Every year we hear about a war on Christmas, usually related to saying 'Merry Christmas' to people who celebrate a different religious holiday, or to expecting government officials to use tax money from non-Christians to fund nativity scenes and the like in public venues.
In my opinion there is a real war on Christmas but it is rooted in other problems, sentimentalism and consumerism. In today's gospel reading [Lk. 3: 7-18] John the Baptiser chops away the props of the real war on Christmas. First he attacks merely inherited religion: it wasn't 'good enough' just to be a child of Abraham, i.e. Jew, any more than it is now good enough to be a member of the politically- connected or most entertaining church in a community. John also attacks spiritual feelings that only warm the believer who then ignores the real-life needs of other people in the community. Finally, John hits hard on the habit of blurring ethics -- going along to get along. And there you have the problem: religion that is prideful, affirms faith without works, and tolerates ethical sloppiness.
The answer to these unhealthy tendencies is repentance: In Hebrew, teshuvah, meaning to turn around and go in the right direction; in biblical Greek, metanoia, a new way of thinking, a new attitude; in Latin, the language of the Church, poenitentiam agere, taking action that shows the reformed way of thinking and the decision to move in the right direction.
When the crowd asked for specific instructions, John offered commonsense advice. The one with two coats must give one to someone who has no coat, and those with food must give food to those going hungry. The tax agent must collect only his due. The soldier must not extort to enhance his income. With honest discernment, you and I can determine where the holes in our individual souls are, and respond with true repentance. That is how we are called to prepare to celebrate Christmas.
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