“If you don’t see Merry Christmas in the window”… a song about shopping. VIDEO

Posted on 2 December 2013 by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

I liked this:

I have the same thought, year round, when I see those awful “No CCW” signs.  GRRRRR!

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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18 Comments

  1. Legisperitus says:
    2 December 2013 at 2:13 PM

    This would be better if it didn’t use the words “me” and “my” so much. Christ came for everyone, not just “me.”

  2. donadrian says:
    2 December 2013 at 2:31 PM

    Frankly, one would rather see nothing about Christmass in the shops, at least for the next two or three weeks. [puhleeze]

  3. OrthodoxChick says:
    2 December 2013 at 3:00 PM

    I love that this video was put together by the ACLU – the OTHER ACLU.

    I like it. Can they turn it into a video billboard and blare it all over the hiways and biways throughout the U.S.?

  4. acricketchirps says:
    2 December 2013 at 3:24 PM

    What a horrible song! [For pity’s sake!]

    I tell people not to say MXmas till the 24 Dec.; even then it’s prospective. But then, I recommend we keep saying MXmas till Groundhog day. Before Xmas I like “Happy Holiday Shopping Season!” or “Holy Advent!,” though it’s hard not to add “Batman” after that last one.

  5. Cafea Fruor says:
    2 December 2013 at 4:47 PM

    I’m trying to understand the point of “No CCW” signs in a store. If it’s concealed, how would they know it’s there?

  6. Kathleen10 says:
    2 December 2013 at 5:53 PM

    I loved it! We can all be ambassador’s of “Merry Christmas”, and we should be. I started the day after Thanksgiving and will keep going until New Years.

  7. Joe in Canada says:
    2 December 2013 at 6:44 PM

    I agree with Donadrian. And for all I know, people in a store might not say “Merry Christmas” because they’re devout Catholics who recognize it is not yet Christmas. And if store owners instruct their employees to say “Merry Christmas” as a marketing tool, what worth is that?
    The tune is unremarkable but the words are clearly Protestant. Since Protestants generally don’t understand ecclesiology and eschatology in a Catholic sense, they are left with sentiments like “my saviour’s birth is the one and only reason for the season”. [Over analyzing, perhaps?]

  8. Venerator Sti Lot says:
    2 December 2013 at 7:02 PM

    Does anyone know if The Church’s Year of Grace: Advent to Candlemas by Pius Parsch is in print? My very quick check only turns up second-hand copies for sale. It is a fine companion to the season (EF). Salutations such as ‘Season’s Greetings!’ and ‘Happy Holidays!’ brought it to mind, as these can be explicated in terms of Christmas, St. Stephen’s, St. John’s, Holy Innocents, St. Thomas of Canterbury, Pope St. Sylvester, The Circumcision, and Epiphany! Does anyone sell cards doing that? (Of course, if you start earlier, you can add St. Francis Xavier’s, St. Nicholas’, The Immaculate Conception, St. Lucy’s, St. Thomas’s…) I have a very nice German Advent calendar that does some of this, as it goes on to Epiphany, with separate windows for the Sundays of Advent as well… I do not know how commmon (or un-) such Advent calendar designs are. (I have been seeing some pretty curious ‘themed’ Advent calendars with a little toy for each day advertised, lately – one ‘Star Wars’ Lego one seems to have Darth Maul with a Father-Christmas-y cowl on the box, in the photo I’ve seen!)

  9. beefcake73099 says:
    2 December 2013 at 8:32 PM

    Only related to the last line of your post but in Wisconsin, the only gunbuster signs that have the force of law are apparently the ones that are at least 5″ x 7″ in size.

    http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/wisconsin.pdf

    That being said, concealed means concealed :)

  10. Joe in Canada says:
    2 December 2013 at 10:42 PM

    Well, I might be overanalyzing! But I have come to realize, partly through this blog, that sentimentality in worship is not natural to Catholic worship. It seems to come from Protestantism, especially of the Pentecostalist variety. And as the prayers at Mass this time of year show us, our memory is on what God did 2000 years ago, but our focus is on God today and the Day to come.

  12. MikeM says:
    3 December 2013 at 1:50 AM

    I don’t get that worked up about what the people in stores say to me. I do, however, wonder how they don’t see how ridiculous they look bending over backwards to have non-Christmas Christmas. If I’m out buying carts full of gifts on December 20th, it’s for a specific holiday, not “the holidays.” And “seasons greetings” ?? It’s winter. Are they wishing me greetings of cold winds throwing ice in my face?

  13. Jim of Bowie says:
    3 December 2013 at 9:54 AM

    I liked it too.

  14. acricketchirps says:
    3 December 2013 at 11:02 AM

    I agreed with Fr. Z when he had “for pity’s sake” after the Batman comment. It’s a curse: having to exclaim, “Batman,” after every phrase that begins with “Holy”.

    But since he moved “fps” to after “what a horrible song,” I have to reiterate: It’s a horrible song–musically its as bad as the worst modern hymns we hear at Mass, and the voice of the woman singing and the lyrics she sings make her sound–what would today be called a passive-aggressive b****–an awful scold, I will say.

  15. jflare says:
    3 December 2013 at 9:41 PM

    I did get a good chuckle or two from the song, I must say.
    I will admit to having been slightly annoyed with the comment about going past the door if you don’t see “Merry Christmas” in the window though. I understand what they meant, but it’d be interesting to know how many retailers..really have a say in what they DO display..and what they don’t. In the pizza store that I manage, if I don’t receive it from corporate and it’s not relevant to the business..well, I can’t display it.
    I’m forced to admit too that..even during the Christmas season..or at least what’s commonly recognized as such..I rarely remember to say “Merry Christmas” to much of anyone. It’s not so much a matter of wishing to avoid inflicting offense, so much as it is..I have a job to do, one that requires some focus.
    I find it somewhat amusing–and annoying–that I forget to say “Merry Christmas” to someone four or five hours before I report to church for choir call for midnight Mass for Christmas, but the fact is..I do. I literally at that point am much more concerned about getting pizzas made than I am about fussing over the impending Holy Day.
    Singing my lungs out in praise of Christ’s Nativity comes later.

  16. Fr_Sotelo says:
    3 December 2013 at 11:23 PM

    I thought it was a very nice video. Yes, you can theologically critique it against the proper theology of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, or the canons of liturgical purity. But let’s give the good Protestants due credit for fighting the onslaught of secularism. After all, where are all the Catholic videos that protest this “happy holidays” nonsense? Talk about making the perfect the enemy of the good.

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  18. Venerator Sti Lot says:
    6 December 2013 at 3:51 AM

    Would salutations such as “Happy Holy-days and High Feasts!” and “Advent and Christmas Seasons’s Greetings!” be likely to intrigue, bewilder, annoy, or just seem silly?

    Happy St. Nicholas’, in any case!

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