Merry Christmas!
Celebrating the Twelve Days of Christmas

We Catholics always ‘stand out’ from the culture around us. So too, on December 25, we only begin the “Christmas Season” of celebrating Jesus being born in human flesh…while the world around us is taking Christmas decorations down. Thus began the tradition of the “Twelve Days of Christmas,” celebrating Jesus’ Birth until the feast of Epiphany, December 25-January 6. (In the United States, Epiphany is transferred to the closest Sunday.) So I encourage you to think of creative ways to keep the Christmas Spirit alive during these weeks ahead.

Some ways to do this:
♦ Read the four different Gospel versions of Jesus’ coming into our world and notice how each has different characters and ways of describing this incredible miracle. (warning – John’s is challenging!)
♦ Pray on each of the twelve days for twelve different kinds of people who are really suffering and need Jesus’ message of hope. E.g., those in prison on the 25th, the homeless on the 26th, those with addictions 27th, etc. (a great way to get children involved in coming up with ideas of who needs our prayers!)
♦ On each of the days, call or visit someone, especially someone isolated, and give them the gift of your time for a visit as you simply listen and maybe pray with them. I am confident you will come up with other ways to BE and share Christ’s Love and Hope, especially in this difficult time of the pandemic.

O Jesus, come and save us!
Fr. Jim Deiters