Black Friday

For some reason, the commercialization of Christmas is really getting to me this year. Santa Claus was at the mall before Halloween. Christmas movies have been on Lifetime for weeks. People have been camped out at Best Buy for days for "Black Friday". They spent Thanksgiving in a parking lot, without their family, friends. Some stores even competed with giving thanks with our families by opening on Thanksgiving day. Nine thousand people were standing in line at Macy's in Herald Square.

"I came here for the deals,"

Really?

Ever heard of TJ Maxx?

Check this out. There was pandemonium near the Xboxes and some kook sprayed the other kooks with pepper spray so she could grab merchandise while the others were choking and clawing at their eyes.

"It was absolutely crazy," he said.

Another customer said screams erupted after about a hundred people waiting in line to snag Xbox gaming consoles and Wii video games got into a shoving match.

Alejandra Seminario, 24, said she was waiting in line to grab some toys at the store around 9:55 p.m. when people the next aisle over started shouting and ripping at the plastic wrap encasing gaming consoles, which was supposed to be opened at 10 p.m.

"People started screaming, pulling and pushing each other, and then the whole area filled up with pepper spray," the Selmar resident said. "I guess what triggered it was people started pulling the plastic off the pallets and then shoving and bombarding the display of games. It started with people pushing and screaming because they were getting shoved onto the boxes."

This is how merchants and screwballs are approaching the celebration of Advent when Christians prepare for the Baby Jesus, the price of our soul's salvation, to be born to a Virgin.

I feel like boycotting buying anything at all. I want to just debride the infection foisted upon our sacred celebration.

This is a great post - Five simple ways to return to celebrating Christmas. I used to do the "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake when the children were little. I don't know how I lost the tradition but I'm adding that one back in.

“Blessed are those who are called to the supper of the Lamb.”

A prayerful and blessed Advent to one and all.

Happy and Holy New Year

All the Obamamas had me more excited than usual to be entering into Advent. There's just something about this crazy old world (They're naming their children after him????) that has me longing for the the spiritual pilgrimage to the Nativity.

I decided this year to add a crucifix beside my Christmas pin (a festive crystal rocking horse) as witness to, as they say, the reason for the season.

I'm starting my mornings in Advent with St. Therese's morning prayer:


O my God! I offer Thee all my actions of this day for the intentions and for the glory of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I desire to sanctify every beat of my heart, my every thought, my simplest works, by uniting them to Its infinite merits; and I wish to make reparation for my sins by casting them into the furnace of Its Merciful Love.

O my God! I ask of Thee for myself and for those whom I hold dear, the grace to fulfill perfectly Thy Holy Will, to accept for love of Thee the joys and sorrows of this passing life, so that we may one day be united together in heaven for all Eternity.

Amen.

Hope your Advent got off to a great start!