Every year, in shopping malls there is the ever present Santa village. Here children come up to a stranger in a red suit and muse on whether they have been good or bad. I was taken as a 4 year old to such an event. I was wearing a hot orange snowsuit (I have the picture) and was very uncomfortable as I tried to get away.
In the shopping mall near my office, children were being lined up by their parents to see Santa as the elves waited, with cameras in their hands. Many children cried and were bribed to participate with candy or chocolate. Few, if any, seemed to enjoy the experience.
So why do we do it? Where does this come from?
Santa is a mystical figure who rewards for 'good' and punishes for bad. We have stories of St. Nicholas and King Wenceslaus and other examples of holy men who were kind to children. There are numerous books on the origin of Santa Claus but for the purposes of this blog, I will propose my own theory about why children go up to Santa Claus to plead their case as it were.
Were you naughy or were you nice? Santa will listen and administer either an admonition or. reward. In some ways it mirrors the confessional. In the sacrament of confession we go before a priest who, while not dressed in red, is hidden from view. We then confess our sins and receive absolution or chastisment. There is always a small price to pay in terms of penance once absolution or forgiveness is granted. There are no elves taking our photo as we go into the confessional, there are no rewards of chocolate or candy canes. The real confessional is healing and a great blessing and relief.
The secular Santa confessional is a mere photo op, for what can be seen as a very anemic substitute for sacramental confession. The children don't feel blessed or relief, it is a mere formality to get a candy reward and to smile for a photo,
After Christmas, the Santa village is taken down and stored in the bowels of the shopping mall. The elven costumes are zipped in bags, and Santa's vestments are stored until next Christmas. The fake snow and the plastic reindeer are stored in Santa's hut.
After Christmas, the confessionals are not stored away, They still stand in the back of the church with the name of the confessor on the door. The penitents await for the green light and enter into the darkened confessional. No one but the priest, who stands in the place of Christ hears them. In contrast to the glaring lights of the mall and blasting music, the confessional is silent apart from the confessor and the penitent. It is in this holy silence, that one can reflect on one's sins.
Is it possible that we have a need to confess and that if we are far from the faith, we find secular substitutes like Santa, or the New Years resolutions that we make where we confess our failings to our fellow celebrants and vow to do better. It is akin to a public confession. As we become more and more secular, there are many such examples of what I call secular confession. There are those who say they walk in the forest and speak to the birds or the trees. We have an innate need it would seem to make ourselves clean and to explain our wrong doings.
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