Cures for the Cyber Monday Blues

Thanksgiving is over, Black Friday has come and gone, and all the guests have headed home after the weekend’s festivities. And now comes that awkward time of year, both tense and soothing, when we alternately relax because Christmas is still twenty-some days away, and panic because Christmas is only twenty-some days away. But don’t worry, the Cyber Monday Blues don’t have to last all Advent long. Here are two suggestions for early remedies: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/122819566″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Listen here to Br. Raymund Snyder, O.P., speaking on “Season’s Greetings: Unpacking the Liturgy of Festive Cliché.” Br. Raymund identifies four humbug attitudes that tend to take the “happy” and the “holy” out of this happy holiday, and suggests a way forward out of the confusion by taking a closer look at the Incarnation. Br. Raymund’s talk is the first of a four-part series for the Sundays of Advent, entitled “Symbols of the Season: Decoding Man’s Desire for God.” [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/117823220″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/120024577″ width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /] Also, to relax and re-focus after the weekend’s hubbub, listen here to two sample tracks from In Medio Ecclesiae, the new album of sacred music from the schola of the Dominican House of Studies. The complete album is available in digital and CD formats from CD Baby and iTunes. All of us at opeast.org are keeping you in prayer this Advent season. May God fill you with his presence in the coming weeks of preparation for the birth of Christ. Come, Lord Jesus!