Christmas Spirit in the Domestic Church
“No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a newborn child.” Catechism of the Catholic Church (#563).
In a recent article on the diocese webpage we asked the questions. Are we prepared for the birth of our Lord? How are we celebrating Christmas? How do we even contemplate doing this in the busy secular world that we live in? We Catholics have been blessed with the season of Advent, but are we relying solely on the Church to do this preparation on our behalf, or are we bringing the spirit of Advent and the Christmas season into the domestic Church - our homes?
Our article covered how we can prepare the feast by fasting, but now that advent is over, or nearly over - what is next?
It is the morning of the 25 December, the nativity scene is now ‘complete’ with the baby Jesus in the manager. By the end of today, is the feast complete? NO! The most important celebrations are still yet to come following the birth of Jesus, He is here now, and we are just getting started. Christmas.Is.Not.Over.
So what are the next celebrations to be had? From December 26 to December 31st , we have the feasts of Saint Stephen, martyr; Saint John, apostle; the Holy Innocents; and the Holy Family. Consider a consecration to the Holy Family on the 31 January, you can find one here Consecration To The Holy Family prayer
Three recommendations to include in the following 8 days are:
January 1 - Fr Richard Shortall SJ, one of our spiritual directors whom you might have met on retreat, is big on the Ignatian Daily Examen. January 1st is a chance to sit with your family and use a similar format to do an ‘examen’ on your year. You can go through month by month, quite simple and praying as you go, reflecting on the high and low points. This may help refocus any areas that need it for the coming year especially when it comes to reflecting on where Jesus has been placed in our priorities. You can do this over the next few days.
January 7 - The Epiphany of the Lord - see if your parish has blessed chalk in the foyer, if not ask for some or take your own and get it blessed. Above the entrance to your house add the following (for this coming year) 20 + C + M + B + 24. C Casper, M Melchior, B Balthasar followed the star of God’s Son who had become human 20 two thousand 24 and twenty-four years ago. ++ May Christ bless our home ++ and remain with us throughout the new year. Parish of All Saints have shared their resource with us to use.
January 8 - The Baptism of our Lord. Throughout the year, we celebrate our birthdays, various anniversaries, winning play of the day trophies, graduations etc. A recent tradition we started in our own home was making sure we celebrated our Baptism anniversaries along with our Confirmation Saint feast days. An activity you could do on this feast day is decorate a table runner. It can be a piece of white cotton material ready to sew or one ready to go from a shop. You can use embroidery, extra fabric to applique, or just fabric markers. Place everyone's Baptism dates on it and use symbols from our Church. While spending time together in this activity, discuss what Baptism means to you and your family. You can then bring out this special table runner for your special dates and celebrations throughout the year.
