Small actions can transform our focus of Christmas

By ARCHBISHOP THOMAS J. RODI
It is that time of year when many will write an article lamenting the crass commercialism of Christmas. In like fashion, it is also the time to dwell nostalgically on the days when Christmas was a more spiritual time than today.
The truth is that observing the spiritual nature of Christmas has ebbed and flowed through the centuries. One only has only to read some of the descriptions of the bawdy and boisterous medieval Christmases in Europe to realize that today’s yuletide festivities are fairly tame and respectable when compared with times past.
Even so, present day Christmas can justifiably be criticized for being an overly commercialized holiday. As a society, we pause in November for Thanksgiving Day in order to give thanks for the many blessings we enjoy and then we go on a four-week buying frenzy in the days leading up to the birth of our Savior who was born in the poverty of a manger. The decorations and preparations for Christmas seem to come earlier and earlier.
This was not always so. Advent for Catholics used to be a time of penance and preparation leading up to Dec. 25. The four weeks of Advent included fasting and days of abstinence from meat, not so much as a time of Christmas parties. Christmas decorations tended to be put up much closer to Christmas. I remember as a kid that in our small town the Christmas lights on Main Street (yes, it was called Main Street and the Christmas lights consisted of single strings of colored lights strung across the street from electric pole to electric pole) did not go up until the third week of December. I knew of several families who did not put up their Christmas tree until Christmas Eve.
In some Hispanic countries, the tradition is that Christmas is a day for Mass and family. The children do not receive presents until Jan. 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, when Jesus received his presents from the Magi. Christmas is for family and prayer. The children wait to receive their gifts until the 12th day of Christmas, Jan. 6, when Jesus received His gifts.
We Americans are not inclined to wait. That is not part of our American culture. However, let us not lose sight of the fact that we are to prepare spiritually for Christmas. There is a profound message proclaimed to us by the birth of Christ: God has taken flesh in order to die for us so that our sins may be forgiven.
As much as this can be a wonderful time of celebrations, we cannot allow the tinsel and the songs to blind us to the reason for the season. Christ came to forgive us our sins, unworthy as we are. How can we celebrate this without forgiving the offenses of others, even those we feel do not deserve our forgiveness? Christ came out of compassion and concern for us. How can we celebrate this without having compassion and being concerned for the needs of others? Christ came to be with us and to knock on the door of our hearts. How can we celebrate this without making time to be with Christ in prayer?
Instead of lamenting our commercialism has taken over Christmas, or in surrendering to the commercialism of the season, we can take small positive steps to keep the true message of this time of year in mind and in heart. We can still celebrate the Nativity with mind and heart renewed. In these final days of Advent, I would challenge each of us to forgive someone from our heart, to perform an act of generosity, and to daily spend 5-10 minutes of silent prayer with the Lord. We might be amazed how such small actions can transform our focus of Christmas even as we go about amidst all the events of this time of year.