By: Jennifer Carr Allmon

Advent has arrived and brought with it the extreme shopping that our culture associates with Christmas preparation.  As much as we try to resist the temptation, the draw of mall is enticing.  The other day I told my husband I needed to run out to get a few things at the store and my two-year-old immediately grabbed her play purse and ran to the door giggling and shouting, “I’m going shopping!”  Granted, I was running to HEB for eggs and milk, which she enjoys because she faces Mommy in the shopping cart and we talk, but it still made me reflect on what messages we’re sending our little ones about shopping.

The next day while reading The North Texas Catholic, I came across a dapper picture of Bishop Vann modeling a WORN scarf from Catholic Charities of Fort Worth (CCFW). I felt that tug of the Holy Spirit reminding me of a better shopping message for my daughter.   WORN is a socially-conscious business venture of CCFW. The mission of WORN is to provide refugee women living in the United States with an opportunity to utilize the traditional skill of knitting to increase their families’ household income, thus empowering them to rise above poverty.

Each product is hand-knit by refugee women working out of their homes, which allows them to overcome significant barriers to work such as language, transportation and child care.  100% of the profits from this project go directly back into the community through Catholic Charities Fort Worth to further equip the women with the necessary skills to become self-sufficient.  The scarves are beautiful and give us not only an opportunity to support these women and other programs of Catholic Charities, but also to pray for the knitters every time we wrap that scarf around our necks for warmth.  I love their slogan: WORN for Peace, WORN for Hope, and WORN for Fashion.  Now that’s a message I want to teach my little girl.  Shop their website at: www.wornforpeace.com.

The scarves of WORN are just one example.  There are countless other ways that we can all shop in ways that lift up brothers and sisters at home and around the world.  Catholic Relief Services works with hundreds of partners around the world to provide fair trade choices to consumers and fair wages to workers.  SERRV and Work of Human Hands has beautiful nativities, Christmas decorations, kitchen serving items, food, jewelry and more made by these partners.  They even have a great Divine Chocolate Advent Calendar that will be arriving on my front porch in 3-5 business days! I’ll admit it, while researching for this article, I’ve added a few items to my on-line shopping cart at www.serrv.org, but I do so with no guilt because I know that my engagement in this marketplace recognizes the dignity and work of people while bringing sweetness and joy to my family.  Sounds like a win-win to me.

Another Advent tradition in my family is to engage in serious holiday baking.  This year, we’ll be looking for fair trade sugar and baking mixes and using fair trade chocolate.   That same temptation that draws me to the mall, is now drawing me to find more fair trade products online or through local alternative Christmas markets.  Parishes and other congregations are hosting these markets to showcase local or other fair trade items—find one near you and take your kids.

So, for this Advent, while preparing our hearts to welcome Jesus and reflect on his incarnation, becoming God among us, we could also use this time to see Jesus present among us in our brothers and sisters.  In their pastoral letter, Economic Justice for All, the U.S. Bishops remind us, “Every economic decision…must be judged in light of whether it protects or undermines the dignity of the human person…the person is sacred, the clearest reflection of God among us.  Thus the economy should serve people, not the other way around.” (Economic Justice for All, USCCB).