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Extend Christmas spirit throughout feast days |
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By Father Steven Binsfeld - For The Catholic Spirit
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Thursday, 17 December 2009 |
 The season celebrating the mystery of the Incarnation encompasses both Advent and Christmas. This means that it runs roughly from the Sunday following Thanksgiving through the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
We seem to cram Christmas cheer, however, in the weeks before Christmas, exhausting ourselves with the things that help us to “get ready” for Christmas — the shopping, baking and cooking — as well as the many Christmas gatherings.
Yes, Advent is meant to be a time of quiet preparation, meditating on the great mystery of the fact that God became one like us in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Pre-Christmas saturation seems to contradict the Christian mystery still unfolding in church.
Stretching the celebration
But I am not going to moan about losing the “spirit” of Christmas. I
like the preparations. I love the smell of cookies baking, the sight of
people preparing to greet their guests and how we are more open to
being charitable and more hospitable at that this time of the year.
I love the music and the concerts and the crunch of snow underfoot as
we run off to something else. Christmas is no longer just a Christian
liturgical feast but a seasonal “mood” not just limited to believers
who prepare for and rejoice over Jesus’ birth.
I am more troubled when I see Christmas trees in the trash or when I
hear of packing away all the decorations and getting on with “life as
usual” the day after Christmas. We seem to anticipate a feast much
better than we know how to “stretch out the celebration.”
Feasts not to forget
When you are planning for Christmas, be deliberate about what you want to do after Christmas Day.
The church has several feasts immediately after Christmas relating to the “Companions of Christ.”
Readings for daily Mass are given in every bulletin. Read them as part of your daily prayer as a family.
Go to www.usccb.org to get them as well. Google the feast of the day and find out more.
Among the feasts:
• Dec. 26 is the feast of St. Stephen, the church’s first martyr.
In England this day is called “Boxing Day” when people “box up” gifts
for the needy. St. Stephen, the first deacon, was entrusted by the
Apostles with the task of caring for the poor. Maybe prepare for this
day by establishing a “piggy bank” during the final days of Advent and
take it on that day to the food shelf.
Maybe that day, everyone could gather ’round the tree and decide which gifts will be given to those in need.
• Dec. 27 is the feast of St. John, the Apostle and beloved of
Jesus. It is the traditional day to bless wine. Tradition says that
John once drank poisoned wine and was not harmed. Why not invite some
folks over for a wine tasting party (bring a good bottle of wine and a
good appetizer to share without poison) and exchange Christmas stories
and memories, responding to some questions pre-written and kept in a
Christmas sock?
• This year Dec. 27 is also Holy Family Sunday. Still have your
wine party! But during the day, do something special with your family.
The evening can be for the adult family and extended family members.
• Dec. 28 is the feast of the Holy Innocents, who were put to
death. Everyone in the house can be part of a special prayer for all
the innocents who are caught in the crossfire of so many kinds of
violence.
• Dec. 29 is the feast of St. Thomas Becket, the bishop of Canterbury who was murdered in his cathedral in 1170.
In T.S. Eliot’s play about Becket, four tempters appear to Thomas. The
fourth temptation is the most dangerous, tempting Becket to do the
right thing for the wrong reason, to give up his life in order to be
acclaimed as a saint. This is a day to talk about what motivates us in
our lives.
• Jan. 1 is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary and New Year’s Day,
a time when each member of the household can write a story about what
was most memorable and challenging in the last year and what they look
forward to in this new year.
• Jan. 3 is the feast of Epiphany, a feast that announces Jesus
as light to all nations. This year the bishops of our country ask us to
remember immigrants and their struggles. Talk about your own family
tree and history. Where did your relatives come from? What struggles
did they have? What are the struggles of immigrants today?
Find out more at www.justiceforimmigrants.org.
Who are those people with whom you have wanted to “connect with” or
visit or invite over? Make a list. This is the season to make that call
and invite them for dessert or for a meal or for some holiday cheer.
This is the season to celebrate our connection to one another as brothers and sisters of Jesus.
Father Steven Binsfeld is pastor of St. Mary parish in Alexandria, Minn.
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