Advent as a time of waiting goes against secular rush of Christmas

Published: 2004-12-06

DETROIT (CNS) -- During the liturgical season of Advent, the church faces a particular challenge to prepare people spiritually for Christ's birth as marketers, consumers and the media rush into the Christmas season. With holiday music, lights, Santa Clauses and seasonal sales at every turn, it is tempting to get caught up in the Christmas spirit a little early. "The church is in conflict with the culture," said Dan McAfee, director of worship for the Archdiocese of Detroit. "The commercialism of the season got more prominent and it just pushed out the religious celebration." "The whole sense of waiting during Advent just disappeared," he told The Michigan Catholic, Detroit's archdiocesan newspaper. One place where Advent has not disappeared, however, is in church. The Christ Child is not placed into the manger in Nativity scenes at the front of Catholic churches until Christmas Day, the true start of the season. Christmas carols aren't sung during Mass. And, during Advent, the liturgy at Mass focuses intently on waiting -- not just for Christ's birth, but for his second coming. "The church has tried to emphasize that," McAfee said. "And we certainly do in our liturgy."

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