{"id":50050,"date":"2019-11-22T14:48:01","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T20:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=50050"},"modified":"2019-12-17T16:13:47","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T22:13:47","slug":"can-we-give-up-christmas-this-advent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/22\/can-we-give-up-christmas-this-advent\/","title":{"rendered":"Can we give up Christmas this Advent?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>It\u2019s time. &nbsp;Time to join my liturgical compatriots in our annual, tired lament about the proliferation of \u201cChristmas\u201d junk which barrages our senses, as my colleague <a href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2019\/11\/18\/the-liturgy-of-the-mall\/#comment-7876967\">Timothy Brunk<\/a> recently noted, nearly three weeks before Thanksgiving.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50055\" width=\"285\" height=\"214\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hidden-toddler-and-santa-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>What tipped me off this year?&nbsp; Was it the massive display of blow-up Christmas-y inflatables at our local \u201chome goods\u201d store [find the hidden toddler]?&nbsp; Was it the most frightening iteration of a Christmas tree I\u2019ve ever seen [see below]?&nbsp; Was it the neighbor\u2019s display of life-size glitter-bedecked deer, jousted into their front yard?&nbsp; (And we\u2019re not talking one <em>deer<\/em>, here.&nbsp; We\u2019re talking about a herd, accompanied by floodlights, just in case you missed them.)&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-533x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50054\" width=\"267\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-533x400.jpg 533w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/Scariest-Christmas-Tree-100x75.jpg 100w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Which one of these \u201c<em>things<\/em>\u201d reminded me of the impending doom of the secularized christmas season doesn\u2019t really matter.&nbsp; In fact, I don\u2019t think it even matters whether or not we bother with the liturgists\u2019 yearly, ritualized dismay over the loss of Christ\u2019s Nativity or the steamrolling of our patient season of Advent.&nbsp; The strife is o\u2019er and the battle won\u2026won by the dying mall\u2014the elf on the shelf\u2014and the peppermint mocha-flavored beverage I\u2019m enjoying as I\u2019m writing this.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d like to propose something radically different\u2014that we\ngive up on Christmas.&nbsp; Give it up\ncompletely\u2014give it over hedonism and holiday shoppers.&nbsp; They already have it anyway.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See, now don\u2019t you feel better?&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, I can\u2019t take complete credit for this glorious suggestion.&nbsp; I came upon the idea during a recent conversation with my spiritual director (yes, a Benedictine!).  When I began to whine about how much <a href=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/23\/do-you-hate-christmas-presents\/\">I hate Christmas presents<\/a>, my spiritual director suggested this bold plan: Let \u201cthem\u201d have Christmas.&nbsp; Let\u2019s borrow a leaf from our Orthodox brothers and sisters\u2014let\u2019s celebrate Epiphany instead!!!&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/scary-santa-with-coke.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50051\" width=\"361\" height=\"146\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/scary-santa-with-coke.jpg 352w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/scary-santa-with-coke-300x122.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 361px) 100vw, 361px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m not entirely sure what such a practice would look like in the Western church\u2014would we still have really weird caricatures of St. Nicholas, most of whom vaguely look like the 1930s ad for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coca-colacompany.com\/stories\/coke-lore-santa-claus\">soda pop<\/a>? &nbsp;Would we still watch the best Christmas movie ever [Jean Shepherd\u2019s A Christmas Story, of course!]?&nbsp; Would we still watch a crazed crowd of \u201cCreasters\u201d show up in parishes on Epiphany Eve but miss the evangelical call to <em>come back <\/em>in Ordinary time?&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-600x400.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-50052\" width=\"383\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo-420x280.jpg 420w, https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/07epiphany6-superJumbo.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 383px) 100vw, 383px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Or, would a Western iteration of \u201cMerry Epiphany\u201d take on\ncenturies of cultural and para-liturgical customs already practiced <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/01\/06\/world\/epiphany-christmas.html\">around\nthe world<\/a>, with parades, gifts, and beautiful holiday breads?&nbsp; Those of us exposed to a mainstream,\ncommercialized America may forget that, not only do our Eastern brothers and\nsisters celebrate with great solemnity the Epiphany, but many Western Christians\nactually still celebrate the end of the octave of Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, maybe instead of the same-old diatribe about Advent getting\nlost in the shuffle and Christmas getting completely hijacked, we can try\nsomething new\u2014something that reminds us of the cleansing waters of baptism and\nthe light of Christ which pierces the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And so, as our Advent weeks approach, a very Merry Epiphany\nto you, and a Happy New Church Year.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The strife is o\u2019er and the battle won\u2026won by the dying mall\u2014the elf on the shelf\u2014and the peppermint mocha-flavored beverage I\u2019m enjoying as I\u2019m writing this. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":50056,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3119,17,91,2480],"tags":[464,562,1610,2366],"class_list":["post-50050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-plaza-new-ws","category-liturgical-spirituality","category-liturgical-year","category-secularism","tag-advent","tag-christmas","tag-consumerism","tag-liturgical-year-2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can we give up Christmas this Advent? 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Harmon, Ph.D., is Project Director for the Obsculta Preaching Initiative at Saint John\u2019s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. \u202fA Roman Catholic pastoral liturgist and American Catholic historian, Harmon is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame\u2019s liturgical studies program.\u202f She has contributed over a dozen articles and chapters to the fields of both liturgical studies and American Catholicism.\u202f She is the author of\u202f There Were Also Many Women There: Lay Women in the Liturgical Movement in the United States, 1926-1959\u202f(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2013) and\u202fMary and the Liturgical Year: A Pastoral Resource\u202f (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2023). 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Harmon","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","url":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/HARMON-y-768x768-1-96x96.jpg?crop=1","caption":"Katharine E. Harmon"},"description":"Katharine E. Harmon, Ph.D., is Project Director for the Obsculta Preaching Initiative at Saint John\u2019s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minnesota. \u202fA Roman Catholic pastoral liturgist and American Catholic historian, Harmon is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame\u2019s liturgical studies program.\u202f She has contributed over a dozen articles and chapters to the fields of both liturgical studies and American Catholicism.\u202f She is the author of\u202f There Were Also Many Women There: Lay Women in the Liturgical Movement in the United States, 1926-1959\u202f(Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2013) and\u202fMary and the Liturgical Year: A Pastoral Resource\u202f (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2023). 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