It all began the day after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday. Navigating the sales and offers for material goods, many of which will be discarded the next day I was buried in the confusion of the season which hadn’t even started yet. The police were on high alert as the potential for violent clashes at retail outlets across the country was high.
Dashing through the snow in a 300-hp automobile, frenzied by the fear that I would not complete the gift giving ritual which defines “the season”, I broke out in a cold sweat! So many items and such little time in which to complete the task. How could I consider myself a good citizen if I fell short in this endeavor?
Arriving at the big box store I entered with fear and that I might emerge without my Achilles tendon intact, run over by an impatient man looking to scoot in and grab several items quickly so that he could get home in time for the ballgame, or a hyper-focused grandmother looking for the perfect gift for each family member? Making it out the door unharmed, but with barely a gift to wrap I turned to the only place to find what I needed, the internet.
Jumping online I looked to fulfill my gift giving obligations by visiting “Amazonland” and the other virtual stores which collectively provide anything that a twenty-first century consumer desires. Salvation is at hand I thought! Browsing until my head was about to burst, I came across everything on Earth and beyond. Using my credit card until it began to smoke, I waited for the truck to pull up and unload everything. Now where would we store it all?
Then came the thought of being buried in wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Not sure if a family member or pet was under the remnants, risking that they could accidentally end up in the dumpster I could bear no more. I was at my wits end. I was consumed by consumerism. Oh, the “Ghost of Christmas Presents” was haunting me.
The Mystery of Christ’s Poverty
Suddenly I woke up and realized that this was just a dream, or perhaps a nightmare. My heart rate returned to normal, and I immediately looked to one side to find my wife peacefully sleeping the sleep of the just. Looking the other way, with his nose about an inch from mine was my cat Max with that “I want breakfast” look on his face. Phew, my life was under control again.
The frenzy of what I was being consumed by returned to the peaceful feeling of anticipation. Now I could return to focusing on the real season, Advent, progressing to Christmas and the reason why we celebrate and offer gifts to those we care for in the first place.
Advent is the season, perhaps not quite as penitential as Lent, but nonetheless a time when we prepare for the special day of the Nativity. We sacrifice to come in to sync with the spirituality of the season. Praying the Rosary, we say that the fruit of the Third Joyful Mystery – The Nativity, is poverty. True poverty is not necessarily deprivation of material goods, but it is a spirit of understanding that we depend on God for every breath we take. Understanding that we truly possess nothing and are dependent on Him for everything leads us into the holiness which the Christ Child, Our Lady and St. Joseph possessed. The Fatima message directs us to adopt this mindset.
Gift giving is not a bad thing, but if it consumes us and becomes the focus of all our actions in the month of December, we cheat ourselves and others out of the peace and serenity that comes from union with God. Advent leads us to the reason for the season as it is said. In this special time, we need to remember that gift giving, and the social aspects of Christmas are just a bonus.
A very blessed Christmas and a happy new year to all.
I want to make a special shout out to one of our 2024 pilgrims. Sean Maldonado joined us on the November pilgrimage to Fatima. On November 25th, the day that the group returned home he began his Camino, walking north from Fatima on the 250-mile journey to Santiago de Compostela, Spain, keeping us informed of his progress. On December 15th he sent the message “I made it”. Congratulations Sean! What a great way to spend Advent.
We hope that you will be able to join us for one of our pilgrimages in the new year, 2025!
God bless you and Mary keep you in her Immaculate Heart.
David M. Carollo is the Executive Director of the World Apostolate of Fatima USA/National Blue Army Shrine. He wrote this for his Voice of Fatima column.
If you would like to comment on this post, please contact him at [email protected].
