One of my main mantras is to keep Christ in Christmas, as well as keep Christ in Easter, even keep Satan out of Halloween.
I see Anthony B here on Catholic Pages goes a step further with Keep Christ in Christmas, and keep Christmas out of Advent.
Anthony B
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USA
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Keep Christ in Christmas, and Keep Christmas out of ADVENT.
For the great majority of the population we are in the 'Christmas Season' although some of the population seems to prefer the 'Holiday Season,' since I guess some of these are spending their hard earned cash on items from the other holidays this season? Anyway, commerical Christmas has been going on since at least Halloween.
On Sunday, we began our new church year with the first Sunday of Advent. What does that mean other than some four weeks to Christmas? Are we to prepare in anyway to get ready for the celebration of Jesus' birth on the 25th? We do for his death and resurrection during Lent. I thought at one time Advent, like Lent was also a time of fasting to help us prepare for Jesus's birth?
So, we are now in the Advent season which ends with the Christmas vigil Mass. The official Christmas season begins with the vigil Mass of Christmas and runs through the Epiphany--thus the 12 days of Christmas or Christmastide.
It is a nice thought to try to keep Christmas out of the Advent season--same as to keep Easter out of Lent. I guess commercial Christmas has got a giant hand in this matter and dont see it happening. Although, some are trying hard to turn Christmas secular or mix all the other holidays this month all into one???? Dont get me started with chrismukkah.
Religiously, we can be doing better to celebrate Advent and perhaps the twelve days of Christmas could be celebrated even more joyously.
Anyway--Great Thought!!!
Keep Christ in Christmas
Have a Great Advent
and Have a Joyous Christmastide
KEEP CHRIST IN CHRISTMAS
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Season's Greetings: An Advent Sermon -- Happy holidays! Season's greetings! 'Tis the season to be jolly! Jesus is the reason for the season! Fair enough, but as people start exchanging those greetings this month, what season precisely is it that we're celebrating?
Well, it's not Christmas. At least, not yet.
The Church today begins the season of Advent. So, certainly let's keep Christ in Christmas and so forth, but let's keep Christmas in Christmas season, not in Advent. You'll have noticed in Mass today that the vestments have changed color from the ordinary green to violet, the color of prayerful and penitential preparation. Just as Easter is preceded by the violet preparatory season of Lent, so also is Christmas preceded by the violet preparatory season of Advent. Certainly, Advent isn't as intense or (nowadays) so penitential as Lent (mainly because Christmas isn't as important a holiday as Easter), but it is still distinct.
The Gloria, that most Christmassy of liturgical hymns, is silenced from the Sunday Mass until we enter Christmas season. The music is more restrained, often falling into minor keys, the organ used more sparingly, the decorations much more somber. The readings in our Masses speak frequently of the end of the world, of the second coming of the Messiah, of John the Baptist's warning to prepare the way of the Lord. We are in the season of Advent, the season designed to prepare us spiritually so that we may celebrate Christ's birth well on the 25th of December and the weeks that follow it.
So, our first point has been the distinction between Advent and Christmas. My second point is another distinction, that between the secular ho-ho-ho Christmas holiday and the Catholic holiday of Christmas and Christmastide. I think it's great that non-Christians and non-practicing Christians feel comfortable celebrating Christmas in their own way. I personally know Jews, Muslims, and non-believers who put up trees, say "Merry Christmas," and have no problem with manger scenes and Midnight Mass. And certainly the secular holiday helps the economy. So, we're fine with Frosty the Snowman, Jingle Bell Rock, and enjoying Christmas goodies baked by atheists and served in the second week of Advent. That's all very nice, and I'm not opposed.
But, as nice as it is, we need to be very clear in our own minds that that is not what Christmas should principally mean for us. You shouldn't feel scruples about participating, to an extent, in the secular merry-making, but neither should you let that sort of thing obscure what Advent and Christmas mean in the sacred sense. It happens very often that one becomes so caught up in buying presents, sending off Christmas cards (generally with nothing more personal than one's signature on them) to one's 900 closest friends, running around from party to party, baking, planning, and decorating -- that 26 December comes, we're worn out, and we realize that we've wasted Advent, missed Christmas day, and have no energy left to celebrate Christmas season now that it has officially arrived. That is called misplacing one's priorities. I shouldn't even have to mention how easily materialism corrupts Christmas, tempting us to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars in a supposed celebration of the birth of a poor child in a cold stable. So easily we can get thrown off track. I recall one woman several years back who embarrassedly admitted to having missed Mass on Christmas. How in the world did that happen? She had so many "social obligations," preparations, and holiday responsibilities, that she just didn't have time to hear Mass on the day of Christ's birth. So, enjoy the secular things, but only to the extent that they don't draw you away from the sacred meanings of these two seasons.
Having made those two distinctions, between Advent and Christmas, and between the secular and the sacred, let's think of a few ways to make Advent profitable for us. It's inevitable that we'll do some secular "Christmas" celebration early, but let's try to keep that under control, so that our real Christmas celebrating will take place on Christmas day and the weeks following it. Some people get an Advent calendar, and make a daily ritual of saying prayers as a family as they open the little door on the calendar each day. Some have an Advent wreath in the dining room, and say a little prayer and light the appropriate candle(s) prior to dinner each evening. In the parish, we're having three Masses each weekday of Advent, so try to work at least one extra Mass into your week. As a spiritual preparation, a good confession would be an excellent idea, so that you can receive Holy Communion for Christmas with your soul nice and clean. We'll be having confession six times a week, and sometimes multiple times during the day. Almsgiving to charitable organizations, especially those that work directly with the needy, is a time-honored Advent practice. In addition to these things to do, give some thought to things not to do. Through experience, you know what has been an obstacle to a fruitful celebration of Advent and Christmas in the past -- too many parties in Advent, too much alcohol, too much shopping, whatever: make a point this year to avoid what has caused you to stumble in the past.
