• Be attentive to the Seasons of the Church Year and the Rhythm of Nature
• The diminishing intensity of the sun
• The long dark nights
• Animal hibernation
• Nature sleeping

• Note how the church uses natural phenomena in its prayers
• Scripture reading at Midnight Mass: "A people who walked in darkness have seen a great light." [Isaiah 9:1-6]
• Opening Prayer, Mass at Midnight: Creator God, “you make this holy night radiant with the splendor of Jesus Christ our light.”
• Epiphany Preface: "Today you revealed in Christ your eternal plan of salvation and showed him as the light of all peoples."

• Observe the winter solstice (December 22) as a way of connecting the return of the winter sun with the themes of light and darkness in Advent and Christmas.

If Christ were to be born among us today, anywhere on the globe, what preparations would be needed?

What quality of air could we present?  Is it clear and fresh, an atmosphere where he could breathe in and think of the Spirit?

On what kind of land could he take up his abode?  What kind of food could it produce?  What forests could he walk in?

What about the treasures of the earth, the renewable resources?  Are they cared for, plentiful or disappearing or depleted?

Is there fresh water where he might choose to live?

If we think of Christmas as welcoming the Christ of all Creation, it changes how we view care of the Earth.

Is there anything that can be done to keep earth care primary at Christmas?

Christmas can be a time of great consumerism and greed.  It can be very harmful to the Earth.
 

1. Plan ahead. Have a family meeting to decide how the group really wants to celebrate Christmas.

2. Avoid debt. Refuse to be pressured by advertising to overspend.

3. Avoid stress.  Don’t assume that things have to be the same as they have been.

4. Draw names in your giving circle, rather than everyone giving a gift to everyone else.  Set a price ceiling.

5. Give children one gift they really want rather than so many gifts.  If need be, pool funds.

6. Give appropriate gifts — something that the person really needs, rather than what you want to buy.

7. Give alternative gifts. Give a percentage of what you spent last year to a homeless shelter or an organization working for a just society.  Give crafts made in third world countries, when you know the artist is receiving the proceeds.

8. Give of yourself — something you made or created, a coupon book for future services.

9. Put the gifts under the tree shortly before opening them, then take turns opening gifts, so that each gift can be admired and each giver thanked.

10. Make changes slowly but persistently.  Don’t try to change everything and everybody all at once.

“Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?
Ideas for a Christ-Centered Holiday
Alternatives for Simple Living
P.O. Box 2857
Sioux City, IA 51106
(800) 821-6153

This booklet has many helpful suggestions for simplifying Christmas.  There are ideas for celebrations, suggestions for giving and receiving, reflections and services from Advent to Epiphany, activities and crafts.

"And God Saw That It Was Good"
Catholic Theology and the Environment
Edited by Drew Christiansen, SJ and Walter Grazer
United States Catholic Conference
3211 Fourth Street, NE
Washington, DC 20017-1194
(800) 235-8722

This book is part of a project to challenge Catholic theologians to heed the call for "renewing the earth."  It collects the essays and other relevant materials from a consultation, "Ecology and Catholic Theology: Contribution and Challenge," held at Mount Angel Abbey in Portland, Oregon in summer 1995.  The essay on "the sacramentality of Creation and the Role of Creation in Liturgy and sacraments," by Kevin W. Irwin influenced some of the thoughts in this brochure.

There are a number of places where one can purchase holiday gifts with a difference.  The following shops offer crafts made by women and men in production cooperatives from the developing world.  These artisans receive a living wage for their labor.

• Ten Thousand Villages, 2820 W. Cary Street, Richmond, Virginia
• APPALMADE, 1173 Main Street, Abingdon, Virginia

Work of Human Hands, Catholic Relief Services, 209 West Fayette Street, Baltimore, MD 21201-3443, Phone: (800) 685-7572.