T
he Christmas season has come a bit unglued. This is the natural outcome of the secularization of a religious holiday. Modern people don't really understand Christmas -- it's sort of like another Thanksgiving, but with Santa and gifts. You're supposed to be with family, right? The decorations are different, but underneath, it's just "generic holiday feelings" all the way down.
Because we live in a consumerist society, Christmas kicks off early. Basically, the day after Thanksgiving is the beginning of the Christmas season, and Christmas day is the end of the season. Everything comes down and gets thrown out on December 26th.
Spiritually, liturgically, historically this makes no sense. Christmas is the public welcoming of the God-child into the world; and it is preceded by the Advent season, which is intended to be subdued and penitential, a time of preparation and quiet hope. Christmas day kicks off the start of the Christmas season, which is in full force for twelve days (remember the Twelve Days of Christmas?) until Epiphany (the feast celebrating the coming of the Magi), and then for another eight days after that. The Christmas season is supposed to be the jubilant time after Christmas as we reckon with the birth of our Savior.
To this point, Elena and I have been talking about ways to make our marking of this time of the year more consistent and meaningful. Things like: not putting up the tree until Christmas Eve, and not lighting it until Christmas Day; penance and prayer, rather than celebration during Advent; giving and receiving gifts on Epiphany, in recognition of the gifts of the Magi; generally saving Christmas parties for after Christmas day; and just going to mass a lot during the season.
There will likely be some minor conflicts with our social net concerning these changes as we attempt to enact them, but that's life.