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With every Christmas that passes by, the true religious meaning, the birth of Our Savior, is sidelined and ignored in an orgy of Christmas shopping, excessive drinking of alcohol (rather than moderate drinking), and gluttony and acquisitiveness on a massive scale? People seem to be becoming crazy, as they are slaves to the latest fashions peddled to them by advertisements on their televisions. They get into debt buying things they probably don't need and cannot afford.

If people spent the same time they spend on shopping for presents instead on praying with their families and learning more about the true meaning of Christmas, their spiritual rewards would be so much greater than the transient pleasure from a gift of a bottle of after-shave or a computer game.

Is this commercialization of Christmas intended to have precisely this effect of distracting people away from the true Gift to us all, by those who detest Jesus Christ, namely the traditional enemies of the Catholic Church?

To show the relevance of this, there is a growing trend to say "Happy Holidays" rather than "Blessed Christmas". These trends do not emanate from nowhere, but unless one is vigilant, it is so easy to find oneself swept along in this sidelining and eventual elimination of Jesus Christ and the Holy Family from Christmas.

Lately, I have been recommending that Catholics, particularly those having children, consider moving their (hopefully modest!) gift exchange to Epiphany, where it historically should be, as Epiphany is the Twelfth Day of Christmas, commemorating the arrival of the Magi to Bethlehem. Epiphany has not been corrupted in the way that Christmas has, and I am told that this practice is already followed in Hispanic countries.

Remember, Christmas starts with Vespers of the Nativity, the evening of December 24; it does not end on December 25, but continues through January 6. The period before Vespers of December 24 is Advent and should be reserved as a penitential season, with its unique blend of anticipation of the Incarnation.

-- Author Unknown