Merry Christmas

It's a busy week for everyone, so I'm only doing one posting. A Merry Christmas posting. This is one time of the year that Catholics of all stripes can rejoice together on some common ground.

Some random thoughts:

Those of us raised Catholic always had some relief from the intensity of the consumerism because religious traditions were mixed in. Midnight Mass used to be a big tradition in many families, but in recent years churches have placed those Masses earlier in the evening. As an aging baby boomer, and a morning person too, I'm grateful. But I wonder what is lost for our young people who miss the gloriousness of that Midnight Mass. Staying up way past your bedtime as a child always made everything that happened in that time more special, including Mass.

That letdown on Christmas Day -- after the presents have been open and the big meal eaten, and the dark at 4 p.m. -- now reminds me of John of the Cross' Dark Night of the Soul. Those hollow spiritual times we must honor to move on. It can't be Christmas every morning.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all...