Homily

So far, this season I haven’t mentioned any Christmas nonsense, but I do want to bring up one item of advertising foolishness. It’s the tag line for Kohl’s Department store Holiday ads: “Give joy. Get joy.” It’s very clever, very succinct and very memorable. It seems that Kohl’s is the business of providing joy. If you buy an item from Kohl’s which you intend to present as a gift to someone else, you are not actually buying a toy, a sweater or a crockpot. You are actually purchasing joy which will be transferred to the person who receives your gift. How do you “Get joy”? You might think that you get joy from the fact that you are giving someone else joy, but oh no! How could that be? You “get joy” by receiving “Kohl’s Bucks” when you spend a certain amount of dollars, and these are good for further purchases at Kohl’s. These coupons are also bearers of joy. “Give joy. Get joy.” This is how advertisers believes that you think.

I remember a time when the person at the checkout stand or the bank teller might make some friendly small talk and comment on the weather. “Beautiful day today.” Those days are gone. Now they want to interrogate you. “What are your plans for today? So, what did you do this weekend?” Uggghhh. At this point of the year another form of privacy invasion is often used: “So, are you ready for the holidays?” That question, I believe, is all about all the material plans and preparations for Christmas. It’s all about presents, and dinners, and family gathering plans, and home decorations, and cards and trees.

But I ask the same question from a completely different angle: “Are you ready for Christmas?” And I ask that question of you not as consumers, or even as family members, but as Christians. How do Christians prepare themselves for the feast of the Nativity? How do they get ready? Now I know what you’re tempted to say: “Give joy. Get joy.” But please consider all the time and effort you may be putting in towards the feast, and they can all be very, very good, but please consider what preparations are building up your life in Christ?

I think one of the reasons that the commercial world has taken over this feast is because people have neglected spiritual preparation in favor of material celebration. Understandable. It’s easier for us to work in the world of the material where you get a sales receipt for every transaction. Not so with the goods of our life in Christ. But if we do not spiritually prepare to celebrate the feast as Christians, of what real benefit is it for us?

So, I am offering some simple suggestions for this last week before Christmas to possibly help you in getting ready for the day.

1. Fasting: this coming Friday is a day of strict fast. No animal products may be eaten. Of course, there are exemptions for reasons of health. But I also suggest that at least on Monday and Wednesday that you also abstain from meat, even if you use dairy or eggs. It’s small gesture, but an important one.
2. Prayer: Prayer and fasting always go together. As a minimum, please consider stopping to pray the Our Father some time during the middle of the day, every day. And pray it for a specific person, or persons. This has the advantage of reminding ourselves we belong to the Lord in our regular daily activities, as well as praying for the good of another soul.
3. Every day pick one positive virtue you wish to actually practice in a deliberate way. Maybe it’s patience, or honesty, or kindness, or humility, or a spirit of forgiveness. It might be best to stick with the same virtue for the whole week. Virtue doesn’t just come to us. It grows within us by grace, when we exercise ourselves to practice virtue. Virtue grows because we deliberately choose it and we do our best to practice it.
4. On the other side of the coin pick one action or thought it would be good to avoid and make this your intention every day this week. Maybe it’s being quick to anger, or laziness, or envy, or lying, or selfishness, or self-pity. Whatever you choose, set your mind and intention against it, and don’t give up if you fail on any given day. Press on to grow in spiritual strength.
5. Check our mood every day. People go mental at Christmas because they let their emotions grab hold of them. Those emotions can be about all kinds of things and 98% of them stir up bad feelings, not good ones. So, I think it’s a good idea every day to check our emotions and choose whether we want to decide how we are going to live or will we let our feelings dictate the course of our days? Emotions can be very powerful indeed, but that doesn’t mean we should allow them to ruin our days. Turn to the Lord and ask Him to help you fight bad emotions so that you can live in freedom. Check your mood. Don’t let your mood check you. Don’t let your emotions rob you of your freedom in Christ.
6. Charity. Give to a charitable and good cause or causes. Almsgiving is always a holy work for Christians.

I have put little reminders in the bulletin if you want a little guide. Let’s get ready for Christmas, in a way that will lift up our souls to the Prince of Peace.