The Madness Of The "Black Friday" Culture...

In addition to the fact that most of the U.S. population has been totally submerged in a mindset of anti-Christ -- whether by choice or culpable ignorance --, the ongoing holidays brings to the forefront the lunacy of rampant consumerism in place of the "reason for the season."

In an attempt to be fair, I have to give credit where credit is due, and that includes giving credit to the current occupier of the Chair of St. Peter, Francis, who recently decried that very same consumerism...

But, at this point, that's about all that I have in common with the leader of the Catholic world.  My disagreements with him are legion, and a topic for another article...

So, the question begs: what has happened over the last several generations that has sparked the craziness of what we see and hear going on during the days of "Black Friday" and beyond, leading up to Christmas?

The simple answer is that Christ has been replaced with the worship of creatures, whether mankind or his creations...

Christmas: the real reason for the season culminating in the celebration of the birth of the Savior of Mankind, taking on the flesh and form of His created creatures in order to rescue us from the deadly consequences of Original Sin of our first parents...

So important was His mission, that He had to subject Himself to the horrors and pain of being persecuted and eventually crucified and hung on a tree.  And, when He only had seconds left of His human life, granted salvation to the "good thief" hanging next to Him.

He is the pinnacle of the season; He is the One that should be "bought" with our treasure and saved into our hearts and souls; He is the one that we should receive as worthily as possible in the Holy Eucharist; He is the model of perfection that we should emulate, not some sports figure or Hollywood "star"; He is the One that should bring some measure of sanity in an otherwise world gone mad with sex, drugs and rock n' roll; He should be the focus as we go about our daily lives; He is the only recourse of our weakened human nature; He is the cure of our tendency toward concupiscence; He is the one that chose, and then gave us, His most Blessed Mother to help us with her motherly love of the children of men, and lead us all to her Son... What a gift!

It is so important to moderate our legitimate passions, and avoid those that can stifle our spiritual life, not only for ourselves, but also for our families and our neighbors.   And, as the New Year approaches, let us be ready to receive Our Lord into the deepest recesses of our hearts, and make sincere resolutions for the upcoming New Year to be as perfect as our Father in Heaven is perfect...

These should not be "pie in the sky" goals, but a sincere attempt to amend our lives and pray for others as well...

Pray, too, for our country...

Gene DeLalla