A plea to save Advent

Without meaning to sound like a Scrooge, I am already tired of seeing Christmas decorations.

Several people have suggested decorations are going up so soon outside because the weather is still warm and it is easier to hang them now. That's fine as far as it goes, but having the decorations up does not necessitate their being lit. At the same time, the warm weather outside does not mean the tree has to go up inside already.

The Liturgical Year soon will end and will usher us into the great season of Advent, that time of joyful anticipation as we look to the coming of Christ, first to his Second Coming and then to his birth in Bethlehem.

The season of Christmas begins with Christmas, and continues through the Feast of the Epiphany when the Magi from the east arrived at the home of the Holy Family.

Please, put up an Advent wreath in your home. Keep the season of Advent and save Christmas for the Christmas season. There is no reason for Santa Claus to be standing in your yard. There is no reason for an inflatable snowman when there is no snow on the ground. There is no reason for an elf to be stalking your driveway.

If you want to decorate your yard, why not put up a turkey and a few pilgrims? Maybe a large cornucopia. You know, something that says Thanksgiving. Or is that holiday no longer important?

Perhaps that is part of the problem. We have become, as a society, so self-centered that we only think of what we want and we pass by giving thanks.

If you want to put evergreen decorations up go right ahead. They're more seasonal than anything, but it even seems a bit too early for them. It simply doesn't seem cold enough yet.

If you want to hang white lights so as to focus your attention on the comong of the One who is the Light of the World, fine. But keep the proper focus.

Keep the Christmas decorations away until Christmas.

We are, after all, Catholics. Our Catholic faith should precedence to the faith of materialism and consumerism.

Let us save and restore Advent! Thank you.