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This year, we need different approach to Christmas shopping |
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By Joe Towalski
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Tuesday, 25 November 2008 |
The Christmas shopping season for our consumer-oriented society began soon after Halloween and will hit full stride after Thanksgiving, as retail stores entice potential customers with special sales and holiday displays.
CNS Photo / Fred Prouser, Reuters
Editorial
Joe Towalski
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But this year, the lead up to Christmas has a different feel because of the economic crisis facing our nation. Many businesses are cutting jobs or closing their doors altogether. More than 175,000 Minnesotans are out of work, according to the state Department of Employment and Economic Development. And Catholic Charities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is serving record numbers of people.
Resisting temptation
As a result, many individuals and families will be forced to cut back
on gift-giving this year. However, many others — those who are not
feeling a severe financial pinch, at least not yet — will be tempted to
deplete their checking accounts and run up their credit card bills at
the same pace as in past years.
But that would be wrong — even scandalous — when so many people are
losing their jobs, losing their homes and, in the worst cases,
struggling to put food on their tables.
This year, we should make extra efforts to reach out to our neighbors, both near and far, who are hurting.
Maybe it means spending less as a family for presents and making a
financial contribution to an organization like Catholic Charities or
Catholic Relief Services. Or making that contribution in the name of a
friend or loved one who would appreciate receiving the kind of gift
that helps others.
Maybe it means taking part for the first time in an adopt-a-family,
giving tree or similar program at your parish, in which participants
sign up to buy basic necessities or toys for families and children who
can’t afford them right now.
Maybe it means spending less time shopping and more time volunteering
at a local food shelf or assisting a local charity that could use extra
help at this time of year. It’s a great way to meet the clients who use
these services, learn more about them, and quite possibly dispel myths
and stereotypes you might have about who comes for help.
Responding to the Gospel
This year, when Thanksgiving ends, let’s not gorge ourselves on the
next-day sales and seemingly endless Christmas gift lists. Instead,
let’s focus more on the message that Pope Benedict XVI has been
emphasizing in recent weeks: that there is an inseparable link between
the Gospel and helping those in need.
Let’s enter more deeply into the waiting, the preparation and the
prayer of Advent so we can discern the best ways to bring the Christmas
message of joy and hope into the lives of those who need it most.
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