Merry Christmas or bah-humbug?

 

Another year, another Christmas rant.

I do really love the Christian Christmas season, but I grow ever more despondent with the secular Christmas.

The good;

• The birth of Christ. Nothing in this season is greater than that.

• The Christmas Mass. An evening of beauty in which my soul releases a sigh of relief which permeates the heavens.

• Giving and receiving. I’ll play devil’s advocate with that shortly.

• Spending time with family.

• The cheerfulness in the air among almost everyone you meet.

• You get to wear those “Jesus is the reason for the season” buttons or bumper stickers.

The bad;

• The materialism that is created thanks to black Friday sales and the hope that buying something at a deep discount will make me happier. Think about it. Other than getting gifts for the children, most of the buying we do is for someone that doesn’t really need anything so that it can lay around in a home which doesn’t have room for anything else. Then we have to buy a bigger home to house all the stuff that is cluttering up our lives. We spend money we don’t have to buy stuff others or ourselves don’t need. Crazy!

• The awkwardness of the cashiers wondering whether or not to say “have a good Christmas”. They don’t want to offend anyone ya know.

• The misguided giving. I just heard in the news that some wealthier people have been dropping into Walmart and paying peoples lay-away bill. That is great, but what about the poor people who will not have a warm home or meal to enjoy Christmas. They did not spend money that they don’t have to buy stuff that they don’t really need.

 I am not opposed to giving or receiving. I love to get presents especially when I don’t know what they are. I love watching the kids opening up their gifts. I love getting good deals on items I may or may not need. I love boosting the economy. But, when all is said and done, we must one day answer our Lord about how we spent our time, our treasure and our efforts. Did we promote the Christian Christmas or did we promote the secular Christmas?

God bless and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

Another baby, another vacation....

It seems like whenever we have a new bundle of joy on the way,

my wife wants to take a vacation a few weeks before the baby is due.
OK, maybe I'm over exaggerating....but only slightly.
We all wanted a vacation and it "just so happened" again that we were about 5 weeks
away from our new arrival.

We made a trip to the beach then on the way back we went to one of our favorite places, Alabama, to make a quick EWTN/ Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament pilgrimage.
We stayed at St. Paul's guest house. Nice and affordable for a larger family.

New on this trip was the John Paul II Eucharistic Center that just opened at the Shrine.

Awesome is all I can say about the center. Lots of cool stuff and more information than I could wrap
me wee-little mind around.
You can learn more about the center here: http://www.knightsoftheholyeucharist.com/community/events-calendar/viewevent/16-dedication-of-john-paul-ii-eucharistic-center.html

All in all, even though it was another fast paced, whirl wind trip, it was good to spend time with the family and of course it was better than being at work!

HAPPY (BELATED) EASTER....sort of.....

 

Being that it is still the Easter season, I can't really say "belated" Easter, but since I am just now getting this posted, it is late for Easter day.

I have forgotten how good sweet tea tasted and desert after dinner....I never realized I could make time to pray down at the abortion mill or go to stations of the cross every Friday.

Our Lenten sacrifices, no matter how little or how stringent they may be, shows our love for Jesus and our appreciation for His love and sacrifices for us. 

Easter day: a day of rejoicing for our risen Lord Jesus.
It also became a day for over indulgence.

One of the holiest days of the year, becomes one of the most indulgent days of the year.
We let our children (and ourselves) eat candy before breakfast....that devious Easter bunny!!!
We eat more junk food before dinner than a small horse could handle.Then we stuff ourselves like
the Thanksgiving turkey in the company of our families.

Is this what the Apostles did when they realized that Jesus DID rise from the dead?

They probably didn't feast on chocolate bunny rabbits or drink all the wine available in Jerusalem.

They prayed, they stayed focused on the mission at hand. Spreading the good news of our risen Lord.

Can we stay the course? Finish the race? Over come the "thorns in the flesh"?

Pray for temperance, fortitude and a Lenten attitude.....Jesus has indeed risen.