Unveiling the Light

Welcome to the Christmas Season. Actually, it has been gaining speed now for some two or three weeks, starting even before we had time to carve out our pumpkins. As Halloween candy sold, the stores simply replaced the shelf space with Christmas items. Soon, the Thanksgiving holiday will be followed by the day that really gets businesses excited, the following Friday which is the busiest shopping day of the year.

Are you ready for all of this or are you, like so many, dreading the rushing around, the overuse of credit cards, the gross consumerism, the overpriced gifts, and the growing stress of trying to make this the “perfect Christmas.” If so, you are not alone. Every year it seems December 25th is more of a finish line than a celebration of Christ. Instead of coming together in love to enjoy the greatest gift ever received, we stagger across the finish line totally exhausted, loaded with often unusable gifts, happy that “all of that is over with,” and dreading the bills that will soon come in the mail. It does not have to be like this!

We have a choice and it is not an all or nothing decision. We can simply cut back. We can decide to not use credit to buy gifts and instead give something personal that has meaning. It does not even have to be a material thing. One could give a hand written invitation to parents to come over for dinner, a promise to spend a day with a sibling doing their favorite thing, or a promise to paint a porch or clean a garage. Parents could give the family a weekend together or each parent could give each child some special time. Children could do a host of favors for their parents.

There are a lot of fun events during the Christmas season and there is no reason to avoid them but we should not let them overwhelm us. We can enjoy these events but avoid rushing around. Give ourselves time to spend with loved ones at home. Make sure the family has dinner together as often as possible. It does not have to be a fancy dinner, just make it enjoyable and make everyone schedule plenty of time to enjoy it, without cell phones, games, or other distractions. Family time together is one of the most important gifts we can give each other this Christmas season.

Make cleaning and decorating the house a family affair and not one filled with stress. Allow it to be fun. It does not have to be perfect. They will remember the time together far longer than the way the house looks or even the gifts they receive. Even preparation of the family holiday meal can be a task shared by all. Members of the family will probably enjoy it all the more knowing that they each contributed to it.

Be especially careful with the use of credit cards. Credit can quickly become a weight around our necks, holding us down and keeping us from enjoying the life we have been granted. If you have a heavy debt load, this would be the perfect time to sit down with the family and plan how you will get out of it. Being free of debt or at least an overwhelming debt will leave you free to pursue life on your own terms. One cannot serve God if one is overwhelmed by the burdens of past expenditures. It is a good practice to only go into debt on assets that increase in value (the home) or in cases of emergency.

The secular Christmas season has begun but the Church’s Christmas season only begins on December 25th and lasts until celebration of the Baptism of the Lord in January. They are wholly separate things, one dealing with the idea parties and gift giving, the other with the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The secular season has its roots in the Church but has morphed into something quite different. It is not necessarily bad but does have many dangerous elements that can lead us astray. They can exist side by side but we need to maintain control. We cannot allow secular affairs to overwhelm the true meaning of Christmas. This is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the Lord, the greatest gift ever given and we should not let anything take away from God’s gift of His Son.

Father Steven Foppiano