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“Even though many people in our country no longer live in the Christian faith, Christmas continues to retain its meaning for almost everyone”: so says Cardinal Lehmann, president of the German Episcopal Conference and archbishop of Mainz, in an article published in the paper of the bishopric of Mainz, Glauben und Leben. Deploring the use of the “truth of Christmas to a single end”, that of “consumerism”, Lehmann says he has “the impression that this exploitation is constantly increasing. It no longer knows any limits”. “Christmas is undoubtedly the Christian festivity that is most abused, secularized and emptied of significance” he adds. “For many it’s just a commercial bonanza, a fete in which a consumer world celebrates the high point of the year. Otherwise, Christmas seems to be a cut-price feeling of devotion, in which a vague nostalgia for memories of childhood, a return to a lost world of the past, often emerges”. To counter these tendencies, points out the cardinal, “there are no easy recipes or simple panaceas”; nonetheless, at least individuals, and especially families, can buck the trend”: in this regard, “the Church helps us with the liturgical year and with many customs; in particular, Advent helps the faithful to “prepare themselves” for Christian festivities, which he calls “patient and resistant”. “Their secret is profound: the many centuries in which they have been celebrated demonstrate it. And they always permit a conversion, by inviting us to it: it’s never too late”, he concludes.
