Once again the news stories that seem to get the most attention in the culture is surrounded around a celebrity. There is always so much attention paid to when a celebrity falls even though what they did is all to common. Attention is also paid to those who are famous for basically being famous. Those from a prominent family with lots of money who make fools of themselves in their lack of restraint. A culture that worships fame and money seems to take some pleasure when they fall. A sort of smug attitude is easy to develop to think “Hey if I had that much money or was so famous, I wouldn’t make those mistakes and would enjoy having it.” We wonder how they can squander their “good luck” and to end up causing scandal. Surely with enough money we would be content.

To paraphrase the Prophet Samuel when relating a story to King David. “We are that man.” Which one of us has not squandered the gifts given to us from God. That have not prepared ourselves for the grace He would surely give us if we were open to it. As Catholics how much do we really do as individuals to both prepare ourselves for and to avail ourselves of the sacraments. We go to Mass distracted and remain so even as Calvary unfolds before us and the wonder and mystery of the Eucharist presents itself to us. We hardly pray or fast and then wonder why God has not made saints of us yet. We have the Pearl of Great Price and still try to fill our lives with what will never fulfill us. But hey it’s much easier to ding on the latest celebrity scandal then see our own sins and how far we have fallen from the mark. in fact it is much easier to write a blog post on this then to take my own advice.

Some years ago I addressed this subject, but thought I would like to revisit it and extend it.

We hear about remembering the “Reason for the Season” from two sources. The secular source has an answer for this question on every made for TV movie pretty much shown for the next 23 days. The message is that family matters and that we should stop and smell the roses and remember what is important. Well as a message it is certainly a good one in that it has large aspects of the truth in it. Though this answer is also missing something. G.K. Chesterton once quipped about his friend George Bernard Shaw that he was like Venus de Milo in that “all there is of him is admirable.” The secular view of Christmas which I held to most of my life is nice and cozy, filled with plenty of traditions, and strong on family. Though the modern “holiday” movie seem to be geared more towards broken families.

The other “reason for the season” message of course comes from Christians in that Christ is the reason. This might seem like a no brainer emphasis, but it is one more and more lost in the materialism and confusion of the Christmas season. Family is important and the Holy Family is even more important. Christ did not become a child so that we could have warm thoughts about each other in a non-specified holiday season. Christ did not become fully man to vacation among us. Some theologians have speculated that the Incarnation would still have happened even if Adam and Eve had not fallen. Speculative theology aside it is a moot point. So why did the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity who through the Trinity created all matter and all that matters. Here is an answer we will not find looking through telescopes, microscopes, or careful observance material things. Though it is something we can find looking in at ourselves. Simply the reason for season is sin. Christ came to us wrapped in swaddling clothes to hive us more than beautiful cards and Nativity sets, but to rescue us from our sin. Jesus became fully man in everything but sin to save us from our sins. Looking for the reason for the season and we don’t have to look very hard to find our own sins. We don’t want sack cloths and ashes, but beautiful presents wrapped with large bows. But the most beautiful present we ever received was wrapped without a bow, but with swaddling clothes. Simeon rejoiced at seeing Jesus, but he also knew that he would have to pass on a cross or really a heart piercing sword to Mary. There is so much to reflect on in the inexhaustible mystery of the Incarnation. A skeptic would call it something too good to be true, but really only Jesus being perfect goodness could also be perfectly true. Goodness and truth go together and it is only in a fallen world where we divide it up into partial goods and partial truths. Jesus once asked “why do you call me good” to elicit a response of faith in that he was the “Way, the Truth, and the Light.’ The Incarnation is love demonstrated to a degree that we can hardly fathom. A love that had an earthly ending on the cross, but extended through time and also extended to each and every one of us. Though like all gifts, the gift of faith can be returned or exchanged for a lesser trinket.

Sometimes praying the Rosary and especially the “Agony in the Garden” I see Jesus across time sweating blood thinking about my sins and the sins of the world. Though I see much of his anguish being directed towards those who die in their sins and don’t apply the merits of his sacrifice for their redemption. I certainly hope to die in a state of grace and that my main concern about the population of Hell is not increasing the population by one. The reality is that sin is with us and very much the reason for the season. We can also give a gift back to God by not committing sin and trying to make sin less the reason for the season and the reason more for gratitude of the grace he has given us by entering the world as a baby in the most humble of conditions.

I really admire those who buy a Christmas Tree just before Christmas and keep it up to the Feast of the Epiphany. Those who will not listen to any Christmas carols during Advent. Those that will say have a Blessed Advent instead of Merry Christmas during the season of Advent.

But I am weak, weak I tell you. This weekend I put up my Advent Tree. Yes that is what I am calling it and just because the exact same tree will also mysteriously become my Christmas Tree I am sticking to this story. It’s an Advent Tree so don’t annoy me about not being fully traditional and it will not come down till after Christmatide.

Though the Nativity set will not have the Baby Jesus in it till Christmas – there are some lines I won’t cross. Plus I do wish people a Blessed Advent even with the strange looks. Though more and more Protestants are starting to see the purpose of liturgical seasons of Advent and Lent.

