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{"id":2130,"date":"2010-12-13T09:07:43","date_gmt":"2010-12-13T14:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tmatt.net\/?p=2130"},"modified":"2010-12-13T09:07:43","modified_gmt":"2010-12-13T14:07:43","slug":"celebrate-christmas-gasp-in-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tmatt\/2010\/12\/celebrate-christmas-gasp-in-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrate Christmas — gasp! — in Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Father Dino Bottino didn\u2019t expect to spark a firestorm several years ago when he delivered his sermon about the true meaning of Christmas.<\/p>\n

Still, it didn\u2019t take long for outraged parents to leak one crucial statement \u2014 that Father Christmas, also known as Santa Claus, isn\u2019t real \u2014 to the Italian press. Headline writers around the world immediately felt a great disturbance in the Holiday Force<\/a>, as if millions of tiny nonsectarian voices had cried out in terror.<\/p>\n

Clearly, this priest had committed blasphemy.<\/p>\n

Now, the Catholic shepherd of Salt Lake City has bravely ventured into similar territory. Bishop John C. Wester has asked those in his flock to observe the Advent season during the four weeks before Christmas and then \u2014 readers may need to sit down \u2014 to celebrate Christmas on Dec. 25th and during the season that follows.<\/p>\n

\u201cFew would disagree that we live in a busy and rushed society. \u2026 You may have noticed that in our hurried society many stores have already decorated for Christmas, radio stations are sneaking in a Christmas song here and there and even some of our own parishes have begun preparing for Christmas parties for early December,\u201d noted Wester, in a pastoral letter (.pdf)<\/a> released on Nov. 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is the rush? \u2026 Advent is a season of preparation, although it has come to be neglected in many places. Too often, the season of Advent is overshadowed by the \u2018holiday season\u2019 as we move too quickly into celebrating Christmas. By the time that the actual solemnity of Christmas arrives, many of us are burned out.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be perfectly blunt about it, he added, the secular season called \u201cThe Holidays\u201d has been hyped to the point that, in the end, \u201cChristmas has become anticlimactic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bishop\u2019s letter has generated a surprising amount of buzz in a short time, said Deacon Greg Kandra, a veteran journalist who directs the online news programming (NetNY.net)<\/a> for the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. In effect, Wester has issued a call for countercultural revolt against the principalities and powers that shape the American calendar, he said.<\/p>\n

For starters, the bishop is trying \u201cto remind people \u2014 through the pulpit and through education \u2014 that just because they are hearing Christmas music doesn\u2019t mean that it\u2019s really Christmas,\u201d said Kandra, a 26-year CBS News veteran who has won two Emmys and two Peabody Awards. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs everyone knows, most of this is rooted in commercialism. But just because we have Black Friday and people are stampeding through the malls doesn\u2019t mean that is what Christmas is really about.\u201d<\/p>\n

After throwing down his gauntlet, Wester offered practical examples of what he would like to see in the parishes and schools of his diocese.<\/p>\n

Rather than leap straight to Christmas trees early in December, the bishop urged Catholic families to embrace Advent prayer wreathes \u2014 with candles marking the Sundays leading up to Christmas. Families could have \u201cJesse Trees\u201d<\/a> that are decorated in Advent purple and symbols of the ancestors of Jesus, before adding Christmas decorations at the proper time.<\/p>\n

Rather than hold premature Christmas parties, the bishop suggested that Catholic schools plan \u201cGaudete\u201d parties \u2014 Latin for \u201crejoice\u201d \u2014 that are linked to the third Sunday in Advent. Facilities could be decorated with simple wreaths and greenery, with the full Christmas decorations in place as students return after New Year\u2019s Day. Full Christmas decor should remain in place in churches, schools and homes through the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord on the 9th of January.<\/p>\n

By all means, said Wester, Catholics should hold parties throughout this entire Christmas season, which begins \u2014 following centuries of tradition \u2014 with Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

The goal is for Advent to be a period of \u201cwaiting in joyful hope,\u201d a time of preparation, reflection and prayer. At least, that\u2019s what the church\u2019s calendar says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is so easy to \u2026 decorate our churches and houses for Christmas, to spend more time shopping than in prayer and to host Christmas parties before the season has arrived,\u201d said Wester. \u201cI know it is an enormous challenge to remain faithful to the Advent season when we are surrounded by a society which, while claiming to be Christian, does not take the time to reflect and prepare as the church calls us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, he added, \u201cAs Catholics, we must celebrate Advent differently.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"