From Anticipation to Gratitude!

Dear Faith Family,   

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign.
Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall call his name Immanuel (which means, 'God is with us')."
(Isaiah 7:13)

I hope your preparations for Christmas have been both worshipful and joyful! Especially now that we are just hours away from the first day of Christmas! That's right; tomorrow is 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 tomorrow, on Christmas Day! 

The process of connecting the feast of Christmas (December 25th) to the feast of Epiphany (January 6th) began in the fourth century. Eventually, all the days between the two special dates on the church calendar were "proclaimed sacred and festive." That means the celebration doesn't stop after the presents are opened and all the food is safely tucked away in our bellies! 

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 the beginning of something new! 

So why not join in?! Why not keep your tree and decorations up a bit longer, until the end of the Twelve Days of Christmas, 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, we can help you with! 

Starting tomorrow mid-morning, we'll share a poem to pray each of the Twelve Days of Christmas via text message and on the app or website under Collective Prayers; just like we did for the O Antiphons leading up to this day. 

In fact, 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. 

May our wonder and gratitude grow exponentially as we take the time to behold the ever-expanding gift of Jesus Arrived again this Christmas, and are drawn into the marvelous mystery of God With Us! 

Love you, faith family! And looking forward to worshiping together in the New Year! Until then, God bless!