A letter from a priest

My mother was a minister's daughter. When she was growing up, her parents taught her that Protestantism was better than Cathlicism  because Protestants can interpret the Bible for themselves and because Protestants can make their own relationship with God and don't need a priest to act as intermediary.  Protestants are often distinctly anti-clerical in their attitudes (and this attitude applies to the Protestant clergy as well) and this week, I can absolutely understand that point of view.

A priest mailed a letter home to all of his parishioners.  I am excerpting part of it.

"First, we Christians do not decorate for Christms until the day before December 25th. Until then, you ought to have an Advent Wreath in your home and pray prayers as a family each day.  Thanksgiving is NOT the beginning of the Christmas Season.  December 25th is. ....."

Apparently, he is urging us not to put up Christmas trees and other holiday decorations until Christmas Eve instead of following the American custom and putting them up after Thanksgiving Day.

Notice several things about this.  It is the custom of American Protestants to decorate for Christmas after Thanksgiving Day.  The phrase "we Christians" subtly classifies Protestants as non-Christians.  Secondly, this priest, who has headed this parish for less than three months, is intruding into his parishioner's zone of privacy by telling them how to decorate their homes. Thirdly, he is railing against a custom that gives pleasure to many people, especially children and their parents, and harms no one.  Fourthly, since a Christmas tree is not really a religious symbol but a seasonal symbol, what exactly is the problem with Catholics putting a seasonal symbol up after Thanksgiving Day?  Fifthly, lots of Catholic churches put up Christmas trees during Advent.

It also seems to me that this priest could have offered a compromise position.  Yes, put up the tree after Thanksgiving Day but until Dec. 24, decorate it using the Advent colors of pink and purple.  Then, decorate for Christmas on the 24th.  That way, people still get to enjoy the tree and Catholic identity is preserved.  Or, he could have acknowledged that people follow the custom of decorating after Thanksgiving Day but urged them to make the Advent wreath the center of family religious activities.  Or, as my brother suggested, instead of using the imperious phrase "we Christians," he could have simply started the sentence with "In my opinion."

Unknowingly, this priest confirmed every negative stereotype Protestants have about the Catholic clergy.

An Israeli Jewish woman friend of mine suggested mailing him his letter back without comment.  He would get the message.  I am not so nice.  In response to his "we Christians do not decorate until..." I would reply "We Americans do not let the clergy tell us how to decorate our homes."