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Published online 11/1/2007 11:01 PM

Sinister season

As the plastic of the "holi-daze" emerges from retail storage, let me be the first to wish everyone a "happy Hallowthankmass." This is the annual two-month binge of self-centeredness, self-indulgence and self-satisfaction. This is the season to be sinister, to be stuffed, and to squander.

On Oct. 31, we'll celebrate ugliness, horror and fear! We again will teach our little ones to be extortionists! Trick or treat is extortion. We sensationalized terror and glorify fear. Why is there so much horror in our world? We celebrate it every Halloween.

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Then on the fourth Thursday of November, we celebrate gluttony. On turkey day, with that over-stuffed feeling, we burp and move on to a festival of violence: football. Hopefully, between the feast and the football some nod of gratitude is uttered to God for all the good things we've enjoyed. Sadly most assume that our bountiful blessings are the result of our own meritorious efforts. Few ask, "Why me" around the Thanksgiving table. Fewer still offer contrition for this gluttonous orgy and blithely remain indifferent to the world's starving masses. Accountability to God and gratitude due God are simply buried beneath the stuffing and mashed potatoes.

The "grand finale" is on December 25, when consumer consumption is raised to the level of the absurd. After a frenzy of buying, unneeded gifts are exchanged that at best can bring only fleeting pleasure. Within days, most "must gifts" will be broken, out of style, or stashed away. Yet through December, the ever faithful beg the jolly old elf to supply them all the stuff that he promises will bring eternal bliss. This fabled phony is dubbed the spirit of giving. Only in January, our illusions again are shattered when the spirit of paying arrives. We face again the truth that the elf gives nothing; his bills are delivered. We vow that next year will be different, it never is. We go on believing that this grand illusion will have some lasting meaning, but it never does. However, for those dogged disciples of Hallothankmass, "may the force be with you."

Of course, there is an alternative. There is a way that is real, a truth that is solid and a life that is free. November 1 is All Saints Day, when all are invited to worship the Lord and give thanks for those who brought us to His truth. On Thanksgiving Day we can pause, ponder and prepare our feasting with deep gratitude and a humble awareness that our blessings far exceed our worthiness. We can pray for those who hunger while we feast. And we can forfeit the game and let the young men pummel each other without our support. In December we can prepare for Christ-mass through Advent, in muted anticipation as we wait the day of His coming. Then we can celebrate fully the 12 days of Christ-mass, forestalling gift exchanges till after the 25th (it is much cheaper). The conclusion of all this joy is on January 6, Epiphany. Such a plan rejects horror, tempers gluttony, spares the pocket book and calms the frenzy, while rejoicing in the way, the truth and the life that is ours for eternity. You might try it; it is good for your health.

FR. BOB LAYNE

McPherson