.- Archbishop Lluís Martínez Sistach of Tarragona, Spain, is warning Catholics that the enormous amount of consumerism that is prevalent in the days before Christmas leads to an agnosticism that “pushes having and not being.”
The Spanish prelate emphasized in his weekly Sunday letter that it is easy to see the influence money, extravagance, and comfort have on people, and that “this is why a practical materialism has overtaken society.”
This materialism, he added, “leads to religious indifference and agnosticism.”
Archbishop Sistach warned that “our society does not lead us to authentically enjoy life” and that “the emptiness and disillusionment that people feel inside is growing every day.”
He said he was hopeful because of growing signs of a “reaction against this that seeks to build and rejoice in a culture of life and love,” which he identified with a true celebration of the season of Advent and Christmas.
