Advent Conspiracy, Part Deux

Head + Desk

Some days, you just don't know whether to laugh or cry.

True in the 4th century - still true today

"While we try to amass wealth, make piles of money, get hold of the land as our real property, overtop one another in riches, we have palpably cast off justice, and lost the common good. I should like to know how any man can be just, who is deliberately aiming to get out of someone else what he wants for himself."

--St. Basil the Great

Prophetic Music

This is what it's all about - the Millenium Development Goals, sustainability, rejecting the culture of mass consumption and greed....It's a look at how the world really is; the whole world.




There ain't no reasons things are this way
Its how they've always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way
We do it everyday
Preachers on the podiums speaking to saints
Prophets on the sidewalks begging for change
Old ladies laughing from the fire escape, cursing my name
I got a basket full of lemons and they all taste the same
A window and a pigeon with a broken wing
You can spend your whole life working for something
Just to have it taken away

People walk around pushing back their desks
Wearing pay checks like necklaces and bracelets
Talking 'bout nothing, not thinking about their
Every little heart beat, every little breath
People walk a tight rope on a razor's edge
Carrying their hurt and hatred and weapons
It could be a bomb or a bullet or a pin
Or a thought or a word or a sentence.

There ain't no reasons things are this way
Its how they've always been and they intend to stay
I don't know why i say the things i say,
But i say them anyway.
But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes

Prison walls still standing tall
Some things never change at all
Keep on building prisons,
Gonna fill them all.
Keep on building bombs
Gonna drop them all

Working your fingers bare to the bone
Breaking your back, make you sell your soul
Like a lung is filled with coal, suffocating slow
The wind blows wild and i may move
But politicians lie and i'm not fooled
You don't need no reason or a 3 piece suit
To argue the truth
The air in my skin and the world under my toes
Slavery is stitched into the fabric of my clothes
Chaos and commotion wherever i go
Love, i try to follow

But love will come set me free
Love will come set me free
I do believe
Love will come set me free
I know it will
Love will come set me free
Yes

There ain't no reasons things are this way
Its how they've always been and they intend to stay
I can't explain why we live this way;
We do it everyday.


-

Eternal God, in whose perfect kingdom no sword is drawn but the sword of righteousness,
no strength known but the strength of love: So mightily spread abroad your Spirit,
that all peoples may be gathered together and reconciled under the banner of the Prince of Peace,
as children of one Father; to whom be dominion and glory, now and forever.

Amen.

Can Someone PLEASE Tell Me...

Even if one "doesn't believe in" global warming/climate change, why the bloody hell are they against pro-environment legislation?

Isn't environmental conservation important simply for its own sake? If not, then what are "conservatives" conserving?

Or maybe they enjoy breathing in brown CO2 haze?

Rescuing Christmas from the "Holiday Season"

I never thought I'd say this, but...Bill O'Reilly was right.

There really is a War on Christmas.

The Holy celebration of Christ's Mass has become - pardonner mon français - a clusterf*ck of consumerism, globalism, and materialism. If we are complicit in this treachery, we allow ourselves to be transformed into - not little Christs - but little Grinches!


How many people worldwide suffer each year because of Corporate Christmas? How painfully does our only planet shudder and groan as factories belch out countless cheap plastic toys? Is it worth it? Really?

Despite all this, I just can't be depressed around Christmas. I love the traditions, I love the carols, I love the colorfulness and - sorry for being corny - magic of it all.

A friend recently said to me, "You know people feel more holy around Christmas. All those ceramic mangers and carols and Hallmark Christmas movies. Blech!" Blech indeed. There is something about Christmas that is so full of hope and light that even the state of our world seems like it can be made right.

So, here's what you can do:

*Buy only one present for your friends and family. Make it special.

*Or, make one yourself!

*Are you dreaming of a green Christmas?

*Sing.

*Check out Advent Conspiracy. Spend less. Worship more. Love all.


*Christ is the Light of the world. Light a candle and say a prayer for peace.


*Make a Christmas card. Leave it for a stranger to find.

*Write or read Advent reflections.


*It's Christmas. Have you called your mother lately? Pray the rosary. Then tell a mother how much she means to you.

*Recycle decorations year to year. Make decorations!

*Learn the story behind the real Saint Nicholas. See the movie.

*Give. Give, give, give and don't stop giving! Your time, your talents - they were all given to you. Give them back to Christ in the world.

To give is to be liberated from having.

*Add to this list!