Should Catholics watch Christmas movies before December 25th?
Should Christmas music be banned before the Vigil Mass of Christmas? How are
Catholics supposed to discover “the true meaning of Christmas?”
We can run into groups or individuals who want to live Advent in a radical manner. Christmas cookies do not enter their home before the actual feast of Christmas. Christmas music is deemed noise pollution and strictly forbidden both at home and in the car. For them, going out to the mall seems almost like a walk through Sodom and Gomorrah, as the mistletoe, candy canes and Deck the Halls all represent the commercialization of Christmas and how Christ has lost out at Christmas.
But does it really seem necessary to demonize Frosty the
Snowman? Is Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer the harbinger of the demise of
Christendom? Can a Christian live Christmas in a secularized world?
Christians, and much more Catholics, have always had a knack
to see the good in the world around them. Maybe the ubiquitous references to
Christmas speak to society’s need to believe in something greater than itself.
Yes, there is definitely a commercialization of Christmas. Coca Cola’s
depiction of Santa Claus has a lot to do with the advertisements, Black Friday
sales and general holiday rush. But at the same time, Christ is still behind it
all. Perhaps he is hidden from view and forgotten by many, but he is still the
“reason for the season,” as so many bumper stickers proudly proclaim.
Catholics are called to live Advent well. The Advent wreath is a nice Advent tradition that can help Catholics remember that Advent is essentially a time of preparation for Advent. The four candles represent the four weeks that the Church’s liturgy gives us to prepare for the coming of the Lord. The Advent wreath can remind us to pray grace before meals and perhaps read the Gospel of the day before we sit down to a family meal during the holiday season.
Christmas music can seem banal and is thus rejected by some
who want a more spiritual Advent. But at the same time, we should ask ourselves
honestly what we will end up listening to instead. Much of the mainstream
Christmas music does remind us of giving and generosity and family tradition,
at least in a roundabout fashion. Maybe it is not so bad after all. And when we
are able to listen to Christmas hymns, even still during Advent, maybe they
lift our minds and hearts and prepare us to celebrate Christmas in a spiritual
way more readily.
As a child, I was fascinated by the effort of so many
Christmas movies to find the true “spirit of Christmas.” This happened, even
though I was fully aware of the Christmas Mass we would attend, as well as the
Christmas calendar and Advent wreath we used religiously. The true “spirit of
Christmas” or meaning of Christmas is that God becomes man to redeem mankind.
This is truly a great gift and worth celebrating. Some would ban Christmas
movies in their homes, but I would be wary to see what we will be watching
instead.
In the end, I think each person has to see how he can best
live Advent. It is admirable and laudable to look for more silence and withdraw
from much of the secular pre-celebration. But for many Catholics, this is
simply not possible at a general level. Most of us have to go to office
celebrations well before Christmas. It is also an opportunity to connect with
people who are important to us, but whom we do not see as regularly as we like
most of the time.
Advent is a time for Catholics to be “in the world, but not
of the world.” In the midst of Christmas shopping and maybe even humming along
to some Christmas tunes, Catholics can remember. They can remember that two
thousand years ago, a scared young mother and her husband found a cave where
the Savior of mankind was born. They remember that Christ came to earth to
redeem mankind, not to condemn it. In the same way, we should not condemn the
world in which we live but try to spread a little bit of light so they can be
led to the Christ Child. We are called to be the Star of Bethlehem for a people
living in darkness. (cf. Mt. 4:16)
Christmas is meant to be a joyful time. The octave of
Christmas (which ends with the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on January 1st)
should be joy-filled. We should be careful that the pre-holiday celebrations do
not dampen our spirit for the true celebration, which begins with Christmas
itself.
A good way to measure our Christmas celebration is to see
how we are on Christmas Day. Are we excited to receive the new king or are we
tired and ready for it all to be over? If the King of kings arrives and our
reaction is “meh,” we should re-think our Advent activities.
Greater silence and reflection are great practices for
Advent. But we should start off looking at what is possible. Maybe we can integrate
more religious Christmas music into our playlist or limit the Christmas movie
watching to free up some time to make it over to church for adoration. May our
pre-Christmas celebrations prepare us to welcome the King of kings.
