To the editor:
A couple of families from the Diocese of Madison will be sponsoring a life-size Nativity scene at our State Capitol, and we would like to invite others to help us make this display truly inspiring.
For the thousands of folks that will visit the Capitol with their children and grandchildren, the Nativity will remind everyone that Jesus is the reason for this special season.
To the editor:
At this time of year I hear about people taking the “Christ out of Christmas.” Why? Because some anti-religious group stops a public Nativity scene. Another is that some people will use the greeting “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas.”
What should really define this time of year for us is the feeling in our hearts. Do we only give gifts to get more? Do we only throw parties for public display? Are we only thinking of ourselves?
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The season of celebrating the Nativity of Jesus Christ is complete with abundant opportunities for eating, many from long-held family traditions and others might just be questionable habits we have picked up in our daily struggle to make ends meet and jam another activity into our already over-scheduled daily routines.
What if the old maxim “You are what you eat” also included “You are how you eat”?
For instance, when was the last time I ate by myself from a fast-food drive-up window?
Remember when we used to wait until after Thanksgiving for Christmas decorations to be put up in public places and most homes? Now we start seeing Christmas decorations in September!
I still wait until after Thanksgiving to start decorating our home and do most of my Christmas shopping. The first Sunday of Advent should be the sign for Christians to start preparing the way of the Lord. After all, it’s Christ’s birthday that we are supposed to be celebrating on December 25.
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| This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop. |
Dear Friends,
As you read this letter, Christmas will be upon us and the Year of the Lord 2010 will have almost expired. As we look around the whole world, we see the violence of war and terrorism raging, we see hunger thriving in so many places as well as extreme poverty, we see senior citizens being actually or virtually euthanized and we see the slaughter of the unborn, we see God’s gift of human sexuality, naturally oriented toward unselfish love, cheapened and continually used for every kind of self-centered entertainment. It’s not a “pretty picture,” but it is a picture of this world that, we claim, belongs to God this Christmas.
“Upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone.”
