Cardinal Zen: Reorient Your Lives This Advent! by John Mark Cayer

The vehemence of the arguments against playing Christmas music before Christmas intrigues me. I don’t disagree with the arguments, but the sheer emotionalism that so often accompanies them makes me wonder. I’ve concluded that the passion that surrounds this issue reveals a certain fear. We know the importance of Advent, but are we afraid that if we don’t do it just right, we won’t be able to enter into it?

In the Church’s wisdom, she has decreed times of preparation proceeding times of feast. Lent prepares us for Easter, Ember days prepare us for the high feasts, and Advent prepares us for Christmas. Yet, while most Catholics enter fairly easily into the spirit of Lent, many find it difficult to overcome the secular influences that make Advent merely a run-up to the Christmas feast rather than a spiritual preparation for it. ….