Author: Alexandra Baldwin

Celebrating Christmas, Part II
Thanks to those who sent in comments about how they celebrate Christmas during the actual Christmas season! Like I said in my previous post, I think it would be great if all Christians threw off the retail sales-imposed calender. Sure, there are those people who might look at you funny if you play Christmas carols during January, or give gifts on Epiphany, but the more of us who allow ourselves to be guided by the Church instead of the Retailers, the better (after all, let’s remember that one insitution is infallible and one wants you to believe that the styles of the 80’s are making a comeback.)
Father Paul wrote:

The Mexicans already have a custom called “Las Posadas”. They start a novena before Christmas, going from home to home each night, with children dressed as Mary and Joseph looking for an Inn with room – with prayers, processions, and singing. Then the host provides refreshments, piñatas and lots of fun.
I plan on introducing this custom to my American parish this year.

I love this idea, most of all because it is a custom that is exciting for children (dressing up, singing, good food, etc.) that also involves the church praying together and witnessing in a way that would be very attractive to non-Catholic Christians (who are also celebrating Christmas, after all, and who wouldn’t be averse to a good party… in fact, this could be an excellent Ecumenical function!)
And while we are on this subject, am I the only one who would LOVE to have a good Eucharistic procession now and then? You know, the kind where people set up little altars adorned with flowers along the street, and there is a legion of altar boys, seminarians and priests with incense and banners and we all sing the Te Deum? (A lot like the end of the first act of the MET’s prodction of ‘Tosca’ in other words.) Everyone dressed beautifully, with children in costumes of saints who were known to be especially devoted to our Eucharistic Lord, and people carrying pictures of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts?
An idea that I think has great merit is the one proposed by Eric Johnson: Decorate your tree on Christmas Eve, and keep it up through Epiphany. I get my Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, like many people, but this year I will leave it bare until Christmas Eve; almost like the tree is anticipating, during Advent, the coming of the birth of Christ. For those with children, I think this would be a wonderful symbol. Another reader proposed decorating the tree on Gaudate Sunday, which is also very fitting, and helps, along with the lighting of the pink candle on the Advent wreath, to teach young children about a special day on the Liturgical calender.
Of course, no Catholic household is complete with out a creche, or Nativity Scene. A wonderful idea I read about in Catholic Faith & Family was to set up the stable on the first day of Advent, and add a piece each day. Children usually love to play with manger scenes (a fact that many designers of creches understand, I think, because they often cast the figurines in sturdy resin!) Of course, the infant Jesus is added on Christmas Eve. Then, on December 26th, the three wise men can start their journey from the next room, moving a bit each day until they arrive at the stable on Epiphany.
The heretofore mentioned Advent wreath is a tradition that is still alive and well. Most parishes sell them, and you will notice that even your local grocery store runs out of pink and purple candles in December. You can get beautiful wreaths from the Catholic Wholesalers Catholic Direct.
Please keep adding your suggestions to the comment lists, or email me about what it is you and your family does to celebrate Christmas all season long!

My Little Pony’s Book of Indulgences
On a lighter note, my little sister (4 years old) thinks today is ‘All Foal’s Day’!

Taken to Task
Connie takes me to task for being ‘Judgmental’. Like most Americans, she has a flawed notion of what being ‘judgmental’ is and isn’t.

What it is: Presuming to say who is and isn’t going to Heaven (which I didn’t do)
What it isn’t: Not being afraid to say when someone is doing something wrong (which I did do and, come to think of it Connie, so did you! Don’t worry, you are obviously in fine company)

She does unknowingly raise a very thought-provoking point, however, although she did it under the cloak of heavy sarcasm (you see, I know this because she put ‘heavy sarcasm’ in parentheses… thoughtful!) She said something to the effect of: When your Sister-in-Law visits, are you going to make her and her husband sleep in separate rooms?
Well, no, I wouldn’t… but let’s think about it for a minute. If my sister-in-law had “married” (in some sort of commitment ceremony) another woman, no I would not give them the same bed, any more than I would give her and a boyfriend the same bed. Under Catholic Teaching, one cannot dissolve what God has joined together, like his first marriage, even if you pay for a legal document that says so (BTW, Connie, your comparison of Divorce and Annulment is wildly incorrect… I presume you were simply trying to make a point… but it seriously damages your credibility when you use such faulty reasoning) so while I am not going to put them in separate bedrooms, I am going have a serious twinge of remorse. And, if they were Catholics, you can bet I would put them separate rooms.
My guess is, Connie, that somewhere in your family there is a similar situation, and my post stung you a little bit. While I am sorry that it hit so close to home, it wouldn’t be very loving of me to say that it didn’t matter, would it? It isn’t loving to be ‘supportive’ of someone who is choosing their lover’s body over the body of Christ; or, if they aren’t Catholic, over the teachings in the Bible they usually hold so dear.

