I’ve grown up in a religious atmosphere where I had come to the conclusion that we Catholic Christians are all about guilt, self-denial and penance, penance, penance. I am not denying that self-denial and penance are just a part of life, that is, if we are trying to keep morally and spiritually in line with the Commandments. But the guilt trip thing I have thrown to the wind. In my opinion, guilt is either still carrying around an un-confessed sin, or the Devil trying to wear us down by constantly reminding us of “remember when you".... H.L. Mencken’s quote that “Puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.” comes to mind. So I can safely assume that a few are still of the assumption that we should be sad and in a repentance state of mind.
On the flip side of that is our world; our society that has the mindset and the attitude that everything is all about “me”. We live in a culture that is truly all about materialism, instant gratification - which often isn’t even fast enough, having fun, fun, fun, and consuming up the world’s natural resources at a high rate of speed.
And then Christmas comes along and quietly steals into our hearts and gives us another perspective altogether! After the world has offered us several months of absolute torture called the “Christmas shopping season” filled with stress, debt, guilt and exhaustion, along comes our Church and the true Christmas Season offering us 40 days of hope, peace, and love that we call Advent, followed by an 8-day feast and then nine more days of the Christmas Season. Joy to the World!
So, as for my house, and me we are still in the Christmas Spirit, and will carry this peace, hope and love into the new year as best we can.
Here’s wishing you a Blessed Christmas Season
and a Happy, Healthy New Year!
~ Gwen of IRISH ACRES
