In the last few years, it seems to have become the obligation of many Christians to whine about the lack of Christ in Christmas—“Merry Christmas” replaced with “Happy Holidays”, etc. While there may be something to their complaints, the obvious relish some take in this perceived victimhood is hardly a positive substitute. In the Catholic Church there appears to be a trend towards a better response. There is a call for Catholics to turn their observances of this season away from a secular schedule and back to the liturgical calendar. If you really love Christmas, this is great because we get to celebrate Christmas from December 25 to January 9, which is the length of this liturgical season in our Church. When everyone else has the post-Christmas blues, we’re just getting the party started! Prior to the Christmas season, however, is the often-neglected season of Advent. This year Advent begins on November 28.
In Christmas to Candlemas in a Catholic Home, Helen McLoughlin wrote:
It is to our [Holy Mother Church] that Christian families must look for help to reestablish Christmas as a season of festivities marking Christ's birth. Either we live the liturgical year with its varying seasons of joy and sorrow, work and rest, or we follow the pattern of the world. Nor is it an easy task to break with the world and the powerful influence of advertising. Their season of Christmas begins around Thanksgiving Day when stores display wares for holiday gift-giving. It lasts until December 24.
Families, who would not dream of eating their Thanksgiving turkey a week in advance or of having their 4th of July picnic in June, give no thought to the fact that, when they awake on December 25, there is not a shred of Christmas left. Every present has been opened. Every carol has been sung. The tree has dried out. Christmas is apt to be a dull day given to over-eating. There was no fast in Advent, so it follows that there can be no feast.
How should this affect our celebrations? Let’s face it, it’s a pretty unrealistic expectation for most of us to wait until Christmas Eve to begin to deck the halls, but maybe we could put it off just a bit. Instead of trimming the tree before Advent even begins, we could take that time to create an Advent wreath to use during the coming weeks in prayerful anticipation, and when we do begin our Christmas preparations, maybe there are a few traditions that we could save until the big day gets closer.
In the essay, Advent: Four Ways to Pray the Wait, Beth Davis observed:
This is the 21st century! We can drive 70 miles per hour. DSL lets us surf the Net without a wait. FedEx can deliver in 24 hours. The Concorde can fly us to Paris in less time than we can drive to Aunt Jean’s for holiday dinner. [Well, it used to.] The grocery sells the ingredients to create a gourmet meal in less than 20 minutes. Why wait?
Why not just jump right to Christmas? Because waiting is a good teacher.
So, instead of complaining about how someone else is changing Christmas, let’s first look to our own observances of the season. This is a good year to begin to make the Advent season a priority in your Catholic household and to save some Christmas for Christmas.(This essay was given out a few years ago, but I thought I'd bring it back one more time. It's a good reminder.)
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