Christmas in… well, in the Christmas Season
I would like to add my name to the long list of people who are seriously annoyed that various retailers have, for years, begun hawking their Christmas wares, hanging Christmas decorations, and running their Christmas ads in late May.
Now, before I start a rampage of (rightly) irritated emails agreeing with the above statement, I’d like to go one step further and suggest a remedy:

Let us all, all of us Litugically informed Christians out there, take it upon ourselves to celebrate the SEASON of Christ’s birth in the way and at the time it should be celebrated.

In other words, let’s start a Cultural Revolution! There would be many great benefits, both Spiritually (which is the Important Part) and economically (which is the Not So Important but Still Very Attractive part). Let’s look at a few, shall we?
1. Celebrating Christmas from Christmas Eve until the Epiphany (or even longer, as the Liturgical season of Christmas extends all the way into February) leaves us free to truly focus on the the ‘period of preparation’ that is Advent. Hymns like “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” will take on added meaning if we are actually anticipating (in our cultural festivities, at least) the birth of Christ.
2. Activities such as concerts, novenas, nativity plays and the like will take place during the school breaks, when children and their parents have more time to take part. A great revival of Catholic culture is possible here!
3. For many people, Christmas Day has become a day of getting, instead of a day of worship and thanksgiving. If we celebrated a long season of Christmas, presents could be given at any time up until the close of the season, and perhaps the day of Christ’s Birth would become a celebration of more depth. A day that starts with the Mass, and then continues with caroling (remember caroling?) and the Nativity play… there are so many possibilities!
4. The cost-saving benefits should be obvious! A few days after the 25th of December, stores pile all of the lately coveted Christmas toys, decorations, clothes, foods and other items up on the shelves and slap up a 75% off sticker (I am particularly fond of Target… they have an amazing ‘after Christmas’ sale). All the wrapping, tree trimmings, lights and many many wonderful gifts are practically given away! The malls, so recently stuffed full of frantic shoppers, are mercifully empty (except for the returns departments, which you won’t be going near anyway). Also, as a former member of the retail establishment, I can promise you that customers who are BUYING during the After-Christmas-Lull are treated like royalty (come on, do your bit for the economy!)
I know I have barely scratched the surface here… and, of course, we would all be a lot more inclined to this plan if we knew others were also going along with it, so let me know what you think! Let’s take back Christmas from the Secular forces… they have done a pitiful job with it anyway!

I need to start carrying my camera…
Bumper sticker seen last night in (of all places!) Godless Tysons Corner:

Angry? Want A Weapon? Pray the Rosary!

Where can I get one (the sticker, not a rosary)?! I was sure this was our Pastor… he had delivered a very fine homiliy on this very subject two weeks ago.
Women who are (as I was) sick of all the pablum and wishy-washy morality offered to them in regular women’s magazines should go to Catholic Faith and Family Magazine and select the free trial issue. As gorgeously photographed as Martha Stuart’s Living, totally faithful to the Magisterium, with a calender of Saint’s days each issue, excellent articles, and many Catholic advertisers!
Pro-life concerns are looking up, I think, with the advent of GE’s new 4-D ultrasound. Have you seen it? The ultrasound now actually resembles a baby, instead of a gray, grainy 2-D image. You cannot look at the sceen and deny what is there. Even more encouraging, I have read that regular ultrasound technology is becoming so affordable that ultrasound ‘Photography Studios’ are actually popping up in malls… perhaps this is how we will win the war, by bringing the hidden into full view!
If you don’t subscibe to Crisis, then you missed it: The special 20th Anniversary issue with the bold headline “The Glory of Catholicism”. The very best article inside is “What’s So Great About Catholicism” by H. W. Crocker III, who lists the Top 10 reasons it is so very cool to be Catholic. It should be availible for perusal next month on the website, but this is an issue every Catholic should own. I am thinking of copying it for all my Catholic students. Also good is an in-depth look at how our Government actually encourages divorce.