Keeping Christmas in Christmas
The stores
are decorated, all of the Christmas fare has been out for purchase since
shortly after Labor Day, trees are being snatched up at lots all over Atlanta,
and lights will soon be going on, that is, in the homes that bothered to wait
until after the Fourth of July to decorate.
In all
seriousness, the Christmas blitz has begun.
Two weeks ago, I started preaching about keeping Christmas simple and keeping
the season of Advent intact. And in
doing so, I have joined a chorus of voices from the Church that have exhorted
the faithful to be on guard regarding the nearly blasphemous materialism that
has so often shrouded the true meaning of Christmas.
Christmas,
now more a material than spiritual event, is celebrated earlier and earlier
each year. Not surprisingly, the rapid
ascendency of the secular material Christmas has corresponded to the
secularization of the faithful and the increasing assaults from both within and
outside of the Church on her fundamental mission, which is to proclaim the saving
message of Christ in the world.
Unfortunately, these days Christ has less and less to do with Christmas.
But, I
believe in Christmas. I believe in Jesus
Christ, and I believe that it is possible to salvage the true meaning of
Christmas, though I think it will require some serious sacrifices. The purpose of this column is to assist you
with some ideas on how to make Christmas truly special while keeping Advent
intact. I recognize that our culture has
progressed to an extraordinary level of false celebration that will be very
difficult to overcome, so I am not expecting the complete and full reversal of
the troubling remnants of the secular trends in Christmas; rather, I would like
to make some suggestions that can help you and your families to make strong
steps towards a deeply Christian and less material experience of Christmas.
First, some
principles:
1)
We assume that the most joyful Christmas ever
celebrated was the one in Bethlehem when Jesus entered into the world. This Christmas was a notable mixture of
poverty and splendor. Christ was born in
a less than glorious place, but the entire magnificence of the heavenly host
appeared to a poor shepherd in the middle of a field singing Gloria in excelsis Deo and indicating
the coming of the Savior.
2)
To the extent that we can approach the
fundamental truths present in that first Christmas, our personal experience of
Christmas should approach the joy experienced by Mary, Joseph, the shepherds,
and even the angels. Those truths are
simplicity, glory, family, and a fundamental orientation to the incarnation of
Christ in our lives.
Keeping these principles in mind, if we can devise even
small strategies designed to emphasize simplicity, glory, family and the
personalization of the Incarnation in our lives, we should be able to help our
own families to experience Christmas more deeply.
To this
end, I recommend considering the following:
1)
Decoration.
For many families with strong family traditions, the expectation that
Christmas decoration would be delayed until Christmas Eve is unattainable…at
least not as a first step. To be clear:
I think that is the ideal. But ideals
are not always easy to attain. Many
families keep the wonderful tradition of slowly filling the family Manger scene
with figures on the Sundays of Advent.
On the first Sunday, the stable or structure itself is put out. On the second Sunday, the animals can be put
in the scene. On the third Sunday, the
shepherds can be placed in the field, and other figures inserted. The fourth Sunday brings Mary and Joseph, and
then Christmas brings the baby Jesus and the Angel proclaiming the Gloria.
But, I recommend something further: the
central figure in secular Christmas decoration is the Christmas Tree. I recommend that you go ahead and decorate
the whole house as you normally would, but don’t turn on any of the
lights. Put up your tree, but don’t
decorate it. If you like, place some
purple and pink ribbons on the tree to indicate that we are still in
Advent. Make the Nativity Scene the
focus of the decorations.
On Christmas Eve, in the morning, decorate
the tree with your family. But don’t
turn on the lights yet. Only once the
sun goes down (or, if you attend a Vigil Mass or Midnight Mass, after Mass) do
you light up the tree and the house and place the Baby Jesus in the
manger. Then keep your decorations up
and lit until January 6, the Epiphany.
What will the neighbors say? They’ll think you’re crazy. And they will ask you what you’re doing. And then you’ll have the opportunity to explain
what Christmas is really about. And
they’ll still think you’re crazy. But
hey: we’re Catholics. We can all be
crazy together. What I can assure you is
that if you do this, your family will experience a holier and happier Christmas
than otherwise.
2)
Gift Giving.
You’ll notice that in the first Christmas, there was no gift-giving
until the Epiphany. I am a big fan of
waiting to give gifts until after Christmas…letting Christmas Day be about
Jesus Christ, and then letting the gifts come later. However, I recognize the difficulty of this
proposition.
But, what can you do? Keep one gift for each member of your family
for Epiphany. Your tree is going to be
lit for the next 12 days anyway…it might as well have gifts under it! Make the Epiphany gift the best one, and make
sure that you discuss with your family the mystery of the Epiphany…the coming
of the Wise Men and the fulfillment of the aspirations of all the world in the
coming of Jesus as savior…before you give your gifts.
I promise you this: you and your family will
stay in the Christmas spirit if there are gifts yet to come, and this small act
will dramatically increase the religiosity of your Christmas season.
3)
Parties.
It’s probably too late for this year, but consider next year having your
Christmas party after Christmas Day. First of all, everyone is available, as long
as you don’t have it on the 26th, because then all of your friends
will be busy taking down their decorations.
Have your party on one of the days in the Octave of Christmas! Secondly, everything you offer at the party
will be cheaper, because you can benefit from the after-Christmas sales!
4)
Prayer.
Ask yourself this question: do you spend as much time praying about the
true meaning of Christmas as you spend decorating and shopping and preparing
for the material aspect of the holiday?
If not, it’s time to change.
Consider taking your family to Mass every morning the kids are off from
school during Christmas. The Mass
readings are awesome…we literally celebrate Christmas for 8 days! Pray the Rosary with your family during
Christmas…even if you never do it. Yes,
the kids get restless. Maybe it doesn’t
even seem like prayer. Jesus
understands. Mary understands…she once
had a little munchkin running around too.
5)
Almsgiving.
Consider setting aside 10% of your Christmas budget to assist the
poor. Will this make things
tighter? Yes. But, if we accept that there has never been a
more joyful Christmas than the first, we should discover that simplicity is
something that makes us happy.
Also, ask your kids to choose something that they
really love (and you do the same), and to offer that very thing to someone less
fortunate than them, even if it is something they have just received for
Christmas. This can be easily
accomplished through the St. Vincent de Paul society. And do this on the Epiphany, which will truly
help your family to understand the greatness of sacrificial giving.
Now if you’ve actually made it this far in the column, you
think I’m crazy and out of touch and asking the impossible. But here’s the thing: I know families who do
each of these things, and more. And they
are the happiest families I know. They
are the families that are not constantly stressed at Christmas.
We have to be honest, to look at
our culture, and to ask ourselves whether what is going on is really something
we want in our families? Then, we have
to recognize that it is already in our
families! This is not the work of
prevention, but the work of correction.
If we believe in our hearts that Jesus Christ actually has something to
offer to this world, we should live as if we believe it, even to the point of
making sacrifices.
Whether these suggestions are the
right thing for you or not, I encourage you to consider them and to come to
some resolutions about how best to celebrate the holiness of Christmas in your
families. God Bless, and Happy Advent!
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