“Ban reindeer, if you like. Abolish Santa Claus and Christmas trees. Keep your family wrapped in the starkest of Advent penances. Eradicate eggnog and candy, tinsel and presents, snowflakes and stockings. Exterminate the festival of it all, the nonsense of the season, if you must.
“Lord knows, you have cause. Christmas has become, in the United States, the holiday – which is to say, the holy day – that dare not speak its name. We still have all the extraneous stuff that grew up around Christmas: the gift-giving and those awful Hallmark cards and the mistletoe and the holly. The Muzaked carols, for that matter. But the words of those carols seem to have become a problem for American culture, since – Joy to the world, the Lord is come! – they all too often contain information about the actual reason for the holiday.”
In a recent commentary, writer Joseph Bottum reflected on the meaning of the season of Christmas and on the role of the various elements that make this season what it is.
To access Mr. Bottum’s complete post, please visit:
National Catholic Register: The Catholic Carnival of Christmas (21 DEC 12)
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