Plus so far I have avoided firing up my Christmas playlist in iTunes. Though I almost succumb to temptation and singing along with actual Carols played in stores. With the Christmas wars upon us once again and so many stores going out of their way to avoid the C word you have to wonder why they think Christmas Music won’t offend people? Where are the Kwanzaa sing-a-alongs, Solstice Songs, and bows to atheism like John Lennon’s “Imagine”? Plus here in Florida shouldn’t we be upset by secular songs like White Christmas and other geographically oppressive songs talking about colder climes? After all a multi-cultural society teaches you that all other cultures but those anointed by secular elites are to be neither seen or heard. We have a culture with so much tolerance that atheist and others spend all their time banning nativities and other mentions of Christmas. Well I might have an Advent Tree, but I sure as hell don’t have no “Holiday Tree.”

John Allen Jr. warns of a bill in Uganda that would further criminalize homosexuality and even introduce the death penalty for homosexuals under certain circumstances. Part of the bill includes encouraging turning in homosexuals to the government. He goes on to say:

To date, there’s been little public comment from Uganda’s Catholic leadership.

In some ways, the bishops are between a rock and a hard place. They may not like the harsher elements of the bill, but they also share the suspicion that Western forces are trying to cram a liberal social agenda down Africa’s throat, and they don’t want to discourage efforts to defend African values. (In truth, bishops across Africa feel this way, including many seen in the West as “liberal” on matters such as the environment, trading relationships and armed conflict. Assertion of a Western campaign to subvert Africa’s family values loomed large during the recent Synod for Africa in Rome.) [reference]

I don’t agree with the rock and a hard place analogy. I see no reason the Uganda bishops can’t talk about this issue. As then-Cardinal Ratzinger wrote and as John Allen Jr. notes persons with same-sex attraction “must be accepted with respect, compassion and sensitivity,” and that “every sign of unjust discrimination in their regard should be avoided.” The bishops can certainly protest on these grounds while also stating that homosexual acts are “intrinsically disordered.” It certainly would not be Western liberal pressure to preach the truth which must be preached in and out of season even if misinterpreted by some.

John Allen Jr. also notes it is difficult to determine the actual chances the bill has of going through. Maybe the bishops there see this as not going through, but they should be speaking up regardless about Catholic teaching on this subject.

The question facing Ugandan Catholics is how to apply those principles to the debate sparked by Bahati’s bill. One thing seems clear: Whatever stand they take has to be their own choice. Efforts from the West to force their hand are likely to be counter-productive, as the Anglican reaction illustrates.

Historically, Africa’s bishops and other Catholic leaders haven’t had a particularly high global profile. From time to time they might complain about international neglect, but they came to accept it as the way of the world. Today, however, demographic change has turned the Catholic church upside down, putting a global spotlight on Africa.

Now that they have the world’s attention, the question is: What will Catholic leaders in Uganda have to say?

“Whatever stand they take has to be their own choice.” Sounds pretty relativistic to me. I don’t see what other possible stand could be taken. If they decide to say nothing and the bill has a good chance of success I can hardly see that as nothing but failing to do good and to allow unjust persecution.

There is some irony here of this being published in the National Catholic Reporter where John Allen Jr. certainly seems to want to bishops to speak up while the rest of the staff wants the bishops to shut up when it comes to health care here in the states.

Hat Tip Fr. Ray Blake

Have I mentioned how much I love my Bishop?

Bishop Victor Galeone of St. Augustine, Florida also decided to discontinue the CCHD collection, LifeSiteNews.com has confirmed, bringing the list of bishops who decided against holding this year’s collection to five.

In a November article for his diocesan magazine, Bishop Galeone explains that he had made this decision in May – many months prior to the controversy that erupted this fall over reports that the CCHD is funding groups that support abortion, contraception, and same-sex “marriage.”

The bishop lists three reasons for his decision.

First, he says, “over the years some CCHD funds were disbursed to certain organizations hostile to key Catholic positions.” He specifically highlighted the funding of ACORN as an instance of this.

Second, he explains, “Catholic organizations or groups cannot receive CCHD funding since their guidelines exclude all ‘organizations controlled by governmental, educational, or ecclesiastical bodies.'” While Catholic inner-city schools are “struggling to make ends meet,” he says, “… they cannot receive a single dollar of our own CCHD donations for that purpose!”

Third, he decries the fact that CCHD does not fund projects that work to support family values. “If CCHD’s mission is to address the root causes of poverty in America, why are no funds earmarked to address the greatest cause of poverty in our country today – single motherhood?” he asks. “Moreover, 80% of the male inmates incarcerated in America come from fatherless homes. Yet no CCHD funds go to groups striving to strengthen family values.”

Diocesan chancellor Fr. Michael Morgan told LifeSiteNews.com that the bishop has replaced the annual CCHD collection with a new “Diocesan Schools & Social Action Appeal,” which is meant to support similar initiatives as the CCHD, but at the diocesan level and without funding activities contrary to Catholic teaching.

“I think that the concern was that it would be better to support the same basic goals of the [CCHD], but to do it within the diocese exclusively,” Fr. Morgan said. “We would have more control to make sure that the money collected went to, perhaps similar purposes, but organizations that would not have the problems that surface with the [CCHD].”

In his article, Bishop Galeone explains that the funds collected from the new appeal will be disbursed equally between (1) local pregnancy centers, (2) tuition assistance for needy students in Catholic schools, and (3) self-help community groups.

The collection for the appeal was held this past weekend, in lieu of the CCHD collection, and Fr. Morgan says Bishop Galeone plans to continue this approach in the years to come. [reference]

Though the parish I went to for the Vigil Mass must not have gotten the message since they specially mentioned the CCHD and so we did not contribute to the second collection.