Let's make good use of these four weeks of spiritual preparation, keeping our minds focused on the meaning of this violet season, making ready the way of the Lord.
:: Permalink -- Jim Tucker 11:17 AM -- email me ::
great great post.
Sharon
Avoidance issues
[edit] Avoidance/censorship of Christmas
A graphic from Old Navy's web site promoting a generic "holiday" theme.
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A graphic from Old Navy's web site promoting a generic "holiday" theme.
In 1999, VDARE.com editor Peter Brimelow is credited for first coining the term "War on Christmas", or "War Against Christmas", and the analysis of this issue became a prominent piece of conservative cultural criticism in the United States.
The phrases "Season's Greetings," or "Happy Holidays" as opposed to "Merry Christmas," have become a particular concern to many people.[9] The phrases are used on many postcards (as, for example, those sent out by the American Library Association), and by door clerks at Wal-Mart and other major stores. Don Feder, president of Jews Against Anti-Christian Defamation stresses that it should be okay to say "Merry Christmas", and complained about "politically correct purging of Christmas from our culture." [2] Rabbi Daniel Lapin believes that "saying Merry Christmas is NOT Offensive" and complains that "We see obsequious regard for faiths like Judaism and even Islam, while Christianity is treated with contempt". [3] Further, Lapin says that "Nationwide, Christmas Nativity scenes are banned from city halls and shopping malls but Chanukah menorahs are permitted. (They are only cultural symbols, not religious, you see.)" and concludes that "Religious Freedom is for Everyone - Not Just Minorities" [4].
The idea of a war on Christmas in America gained prominence following extensive coverage on the Fox News Channel. The channel's commentators Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity first spoke of a "war on Christmas" in the months leading up to the 2004 holiday season, and picked up the topic again in late 2005. In particular, they cited certain school decisions and municipal codes that were supposed to single out Christmas observances for special restriction.
In several cases, the news items mentioned on Fox were denied by the persons involved. For example, O'Reilly said that the township of Saginaw, Michigan "opposes red and green clothing on anyone." The town supervisor responded that "O'Reilly's comments are flat-out not true...the township hall has red and green Christmas lights adorning the building at night."[10] Nevertheless, these reports bolstered a widespread popular sentiment that Christmas was being attacked by the political left. This was, and is, widely discussed on the Internet, especially in the blogosphere. A Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll for November 29–30, 2005 found that 42% of respondents believe that "there is a War on Christmas in the U.S. today," with 48% in disagreement. Media Matters for America, a watchdog group critical of conservative media, reported that from Monday, November 28, to Friday, December 2, Fox News aired 58 different reports, interviews, and debates about the War on Christmas. [11] Many print and television media outlets are skeptical, calling it a conspiracy theory or a deliberate attempt to further a conservative Christian agenda. [12] [13]
Several retailers began incorporating the term "Christmas" after public outcry in 2005.
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Several retailers began incorporating the term "Christmas" after public outcry in 2005.
Regarding the phrase "Season's Greetings," as opposed to "Merry Christmas," O'Reilly argued: "Every company in America should be on their knees thanking Jesus for being born. Without Christmas, most American businesses would be far less profitable," O'Reilly said on a Fox News program. "More than enough reason for business to be screaming 'Merry Christmas'." Critics, however, point out that attempting to include non-Christians in Christmas by generalizing the holiday is a wholly capitalistic method of increasing profits — the more people affected by marketing, the more people will come out and purchase. In 2006 however, Wal-Mart resumed the use of "Merry Christmas" in their advertisements after a sharp decline in their 2005 holiday sales. Critics say that this was a result of some 96% of Americans who celebrate Christmas objecting. [14]
While the controversy over the phrase "Season's Greetings" strongly echoes Robnett's concern about the phrase "Xmas," the "War on Christmas" idea, however, differs from earlier discussions of the secularization of Christmas in two important regards. First, it treats many of the (really or supposedly) paganizing elements of Christmas observance as if they were essentially Christian symbols, so that, for example, Saginaw's purported ban of red and green clothing is an anti-Christian act. This is in contrast to many earlier critics of Christmas, such as the Puritans or the Jehovah's Witnesses: by them, the removal of Christmas trees, yule logs, and so forth would be viewed as pro-Christian. Some contemporary conservatives advance this line of thought as well, arguing that the "Christmas" that's allegedly under attack is a secularized, commercialized corruption of the Nativity to begin with.
Second, earlier critics have usually seen Christian observance as coming under attack from generalized secular and capitalist trends. Modern critics tend to see Christmas as being specifically attacked by a conspiracy of secular forces, and are less concerned about the commercialization of Christmas per se. For example, John Gibson, wrote a book entitled The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought (ISBN 1-59523-016-5), which was published in October of 2005. Gibson and others claim the abolition of Christmas (War on Christmas) is part of a broader "culture war" waged by progressives. O'Reilly claimed that "it's all part of the secular progressive agenda ... to get Christianity and spirituality and Judaism out of the public square." He also went on to say that this larger agenda includes "legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage." [15] In this alleged recent movement, Gibson has charged that a wide array of groups, including "liberals," "secular progressives," the ACLU, the Anti-Defamation League, and Americans United for Separation of Church and State are the forces behind the attack, while O'Reilly has focused more narrowly on the ACLU and billionaire financier George Soros. [16] [17]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Christmas
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