It started already in September. Red and green and sparkly. First on just a few shelves, and then like mushrooms cropping up overnight occupying more and more space. You know whereof I speak … Christmas decorations, suggestions for the gift-giving season, boxes of candy and toys galore. We no longer have to wait all the way ‘til Thanksgiving is past for Christmas preparations to occur. Remember the days when nothing Christmas appeared until the Advent season had had its say? Now, too much, too soon takes away some of the heightened anticipation that the delayed display produced. It all can even get a bit tiresome. But maybe these early Christmas displays can be a sort of extension of Advent … a reminder that every day is a day of preparation for welcoming Christ into our hearts.
– Blog entry by a Sister of the Precious Blood