Dear Faith Family,
I hope you had a truly wonderful day yesterday, that first day of Christmas! That's right; yesterday was just the start, the beginning of "counting up" the abundance of what our True Love gives. On Christmas day, we begin unwrapping all those gifts for which we spent the previous days "counting down" their arrival. Gifts that add up exponentially, from 1 to 78 in just twelve days!
If you haven't picked up on my less-than-subtle clues, what I'm saying is that we've entered the "Twelve Days of Christmas." That's right, the twelve days start on Christmas, not lead up to it!
The process of connecting the feast of Christmas (December 25th) to the feast of Epiphany (January 6th) began in the fourth century and eventually, all the days between the two special days on the church calendar were "proclaimed sacred and festive." That means the celebration doesn't stop after the presents are opened!
While culturally, in the words of Gabe Huck, "We take our Christmas with lots of sugar. And we take it in a day," the Church over the last fifteen-hundred-plus years has extended the holiday well into the New Year! Christmas really is a beginning!
So why not join in?! Why not keep your tree and decorations up a bit longer, until the end of the twelve days, January 6th? Why not plan a couple more special activities with friends, family, and kids? Why not keep the Christmas carols ringing and Christmas prayers praying for a few more days?
That last one, keeping the Christmas prayers praying, I can help you with!
Starting with the sonnet below, I'll share a poem to pray each of the Twelve Days of Christmas via our Collective Prayers. You might recognize the poems. They are responses to our Advent O Antiphons. Now, rather than praying with longing for what we need, we pray with (for) the perfection of what we've received.
I won't send a push notification every day, but just a few times to remind you to extend the holiday! After all, as Bobby Gross contends, "If Advent is a season of waiting, Christmas is a season of wonder"!
May our wonder grow exponentially as we take the time to behold the gift of Christmas and are drawn into His marvelous mystery!
Love you, faith family! God bless!