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Advent Musings
Nov
25
Written by:
Sunday, November 25, 2007
34th Sunday Ordinary Time
November 25, 2007
As the Advent season approaches, we as Catholics are called to have a spirit of watchfulness and eager anticipation of the glories of Christmas that lie just ahead. For indeed what we are watching out for are not just presents, nor parties, nor beauty, but eternal life itself, all wrapped up in a small child in a manger. In the midst of our seemingly endless busy-ness this season, please keep in mind what it is really all about.
Have you noticed that some stores have begun to remove the word Christmas from their advertizing and store displays? They replace this word with Holiday Season. The irony of all this nonsense is, of course, that the word holiday is itself a Christian religious term: it is short for holy day! These stores are trying to be inclusive, but by doing so they show insensitivity to all Christians. They still want you to shop there, but not to even acknowledge our religion, though others are treated fairly. It seems that only Christianity is thus singled out
A group called Liberty Counsel has composed a list of firms that are "naughty" or "nice." This list will tell you which firms have banned Christmas and which have embraced it. You can find the complete "naughty and nice" list at www.ic.org. This can be an effective tool in the cultural war against Christmas that some have taken on in the last few years.
Another phenomenon that has attracted much attention lately is that of militant atheism. Several books by prominent atheists have been on the national best-seller lists, and quite a few are extremely intolerant of Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. I strongly urge you not to take your family to see the new movie The Golden Compass. It is based on a series of books by a militant atheist whose stated goal is to influence children away from Christianity. The movie has taken some of the more extreme writings out, but the books definitely are intentionally atheistic. A better series of books for your children would be the Chronicles of Narnia, a series which the atheistic author of The Golden compass hates, for it promotes goodness and God. In the war against God and Christianity, which is as old as the Church itself, the Lord wants us to be informed consumers, armed for victory!
Father Gary
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