such a gold mine of a holiday to be marketed early but I have no complaint here. My complaint regards the misuse of Christmas by Christians. The world may do as it pleases and not concern me, but the doings of my own family warrant at least an opinion. My opinion on this matter is that many of those who bemoan the commercialization of Christmas themselves follow the marketing schedule set by Madison Avenue in favor the liturgical calendar established by the Church. Save for churches of the catholic tradition, there has ceased to be a distinction between Advent and the Christmas season which begins on December 25th and continues for twelve days. (I personally know how easy it is to follow the secular "liturgical year.") Many Christians abandon Advent, a season of fasting and penance, for a month of unashamed gluttony. Now here I am not entirely guiltless as I did serve friends coffee and Christmas cookies just last week. Mea Culpa. By the second day of Christmas, many people are so Christmased out that many Christmas trees are already seen discarded along alley ways, mental gears are shifted, and the remaining Christmas season is abandoned.
Another familiar complaint I hear is that Christ is being squeezed out of Christmas and we must labor to keep him in that holy day. The irony here which both humors and grieves me is that Christ is always present in Christ's Mass, yet many of those in the evangelical tradition from whom said complaint if voiced would perish the thought of attending a Mass whether it be on Christmas or any other day. So the questions becomes, who is being left out of Christmas? It is not Christ, I think.
The way Christmas is celebrated in the United States, one might think the angels appeared to the shepherds saying, "Stress on earth and good shopping to those on whom good credit rests." Were Christmas about worshipping the incarnate Christ instead of having all our cookies baked and Advent were a preparation for the festival instead of a time to shop, shop, shop, then perhaps, just perhaps, a great deal of stress and money might be saved. Perhaps efforts to make Christmas special would cease to be stressful because we would find that Christmas is special in itself without the all the adornments. Maybe, just maybe if we bring ourselves to ChristMas then the day would restore our spirits rather than fray our nerves. Perhaps we would find rest in offering to him the Christmas gift he desires: our worship. And in return, we would receive the gift he offers to us: his presence.
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