Homily

One way to observe where the culture is at is to pay attention to commercials, and especially at this time of the year when the merchant class is throwing out messages at a fevered pitch. I remember a few years ago, Kohl’s department stores had December commercials with the tag line, “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 for the person who will receive 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 “Kohl’s Bucks” are good for further purchases at the store, allowing you to give even more joy. These coupons are bearers of joy. “Give joy. Get joy.” This is how advertisers believe that you think.

A recent irritating commercial is from Old Navy. A hip young thing narrates a ridiculous message, and in the last scene, set in a living room, two boys are standing and for each boy she says “nice” and “nice” and then gives them a present. Immediately after she sits down on the couch with three pre-teen girls. They don’t get gifts, but she tells them, reassuringly, “It’s the naughty ones who make history.” And I’m thinking, “yeah, like Jack the Ripper, Joseph Stalin, Pol Pot, The Unibomber…”

This is the time of year when, at the checkout or the bank counter, an employee might ask, “Are you ready for Christmas?” It’s a good question, but probably not in the way they are thinking. “Are you ready for Christmas?” And I ask that question of you not as consumers, 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.” Think about the time and effort and money that you will be putting into the celebration of Christmas. All of that, done properly, can be very good. But it is all temporary. It can be good, and yet none of it will last. What preparation are you putting in for the sake of your soul, because the results of that effort will be eternal?

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 and a credit card surprise come January. Not always so easy and so tangible with the goods of our life in Christ. But if we do not spiritually prepare to celebrate the feast as Christians, of what real lasting benefit is there for us?

So, I am offering some simple suggestions for these last 2 weeks before Christmas to possibly help you in getting ready for the day.

1. Fasting: Christmas Eve 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 in the coming days, that you also abstain from meat, even if you use dairy or eggs. It’s small gesture, but an important one. To do more fasting would be even better. Make a plan.
2. Prayer: Prayer and fasting always go together. As a minimum, please consider stopping to pray the Our Father one or more times during 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. 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 time. Virtue doesn’t just come to us. It grows within us by grace, when we exercise ourselves to practice virtue. Virtue grows when we deliberately choose it and we do our best to practice it, and the Lord will add to our efforts with grace-filled help.
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, and the Lord will add to your efforts with grace-filled help.
5. Check your mood every day and more than once a 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 95% of them stir up bad feelings, not good ones. So, I think it’s a fine idea every day to check our emotions and choose whether we want to decide how we are going to live or whether 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 run and 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.

Christmas hasn’t become so secular and materialistic because pagans have forced that upon us. Certainly, there is a lot of pressure. But Christians allowed and allow it to happen and have often embraced the material over the spiritual themselves. But we can make an extra effort for ourselves and for our families in preparation, so that Christmas this year can be a genuine source of growth in Christ’s love and trust in His promise.