Is there an easy way to reconcile our behavior and our beliefs at this time of year? How would Jesus want us to celebrate His coming into the world? I look at my life and wonder whether the time, money and effort I spend on Christmas the holiday reflects that I don’t sufficiently acknowledge the importance of Christmas the Holy Day. Is there an appropriate balance where Santa (representing the secular holiday) can co-exist with the Holy Day of Jesus’ coming?
I fear that in my life and in our American culture, Santa has just about completely crowded out Jesus. As administrator of a Catholic parish, I try to facilitate using the resources to bringing people closer to Jesus. In a way it’s a little like a factory where we try to bring people in and convert them in a way where they deepen their love of Jesus (a conversion) and live a life that reflects both the peace and challenges that result from this relationship.
A key opportunity for a conversion to take place is during the weeks leading up to our celebration of the Christmas. In the days before Santa took over Christmas, I can imagine the faithful having more idle time during this period of year since the harvest was in and planting was a ways off. The Church no doubt thought saw this as the perfect time for everyone to undergo a period of introspection and faith enrichment as the celebration of Jesus’ birth approached. For some reason, customs changed, people filled their calendars with activity and for many this important opportunity for conversion is largely gone.
Can we turn back the clock and reclaim this time as a period of faith enrichment? Can we mix the largely secular cultural expectations of Christmas lights, Christmas trees, Christmas parties, Christmas presents and Santa with making this a holy time? Perhaps the best option is to have people of faith euthanize Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer and shun the secular customs so as to focus on the significance of God becoming manifest in the world. Must we continue to make the focus of our time on magi bringing their gifts to the manger or can we conscientiously push back a little and make room for acknowledging the religious importance of Christ’s coming?
I have decided to push back and I am throwing it out there for your suggestions and participation. My goal would be to find a balance that doesn’t completely shun the cultural expectations but gives testament to the fact that I think Advent and Christmas are important opportunities to enrich my faith. One thing I am going to change is the language I use to greet others this time of year. The current practices for nearly all are ‘Happy Holidays’ and ‘Merry Christmas.’ I don’t think either of them leads to any true sense that this is a holy time so I am thinking about avoiding them and going with something like “Joy and peace,” “Peace be with you,” “Christ’s peace and joy be with you.” These would seem to communicate more directly most people’s true feelings anyway and may get people reacquainted with the religious importance of this time of year.
Another thing I been thinking about is making all my gifts to Jesus. For the gifts I give out, I’ll fill in the “To:” section with some like, “To: Jesus who dwells within Tiny Tim (or whoever the gift is for). From: Dan (who sees Jesus within you). The idea is that you would remind the recipient that this is a special time and that Christ did come to the world and is in all of us.
I think another great idea to add holy into our Christmas observations is provided by my parents. The larger Garry family has some great Christmas traditions which have evolved over the years so as to minimize gift giving and focus on being together in a spirit of love and thanksgiving. An example of this is with my mom who now has a tradition of giving all the kids (eight), in-laws (six) and grandkids who can read (9 of 15) cards with lengthy notes telling that person what their personal gifts and attributes are and how proud she is of them. My dad also adds to the holiness of the day by saying a prayer and a poem in thanksgiving for all the gifts he has been given. He emotionally acknowledges how good God has been to him by giving him such a great family and friends. Their actions to me are an example of a way to honor the Holy Day in the midst of celebrating the holiday.
I know that many of you do a wonderful job of acknowledging the holiness of this time of year by helping those in need as Christ asks us to do. I think giving your resources of time and money to those in need at this time of year is an outstanding way to celebrate the importance of Christ coming to be with us. However, I also know that many get lured in by Santa and need to be reminded to intentionally and conscientiously seek to deepen our faith in the midst of increasingly secular cultural norms. I would hope that each of us can carve out some time to reflect on the meaning of the coming of Jesus into our lives. I also think it’s important we push back a little against our culture and through our behavior and interaction give witness that we believe this is still a holy time.
Written by Dan Garry
