Liturgists are people who are scholars and students of liturgy, of the Church's worship. Liturgists sometimes feel that people in parishes, particularly pastors, trample on the finer points that liturgists believe are important. This is why a popular (but probably insensitive) joke raises the question: what is the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with terrorists. It is insensitive, but it makes an often valid point. I selected the above graphic of Santa kneeling by the tree as a clear description of the issues. Those who are trying to be pastoral get frustrated when the liturgist does not appreciate everything that has to be done to bring people into Church, to bring them closer to God. At the same time, pastoral types often just push aside any valid arguments which may never address the reality. Franklyi, the above graphic does little to address the discussion.
What's the point? The liturgist would maintain that you should not mention Christmas until you get real close to the end of Advent. The liturgist just does not look churches decorating early for Christmas. There are good and valid points on both sides - and there clearly are sides. As a pastor for decades, I understood the liturgical principles, but sometimes I may not have always agreed with the use made of those principles. I want to see people drawn into Church. Some day, I will expand on these ideas in a longer article, but today is not the time. What is the time is what to do about Christmas as our world is approaching a galloping pandemic. I don't know about you, but I find this scary, more so each day.
I see this scientific fact of escalating pandemic just shattering any sense of peace of mind that people hope to have as they approach Christmas. Some researchers point out that the new variants may not be as devastating to people as former variants. I just don't know. I go through the scientific research. I listen to conflicting viewpoints of sane and brilliant people - and I still don't know.
I do know this. Many people are scared. While every day is a time to cling to God - it seems like every day is a time to cling and hold on more closely to God - and each other. If the variant is as bad as some are predicting, we need to stay close to God and each other. If it is not as bad, stayling close to God and each other is never a bad thing.
I spend a decent amount of time in prayer and meditation every single day. I'm going to increase this. I'm going to pray harder and for more people each day. We do need to get back to the core of our faith - God = Jesus - Mary - and the Church. There are some groups that are hellbent on just making political points about the Church. They should know better. They should be ashamed of themselves for doing nothing to help people. That is why we are here. I know that is why I'm here. Join me if you agree. I suspect that many do. We are here to help each other - not to push each other away from the Church and each other.
This will be an interesting time between now and Christmas. May we all hold on to the plaintive cry trying to take care of Linus:
