Are you currently in the process of decking your halls? Are you donning your gay apparel? Fa-la-la, la-la-la, la, la la.
For many people, Thanksgiving weekend signals the beginning of the Christmas season. The tree goes up. Lights twinkle inside and out. Only a few weeks before Christmas, we think. Hardly enough time for all the shopping, the parties and good cheer associated with the season. How much Christmas can we cram in before Dec. 25?
But wait! What's wrong with this picture?
This weekend isn't the first weekend of the Christmas season. It's the first Sunday of Advent. This is not the season to celebrate Christmas. It's the season to prepare to celebrate Christmas.
The church, by the way, celebrates the Christmas season from Christmas Eve to the Baptism of the Lord, observed this year on Sunday, Jan. 11.
This seems illogical in our secular culture. Merchants begin rolling out Christmas displays in October. The minute Halloween ends, we are urged to buy, buy, buy and spend, spend, spend. Christmas parties are held earlier and earlier in December so we can drink cocktails and eat hors d'oeuvres with people we barely know.
But many of us over a "certain" age can remember going on family outings during the final few days before Christmas. Depending on where you lived, this could be a hike in the fields with an axe or, in the cities and suburbs, a trip to the local tree lot. Once you had the perfect tree, it was tenderly transported home, and stored in a bucket of water in the garage or barn.
Then, on Christmas Eve, the entire family gathered in the living room to decorate the tree with precious family ornaments. Some were beautiful and fragile. More often, they were lovingly but inexpertly made by the hands of children - some now adults with little ones of their own.
Then presents were placed under the tree. Each family member had one or two gifts, often inexpensive and sometimes homemade.
The climax of the decorating was setting up the crèche - the shepherds and angels, Mary and Joseph and, finally, the tiny Baby Jesus with his outstretched hands.
Then it was time to get ready to go to church and welcome that same Baby Jesus into our hearts at a joyful midnight Mass.
That was another time, and this is now, in the 21st century. But families can still establish their own Advent traditions to prepare for the joys of the Christmas season.
For instance, the first decoration to go up should be the Advent wreath, which family members can light during meals. Put up the rest of the decorations gradually, so that the home slowly but surely reflects that the joyous feast is drawing near.
As you go about Christmas shopping, buy some extra canned goods, a child's hat or mittens, or even a warm coat you find on sale. Then take a family excursion to the local food bank or homeless shelter and make a donation in honor of the family who spent the first Christmas night in a stable.
Before your calendar fills up with parties and events, be sure to mark the date of your parish penance service. After all, the Prince of Peace came to reconcile all to himself.
There are many other ways to make this a truly meaningful Advent season for you and yours. Enjoying a blessed Advent is one of the very best ways to have a happy, joyous Christmas.