When Christmas greetings turn up in the middle of Advent, Catholics and other Christians who follow the liturgical calendar complain that everyone’s doing it wrong. They’re technically right: Christmas hasn’t yet come! Still, this is a losing battle, at least for the wider secular world. That’s because Lent and Advent are both traditional seasons of fasting. There’s no clear financial incentive for Amazon, Walmart, and Starbucks to push fasting, abstinence, and penance for two and a half months every year.
