“Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.”
As I am writing this before Thanksgiving Day, I am mindful of church tradition. We follow seasons in church tradition. Advent follows the long season of Pentecost. Only after observing Advent do we get to the short twelve day season of Christmas. Traditionally, the season of Christmas ends with the Epiphany on January 6. That is the day when the Magi arrive bearing gifts for the child king of the Jews.
When I was in seminary, I got the frowny face from the purists because I put up Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving Day. I took them down after Christmas day because my daughter has a birthday on New Years Eve. So much for adhering strictly to the twelve days of Christmas. I imagine that you have your own reasons for when to begin and how to celebrate Christmas, and I do believe there is grace in that.
Some express that grace by extending the Christmas season to the Sunday after the Epiphany. That Sunday is the day we remember the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by his older cousin John. It is the day when we remember that God proclaims Jesus as his beloved son and Jesus, the beloved son, associates himself with us. It is the day when we hear that the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. There is much of our opening prayer in that setting. The church has designated that day as one especially proper for baptism. As Jesus associates himself with us, we in turn give ourselves to God. There is a sort of giving and receiving in that which is appropriate in the Christmas season.
Others extend the grace of Christmas even further. There is an old tradition of marking the end of the Christmas season on February 2 with the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. If you count up those days from Christmas to and including February 2 you get a whole forty days of Christmas. Now, that seems to me more like a Christmas celebration than a mere twelve days, though I wonder what becomes of the classic Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. “On the fortieth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...”
Whatever your practice, let us all be mindful of the reason for the season. It is grace. That God loves us, all of us, those awake and those asleep, and showed that love by becoming one of us and giving himself to us - the ultimate and endless gift. Through that gift we become adopted children of God with the hope of being renewed daily by the Holy Spirit. To me, that sounds like Christmas daily, year round, and always.
Merry Christmas,
Fr. Bill+