First Sunday in Advent
Fr. Anthony Brankin
Of course we all know that there are two Christmas seasons in the United States. There is the Christmas season of the Church in which we prepare for the birth of the Messiah—and proclaim our love for the One who is going to save us from our sins. Then there is the Christmas season of the merchants—in which we prepare for an orgy of gift-giving and receiving for no apparent purpose other than boosting profits for the merchants. I think of the constant harangue about Black Friday—and how they spend all their time and energy trying to convince us how important it is for all the stores to turn a significant profit on the Friday after Thanksgiving. That’s all we hear about for weeks before Thanksgiving. And now the next big day is Cyber Monday— whatever that is!
So—Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important to whom? Important for what reason? What is our stake in the success of Macy’s and Target and Walmart? We are supposed to be concerned about how much they have made? We are supposed to be worried about them as they seduce us into buying things we really don’t need to give to people we really don’t like? This is supposed to be what Christmas means? I don’t think so.
A Merchant Christmas
As a Christian I resent the fact that they have stolen Christmas from us. They have made the Feast of the Birth of the Messiah a celebration of buying and selling cheap plastic garbage from China. As a Christian I resent the fact that our mothers and fathers feel obliged to work extra hours and sweat extra tears so that they can buy their children the devices and clothes and toys that they have been told are necessary for their lives—and all in the name of the God who gave all and took nothing. As a Christian I resent the fact that these merchants—encourage us not just to buy things—but to borrow money as well—to actually go into debt—to pay for it all.
I remember as a kid standing in the bank with my father, and I recall looking at the ads on the walls for something called a Christmas Club. There were pictures of the smiling Mom and Dad and kids and everyone was so happy that this year they had enough money to pay for Christmas! And I didn’t realize until later in my life that the bank was actually asking parents to finance their Christmas giving. And they are still doing the same thing—only this time it is with Credit cards—But that’s ok because we are doing it for the kids. And they force mothers and fathers to second guess themselves about what kind of parents they are—well if we cannot buy our children’s love with mountains of gifts then maybe we are not good parents! Is that not what they are telling us? The bigger the gift—the greater the love? The more presents—the more love?
And the stores and cyber centers remove every trace of Jesus who gave us Christmas—who showed us how much He loved us—not by buying us things—but by offering His life for us. What a travesty! What a blasphemy! That they use Jesus to make their profits at the same time they totally and completely ignore Him. I sometimes think that Christmas has become the yearly season when the money changers drive Jesus out of the temple.
A Messiah Christmas
That is why we Christians, we Catholics who believe in the Son of God—that He was born penniless in a little stable in Bethlehem, of a Virgin Mother and a foster father—that He was born in the heart of a family who had only love to share with each other-and precious little besides-must say to the merchants and peddlers to the con men and cheats, “Not this year! Christmas is not about things and stuff—the bigger the better. The more the merrier! No—This year—for our family—the spiritual travesty ends. The money madness is over with! Christmas is about the love of Jesus for us and our love for Him.”
I am not saying: Do not buy gifts. I am not saying we should not decorate our homes. What I am saying is make sure that whatever we do to celebrate Christmas—that Jesus and Mary are the first focus. Please, put up a Christmas tree—but make sure that there is a crucifix on the wall by the front door before you put up that tree—so that when people come in to your house this Christmas they can see the One who gives us Christmas. Yes! Festoon your house with lights—but not before you have an image of the Virgin in your living room smiling down on all who live there.
Over the next four weeks—we can proclaim the spiritual meaning of Christmas by praying at least as much as we shop. In other words, if we spend two hours this week shopping—can we not set aside an equal two hours for prayer? Is daily Mass in the weeks before Christmas an impossible dream? We have two Masses here—6:30 and 8:10. In a serious preparation for Christmas we might say a rosary every day—and o my goodness—why not ask our children—to pray with us—and maybe after supper—maybe just a decade—just ten Hail Marys. Perhaps in our quest to recover the spirit of Christmas, we can open our Bibles and read the Gospels—one chapter a day—or the psalms—one psalm a day. That is not hard to do. Is that any harder than standing in line for twenty minutes at Toys R Us? And if we don’t have a Bible at home—we need to get one before we do anything else.
And this week our novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe begins—Nine days of Preparation for the feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe—and what a beautiful preparation for Christmas that is—because the Virgin always directs us to her Son—and you do know that that black sash around her waist is an Aztec sign that this young woman is with child. Sure the Novena is in Spanish—but the prayers are in your heart! And we have translations.
And children—you too have a responsibility in all of this. When your parents ask you, “What do you want for Christmas?” why not surprise yourself (and your parents) and say to them, “All I want for Christmas is your love, Mom and Dad. Only your love.”
Yes, we all love Christmas—but we love the real Christmas—the true Christmas—the one about poor little Baby Jesus and Mary’s love and Joseph’s virtue. This is the Christmas that doesn’t cost any money—and we cannot afford to lose it.